The Cagoulards (the Cowl or hood) was the nickname of an ultra-right, nationalist, violent, anti-communist, anti-Semitic, anti-democratic French fascist group called the Comite Secret d’Action Revolutionnaire (CSAR) that was active in the 1930s.
Founded in 1935, it was bankrolled by L’Oreal cosmetics founder Eugene Schueller and heads of major companies such as Michelin and Lesieur Oil. It had some support within the French armed forces.
CSAR leadership included former naval and army officers, engineers, doctors and industrialists. They supported Generalissimo Francisco Franco in Spain, “Il Duce” Benito Mussolini in Italy and Marshall Philippe Petain’s reactionary Vichy France. They favored violence and planned a paramilitary coup to establish a dictatorship in preparation for the return of the French monarchy.
Initiation into the Cagoulards involved a secret ritual whereby the initiate dresses in black with a hood covering their head. They would stand in front of a table draped with the French tri-color on which swords and torches would be placed. They would swear an oath, Ad Majorem Galliae Gloriam (“for the greater glory of France”). Violation of the oath would be punishable by death.
La Cagoule was organized into cells along military lines of from eight to twelve men, all heavily armed. Three cells were a unit, three units a battalion, three battalions a regiment and so on. Written communication was avoided whenever possible so as to leave no “paper trails.”
They assassinated several prominent liberals, sabotaged airplanes supplied by France to the anti-Franco forces, blew up buildings owned by unions and incited public riots. They accumulated weapons supplied by Germany and Italy destined to be used in their coup. They infiltrated the left-leaning International Brigades to assassinate communist sympathizers.
With the outbreak of WW II, the Cagoulards split into pro-Nazi and anti-Nazi factions. The pros conducted various Nazi actions in France. They destroyed seven synagogues in Paris and aided in the deportation of Jews to the death camps. Several took oaths of loyalty to Hitler and joined the Waffen SS.
Many sided with the antis and fought in the French Resistance, believing that de Gaulle would not re-establish the Republic.
Time magazine called the group “The French Ku Klux Klan.” Their influence petered out after the war.
None too soon.
