Editing Rexist Party (section)

==Ideology==
The ideology of Rex, which was loosely based on the writings of [[Jean Denis (politician)|Jean Denis]], called for the "moral renewal" of Belgian society through the dominance of the Catholic Church by forming a [[Corporatism|corporatist]] society and abolishing [[liberal democracy]].<ref name="Brustein 1988" />  Denis became an enthusiastic member of Rex, and later wrote for the party newspaper ''[[Le Pays Réel]]''. The original programme of Rexism borrowed strongly from [[Charles Maurras]]' [[integralism]]. It rejected [[liberalism]], which it deemed decadent, and was strongly opposed to both [[Marxism]] and [[capitalism]], instead striving for a corporatist economic model, idealising rural life and traditional [[family values]].<ref name="Griffin132">{{cite book |first=Roger |last=Griffin |author-link=Roger Griffin |title=The Nature of Fascism |publisher=Pinter |year=1991 |page=132}}</ref>

It has been claimed{{by whom|date=February 2025}} that in its early period until around 1937, Rexism should not be categorised as a ‘fascist movement’, and that it was instead a [[populism|populist]],<ref name="Griffin132"/> authoritarian and conservative Catholic nationalist movement<ref>{{cite book |first=Jean-Michel |last=Étienne |title=Le mouvement Rexiste jusqu'en 1940 |publisher=Armand Colin |year=1968}}</ref> that initially tried to win power by democratic means, and did not want to abolish democratic institutions. The party increasingly made use of fascist-style rhetoric, but only after Degrelle's defeat in a by-election in April 1937 did it openly embrace [[anti-Semitism]] and anti-parliamentarianism, following the model of German [[Nazism]]. Historian [[Roger Griffin]] in “The Nature of Fascism” states that the Rexist Party during the German occupation of Belgium as "fully fascist"; until then, he considers it "[[proto-fascism|proto-fascist]]".<ref>{{cite book |first=Roger |last=Griffin |title=The Nature of Fascism |publisher=Pinter |year=1991 |pages=132–133}}</ref>

The Rexist movement attracted support almost exclusively from Wallonia. On 6 October 1936, party leader [[Léon Degrelle]] made a secret agreement with Rex's [[Flanders|Flemish]] counterpart, the [[Vlaams Nationaal Verbond]] ("Flemish National Union", VNV), led by [[Staf De Clercq]].<ref name=SP119>''Geheim akkoord tussen Rex en VNV'' quoted in {{cite book |editor1-last=Gerard |editor1-first=Emmanuel |editor2-last=Van Nieuwenhuyse |editor2-first=Karel |title=Scripta Politica: Politieke Geschiedenis van België in Documenten (1918–2008) |year=2010 |publisher=Acco |location=Leuven |isbn=9789033480393 |pages=119–20 |edition=2nd revised}}</ref> Both movements strove for a corporatist system. Still, unlike the Rexists, the VNV sought to separate Flanders from Belgium and to unite it with the [[Netherlands]]. The Flemish side cancelled the agreement after just one year.<ref>{{cite book |first=Giovanni |last=Capoccia |title=Defending Democracy: Reactions to Extremism in Interwar Europe |url=https://archive.org/details/defendingdemocra00capo |url-access=limited |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/defendingdemocra00capo/page/n124 114]}}</ref> It also faced competition from the ideologically similar (but explicitly anti-German) {{lang|fr-be|Légion Nationale}} ("National Legion") of [[Paul Hoornaert]].

===Burgundian nationalism===
On 17 January 1943, Degrelle gave a speech at an assembly of Rexists in Brussels in which he declared that Walloons were a Germanic people forced to adopt the French language.{{sfn|Wouters|2018|p=272}}{{sfn|Warmbrunn|1993|p=135}} He proclaimed a new, revolutionary "Burgundian" nationalism within the framework of a [[pan-German]] state.{{sfn|Colignon|2001|p=118}}{{sfn|Conway|1993|p=173}} Following the speech, Streel and much of Rex's old guard left the party,{{sfn|Wouters|2016|p=98}}{{sfn|Conway|1993|pp=176–77}} Walloon competitors to Rex for German favor evaporated,{{sfn|Wouters|2018|p=272}}{{sfn|Colignon|2001|p=119}} and Degrelle definitively turned his attentions away from Rex and towards the SS. Over the rest of January and February 1943, Degrelle met with Nazi functionaries in Brussels, Berlin, and Paris to gain influence in the Nazi Party.{{sfn|Conway|1993|pp=180–81}}