Paix et Liberté
Encyclopedia
Paix et Liberté was an anti-communist
movement that operated in France
during the 1950s
.
and later Secretary General of the Rally of Republican Lefts
, created Paix et Liberté in 1950, in order to respond to the propaganda of the French Communist Party
.
Its propaganda efforts received substantial financial backing from the United States
. Paix et Liberté was one of the organizations of the "anti-Communist apparatus" booming during the Cold War
. The organization had the support of René Pleven
, President of the Council and many other politicians of the time. But the experience stopped in 1955 because of a thaw in international relations.
, but also the Communist Party and its leaders, described as agents in the service of the USSR, such as Maurice Thorez
or Jacques Duclos
. Jean-Paul David also uses the radio with his show with his fireside chats (causeries au coin du feu), which lasted only a few minutes, inaugurated on September 22, 1950.
had chosen to symbolize the congress of the World Peace Council
, held in Paris in April 1949. In this picture, the dove was shown metamorphosing into a Soviet tank
: its wings have become tank treads and its head a tank turret. This picture was later used at the end of the 1951 US Army film The Big Lie
.
In reference to the Stockholm Appeal
for nuclear disarmament
(L'appel de Stockholm in French
), a poster was produced of La pelle de Stockholm ("The shovel of Stockholm"), digging the grave of the countries in Eastern Europe
.
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
movement that operated in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
.
Founding
In response to the Stockholm Appeal , Jean-Paul David, then Radical Socialist Party deputy mayor of Mantes-la-JolieMantes-la-Jolie
Mantes-la-Jolie is a commune based in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center. Mantes-la-Jolie is a sub-prefecture department.-History:...
and later Secretary General of the Rally of Republican Lefts
Rally of Republican Lefts
The Rally of Republican Lefts was an electoral alliance during the French Fourth Republic composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance and several conservative groups...
, created Paix et Liberté in 1950, in order to respond to the propaganda of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
.
Its propaganda efforts received substantial financial backing from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Paix et Liberté was one of the organizations of the "anti-Communist apparatus" booming during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The organization had the support of René Pleven
René Pleven
René Pléven was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance , a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement...
, President of the Council and many other politicians of the time. But the experience stopped in 1955 because of a thaw in international relations.
Propaganda
Paix et Liberté published, distributed and cupboards hundreds of thousands of posters in France in the 50s. These posters are reproduced in the form of vignettes, denouncing the Stalinist regime and communist propagandaCommunist propaganda
Communist propaganda is propaganda aimed to advance the ideology of communism, communist worldview and interests of the communist movement.A Bolshevik theoretician, Nikolai Bukharin, in his The ABC of Communism wrote:...
, but also the Communist Party and its leaders, described as agents in the service of the USSR, such as Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez
thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting Maurice Thorez.Maurice Thorez was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party from 1930 until his death. He also served as vice premier of France from 1946 to 1947....
or Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial portion of the vote in the presidential elections.During World War I, Duclos fought...
. Jean-Paul David also uses the radio with his show with his fireside chats (causeries au coin du feu), which lasted only a few minutes, inaugurated on September 22, 1950.
Posters
"The dove that goes BOOM" (1950, 300,000 copies) was the first in a series of posters (on average 3 per month were released between 1950 and 1955). It parodied Poster Picasso's "dove of peace" that Louis AragonLouis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
had chosen to symbolize the congress of the World Peace Council
World Peace Council
The World Peace Council is an international organization that advocates universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass destruction and all forms of discrimination...
, held in Paris in April 1949. In this picture, the dove was shown metamorphosing into a Soviet tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
: its wings have become tank treads and its head a tank turret. This picture was later used at the end of the 1951 US Army film The Big Lie
The Big Lie
The Big Lie was a 1951 anti-communist propaganda film produced by the US Army. It begins with the quote by Adolf Hitler: "The great masses will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one" and likens the Communist regimes of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and North Korea to...
.
In reference to the Stockholm Appeal
Stockholm Appeal
March 1950: The World Peace Council releases the Stockholm Appeal calling for an absolute ban on nuclear weapons. The appeal was initiated by the French Communist physicist Frédéric Joliot-Curie, gathered petitions allegedly signed by 273,470,566 persons The text of the Appeal read:“We demand the...
for nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
(L'appel de Stockholm in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
), a poster was produced of La pelle de Stockholm ("The shovel of Stockholm"), digging the grave of the countries in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.