The war guilt problem and the Ligue des droits de l'homme : 1914-1944

"This book contributes in important ways to three distinct historical arguments. First and foremost, it is a significant addition to a still small, but growing, literature on the Ligue des droits de l’homme (LDH), an organization founded in 1898 at the height of the Dreyfus Affair which lay at the very centre of French Republican politics in the era of the two world wars. It posits that the Ligue was half-dead by its own hand by 1937—well before the Nazi invasion of May 1940—because of its inability to resolve the question of war guilt from the Great War. The issue of war origins and war guilt transfixed it from 1914 down to the Second World War. Secondly, this book expands our understanding of the aetiology of French pacifism, thereby allowing for a deeper awareness of the differences between French and Anglo-American pacifism. It argues that from 1916 onwards one can see a principled dissent from the Union sacrée war effort that occurred within mainstream French Republicanism and not on the syndicalist or anarchist fringes. Finally, the book proposes a new explanatory model to help us understand some of the choices made in Vichy France, moving beyond the usual triptych of collaboration, resistance, or accommodation. This study is based on substantial research in a large number of French archives, primarily in the papers of the LDH which were repatriated to France from the former Soviet Union in late 2001, but also on considerable research in German archives—something other historians of the Ligue have not done. There is thus an exciting primacy of discovery here." -- Oxford Scholarship Online Cover The War Guilt Problem and the Ligue des droits de l’homme, 1914–1944 Copyright Acknowledgements Contents List of Abbreviations 1: Introduction PART I: THE GREAT WAR AND ALL THAT 2: War Origins: The Debate Begins THE JULY CRISIS, THE LIGUE, AND A NEW IDEA OF THE STATE THE BEGINNING OF DISSENT 3: The Ramifications of the War Origins Debate: War Aims and Ending the War WAR AIMS, OR WHAT WAS THE POINT OF IT ALL? PART II: A LA RECHERCHE D’UNE GUERRE GAGNEE . . . 4: The Wounds of War (1919–24): Challenges to Orthodoxy on the War Guilt Question WAR ORIGINS AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN 5: Bridge over the Abyss?: Talking to the Germans REPARATIONS 6: Turning the Page?: The War Guilt Problem in the Era of Locarno PART III: LES FLEURS DU MAL... 7: In the Shadow of the Swastika NAZI PERCEPTIONS OF THE LIGUE (AND THUS OF ITS RELATIONS WITH THE DLFM) THE 1933 LIGUE CONGRESS AND THE DEBATE ON NAZISM THE 1934 CONGRESS 1935 HYÈRES CONGRESS THE LIGUE AND THE POPULAR FRONT 8: 1937, or the Aventine Secession 9: Once More with Feeling?: The Ligue des droits de l’homme and the Slide into War THE 1938 AVIGNON CONGRESS THE MUNICH CRISIS 1939 THE SECOND WORLD WAR 10: When All Is Said and Done . . .: En guise de conclusion Bibliography PRIMARY ARCHIVAL SOURCES Archives départementales du Gard (ADG) Archives de la Préfecture de Police (APP) Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris (BHVP) Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes (PA/AA), Berlin Centre de documentation juive contemporaine (CDJC), Paris International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam Bibliothèque municipale de Nîmes Archives René Gerin Institut d’histoire sociale, Paris Wiener Library, London Archives du Ministère des Affaires étrangères (MAE), Paris Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine (BDIC), Nanterre PRIMARY PRINTED SOURCES Newspapers and Journals House of Commons, London Publications of the Ligue des droits de l’homme Congresses of the Ligue des droits de l’homme Books and Articles SECONDARY LITERATURE Index "The War Guilt Problem and the Ligue des droits de l'homme is a significant new volume from Norman Ingram, addressing the history of the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH), an organisation founded in 1898 at the height of the Dreyfus Affair and which lay at the very centre of French Republican politics in the era of the two world wars. Ingram posits that the Ligue's inability to resolve the question of war guilt from the Great War was what led to its decline by 1937, well before the Nazi invasion of May 1940.0As well as developing our understanding of how the issue of war origins and war guilt transfixed the LDH from 1914 down to the Second World War, this volume also explores the aetiology of French pacifism, expanding on the differences between French and Anglo-American pacifism. It argues that from 1916 onwards, one can see a principled dissent from the Union sacree war effort that occurred within mainstream French Republicanism and not on the syndicalist or anarchist fringes. Based on substantial research in a large number of French archives, primarily in the papers of the LDH which were repatriated to France from the former Soviet Union in late 2001, but also on considerable new research in the German archives, the book proposes a new explanatory model to help us understand some of the choices made in Vichy France, moving beyond the usual triptych of collaboration, resistance or accommodation."--Source inconnue The War Guilt Problem and the Ligue des droits de l'homme is a significant new volume from Norman Ingram, addressing the history of the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH), an organisation founded in 1898 at the height of the Dreyfus Affair and which lay at the very centre of French Republican politics in the era of the two world wars. Ingram posits that the Ligue's inability to resolve the question of war guilt from the Great War was what led to its decline by 1937, well before the Nazi invasion of May 1940. As well as developing our understanding of how the issue of war origins and war guilt transfixed the LDH from 1914 down to the Second World War, this volume also explores the aetiology of French pacifism, expanding on the differences between French and Anglo-American pacifism. It argues that from 1916 onwards, one can see a principled dissent from the Union sacr�(c)e war effort that occurred within mainstream French Republicanism and not on the syndicalist or anarchist fringes. Based on substantial research in a large number of French archives, primarily in the papers of the LDH which were repatriated to France from the former Soviet Union in late 2001, but also on considerable new research in the German archives, the book proposes a new explanatory model to help us understand some of the choices made in Vichy France, moving beyond the usual triptych of collaboration, resistance or accommodation. The War Guilt Problem and the Ligue des droits de l'homme is a significant new volume from Norman Ingram, addressing the history of the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH), an organisation founded in 1898 at the height of the Dreyfus Affair and which lay at the very centre of French Republican politics in the era of the two world wars. Ingram posits that the Ligue's inability to resolve the question of war guilt from the Great War was what led to its decline by 1937, well before the Nazi invasion of May 1940. As well as developing our understanding of how the issue of war origins and war guilt transfixed the LDH from 1914 down to the Second World War, this volume also explores the aetiology of French pacifism, expanding on the differences between French and Anglo-American pacifism. It argues that from 1916 onwards, one can see a principled dissent from the Union sacrée war effort that occurred within mainstream French Republicanism and not on the syndicalist or anarchist fringes. Based on substantial research in a large number of French archives, primarily in the papers of the LDH which were repatriated to France from the former Soviet Union in late 2001, but also on considerable new research in the German archives, the book proposes a new explanatory model to help us understand some of the choices made in Vichy France, moving beyond the usual triptych of collaboration, resistance or accommodation. In this text, Norman Ingram addresses the history of the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH), an organisation founded in 1898 at the height of the Dreyfus Affair and which lay at the very centre of French Republican politics in the era of the two world wars. Ingram posits that the Ligue's inability to resolve the question of war guilt from the Great War was what led to its decline by 1937, well before the Nazi invasion of May 1940. As well as developing our understanding of how the issue of war origins and war guilt transfixed the LDH from 1914 down to the Second World War, this volume also explores the aetiology of French pacifism, expanding on the differences between French and Anglo-American pacifism. It argues that from 1916 onwards, one can see a principled dissent from the Union sacrě war effort that occurred within mainstream French Republicanism and not on the syndicalist or anarchist fringes The papers of the world's first human rights organisation, the French Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH), were seized by the Gestapo in June 1940. They were finally returned to France only in 2001 and now form the backbone of this volume which examines the conflicted links between the LDH and Germany from 1914 to 1944.