Bienvenue à la Nouvelle Droite

Welcome to the New Right

I am starting this substack to foster a greater understanding of the political school of thought known as the Nouvelle Droite (also known as the European New Right). Through my research, I felt that there is generally a lack of information about this movement in English and that few writers are currently talking about this subject matter. I hope to use this substack to host writings that already exist, translations of my own, posts explaining the history or key figures in the movement, etc, etc.

In the aftermath of World War II, the political right in Europe lived in the shadows, haunted by the specter of fascism and National Socialism, eliminated and discredited. In Western Europe, opposition was rising to what would be called ‘Americanism’ (or what we might call globalism today). In the political arena, the only strains of acceptable political thought were essentially, Liberalism and Communism. In the post-war era, France was facing several great challenges: the loss of French Indochina, the Algiers Putsch of 1958, the subsequent collapse of the Fourth Republic, the Algerian War for Independence, a failed assassination attempt by OAS against DeGaulle, the May 1968 protests and the subsequent resignation of DeGaulle from power. Each of these events played a major role in the ascendancy of what would come to be known as la Nouvelle Droite, or the French New Right, which would grow and encompass many thinkers throughout the continent, thus becoming known as the European New Right. It would be a movement made up of nationalists and traditionalists from all throughout Europe. Do not confuse this ‘New Right’ with Anglo-American ‘New Right’ movements. The European New Right has nothing in common with the likes of William F. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, or Margaret Thatcher.

After that very brief history, I hope you dear reader decide to stick around. In future posts, I plan to provide greater detail into the history of some of these events, key figures, ideas, organizations, influences, books, etc.