The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál

those of Déat, Pivert, Zoretti (a supporter of Paul Faure) and Challaye, an ultrapacifist
member of the League for human Rights.
The pacifist influence on French society in the late 1930s fails to survive the
march to war. Prefectural reports highlight the renewed strength of patriotism
from the summer of 1939. However, the PCF’s shift has caused the dispersion of
the pacifist group 6 . By specifically targeting the communists, the Daladier
government succeeds in marginalising the pacifists during the first weeks of war.
Muzzled pacifism: the government’s action
Despite its decline since the spring of 1939, the pacifist movement, which
had impregnated political circles, retained supporters within the circles of
power. „The peace party” is a heterogeneous entity recruiting from the right
wing: MP Scapini, close to the leagues, Pierre-Etienne Flandin, head of the
Alliance démocratique, as well as left wing: Eugène Frot, Paule Faure or René
Brunet. This small minority attempts to organise itself into a parliamentary
liaison Committee involving fifteen MPs and twelve senators. It benefits
however from solid support in both Foreign Affairs committees, headed by
radical socialist personalities who have supported the pacifist cause: Henry
Bérenger in the Senate and Jean Mistler in the Chamber (Mistler, imbued with
visceral pacifism linked to the trauma of World War I, was a cultural attaché
for the French legation in Hungary and taught at the university of Budapest).
The pacifist movement manifests itself repeatedly and launches several
initiatives. At the end of August and during the parliamentary session of 2
September 1939, its members closest to the fascists – Bergery, Déat or Pierre
Laval – attempt to promote Mussolini’s proposition of another peace
conference. Relying on the World War I precedent, others demand that a secret
committee meeting be convened to debate possible peace conditions. The
German peace propositions, at the end of September, are another opportunity to
make their voice heard.
Even before the signing of the German-Soviet Pact, parliamentary pacifists
can count on the support of radical Georges Bonnet, minister of Foreign Affairs
since April 1939. During the Cabinet meeting of 24 August 1939, Bonnet
claims that the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact does not have to lead to war. He sets
out to convince the president of the Council, Daladier, of the importance of
examining the final peace options. Georges Bonnet, backed by Anatole de
Monzie, minister of Public Works, also plays the Mussolini card for a new
Munich. During the next Cabinet meeting on 31 August, he tries again to gain
his colleagues’ support for the italian proposition. However, his last-ditch
diplomatic effort comes up against Edouard Daladier’s firm stance this time,
6 On this question see VAISSE, M.: Le pacifisme français des années trente. In: Relations
internationales, n 53 (1988), 50. See also VAISSE, M. (ed.): Le pacifisme en Europe des années
1920 aux années 1950. Bruxelles, 1993.
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