III.

Origins

The Dreyfus Affair in France created the first full-blown fascist movement, as conservatives united with monarchists and other opponents of republican government against the left-wing heirs of French revolutionary values who were trying to overturn the conviction for treason of the Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus. Charles Maurras formed the political group Action Française, with a violent youth wing called the Camelots du Roi and an ideology furnished by himself and Barrès. Republicanism dominated France in the wake of the Dreyfus Affair, but Maurras and Barrès had provided a pattern for future movements. Economic dislocation after World War I and the threat of communism arising from the Russian Revolution of 1917, led to the resurgence of fascism as a serious political force. Powerful feelings of grievance over defeat, or insufficiently rewarded victory, in World War I created support for future military adventures. Fascism drew support from all sections of society, but principally from members of the middle class who feared the threat of Communist revolution, business leaders with similar fears, discharged veterans who had failed to adjust to civilian life, and violent young malcontents.