The Front Populaire: Views from the Right

Abstract

To this day, the mere mention of Léon Blum and the Front populaire in French rightist circles can instantly transform a quiet conversation into a fine display of Gallic political passion. Startling at first, such violent reactions, so many years after the fact, become more intelligible when viewed in proper perspective. For, to the many Frenchmen who remain convinced that they lived under communism from June, 1936, to June, 1937, l'expérience Blum was indeed a “Nightmare in Red”.