True Gesture Politics in France
Friday 23rd October 1936
The congress of Edouard Herriot’s Radical
party in Biarritz, partner’s in Leon Blum’s Front
Populaire coalition, was intended to send a warning shot across the bows of
Blum for any inclination to move too far to the left. The political danger was
real, but the event struggled to avoid descent into futility. In heated exchange
the leader of the party’s left found himself defending the role of the
Communist Party in the events of 1934 against the leader of the right wing. Even the presence of a Spanish militia man did not prevent the congress passing a resolution to avoid "ideological" crusades
Most embarrassing of all was the plan to
manufacture a “Liberal” salute as a counterpoise to the Fascist salute, but,
naturally, not all like it. It involved extending both hands above the head,
which proved challenging for elderly and stouter delegates. It did not catch
on.
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