Power, Principle, and the Doctrine of the Mouvement Républicain Populaire

The French political scientist Jean-Jacques Chevallier tells of a young writer who was explaining his ideas to Maurice Barrès. “I understand your ideas well enough,†declared Barrès, “but your thirst?†That is, what is the fundamental idea, the guiding passion which has led you to express yourself in this way, and which will explain the inner meaning and coherence of your ideas? The fundamental desire of Machiavelli in writing the Prince was the unification of Italy. A passion for popular government was the guiding idea behind the Social Contract of Rousseau. The “thirst†of the Mouvement Républicain Populaire during the first three years of its existence consisted of two incompatible aims, namely, a desire to spread the ideals of Christian Democracy and a desire for immediate electoral success.The clash between these two aims first occurred in 1944 when a group of leaders of the Resistance to Vichy and the German occupation seized an opportunity to organize a Christian Democratic party, the M.R.P. The conflict continued throughout 1945 and 1946 when the Provisional Government of General Charles de Gaulle and the two constituent assemblies successively governed France. During this period, the M.R.P. achieved its greatest electoral triumphs.