View source for Jean-François Thiriart

{{Short description|Belgian political theorist}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name               = Jean-François Thiriart
| birth_date         = 22 March 1922
| death_date         = 23 November 1992
| birth_place        = [[Brussels]], Belgium
| nationality        = Belgian
| occupation         = Political theorist
| known_for          = his national bolshevik ideology, serving in the SS and being the founder of Jeune Europe
| image              = Jean Thiriart.jpg
}}
'''Jean-François Thiriart''' ({{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ fʁɑ̃swa tiʁjaʁ}}; 22 March 1922 – 23 November 1992), often known as '''Jean Thiriart''', was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] far-right [[Political philosophy|political theorist]].
{{National Bolshevism}}
Coming from a left-wing background, during the [[World War II|Second World War]] he was a [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborator]] with the Nazi [[Third Reich]], as a result of which he served a prison sentence. In the 1960s, he founded and directed the transnational [[Jeune Europe]] (Young Europe) movement. He was the theorist of European [[national communism]], a synthesis of [[revolutionary nationalism]] and [[Pan-European nationalism]], a form of revolutionary nationalism transposed up to the scale of Europe as a [[unitary state]].

==Youth==
Coming from a left-wing family, Thiriart was initially a member of some [[Socialism|Socialist]] and antifascist movements. He switched to far-right politics and joined the extremist ''[[Deutscher Fichte-Bund|Fichte Bund]]''. In 1940, he was associated with ''Les Amis du grand Reich Allemand'', a group composed of former [[far-left|far left]] activists which supported [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborationism]] with the [[Third Reich]]. Thiriart himself served in the [[Waffen SS]] and later served time in prison for his collaboration. Upon his release, he set up in business as an [[optometrist]].<ref name="google6">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups|author=Atkins, S.E.|author-link=Stephen E. Atkins|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=9780313324857|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki|url-access=registration|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref>

==Cold War syncretism==
Thiriart returned to the political scene in the 1960s, after in 1960 Belgium had granted independence to the [[Belgian Congo]], which became the [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)]], setting off the [[Congo Crisis]].<ref>Freund, Bill (1998). ''The Making of Contemporary Africa: The Development of African Society since 1800'' Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2nd ed. {{ISBN|9780333698723}}, pp. 197–199</ref> Due to his strong opposition to this development, Thiriart became associated with the [[Mouvement d'Action Civique]] (MAC), although he also became interested in a more international vision. Establishing links with French groups similarly opposed to [[decolonization]], Thiriart eventually became a [[pan-European nationalism|European nationalist]], convinced of the need for a united Europe. As a result, he formed ''[[Jeune Europe]]'', a movement aiming to reach out across Europe, soon founding branches in [[Italy]], [[Spain]], and [[France]]. In Belgium, he continued to co-operate with MAC, which enjoyed close ties to ''Jeune Europe''. <ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups|author=Atkins, S.E.|author-link=Stephen E. Atkins|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=9780313324857|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki/page/320 320]|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref><ref name="google2">{{cite book|title=The Beast Reawakens: Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists|author=Lee, M.A.|date=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781135281243|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZ_cAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA319|page=319|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref><ref name="google4">{{cite book|title=Government of the Shadows: Parapolitics and Criminal Sovereignty|author=Wilson, E.|date=2009|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9780745326245|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u08sAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref><ref name="google5">{{cite book|title=Den ondeste mand i live?|author=Thorup, M.|date=2007|publisher=Museum Tusculanum|isbn=9788763505765|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDwr7ueGqFYC&pg=PA194|page=194|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref>

Thiriart publicly disavowed [[fascism]] and called [[Nazism]] obsolete, but his movement was still accused of having a fascist basis, partly as a result of adopting as its emblem  the [[Celtic cross]], a symbol widely used in [[neo-fascism]], and partly because in its weekly magazine ''Jeune Europe'' it advertised the activities of the allegedly [[neo-Nazi]] [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]], leader of the ''[[Deutsche Reichspartei]]''.<ref>[[Martin A. Lee]], ''[[The Beast Reawakens]]'' (Warner Books, 1998), pp. 170–172</ref> 

With a policy that was both [[Anti-American]] and Anti-[[Soviet Union|Soviet]], Thiriart represented Europe as the true cradle of civilisation, and was opposed to uncontrolled immigration and [[imperialism]], instead supporting national liberation, sovereignty and [[self-determination]] for all Europeans and what he called the "allied ethnicities" of Europe. Thiriart's views won him many enemies, on both the orthodox right and the left, this is partly due to the fact that he was highly influenced by the thinking of [[Francis Parker Yockey]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coogan |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Coogan |title=Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International |title-link=Dreamer of the Day |publisher=[[Autonomedia]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-57027-039-0 |location=Brooklyn |language=en}}</ref> He denied that he was a Nazi, claiming to belong to the centre of the political spectrum. Thiriart attempted to put his ideas into practice by being instrumental in the formation of the [[National Party of Europe]], an unsuccessful attempt at creating a Europe-wide nationalist party.<ref name="google3">{{cite book|title=Mapping the Extreme Right in Contemporary Europe: From Local to Transnational|author1=Mammone, A.|author2=Godin, E.|author3=Jenkins, B.|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415502641|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fGaaj5ZJEgC&pg=PA4|page=4|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref>

Seeking to support radical revolutionaries in [[Latin America]] and [[Black Power]] movements in the [[United States]], Thiriart began to develop the idea of creating ''[[Political Soldier]]s'' and set up training camps to facilitate indoctrination. He also became an admirer of [[Nicolae Ceauşescu]], indicating a sympathy towards [[Stalinism]] that displayed strong Nationalist characteristics. He also admired the [[People's Republic of China]]  for these same reasons. Historian [[Walter Laqueur]] called his views a form of [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Maoism]].<ref>Laqueur, Walter, ''Fascism: Past, Present, Future'', p.93</ref>

According to US academic [[George Michael (academic)|George Michael]], Thiriart served as an adviser to [[Fatah]] of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://chronicle.com/article/Strange-Bedfellows/3734/ |title=Strange Bedfellows |journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education |date=21 April 2006 |accessdate=2013-09-29 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128164211/http://chronicle.com/article/Strange-Bedfellows/3734/ |archivedate=November 28, 2009 |last1=Michael |first1=George }}, ''[[The Chronicle Review]]'', by [[George Michael (academic)|George Michael]].</ref>

==National Bolshevism and later life==
Thiriart moved towards [[National Bolshevism]] and in later life he worked closely with such exponents of this idea as [[Aleksandr Dugin]]. 

Thiriart was later in life a supporter of a "Euro-Soviet empire which would stretch from [[Dublin]] to [[Vladivostok]] and would also need to expand to the south, since it require(s) a port on the [[Indian Ocean]]."<ref name="warq">{{cite book |last1=Allensworth |first1=Wayne |title=The Russian Question: Nationalism, Modernization and Post-Communist Russia |date=1998 |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |location=Lanham, MD |page=251}}</ref> Dugin liked the idea so much, he made it the frontispiece of his 1997 book ''[[Foundations of Geopolitics]]''.

As well as being a member of the small pan-European [[European Liberation Front]], Thiriart came to spend a lot of time in [[Russia]] where he saw the potential for an explosion in [[European Nationalism]]. He is the author of several books.

Thiriart died of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] in 1992.

==Major publications==
*''Un empire de 400 millions d'hommes l'Europe'' (Brussels: Imprimerie Sineco, 1964) 
*''La grand nation : 65 thèses sur l'Europe'' (Brussels, 1965)
*''Editoriaux de Jean Thiriart (1965-1969) : la nation européenne'' (Charleroi: Edition Maciavel, 1969)
*''The Great Nation: Unitarian Europe - From Brest To Bucharest'' (Manticore Press, 2018) {{ISBN|978-0648299684}}
*''Istanbul, the geopolitical capital of the United States, of Europe, Russia, and Asia'', trans. Alexander Jacob ([[Lewiston, New York]]: [[Edwin Mellen Press]], 2019) {{ISBN|978-1495507571}}
*''The geopolitical unification of Europe, Russia, and Central Asia : creating a unitary transcontinental multinational state'', trans. Alexander Jacob ([[Lewiston, New York]]: [[Edwin Mellen Press]], 2019) {{ISBN|978-1495507564}}

==See also==
*[[National Bolshevism]]
*[[European Liberation Front]]
*[[Francis Parker Yockey]]
*[[Franco Freda]]
*[[Christian Bouchet]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Pan-European nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiriart, Jean-Francois}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Brussels]]
[[Category:Geopoliticians]]
[[Category:Belgian Waffen-SS personnel]]
[[Category:National Bolsheviks]]
[[Category:Optometrists]]
[[Category:Pan-European nationalism]]
[[Category:Eurasianists]]
[[Category:Belgian fascists]]
[[Category:Belgian Fascist propagandists]]
[[Category:Neo-fascists]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Belgium]]
[[Category:Right-wing anti-capitalism]]