Union des jeunes pour le progrès

The Union des jeunes pour le progrès (UJP), also known as the Mouvement des jeunes gaullistes, is a French political youth organisation founded on 13 June 1965 at the request of Charles de Gaulle. It served as the official youth wing of the Gaullist movement, initially alongside the UNR-UDT, then the Union démocratique pour la Ve République (UDR), and later the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR). In 2011 it became an associated movement of the Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP), and it has since been affiliated with Les Républicains. At its peak in the early 1970s, the UJP claimed nearly 50,000 members, a considerable figure for a youth political movement. The UJP was conceived as a training ground and think tank for young Gaullists, drawing its early members largely from the Instituts d'études politiques (IEP) and law faculties. Its first presidents included Robert Grossmann (founder and president 1965, then 1967–1972), Michel Cazenave (1966–1967), and Jean-Paul Fasseau (after 1972). Paul Aurelli served as secretary-general and was a key organiser. The movement's motto was: "Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui, les dirigeants de demain, les pionniers de l'an 2000" (Today's youth, tomorrow's leaders, the pioneers of the year 2000). In its early years the UJP was a springboard for Georges Pompidou's presidential ambitions. A 1967 agreement at Matignon gave the UJP exclusive use of the "jeunes gaullistes" label and financial support from secret funds in exchange for its official backing of Pompidou, who was elected president in 1969. The UJP organised national conferences in Lille (1967), Strasbourg (1969), Royan (1970), and Caen (1973), attracting leading Gaullist figures such as André Malraux, Maurice Couve de Murville, Michel Debré, and Jacques Chirac. It also helped found the right-wing student union UNI in 1968. During the events of May 1968, the UJP was caught off guard and nearly ceased to function, divided between a left wing sympathetic to student demands and a right wing hostile to the protesters. It participated in the 30 May 1968 Paris demonstration in support of de Gaulle and played a key role in organising the 31 May 1968 demonstration in Marseille. After 1974, when it refused to call for a vote for Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in the second round of the presidential election, the UJP entered a period of financial difficulty and declining influence. It nevertheless remained a fixture of the Gaullist family, later aligning with the RPR, UMP, and Les Républicains. Today it continues to present itself as the movement of young Gaullists, with the slogan "Agis pour la France et le Progrès" (Act for France and Progress).

The Union des jeunes pour le progrès (UJP) was created on 13 June 1965 at the request of Charles de Gaulle, making it the official youth movement of the Gaullist family. Its first presidents were Robert Grossmann, founder in 1965, Michel Cazenave in 1966/1967, who supported a left-Gaullist line, then Robert Grossmann again from 1967 to 1972, and Jean-Paul Fasseau after 1972. Paul Aurelli, secretary-general, was the driving force alongside the presidents. The UJP's motto at the time was: "Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui, les dirigeants de demain, les pionniers de l'an 2000". Until 1968, the association gathered only about 3,000 members, mainly from the IEP and law faculties. It was a breeding ground for future elected officials and a place of reflection, sometimes critical of Gaullist notables deemed too conservative, including Prime Minister Georges Pompidou. But on 22 November 1967, an agreement was reached at Matignon between the UJP national bureau and Pompidou. The UJP received exclusive use of the "jeunes gaullistes" label and "financial largesse from secret funds", in exchange for the movement's official support for the future president, elected in 1969. Jean Charbonnel, organiser of the meeting, said: "the UJP becomes Pompidolian, Pompidou works at it". In 1967, the UJP organised its first national conference in Lille around Georges Pompidou. Robert Grossmann, back as president, declared: "the man of 18 June and resistant Gaullism have written one of the greatest pages of our history, but that page is turned". The links between the UJP and the Prime Minister were obvious to historian François Audigier. As Pompidou mounted the rostrum, the young Gaullists chanted "Pompidou à l'UJP", but the hall, with poor sound, heard "Pompidou à l'Élysée", causing some commotion. The UJP's emblematic slogan was then: "Le seul combat qui vaille est le combat pour l'homme", before becoming in 1968: "Les jeunes assument la Révolution avec de Gaulle". The events of May 68 surprised the UJP leadership, which was distraught, to the point that the association almost ceased to exist during May. It split, with a left wing sensitive to student demands and opposed to police violence, and a right wing very hostile to protesters, represented notably by Jacques Godfrain. It participated in the Paris demonstration of 30 May in support of General de Gaulle, without playing a major role, as well as similar demonstrations in the provinces. Nevertheless, the UJP played an essential role in organising the 31 May 1968 demonstration in Marseille, a city held by socialists and communists: the UJP was then described as "the active infantry of the Gaullist movement". The UJP was behind the creation of the right-wing student union, the Union nationale inter-universitaire (UNI), in 1968. At the Strasbourg conference in 1969, more than 5,000 UJP young people gathered around André Malraux, Georges Pompidou, Maurice Couve de Murville, Maurice Druon, Michel Debré, René Capitant, François Mauriac, Edmond Michelet and Alain Peyrefitte. On this occasion, Georges Pompidou gave a speech and declared: "You who want to be the young of Gaullism, remember that Gaullism, more than a political doctrine, is a moral attitude, a refusal of abasement, an affirmation of the honour of being French and therefore the will to maintain France. It is up to you to say it at a time when so many others ironise the idea of fatherland. Honour of being Europeans and therefore the will to build Europe step by step". Subsequently, a dinner-debate was organised by UJP youth on 21 March 1968 at the Mutualité, with Georges Pompidou as star guest. The newspaper La Croix noted that "for the young of the UJP, destined to ensure the succession of Gaullism, Pompidou is indeed the one destined to ensure the succession of De Gaulle". The UJP notably conducted action within reformist student unions (AMRU, REP, CLERU), founded a Union des Jeunes Travailleurs and worked internationally (Comité d'action pour le Biafra, France-Québec, Association de solidarité franco-arabe, France-Palestine, Mouvement pour l'indépendance de l'Europe). It also set up "Journées de dialogue de l'UJP". In 1970, the UJP organised its national conference in Royan around Jacques Chirac, Jacques Baumel, Roger Frey, Maurice Couve de Murville, Pierre Messmer, Michel Debré. In conflict with the UDR leadership, the UJP lost its status as an associated movement of the UDR during the same period. It had been subject to a competition attempt by the adult party under the name UDR-Jeunes, an organisation that was not very successful. In 1973, the UJP organised its national conference in Caen. From 1974 to 1990, the UJP engaged behind Jacques Chaban-Delmas and faced financial difficulties. Concerned about its independence, it demonstrated this in 1974 when, after campaigning for Jacques Chaban-Delmas in the first round of the presidential election, it refused to call for a vote in favour of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The UJP later became an associated movement of the RPR, then in 2011 of the UMP, and is now affiliated with Les Républicains.

• 2011

  UJP becomes an associated movement of the Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP).

• 1974

  UJP campaigns for Jacques Chaban-Delmas in the first round and refuses to back Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in the second round.

• 1973

  National conference held in Caen.

• 1970

  National conference held in Royan around Jacques Chirac and other Gaullist leaders.

• 1969

  Strasbourg conference attracts over 5,000 young Gaullists and leading figures.

• 1968

  UJP helps found the right-wing student union UNI.

• 1968

  UJP participates in the 30 May Paris demonstration and organises the 31 May Marseille demonstration.

• 1967

  Agreement at Matignon gives UJP exclusive use of the "jeunes gaullistes" label and financial support in exchange for backing Georges Pompidou.

• 1967

  First national conference held in Lille around Georges Pompidou.

• 1965

  UJP founded on 13 June at the request of Charles de Gaulle.

Historic youth movement of French Gaullism, affiliated with the RPR, UMP, and Les Républicains.

1. 1UJP – Union des Jeunes pour le Progrèsujp-france.fr
2. 2Union des jeunes pour le progrèsfr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Union des jeunes pour le progrèswikidata.org