Marcel Déat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marcel Déat
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| Minister of Air | |
| In office 24 January 1936 – 4 June 1936 |
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| Prime Minister | Albert Sarraut |
| Preceded by | Victor Denain |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Cot |
| Member of the French Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 1939 – 10 July 1940 |
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| Constituency | Charente |
| In office 9 May 1932 – 3 May 1936 |
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| Constituency | Seine |
| In office 1926 – 29 April 1928 |
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| Constituency | Marne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 March 1894 Guérigny, France |
| Died | 5 January 1955 (aged 60) Turin, Italy |
| Political party | French Section of the Workers' International (1914–1933) Socialist Party of France (1933–1935) Socialist Republican Union (1935–1940) National Popular Rally (1941–1944) |
| Education | École Normale Supérieure |
| Profession | Journalist, writer |
Marcel Déat (born March 7, 1894 – died January 5, 1955) was a French politician. He started his career as a socialist, a person who believes in a society where everyone is equal. Later, he became a leader of a group called 'Neosocialists'.
During World War II, when Nazi Germany occupied France, Déat founded a political group called the National Popular Rally (RNP). This group supported working with the German occupiers. In 1944, he became a government minister in the Vichy regime, which was the French government that cooperated with Germany. After the Allied forces landed in Normandy, he fled to Germany and then to Italy. He was later found guilty of treason by a French court while he was in hiding. Marcel Déat died in Italy, still in hiding.
Contents
Early Life and Political Beginnings
Marcel Déat grew up in a regular family that believed in republican and patriotic ideas. He was a very good student. In 1914, he joined a famous school called the École Normale Supérieure (ENS). He also joined the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), a socialist political party.
When World War I started, Déat joined the French Army. He fought bravely and earned important awards, including the Légion d'honneur. He became a captain by the end of the war. After the war, he wrote a book about his experiences. It showed his dislike for trench warfare but also his respect for teamwork and friendship in the army.
After the war, he finished his studies and became a philosophy teacher in Reims. In 1920, during a big meeting of the SFIO party, Marcel Déat became part of the party's right-wing group.
In 1925, Déat was elected as a local council member in Reims. The next year, he became a deputy (a type of representative) for the Marne area. However, he lost this position in the 1928 elections. The leader of the SFIO party, Léon Blum, then made Déat the secretary for the SFIO group in parliament.
The Neo-Socialist Period
In 1930, Marcel Déat wrote a book called Perspectives socialistes (Socialist Perspectives). This book showed his new ideas, which were different from traditional socialism. He started to believe in what was called Neosocialism.
Instead of focusing on class struggle (different social classes fighting), Déat believed in cooperation between classes. He supported the idea of a strong government that would plan the economy. He also thought that the government should be more powerful.
In the 1932 elections, Déat was elected as a deputy for Paris. In 1933, Déat and other Neosocialists were removed from the SFIO party. This happened because their new ideas were different from the party's main beliefs. The new party they formed had a slogan: "Order, Authority and Nation."
These Neosocialists wanted the government to be stronger to help with the economic crisis. They also wanted to include middle-class people in their plans.
Déat lost his deputy seat without the support of the Socialists. Two years later, he joined another party called the Socialist Republican Union (USR). He became Minister of Air in the government of Albert Sarraut. But he quickly left this job because of disagreements. As Nazi Germany became a bigger threat, Déat wanted to keep peace at all costs.
He became a deputy again in 1936. At first, he supported the Popular Front government. But he later criticized it, saying there was "Communist infiltration." In 1939, he wrote a famous article called Why Die for Danzig?. In this article, he argued that France should not go to war with Germany over Poland. This article caused a lot of discussion and made him well-known.
Working with the Occupiers
After Germany occupied northern France in 1940, Déat strongly supported their actions. He moved to Vichy France and initially supported Philippe Pétain, the leader of the Vichy government. Déat wanted to create a single political party to support the Vichy government's goals. In February 1941, he founded the National Popular Rally (RNP). This group openly supported working with Nazi Germany and its ideas, including policies that were harmful to certain groups.
When the Vichy government didn't become as extreme as Déat wanted, he moved to occupied Paris. The Germans provided funding for his party. They also tried to make his party merge with another far-right group, but this merger failed. Déat then tried to unite all the groups that supported working with the Germans.
Déat also helped create the Légion des Volontaires Français (LVF). This was a French unit that fought alongside the German army.
On August 27, 1941, while reviewing troops, Déat was wounded in an assassination attempt by a member of the French Resistance. After he recovered, he became a supporter of Pierre Laval, who became the prime minister of the Vichy regime in 1942. With German encouragement, Marcel Déat became the Minister of Labour and National Solidarity in Laval's government on March 16, 1944.
Life in Hiding
After the Allied forces landed in Normandy and the Vichy government fell, Déat fled to Germany. He became an official in the Vichy government that was in exile there. When Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945, Déat escaped to Italy in April. He used his wife's last name and taught for a short time in Milan and Turin.
He was later hidden by a Catholic religious group in a convent near Turin. He lived there without being discovered until he died in 1955. After the war, a French court found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to death while he was still in hiding.
See also
In Spanish: Marcel Déat para niños
- French Left
- History of far-right movements in France
- Politics of France
Images for kids
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Marcel Déat in 1932.
