Jacques Doriot

Official portrait in office, 1932.

**Jacques Doriot** (born 26th September 1898) is the current President of France and the leader of the French Popular Front (French: *Front Populaire Français*). One of the most influential figures in Neo-Imperialist thought, Jacques Doriot's dictatorial and revanchist ambitions are prominent in his rise to power.

Through a series of events at the beginning of the game, Doriot can overthrow the French Republic and declare himself the "Grand Marshall" (French: *Grand Maréchal*).

## Early Life

Jacques Doriot was born on the 26th of September, 1898, in the town of Bresles, Île-de-France. His father was a blacksmith and his mother a seamstress. He attended school in the nearby town of Creil. Doriot began working at the age of 15, first in a factory and then in a dairy plant.

In 1915, with the Great War ongoing, he moved to Saint-Denis, about ten kilometers from Paris. There, he found work in steel plants in the area until he was conscripted into the French army at the age of 18, in 1917.

### War Service

In April of 1917, Doriot was conscripted into the French army. At this point, between the Iberian Campaign and various defeats in Germany, the war had decisively turned against France. Doriot's unit was ambushed in Aisne on the Chemin des Dames during, leading to its near-destruction; Doriot was captured in this battle, and spent the remainder of the Great War as a prisoner behind German lines. His survival earned him a *Croix de Guerre*.

## Entry into Politics

Angered by the defeat suffered by France and the subsequent heavy consequences imposed on the nation, Doriot would enter into Jacobin circles. He quickly rose through the party's ranks, particularly due to his loud and persuasive manner of speaking. Doriot's appeal to the masses drew the ire of the French government, which was already having difficulty combatting Jacobin insurgents and other revolutionaries. Looking to maximize his influence in the movement, Doriot began adopting other popular viewpoints, such as French territorial revanchism, anti-Germanism, and anti-Semitism, combining them into a form of universal populism that appealed to all manner of Frenchman.

### Arrest and *Mon Lutte*

The Saar-Warmdt region in northern Lorraine contained significant coal deposits that fueled French industry during the industrial revolution; coal reserves that were occupied by Germany in the aftermath of the Great War. In 1923, Jacques Doriot appeared at a rally protesting the occupation and addressed a large crowd, mostly of disgruntled French miners whose jobs had been replaced by German labor. Doriot called for a "people's crusade" against the "Germanic barbarian menace". Following his speech, several German miners were attacked and killed by French miners.

Because of this incident, Doriot was found guilty of coercion and sentenced to several years in jail. During this time, he penned a manifesto, which he *Mon Lutte*, outlining his political beliefs in what is now regarded as one of the foundational texts of Neo-Imperialism. *Mon Lutte* contains an account of Doriot's life, followed by a political agenda focused primarily on the humiliation of Germany and Britain, but also significant speculative, esoteric material referencing - among others - Vercingetorix and the Gauls as well as Charlemagne and his Frankish Empire to prove French "genetic" superiority. *Mon Lutte* would not be released until 1925, and reportedly sold fewer than a thousand copies before the rise of the Popular Front, at which point it became much more common.

### Deputy for Saint Denis and Front Populaire Français

In 1924, eight months into his prison term, Doriot was released due to his election as Deputy for Saint Denis. Because the constitution of the Republic of France required all members of the Chamber of Deputies to be physically present, he was released after agitation from the left. During his tenure, he was an outspoken flamebrand of the left wing, often engaging in long, loud tirades against proposed legislature. Doriot was viewed as disruptive by other members of the Chamber of Deputies, who attempted to force his resignation.

In 1928, Doriot refused to vote alongside the rest of his party on legislation that would issue punishments for anti-semetic speech. He was thereafter expelled from his party. Angered by this, Doriot swore revenge and instead of fading away as many had hoped, formed the French People's Party (*Partie Populaire Français*) on the bedrock of a combination of Jacobin rhetoric, despotic governance, and intense nationalism. Doriot carried much of his popular support with him, and in the next election, the PPF disrupted both the left and right vote by a margin significant enough to cause a deadlock, with no party capable of forming a majority. France went several weeks without a government as Doriot effectively held the legislature hostage.

Ultimately, radical elements of the left and right caved and formed the Front Populaire Français, a broad coalition of parties centered around Doriot's rhetoric and the PPF, but also including radical Jacobins and Restorationists. which gave Doriot, in principle, complete dictatorial power.

## In-Game

By 1933, the Front Populaire Français, with Doriot at its helm, has an effective stranglehold over what remains of French 'democracy'. Not content with his existing political power, however, Doriot will attempt a coup to grant himself complete authority over France in a chain of events at the beginning of the game. Doriot's success or failure in his coup will ultimately dictate who will lead France; either he will establish himself as the Grand Marshall of France, or be toppled by former party members forming either a monarchist or Jacobin state.

If Doriot's coup succeeds, then he is granted total authority over France and implements his vision, beginning massive rearmament programs, stirring up nationalist sentiment, and aggressively expanding France with the intent of breaking British hegemony and reshaping the world in the French image. He can go so far in this goal as to forcibly persecute Germans, construct death camps, engage in slavery, and force the French people to fight for every last inch of land.

## Trivia

* The Partie Populaire Français existed in reality and in 1937 had as many as 120,000 members. Doriot collaborated with the Germans during the occupation of France, even fighting on the eastern front with French volunteer legions. The PPF, however, was not formed until 1936.