Founding of Action Française

Background. The movement arose in the aftermath of the Dreyfus affair. Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois left the Ligue de la Patrie française in 1899 to establish Action Française. This new organization was a nationalist reaction against the intervention of left-wing intellectuals on behalf of Alfred Dreyfus. It sought to restore French national unity and pride under a restored monarchy.

Ideological Shift. Charles Maurras became the principal ideologist of the movement. He converted Pujo and Vaugeois to monarchism, which became the movement's principal cause. Maurras developed a counter-revolutionary opposition to the legacy of the French Revolution, advocating for anti-parliamentarianism, decentralisation, corporatism, and integralism. The ideology shifted nationalist thought from left-wing Republicans to the political right.

Key Figures. Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois founded the movement and its journal, L'Action française, in 1899. Charles Maurras, an organiser and principal philosopher, was influential in shaping the movement's direction. He was an anti-Dreyfusard who vilified the 'Jewish Republic' and promoted integral nationalism. The movement's ideology was dominated by Maurras's precepts following his conversion of the founders.