Pierre Sidos

Pierre Sidos (born 6 January 1927 in Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron) was a French far right political figure.

Sidos' father, Francois, was active in the collaborationist Milice and he was executed on 28 March 1946 for his involvement.[1] Sidos continued his father's political beliefs and became founder of the Jeune Nation after the Second World War, along with his brothers François and Jacques.[2] In order to underline the credentials of the new movement Sidos chose the Celtic Cross as its emblem in honour of the Charlemagne SS Waffen Division.[3] Sidos was especially active during the Algerian War of Independence and was a member of the Organisation de l'armée secrète, although his role in this group was fairly minor.[4]

After the collapse of Jeune Nation he set up Occident in 1964 and then l'Œuvre française in 1968 as a re-creation of his earlier group. The new group claimed to looked to Philippe Pétain for its inspiration with Sidos now endorsing a blend of Catholicism, pan-European nationalism and anti-Semitism, with some Third Position influence, as his ideology of choice.[5] On this platform he attempted to run in the French presidential election, 1969 although his candidature was rejected by the Constitutional Council of France on a technical basis, although it has been argued that there was a fear that any judgement in Sidos' favour would have been seen as a vindication of his collaborationist background in wider society.[6]

After this judegement Sidos was effectively sidelined and became a peripheral figure during the 1970s, even though l'Œuvre française was still active during the 1990s.[7]

References

  1. R. Eatwell, A History of Fascism, Pimlico, 2000, p. 304
  2. P. Davies & D. Lynch, Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right, 2002, p. 239
  3. R. Eatwell, A History of Fascism, Pimlico, 2000, p. 304
  4. Graham Macklin, Very Deeply Dyed in Black, IB Tauris, 2007, p. 137
  5. Roger Griffin, Fascism, Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 371
  6. Joseph Algazy, L'extrême-droite en France de 1965 à 1984, Éditions L'Harmattan, p. 75
  7. France from Stephen Roth Institute