La Cagoule
#1
So, one of the perks of being a spiritual aristocrat (i.e., an underemployed single man who reads a lot), is that I have discovered many odd ends and tidbits. For instance, I have long been a Francophile and someone interested in French culture, history, and politics. I am particularly interested in interwar French history. Why? Because I find it fascinating that Continental Europe's traditional military powerhouse, with a global empire stretching from Saigon to Devil's Island, fell so quickly to the Wehrmacht. One of the reasons often given is that France was a deeply divided country. This is true: the February 6, 1934 clashes further embittered the country between its right and left, plus the Spanish Civil War, which the Popular Front government supported with financies and Communist volunteers, deepened the rift.

One example of interwar France's division was La Cagoule ("The Cowl"). La Cagoule's real name was the Secret Committee of Revolutionary Action. The group included members across a pretty wide spectrum of the French right, although it did tend to favor fascists or third position types. The group's leader Eugene Deloncle went on to found the Revolutionary Social Movement during the Vichy period, and many joined the French divisions of the Waffen-SS or served in the Milice, the Vichy gendarmerie. (It should be noted that many also joined the French Resistance and served in the Free French Forces.)

La Cagoule specialized in kidnappings, bombings, and targeted assassinations. The most famous incident was the killing of Dimtri Navachine, the Paris-based director of the Soviet State Bank, in January 1937. This incident led directly to the police infiltrating the group. They uncovered not only multiple cells throughout France, but also a street fighting handbook and a massive arsenal consisting of machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Where did these weapons come from? Well, La Cagoule had sympathizers in the army and police, plus one of their biggest backers was Eugene Schueller, the founder of L'Oreal. Crazy story, no?

What makes it even wilder, in my opinion, was that the group's aesthetic was clearly influenced by French pulp magazines. Just like the Surrealists of the 1920s, La Cagoule read and absorbed the crime pulps of the day, specifically Fantomas. Their name, their symbols, etc. all bore the hallmarks of pulp-tier bad guys. This shows clearly the interconnection between art and action. Given the renewed interest in the classic age of pulps among a certain segment of the online right, which pulp aesthetic do you think will work well for Amarna Action (PBUT)?
#2
I have seen multiple people here color their posts white. Please don't do this; it makes it impossible to read for people using the light theme.
#3
(03-31-2022, 12:51 PM)Chud Wrote: I have seen multiple people here color the text content of their posts bright white. Please don't do this; it makes it impossible to read for people using the light theme.

I'm sorry. Will change
#4
Excellent and underrated post. This deserves more responses.
#5
I might have heard of these guys before, but interesting nevertheless - as for what pulp - something from Anime, probably. Though I'd prefer something like the Tetragrammaton from Equilibrium aesthetic myself.

What really did the French in during WW2 is a series of absolutely imbecilic decisions - most idiotically being the decision to not give their tanks (which sucked anyway) radios, something that was considered basic at the end of WW1. If they did such stupid shit, who knows what else the government did as well.



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