La Cagoule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Cagoule (The Cowl, press nickname coined by the Action Française nationalist Maurice Pujo), officially called Comité secret d'action révolutionnaire (Committee for Revolutionary Action), was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, active in the 1930s, and designed to attempt the overthrow of the French Third Republic. Its leader was Eugène Deloncle.
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[edit] In the Third Republic
Prominent members of the Cagoule (Cagoulards) included Eugène Schueller, the founder of the French cosmetics giant L'Oréal, who was also founder of the group. Some of the early meetings of the Cagoule took place at l'Oréal headquarters, and some former Cagoulards, such as Jacques Corrèze, were later hired as executives. Another important activist was Joseph Darnand, who later found the Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL), the ancestor of the Milice Collaborationist group.
The group was founded in 1935, drawing its troops mostly from Orléanists disappointed by the lack of action from Charles Maurras' Action Française, and undertook various actions aimed at destabilizing the Republic, including the assassination of Italian antifascists, the Rosselli brothers. The group, organized along military lines, infiltrated parts of the French military (especially in order to get weapons), and prepared the overthrowing of the Popular Front government. However, they were themselves infiltrated by the police, and, in November 1937, Marx Dormoy, Minister of the Interior (and thus in charge of law enforcement) denounced their plot and ordered arrests.
[edit] World War II
During World War II, members of the Cagoule were divided. Some of them joined various Fascist movements; Schueller and Deloncle founded the Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire, which conducted various pro-Nazi Germany activities in occupied France, including the October 1941 bombing of seven synagogues in Paris. Others were prominent members of Philippe Pétain's Vichy Regime. Darnand was the leader of the Milice, the Vichy paramilitary group of who fought the French Resistance, and enforced anti-semitic policies; he took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler, and had a Waffen SS rank.
On the other hand, many sided with the anti-German camp, either as members of the Resistance in the Maquis, or as members of Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces.
[edit] Alternative meaning: a type of raincoat
A cagoule is a type of lightweight, short raincoat which can be rolled up into a very compact package and carried in a bag or pocket. It has an integral hood, elasticated or drawstring cuffs, and a few poppers at the neck. It does not open fully at the front and must be pulled on over the head. When rolled up, the hood doubles as a bag into which the rest of the coat is pushed. It became very popular in the United Kingdom the 1970s. It is also known as a pac-a-mac.
