Jacques Bainville

Jacques Bainville (February 9, 1879 in Vincennes-February 9, 1936 in Paris) was a French historian and journalist. A staunch monarchist, he was a leading figure in Action Française.

A follower of Charles Maurras, Bainville was a founder of Action Française and soon became an important figure in the "Institute d'Action Française", a college of sorts ran by the organisation (it had no permanent buildings but ran lectures and study groups where possible). [Ernst Nolte, "Three Faces of Fascism", New York: Mentor, 1965, p. 128]

Bainville became notorious in French political circles for his Germanophobia and this was one of the defining strands of his writing. [Stanislav Andreski, 'Poland', SJ Woolf (ed.), "Fascism in Europe", London: Methuen, 1981, p. 182] His "Histoire de deux peuples" (1915) underlined the importance for France of German weakness and sought a return to the pre-Franco-Prussian War status of Germany. [Nolte, op cit, p. 106] His "Les Conséquences politiques de la paix" (Political Consequences of Peace, 1920), whilst intended as an answer to John Maynard Keynes' views on Treaty of Versailles, was actually translated into German in Nazi Germany and presented as evidence that France had a mission for German destruction. [Nolte, op cit, p. 108] His other written works included "Histoire de France", as well as political columns for a number of newspapers and editing "Le Revue Universelle" for Maurras. [Philip Rees, "Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890", p. 19]

Bainville was appointed to a chair at Académie française in 1936, although he did not hold the position long as he died soon afterwards. [Nolte, op cit, p. 590] A strong Catholic, he was denied the last rites by Cardinal Jean Verdier as the Pope had condemned Action Française in 1926. Nonetheless the sacrament, as well as his funeral, were performed by a canon who was sympathetic to the movement. [Rees, op cit]

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