The Head of State continues celebrations and speeches relating to the Second World War. The opportunity to convey a number of political messages, with the risk of counterproductive memory inflation.
Before a summer which will be crushed by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, spring is already offering Emmanuel Macron an intense period of commemorations. The Head of State presides over multiple ceremonies, culminating in the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6. After the tribute to the Jewish children of Izieu and the resistance fighters of the Glières plateau (Haute-Savoie), this memorial journey continues on Tuesday April 16 in Vassieux-en-Vercors (Drôme), to honor the memory of the resistance fighters and residents repressed, massacred by the Nazis and the Vichy militia.
For his second term, Emmanuel Macron seems to give the Second World War a very special place in his memory policy. “He fills his schedule a lot”, observes Thibaut Poirot, history professor at the Reims academy. Which does not fail to remind the historian “memorial itinerancy for the centenary of the First World War, in 2018″.
Often praised by Emmanuel Macron, the Resistance occupies a major place in this context. “There were already these tributes to Georges Clemenceau, to Charles de Gaulle or even the pantheonizations of Joséphine Baker, Maurice Genevoix and Missak Manouchian”notes historian Jean Garrigues.
These numerous tributes are far from being totally disinterested. “The memorial sector is a variable of political adjustment; gestures do not eat bread and can pay off”estimates the historian Patrick Garcia, who sees “an area where it is easy to achieve unity” of the country, exalting the courage of the past in the face of the challenges of the present. “The Resistance brings together the entire political spectrum. It is an ideal, from domestic politics to the international scene”continues Olivier Le Trocquer, teacher of contemporary history.
Tributes in “response to populism”
As for the Landing, for Denis Peschanski it is a “world-event”. “It is the meeting place for all heads of state, the place where we discuss present and future, since 1984 and François Mitterrand”, traces the president of the Scientific and Orientation Council of the 80th anniversary commemorations mission. The Resistance and the Liberation even find a very current echo, when the president’s words mix past and present. At Glières, on April 7, Emmanuel Macron did not hold back: “The attackers must stop, (…) they must be sure of our determination, so that we can live free or die”he declared, taking up the motto of the Glières maquis. “Clearly, we see its reference to Eastern Europe, with the war between Russia and Ukraine”analyzes Thibaut Poirot.
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The issue is also national, even if the Elysée swears not to make “politics” but treat “the politician”. “The more Emmanuel Macron abandons the defense of social issues, the more he compensates with memorial overinflation”notes Olivier Le Trocquer, who is a member of the Committee for Vigilance Against Public Uses of History (CVUH), in reference to recent pension or unemployment insurance reforms.
Multiplying the commemorations of the Resistance also allows the Head of State to continue your fight facing the far right, which he has not abandoned since 2017 and which he intends to carry before the European elections on June 9. “It is clear that all these tributes are a response to all populism”insists Denis Peschanski, even if their result in this area is uncertain.
“It’s not a memorial policy that will prevent the far right from rising.”
Denis Peschanski, historianat franceinfo
“OWe can ask ourselves the question of the effectiveness of these commemorations, because the National Rally (RN) is trying to make us forget its origins and claims affiliation with the Resistance.recalls Patrick Garcia. “I listed 42 resistance fighters who were at the founding of the party”for example, Marine Le Pen said, on France 3in June 2023.
“The memorial calendar imposes itself”
Emmanuel Macron’s career and personality would also push him to attach fundamental importance to the Resistance and to the memorial aspect in general. “This question interested him before his electionassures Denis Peschanski. Having been the assistant of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur [auteur de La Mémoire, l’Histoire, l’Oubli] played a lot.” “He has a taste for the theatricality of the memorial moment”agrees Jean Garrigues.
For the author of The Republic incarnate, from Léon Gambetta to Emmanuel Macronthere is also a generational attitude towards the Resistance. The last three presidents of the Republic did not experience the Second World War at all.. “They say that the French will be able to more easily recognize themselves in Charles de Gaulle or Missak Manouchian to rebuild a nation”explains Jean Garrigues, who evokes a “incarnation by delegation” through these figures.
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As a result, the number of commemorations has increased over the years and presidencies. At the risk of fueling what we could call memory inflation? “The reference to the Resistance is a growing constantassures Patrick Garcia. In this area, Emmanuel Macron would therefore only take up the torch from his predecessors. “The memorial calendar imposes itself”, evacuates Bruno Roger-Petit, memory advisor to the Head of State. But the danger of this accumulation must not be underestimated, according to Thibaut Poirot.
“As he wants to combine commemorations, Emmanuel Macron combines styles. Sequence of events is not necessarily very readable from the point of view of a presidential speech.”
Thibaut Poirot, history professorat franceinfo
To improve the readability of these tributes, a commission chaired by the historian André Kaspi recommended in 2009 [PDF] to limit national commemorations to three dates: May 8, July 14 and November 11. The idea was to do other dates “local or regional commemorations”but “the report was abandoned before even being submitted to the Elysée”, recalls Patrick Garcia. There is no turning back, in his eyes: “If Emmanuel Macron does not go to Les Glières and does not pantheonize, what will we say? There is an almost irreversible movement, unless it arouses unnecessary controversy.”
“Political power always tends to exploit history”
There is another risk in multiplying moments of homage to the Resistance: that of appearing like a president who would use this period for political purposes, without respecting all the truths of the past. A criticism formulated at the launch, in spring 2022, of the National Council for Refoundation, which borrowed its name from the National Council of the Resistance, but not its ideology. “We can indeed speak of misuse of history, but this fault is not specific to Emmanuel Macron. Political power always has a tendency to exploit history and misuse it”analyzes the historian Olivier Wieviorka, according to whom “there is no major distortion or biased view of history” at the head of state.
“The President of the Republic’s mission is to evoke exemplary figures, he is not there to do scientific work”, defends Bruno Roger-Petit. For his part, “the historian must analyze what the presidential speech says about collective sensitivity to the past and the position that the president intends to take”explains Patrick Garcia.
“We don’t read speeches with a red pen, we’re not there to correct.”
Patrick Garcia, historianat franceinfo
“In France, political power does not write history. The fact remains that there are silences and words that must be raised. We do not correct them, but we must dwell on possible simplifications in the name of the political message that the president wants to get behind”shade Thibaut Poirot. The professor takes the example of the 150 years of the Republic, celebrated by Emmanuel Macron in September 2020. “Even if he is not a historian, not mentioning the First and Second Republics seems to me to erase the complexity of history”he believes.
Competing memory files?
These “political messages” can also be read through the periods and files highlighted by Emmanuel Macron. “More than the Occupation or the Resistance, Emmanuel Macron refers to the Liberation, seen as a founding act”estimated in The world in 2017 Olivier Wieviorka. Seven years later, the historian considers that the situation has changed: “The emphasis is more on the Resistance and the Landing.”
Moreover, “Emmanuel Macron’s big business remains Algeria and Rwanda, more than the Second World War“, says the historian today. On the subject of Algeria, the Head of State described colonization as “crime against humanity” before being elected in 2017, and announced in 2022 the creation of a commission of French and Algerian historians on colonization and the Algerian war. As for Rwanda, it had “recognized” in 2021 the “responsibilities” of France in the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis.
But here again, the situation is not simple for those who, whatever happens, will leave the Elysée in the spring of 2027. As evidenced by a controversy over Rwanda, born on the day of a double presidential tribute to the Jewish children of Izieu and the resistance fighters of the Glières plateau. “By wanting to be in many places, Emmanuel Macron takes the risk of putting different things on the same level and causing a collision between memory agendas,” warns Thibaut Poirot.