Editing Maurice Barrès (section)

===Nationalism===
{{Conservatism in France|Intellectuals}}
Barrès is considered, alongside [[Charles Maurras]], as one of the main thinkers of [[ethnic nationalism]] at the turn of the century in France, associated with [[Revanchism]]—the desire to reconquer the [[Alsace-Lorraine]], annexed by the newly created [[German Empire]] at the end of the 1871 [[Franco-Prussian War]] (Barrès was aged 8 at that time). In fact, he himself popularised the word "nationalism" in French.<ref name=Ory/>

This has been noted by [[Zeev Sternhell]],<ref>[[Zeev Sternhell]], ''Maurice Barrès et le nationalisme français'', Bruxelles, Complexe, 1985</ref> [[Michel Winock]] (who titled the first part of his book, ''Le Siècle des intellectuels'', "Les Années Barrès" ("The Barrès Years"), followed by ''Les Années [[André Gide]]'' and ''Les Années [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]''),<ref>[[Michel Winock]], ''Le Siècle des intellectuel'', Paris, Seuil, 1997</ref> [[Pierre-André Taguieff]],<ref>[[Pierre-André Taguieff|P. A. Taguieff]], « Le nationalisme des nationalistes. Un problème pour l'histoire des idées politiques en France » in ''Théories de la nation'', sous la direction de Gil Delannoi et de Pierre André Taguieff, Paris, Kimé, 1991</ref> etc. He shared as common points with [[Paul Bourget]] his disdain for [[utilitarianism]] and liberalism.<ref name=Ory/>

Opposed to [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s theory of [[social contract]], Barrès considered the 'Nation' (which he used to replace the 'People') as already historically founded: it did not need a "[[general will]]" to establish itself, thus also contrasting with [[Ernest Renan]]'s definition of the Nation.<ref name=Krulic>Brigitte Krulic (professor at [[University of Paris-X]]), [http://www.sens-public.org/spip.php?article384 Le peuple français chez Maurice Barrès: une entité insaisissable entre unité et diversité], 2 February 2007 (Paper read during the conference ''« 'Peuple' et 'Volk' : réalité de fait, postulat juridique »'' organized at the University of Paris X-Nanterre on 10 December 2005 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> Much closer to [[Johann Gottfried Herder|Herder]] and [[Johann Gottlieb Fichte|Fichte]] than to Renan in his definition of the Nation, Barrès opposed French [[centralism]] (as did Maurras), as he considered the Nation to be a multiplicity of local allegiances, first to the family, the village, the region, and ultimately to the [[nation-state]].<ref name=Krulic/> Influenced by [[Edmund Burke]], [[Frédéric Le Play]] and [[Hippolyte Taine]], he developed an [[organicist]] conception of the Nation which contrasted with the universalism of the 1789 [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]].<ref name=Krulic/> According to Barrès, the People is not founded by an act of autonomy, but find its origins in the earth (le sol), history (institutions, life and material conditions) and traditions and inheritance ("the dead").<ref name=Krulic/> His early individualism was quickly superseded by an organicist theory of the social link, in which "the individual is nothing, society is everything".<ref>''Les Déracinés (Roman de l'énergie nationale I)'', in ''Romans et voyages'', [[Robert Laffont|R. Laffont]] Bouquins, 1994, p.615</ref>

Barrès feared miscegenation of modern times, represented by Paris, claiming against [[Edmond Michelet|Michelet]] that it jeopardised the unity of the Nation.<ref>See his [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/discours_reception/barres.html discourse of reception at the Académie française] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607124151/http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/discours_reception/barres.html |date=7 June 2007 }} on 17 January 1907 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> The Nation was to be balanced between various local nationalities (he spoke of the "Lorraine nationality" as much as of the "French nationality"<ref name=Krulic/>) through decentralisation and the call for a leader, giving a [[Bonapartist]] aspect to his thought which explained his attraction for the General Boulanger and his opposition to [[liberal democracy]].<ref name=Krulic/> He pleaded for a [[direct democracy]] and personalisation of power, as well as for the implementation of [[popular referendum]]s as done in [[Swiss Federal Constitution|Switzerland]].<ref name=Krulic/> In this nationalist frame, anti-Semitism was to be the cohesive factor for a right-wing [[mass movement (politics)|mass movement]].<ref name=Krulic/>

Contrary to popular belief, Maurice Barrès never used the term “le grand remplacement” [great replacement], either in his novel "L'appel au soldat" or anywhere else. However he did make use of the underlying concept, namely that the French national character was being harmed by immigration of certain ethnic groups.<ref>Le « grand remplacement » de Maurice Barrès, Désintox, ARTE https://es-es.facebook.com/28minutes/videos/601716683701994/</ref>