Benoist-Méchin (1901-1983) made immense efforts to collaborate with the Nazis and, after the war, influence the dictators of the Arab world. How could such a brilliant man work so hard for authoritarianism and force? ?
Previously despised, if not outright denied, the virtues of historical biography no longer need to be demonstrated, thanks in particular to practitioners such as Carlo Ginzburg, Jacques Le Goff and Éric Roussel. His biography of Jacques Benoist-Méchin (1901-1983), Until the end of the nightbrilliantly illustrates the richness of the genre.
Collective structures and personal ambition
The book retraces the meanders, jolts, twists and turns and setbacks of the improbable journey which led this man gifted in the literary, artistic and musical fields to work closely with a wide range of personalities – Proust, Romain Rolland, Hearst, Pétain, Ribbentrop, Abetz, Pierre Laval, Hitler, Antoine Pinay and even Pompidou. Roussel allows us to see the human workings, all too human, of the illusory and criminal policy of collaboration driven by its most ardent champion, Jacques Benoist-Méchin. Along the way, we discover the backstage of official diplomacy, from the pacifist impulse of the interwar period until the end of the 1970s.
So much so that one wonders, in the end, if the major lesson of this work is not so much the preponderance of collective structures and dynamics exposed from an individual life, as the essential freedom of these protagonists: while relaying the forces which determine them, they nonetheless influence – and often in a manner as decisive as it is unexpected – the course of events, through their ambitions, fantasies, mood swings and illusions. Benoist-Méchin’s career shows us to what extent self-esteem, ambition, resentment, fear, desire for recognition, prejudices of class, social environment, religious orientation, play a role in choices, alliances and alignments within events.
This is the case not only for the diplomatic efforts that Benoist-Méchin energetically deployed in the service of a partnership with Nazi Germany, but also, in the 1950s-1970s, by playing the role of intermediary and unofficial advisor to certain heads of Arab state, and not the least: Nasser, Hassan IIBoumediene, King Faisal, Gaddafi, among others. They received him face to face at length, on numerous occasions, to discuss sometimes a rapprochement with France, sometimes the construction of a union between Maghreb countries.
Running after chimeras
Grandiose projects erected on houses of cards which collapse one after the other, without Benoist-Méchin, himself a biographer of a whole series of great Muslim leaders (and, therefore, recognized as a fine connoisseur of Arab countries in France and even in the nations concerned), facing the facts.
On the contrary, he continues to chase these chimeras systematically contradicted by the reality of rivalries and grudges between Morocco and Algeria, unpredictable intrigues in Saudi Arabia and the crazy whims of Gaddafi. It was no different under the Occupation, which saw Benoist-Méchin struggle to make Vichy France a privileged partner of the Third Reich, a criminal dream by definition, also built on stubborn illusions. Benoist-Méchin is chasing him, despite a whole succession of failures clearly indicated by the words, deeds and gestures of Hitler and his acolytes.
This brings us to the question of intelligence. Certainly, this well-conducted work accurately identifies key events, while precisely situating their protagonists, giving an inside view of a whole section of the evolution of the XXe century from the 1920s to the 1970s. But the question “ human » will perhaps attract even more attention. Because the journey, psychology and choices of this extraordinary individual force us to reflect on many preconceived ideas about intelligence, culture, sensitivity and artistic gifts.
Roussel articulates this question explicitly: “ By what aberration could this intelligent, refined, highly cultivated man have been able, twice, to take the wrong route at the risk of getting lost? ? » (p. 9). And “ how could a man such as him, supremely cultured, in relation to the intellectual elite of his time, both in France and abroad, be duped by a barbaric ideology such as national socialism ? » (p. 97) This is the question which underlies the biographical project as a whole, from one end of the text to the other.
And Roussel gives us the answer: the incredible obstinacy of Benoist-Méchin in the error of his pro-German commitment during the Occupation, just like his devotion to authoritarian Arab leaders (and often more) during the Cold War, was anchored in his fascination with strong men and his obsession with order. Aesthetic sensitivity also played a significant role. Seeing what Benoist-Méchin managed to do as a translator of Goethe’s letters, Charles Du Bos remarked towards the beginning of the 1930s: “ So you have to have soul to have taste. » (p. 102)
Wittingly
Certainly. But since when have we postulated any purity to the human soul? ? If, after Montaigne and others, Pascal has not taught us to be wary of it, Primo Levi does not leave us with the slightest illusion about it. Charles Du Bos could not have guessed to what extent Benoist-Méchin would be completely seduced by the Hitlerian staging of the 1936 Olympic Games. Thanks to their grandiose and orderly appearance, as well as the “beauty” of the German athletes, Nazi Germany, Benoist-Méchin explained in 1978, “ appears to me to be extraordinary in strength and youth “. “ I don’t like mess », he adds (p. 113).
Without wanting to face the violent and barbaric reality of Nazi paganism, Benoist-Méchin allowed himself to be carried away by the fascist aesthetic, establishing close ties with Leni Riefenstahl, Albert Speer and Arno Breker. Breker’s monumental neo-antique style rightly occupies a central place there. It was “ an ordering thought where everything had its place, from the beautification of the home to the development of the city », notes Roussel (p. 227).
But there is more. Because the attraction of the Third Reich and the admiration for authoritarian figures were in no way accidents along the way or simple “ errors » relating to errors of judgment. Benoist-Méchin adhered to it with full knowledge of the facts, moved not only by his conception of human affairs, but also by his sensitivity, his “ soul “, exactly. It opens in The Midnight Sunan essay that remains unpublished, although developed over many years. There we find the springs of the attraction he has always felt for authoritarianism and force.
There “ biological law »
Like Nietzsche and like the Nazis, Benoist-Méchin saw in Judeo-Christian values only a sickly, if not degenerative, weakness leading to disorder. In his eyes, it was necessary to govern society in accordance with the “ laws of nature », imposing authority, getting rid of weakness. Also Benoist-Méchin sees favorably the “ crushing of the weakest » (p. 371). Fundamentally, even viscerally anti-democratic, he shares the same dream-fantasy as Drieu la Rochelle, Céline, Rebatet and Brasillach, who “ accompanied on this journey at the end of the night » (p. 372). Hence the title of the work.
Benoist-Méchin never repented, any more than he renounced his adherence to “ European plan » of the Third Reich. He was not a man driven by democratic or humanist values. He admired power and empires, without balking at their brutal deployment. Aiming to take part in the management of the highest affairs of state, he ignored the value and dignity of the individual.
Gifted with intelligence, musical talent and aesthetic discernment, Benoist-Méchin nonetheless relied, for the governance of human society, on the brute force commanded by a supposed “ biological law » blind, anonymous, insensitive to existence. Often highlighted, his literary sensitivity was not extended (nor applied) to the human race.