The French republic is under threat. We are 1,000 historians and we cannot remain silent | Patrick Boucheron, Antoine Lilti and others

We implore voters not to turn their backs on our nation’s history. Go out and defeat the far right in Sunday’s vote

For the first time since the second world war, the far right is at the gates of power in France. As historians from differing political backgrounds who share an attachment to democratic values and the rule of law, we cannot remain silent in the face of an alarming prospect that we still have the capacity to resist.

Despite a superficial makeover, the National Rally (RN) remains fundamentally the successor and heir of the National Front, founded in 1972 by people nostalgic for Vichy and French Algeria.

This article first appeared in French in Le Monde

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