Why Marine Le Pen claims the heritage of General de Gaulle

• Marine Le Pen went to the island of Sein on Wednesday to commemorate the June 18 appeal of General de Gaulle.
• This visit provokes outrage from the mayor and residents forced to shorten the planned celebrations.
• The National Front (now RN) has long been opposed to the French statesman.

A movement that creates a stir. Marine Le Pen went on Wednesday to the island of Sein (Finistère) to commemorate the June 18 appeal of General de Gaulle. A visit on the sly, and finally brought forward one day, because this desire to pay homage to the Resistance against Nazi Germany has aroused controversy.

The claim of the Gaullist heritage, by a party historically hostile to the founder of the Fifth Republic, was criticized by the mayor of the town and political leaders. For the president of the RN, it is also a way to prepare for 2022.

Marine Le Pen pays tribute to General De Gaulle pic.twitter.com/jcGbjVUMv9

What does Marine Le Pen claim?

Claiming the heritage of Gaullism, Marine Le Pen deemed it "urgent" to "take inspiration" from Charles de Gaulle in the current health crisis, in the Political and Parliamentary Review last week. The member for Pas-de-Calais also said in an interview with the Parisian that her party is "in the continuity of the ideas of the general".

"There are strong common points between the speech of Marine Le Pen and the action of General de Gaulle, on the sovereignty of France, independence, the will to unite the French beyond the political parties", details RN deputy and spokesperson, Sébastien Chenu. "There is also a message of resistance, in the face of globalization and the communal storm that is damaging our country".

The National Front, founded by anti-Gaullists

Historically, this reference may surprise. General de Gaulle has long been hated in the party, founded in 1972 by former collaborators and former supporters of French Algeria in particular. “There was a kind of visceral anti-Gaullism among certain far-right figures who created the National Front. Among the supporters of the OAS (Secret Army Organization) and among former collaborators, such as the ex-SS Pierre Bousquet, who founded the party with Jean-Marie Le Pen or the militiaman François Brigneau, "recalls Jean-Yves Camus , specialist of the extreme right. “And even if it goes back 50 years, Marine Le Pen cannot erase this story. Until the 80s and 90s, former collaborators sat under the colors of the FN, and that still harms the party today ”.

Not new for Marine Le Pen

It is not the first time that Marine Le Pen has claimed this heritage since she led the FN (now RN) in 2011. She even mentioned it earlier, within the Generation Le Pen movement, which wanted in 2002 " "demonize" the party for accusations of racism and anti-Semitism. “Marine Le Pen began to talk about de Gaulle from his first years of ascension in the party, and even before the action of Florian Philippot [former No. 2 of the FN and claimed Gaullist]. With the renewal of generations, his name no longer smells of sulfur in the nationalist electorate, except perhaps in Paca where there are descendants of French returnees from Algeria, "said Sylvain Crépon, political scientist at the University of Tours. .

This reference also allows Marine Le Pen to break a little more with his father and former president of the FN, who writes in his Memoirs that General de Gaulle "remains a horrible source of suffering for France". "Marine Le Pen needs a republican historic anchor, and for this De Gaulle is an appetizing memory figure, a sort of consensual sovereignist totem today", adds Sylvain Crépon.

Preparing for 2022

Because this tribute is also very political. It allows Marine Le Pen to continue its dediabolization work and to better underline its opposition to Emmanuel Macron in the perspective of 2022. It is "the absolute anti-de Gaulle", tackled the presidential candidate, who considers that the general's heritage is "totally destroyed" by the President of the Republic. “Macron wipes out France for the benefit of Europe. He is a federalist and a liberal. In this, he is the exact opposite of Charles de Gaulle, ”adds Sébastien Chenu.

General de Gaulle "would turn over in his grave on hearing" Marine Le Pen, replied LREM boss Stanislas Guerini to AFP. "Claiming de Gaulle is a kind of French national sport, all parties do it," quips Jean-Yves Camus. It does not eat bread and allows you to follow in the footsteps of a unifier of the nation. ”

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Brittany: Marine Le Pen on the island of Sein to commemorate the call of June 18

• Tribute
• National Front
• Emmanuel Macron
• Charles de Gaulle
• National gathering
• Marine Le Pen