National syndicalism facts for kids

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National syndicalism is a political idea that mixes syndicalism (a type of workers' movement) with integral nationalism (a strong belief in one's nation). It started in France in the early 1900s. Later, it spread to countries like Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

What is National Syndicalism?
How it Started in France
National Syndicalism in Italy
National Syndicalism in the Iberian Peninsula
See also

What is National Syndicalism?

National syndicalism is a far-right political idea. It takes parts of syndicalism, which focuses on workers' unions and strikes, and combines them with a strong sense of nationalism. This means it supports workers' rights and groups, but only within a strong, united nation.

How it Started in France

French national syndicalism took ideas from Georges Sorel's revolutionary syndicalism. It mixed these ideas with the monarchist (pro-king) and nationalist views of Action Française. This group was led by Charles Maurras.

Early Ideas (1900–1908)

In 1900, Charles Maurras wrote in the Action Française newspaper. He said that socialism (a system where society owns and controls production) without democracy was the "pure" form. He and other members, like Georges Valois, were interested in Sorel's ideas. They talked about how their movements were similar. They hoped to work with revolutionary syndicalists.

This teamwork began in 1908 with union leaders like Émile Janvion. Janvion then started an anti-republican newspaper called Terre libre.

Georges Sorel's Influence (1909)

Georges Sorel is often called the founder of revolutionary syndicalism. He believed in strong trade unions to fight against corrupt politicians. Sorel was a French Marxist. He supported workers in their fight against the rich. He thought that general strikes could lead to big changes.

The goal of syndicalism was to use strikes to end capitalism. It aimed to create a society run by workers, not by the government. Sorel saw this as the "true" form of Marxism.

In 1909, the nationalist group Action Française started working with Sorel. This happened after Sorel read Maurras's book, Enquête sur la monarchie. Maurras spoke well of Sorel in his book. He even sent Sorel a copy. Sorel liked the book and wrote a letter praising Maurras in April 1909.

Later, in July, Sorel wrote an essay in an Italian journal. He admired Maurras and Action Française. Sorel supported them because he was against democracy. He believed Action Française was the only group strong enough to fight democracy. Action Française reprinted his essay in their newspaper in August. They called it "Anti-parliamentary Socialists."

New Journals (1910–1913)

In 1910, Sorel and Valois planned to start a journal called La cité française. They published a notice in July 1910. It was signed by both revolutionary syndicalists and Action Française members. But the journal never started because Valois and another member, Jean Variot, did not get along.

After this, Sorel decided to start his own journal. It was called L'Indépendance. It came out every two weeks from March 1911 to July 1913. This journal had similar themes to Action Française's newspaper. It focused on nationalism, being against Jewish people (antisemitism), and protecting French culture.

Cercle Proudhon

While planning La Cité française, Sorel encouraged Berth and Valois to work together. In March 1911, Henri Lagrange from Action Française suggested starting a study group for nationalists. Valois convinced him to include non-nationalists who were also against democracy and supported syndicalism. Valois later wrote that the group's goal was to bring together "nationalists and leftist anti-democrats."

This new group, called Cercle Proudhon, began on December 16, 1911. It included Berth, Valois, Lagrange, and other syndicalists and royalists. The group was named after Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. It was also inspired by Georges Sorel and Charles Maurras. In January 1912, the Cercle Proudhon journal, Cahiers du cercle Proudhon, was first published.

National Syndicalism in Italy

In the early 1900s, nationalists and syndicalists in Italy started to influence each other. From 1902 to 1910, many Italian revolutionary syndicalists tried to combine nationalism with syndicalism. They talked with Italian nationalist leaders like Enrico Corradini.

These Italian national syndicalists shared some main ideas. They rejected middle-class values, democracy, and internationalism. They supported heroism, energy, and using force. Not all revolutionary syndicalists became Fascists. But most syndicalist leaders eventually became nationalists. Many of them helped start the Fascist movement. They even held important jobs in Mussolini's government.

Benito Mussolini said in 1909 that he became a revolutionary syndicalist in 1904. This happened during a big strike.

Enrico Corradini supported a type of national syndicalism. It used Maurras's nationalism and Sorel's syndicalism. Corradini believed Italy needed a national syndicalist movement. This movement would solve Italy's problems. It would be led by smart, anti-democratic leaders. These leaders would be ready to fight.

Corradini called Italy a "proletarian nation" (a nation of workers). He said Italy needed to expand its power. This was to challenge rich nations like France and the United Kingdom. Corradini's ideas were common in the Italian Nationalist Association (ANI). This group believed Italy's economic problems came from corrupt politicians and "bad socialism." The ANI had links with conservatives, Catholics, and businesses.

Some Italian Fascist leaders started calling national syndicalism "Fascist syndicalism." Mussolini was one of the first to use this term. He said Fascist syndicalism was about the nation and production. He believed that in a national society, work would be a joy and a source of pride.

When Edmondo Rossoni became the head of the Fascist unions in 1922, other national syndicalists adopted the term. They aimed to build new political structures by combining the state and labor. Rossoni and other Fascist syndicalists were strong nationalists. They also supported "class struggle" (the fight between social classes). They were seen as "radical" or "leftist" at the time. They helped protect workers' economic interests. Rossoni was removed from his job in 1928. This might have been because he was a powerful union leader. He also had conflicts with business owners. He sometimes called them "vampires."

When World War I started, Sergio Panunzio noticed how united France and Germany became. He said that if Italy joined the war, it would also become united. He believed Italy would come out of the war as a new nation. This new nation would be a "Fascio nazionale" (national union). It would be led by strong, productive warriors. They would unite all Italians.

In November 1918, Mussolini said national syndicalism was a belief system. It would unite different economic classes. This would help the nation grow and develop.

National Syndicalism in the Iberian Peninsula

National syndicalism in Spain and Portugal was similar to the Fascist idea of corporatism. It was inspired by Integralism and the French Action Française. In Spain, Ramiro Ledesma Ramos wrote about it in his newspaper La Conquista del Estado in March 1931.

Under Franco, national syndicalism aimed to replace capitalism. It wanted workers to manage cooperatives. In this system, workers and bosses would choose representatives. These representatives would form groups called syndicates or corporations. They would manage worker-employer relationships and promote worker ownership.

National syndicalism hoped to win over the anarcho-syndicalist group Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). But the National Syndicalist movement became a separate political group. Later in 1931, the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista was formed. This group then joined with Falange Española. In 1937, Franco forced them to merge with the traditionalist Carlism party. This created one less radical party during the Spanish Civil War.

During the war, Falangists fought against the Second Spanish Republic. The CNT initially supported the Republic. National syndicalism was a key idea in Francoist Spain, especially early on. Franco's brother, who died fighting for the nationalists, was also a syndicalist leader. In 1940, Franco introduced a law that gave workers many rights in the syndicates. Later, these rights became more limited. But there are still examples of successful worker cooperatives, like the Mondragon cooperative. These could grow under Franco's national syndicalist rule.

The idea was also present in Portugal. The Movimento Nacional-Sindicalista was active in the early 1930s. Its leader, Francisco Rolão Preto, worked with Falange leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera.

The Spanish version of this idea has influenced other groups. These include the Kataeb Party in Lebanon and the Falanga National Radical Camp in Poland. It also influenced various Falangist groups in Latin America.

The Unidad Falangista Montañesa had a union part. It was called the Association of National-Syndicalist Workers.