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CROSSFIRES, a Croix de Feu France that might have been





What do the Croix de Feu want, what can they accomplish ? A question that many Frenchmen ask in 1934

FOREWORD



The 1930s are for France a time of great peril. The country has bled white for four years in a senseless war that began with an assassin's single shot in Sarajevo and ended up in the mass killing of European soldiers. One million and a half Frenchmen have died in the trenches, the youngest and quite often the brightest France had. Five million more have been wounded, having lost limbs, been disfigured, or suffered in their flesh in these 4 years of mindless war. For a nation of 39 million inhabitants, the sacrifice has been horrendous, almost unbearable, and the survivors now want assurances their sacrifice has served some purpose.

The 1930s are a time of great peril. After organizing a few victory parades and establishing a sanitary cordon of friendly states around Germany, the French government has gone back to its pre-1914 games of toppling Cabinets over the flimsiest of excuses. The burden of taking care of the country has largely been left to a dedicated but old-fashioned corps of civil servants and officers, and the French people's questions are left unanswered. As for foreign policy, the watchword changes with every new government : militarism is followed by appeasement, accommodation is preceded by collective security. As a result, European nations get wary of allying too closely with an increasingly fickle France.

The 1930s are a time of great peril. Resentment against the rapidly-crumbling governments and the institutions runs deep among the French population. The price of war has been paid in full by the French citizens, and they now want reassurances things will never be the same again. Some want reforms. Some want restorations. Some want revolutions. Communism has taken root in France, where the workers feel they had to bleed in the trenches only so they could be bled again at the workshop. Others feel the Republic is the source of all problems and evils and should be disposed of, but they quarrel about what should take Marianne's place : a strong totalitarian state, a cold and competent technocracy, or the rightful Bourbon heir to the throne, whoever that might be. Reformers from every major political party see the writing on the wall : barring some deep changes, France might once again be gripped by social unrest, violence and insurrection.

The 1930s are a time of great peril. The Great Alliance that barely defeated the Central Powers lies in shambles. Italy, once an ally, is now a rival demanding a cut of the French colonial empire in Africa. So does Japan, another ally of the last war. Russia, once France's most important ally, is now conspiring with Germany to weaken Western democracies. The United States, whose intervention was the final straw that broke the back of the Prussian camel, has now retired from the world, dealing with an economic crisis and a public opinion refusing to be embroiled in another foreign war. Great Britain still stands, but like France has paid a terrible price in the Great War, in terms of life, gold, and prestige. Its commitment to enforcing European peace remains to be seen. And Germany ? Germany is on the rise again, her 70 million inhabitants now led by a man nobody had heard of ten years ago. Nobody saw him coming, and almost nobody sees where he's leading Europe to.

Yes, the 1930s are indeed times of great peril. Immensely powerful forces are on the move. Great powers are awakening from their uneasy slumber. Time is running short, and the whole world might soon get caught in the crossfire.
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