A Voice in the Wilderness: Pierre Drieu La Rochelle

by Richard Schapke

Richard Schapke describes Pierre Drieu La Rochelle’s ideological journey from a right-wing nationalist to a disillusioned fascist and advocate of pan-Europeanism and revolutionary socialism, ultimately leading to his collaboration with the Germans and tragic end.

I was born a right-winger and preserved through my upbringing a sense of authority and also an indestructible feeling for the homeland. But I had to move to the left to find the thorough awareness of the social disorder caused by decadent liberalism, by a capitalism devoid of any virtue.

— Drieu La Rochelle

We do not fight for the dictatorship of the proletariat, nor for a right-wing dictatorship. We fight not for this or that. We fight against everyone: that is the meaning of fascism.

— Drieu La Rochelle

Pierre Drieu La Rochelle was born on January 3, 1893, as the son of a wealthy family of architects in Paris. Early on, the pupil of a Catholic private school showed a keen interest in Napoleon and the First Empire. These influences were soon joined by Friedrich Nietzsche and Georges Sorel. In 1910, Drieu La Rochelle began studying history, English, and law at the Sorbonne. However, he failed his exams in 1913 and was promptly drafted into military service. As a soldier, he experienced World War One from the beginning, during which he was wounded twice.

His first literary attempts also took place during the war. In the poetry collection Interrogation from 1917, the Germans were not portrayed as hateful enemies, as was common, but rather as brothers bound by the same fate. “I do not hate you, but I confront you with the full force of my weapons.” His time as a soldier ended in 1919, and Drieu La Rochelle, never plagued by financial worries due to his background and marriage, immersed himself in intellectual circles. From the realization of a world without valid values arose the struggle against the stagnant, corrupt bourgeois society. The bohemian initially sympathized with Action française, even though he did not share their anti-German stance.