Groupe Union Défense Explained

Groupe Union Défense
Size:160px
Successor:Social Bastion
Dissolved:[1]
Type:Far-right students' union
Location:Panthéon-Assas University

Groupe Union Défense (originally named Groupe Union Droit), better known as GUD, was a French far-right students' union formed in the 1960s. After a period of inactivity it relaunched in 2022.[2] [3] [4]

The GUD was based in Panthéon-Assas University,[5] [6] [7] a law school in Paris.

On 26 June 2024, the French government ordered the dissolution of the GUD.[8]

Ideology

Formed as far-right, anti-communist youth organization, in the mid-1980s, the GUD turned toward support of the Third Position movements and "national revolutionary" theories,[9] as well as embracing anti-Zionism, anti-Americanism and support for Hafez al-Assad.

Culture

GUD took as symbol the Celtic cross and the comic black rats (rats noirs).[10] [11]

Some music groups of Rock identitaire français had connections with GUD.[12] [13] [14]

History

thumb|right|Members of the GUD during demonstration in Paris in 2012

GUD was founded in December 1968 under the name Union Droit at Panthéon-Assas University by, Gérard Longuet,[15] and some members of the political movement Occident. In its early period, it was a reactionary bourgeois student movement, and some of its early members went on to become mainstream conservative politicians, including Gérard Longuet, Hervé Novelli and Alain Madelin.[16]

Members of the GUD participated in the 1969 founding of Ordre Nouveau.[17]

During the 1970s and early 1980s, linked to the Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN),the GUD published the satiric monthly Alternative.[18] Members in this period included, a Corsican nationalist linked to organised crime and suspected of the murder of .

On 9 May 1994 GUD member died after clashes between nationalists and riot police.[19] [20] Following these event, some French nationalist groups formed an umbrella organization Comité du 9-Mai (C9M) and holds yearly a commemorative marches in Paris on May 9.[21] [22]

In 1998, the Group united itself with Jeune Résistance and the Union des cercles résistance, offshoots of Nouvelle Résistance group, under the name Unité Radicale, but it was dissolved[23] [24] after Maxime Brunerie's failed assassination attempt on president Jacques Chirac.[25]

In 2004, the GUD reformed under the name . Its publication was Le Dissident.[26]

In 2017 members of the GUD squatted a building in Lyon and founded political movement Social Bastion.[27] [28] [29]

In late 2022, graffiti appeared in educational institutions in Paris (including the École Normale Supérieure) saying "GUD is back"; a video was released on, a Telegram channel used by the far right, commemorating some Greek neo-Nazis; and the GUD slogan “Europe, Youth, Revolution” appeared on stickers in Paris and chants at a right-wing demonstration in Lyon. Its activists were reported to be drawn from far-right trade union, the ultra-right group the Zouaves, traditionalist Catholics from Versailles, and football hooligans.[30]

Members

Successive leaders of the GUD were: Alain Robert, Jack Marchal, Jean-François Santacroce, Serge Rep, Philippe Cuignache, Charles-Henri Varaut, Frédéric Chatillon, William Bonnefoy, Benoît Fleury.

Military volunteers

Some GUD members have fought in Lebanese Civil War with the Kataeb Party[31] in 1976, Croatian War of Independence[32] in the 1990s and in Burma during Karen conflict.[33] In 1985 member of the GUD Jean-Philippe Courrèges was killed in action fighting for the Karen National Liberation Army.[34]

GUD members have had links with the Department for Protection and Security, which is the security organization of the far-right political party National Front.[35]

Former member of the GUD was member of the FLNC.[36]

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Le GUD est officiellement dissous, annonce le gouvernement . Le Monde.fr .
  2. Web site: Plottu . Pierre . Macé . Maxime . Des militants d'extrême droite réactivent le GUD à Paris . Libération . 7 November 2022 . fr . 13 December 2022.
  3. Web site: B.Corson . Equipe . GUD, le retour d'une légende brune . POLITIS . 16 November 2022 . fr . 13 December 2022.
  4. Web site: Macé . Maxime . Plottu . Pierre . Brève histoire du GUD, ce groupuscule fascisant dont a fait partie Loïk Le Priol . Libération . 25 March 2022 . fr . 13 December 2022.
  5. https://www.liberation.fr/libe-3-metro/1995/03/24/l-universite-en-ile-de-france-4-paris-ii-assas-la-longue-marche-vers-le-centre-droit_125981 L'université en Ile-de-France (4) Paris-II Assas, la longue marche vers le centre droit
  6. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2015/06/08/avec-assas-patriote-l-extreme-droite-tente-de-reprendre-pied-a-paris-ii-pantheon-assas_5992865_823448.html Avec "Assas Patriote", l'extrême droite tente de reprendre pied à Paris-II Panthéon-Assas
  7. http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2012/03/28/01016-20120328ARTFIG00495-elections-a-assas-le-gud-tente-de-reprendre-pied.php Élections à Assas: le GUD tente de reprendre pied
  8. News: Le GUD est officiellement dissous, annonce le gouvernement . Le Monde.fr .
  9. https://tempspresents.com/2010/02/06/nicolas-lebourg-odyssee-des-rats-noirs-voyage-au-coeur-du-g-u-d/ L’Odyssée des Rats noirs : voyage au coeur du GUD
  10. http://www.agenteprovocador.es/publicaciones/zepxozz1j53r63nqhbw9k8c3gaoqcm El otro Mayo del 68: la contrarrevolución de la rata negra
  11. https://xaviercasals.wordpress.com/2018/05/19/iconografia-la-rata-negra-mascota-del-neofascismo-europeo/ La rata negra mascota del neofascismo europeo
  12. https://books.openedition.org/pur/12464 Une musique groupusculaire : le rock identitaire français
  13. https://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/04/27/gud-generation-identitaire-action-francaise-leurs-racines-leurs-methodes_1646466 GUD, Génération identitaire, Action française... leurs racines, leurs méthodes
  14. https://reflexes.samizdat.net/le-rock-identitaire-francais-5/ Le Rock Identitaire Français (5) Chapitre III : Les acteurs du RIF : les groupes
  15. Nicolas Lebourg, « Une ligne vraiment très droite », Politis, no 1143, semaine du 10 au 16 mars 2011, p. 8-9.
  16. Web site: Henley . Jon . France's neo-Nazi breeding ground . the Guardian . 20 July 2002 . 13 December 2022.
  17. https://www.france-politique.fr/groupe-union-defense.htm Dossier extrême droite radicale: Groupe Union Défense
  18. http://francepolitique.free.fr/PUR2.htm Dossier extrême droite radicale: Groupe Union Défense
  19. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2010/04/13/l-extreme-droite-radicale-tente-une-sortie-sur-le-social-le-9-mai_5976929_823448.html L'extrême droite radicale tente une sortie sur le social, le 9 mai
  20. Jacques Leclercq, « Comité du 9-Mai », Droites conservatrices, nationales et ultras : Dictionnaire 2005-2010, L'Harmattan, p. 124.
  21. https://jeunenation.wordpress.com/commemoration-sebastien-deyzieu/ Commemoration Sebastien deyzieu (C9M)
  22. https://www.contre-info.com/sebastien-deyzieu-9-mai-1994 Il y a 25 ans, Sébastien Deyzieu
  23. Christophe Bourseiller, "Les risques de la spirale", in: Maxime Brunerie/Christian Rol, Une vie ordinaire, Paris: Denoël, 2011, 224 p., p. 8-15.
  24. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jul/16/thefarright.france Would-be assassin rooted in hard right
  25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2127946.stm Chirac escapes lone gunman's bullet
  26. Web site: Du côté obscur de la droite . 2019-07-31 . 2019-07-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190731063843/https://www.meltycampus.fr/les-visages-de-l-extreme-droite-etudiante-a184505.html . dead .
  27. https://www.lyonmag.com/article/88227/lyon-le-gud-squatte-un-immeuble-pour-venir-en-aide-aux-francais-dans-le-besoin Lyon: le Gud squatte un immeuble pour venir en aide aux Français dans le besoin
  28. https://www.liberation.fr/france/2017/06/13/a-lyon-le-gud-expulse-de-son-squat_1576556 A Lyon, le GUD expulsé de son squat
  29. https://www.lyoncapitale.fr/actualite/a-lyon-le-gud-requisitionne-un-batiment-pour-aider-les-francais/ À Lyon, le GUD réquisitionne un bâtiment pour aider les Français
  30. Web site: Blast le souffle de l’info . Extrême droite : les rats noirs de retour - Site d'information français d'actualités et d'investigation indépendant . Blast - Le souffle de l’info - Site d’information français d’actualités et d’investigation indépendant . 16 November 2022 . fr . 13 December 2022.
  31. Not Only Syria? The Phenomenon of Foreign Fighters in a Comparative Perspective, p. 94
  32. James Ciment World Terrorism: An Encyclopedia of Political Violence from Ancient Times to the Post-9/11 Era, p. 234.
  33. Web site: La Souris rattrapée par le Chat…tillon: quand LSD choisit finalement son camp . 2019-07-31 . 2020-10-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201027193128/https://lahorde.samizdat.net/2015/08/03/la-souris-deglinguee-lsd-in-memoriam-extreme-droite/ . dead .
  34. https://www.contre-info.com/ephemeride-du-4-octobre C’était un 4 octobre…
  35. Abel Mestre et Caroline Monnot, « Les réseaux du Front national », Sylvain Crépon, Alexandre Dézé, Nonna Mayer, Les Faux-semblants du Front national : sociologie d'un parti politique, Presses de Sciences PoP
  36. https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/Alain-Orsoni-seul-face-a-sa-peur-160087 Alain Orsoni: seul face à sa peur