Scouting and Guiding in France: Difference between revisions

History of scouting in France began as soon as [[1908]], when protestant clerics create troops for young boys in their ''patronages'' (clubs for boys). Quickly, those troops become full with catholic boys (Roman Catholicism is the main religion in France and was very widespread in these times). But the Church and many people doesn't like scouting, because it's from protestant ''and English'' origin. So scouting never started from that embryological status before [[Robert Baden-Powell]] came to France in [[1911]], to present his method. That year, the three first French scouting organizations were created : the secular ''Éclaireurs de France'' (EdF), the ''Éclaireurs Français'', also secular, and created by the modern Olympic games creator Pierre de Coubertin, and the protestant ''Éclaireurs Unionnistes de France'' (EUdF). Troops continued to be filled with Catholics, and some priests began to create local catholic troops before WWI. After Fathers [[Antoine Cornette]] and [[Jacques Sevin]] successfully demonstrated that scouting was no devilry, the Catholic ''Scouts de France'' (SdF) was finally created in [[1920]]. ''Guides de France'' followed in [[1923]], the same year as this of the creation of the Jewish ''Éclaireurs Israélites de France'' (EIF).

Life went on up to WWII, when half of France was occupied by the Germans in [[1940]]. Scouting was forbidden in the Occupied Zone, but went on (minus the EIF) in the Free Zone, where the EdF, the EUdF and the SdF (largely the most important organization) met in l'Oradou to create the Federation of French Scouting. When the Free Zone was occupied at the end of [[1942]], scouting was also forbidden there, but, in both Zones, scouts continued to meet clandestinely. Lots of scouts joined the Resistance and helped to the Liberation. So after the war, scouting was ready to re-emerge and le Scoutisme Français proposed to welcome the [[1947]] Jamboree of the Peace.  

But soon after that, French scouting started to divide. As the ''Éclaireurs de France'' were too close to the communist party, some of them left and created the ''Éclaireurs Neutres de France''. Two years later, the catholic ''Scouts de France'' started to reform : in the minds of their leaders, scouting was no more fitting to the tastes of the modern youths, so, they created the ''Raiders'' : plus-troops for the better scouts, enabled to have modern activities such as those of the military commandos. Some years later, Rovers began to change to become more political. So, at the end of the 50's, new leaders want to take the militarist "raiderism" out of scouting, but to keep what they thought was good in this idea. So they divided the original 12-17 branch into 2 branches, with a different patrol system : "rangers" for boys 12 to 14 and "pioneers" for boys 15 to 17.  

That led to many discontentment, and to the most important divides. By [[1962]], Pierre Géraud (often named Perig Géraud-Keraod), a Breton freedom partisan who had created Breton-speaking scout groups inside the SdF, left them to create the ''Scouts d'Europe''. The ''Scouts d'Europe'' did keep the traditional way of scouting, but adopted some reforms wanted by Géraud, notably concerning the guides, who had to stick to the boys' pedagogy. Traditional groups continued to exist inside the SdF up to [[1971]], when they were expelled from the organization, and created the ''Scouts Unitaires de France''.

Only as recently as [[2004]] was it possible to do something else than continuous divisions : that year, the two catholic organizations, ''Scouts de France'', now open to boys and girls, and the girl-only ''Guides de France'' merged into the ''Scouts et Guides de France''. The 9 main organizations started to talk together, and from that came out what may be the first step towards the unity of French scouting : the French State issued a decree stating that there were officially recognized scouting organizations.

The 9 main French scouting organizations, which are recognized by the French State as scouting organizations, are often named the "G.9", in reference to the G.8, the meeting of the chiefs of State of the 8 more rich countries in the world.

''le Scoutisme Français'' is the only federation to be recognized by [[WOSM]] and [[WAGGGS]]. It was created in [[1940]], and counts :

* '''Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France''' (EEdF), the former EdF, secular ;

* '''Scouts Musulmans de France''' (SMF), a Muslim organization created in [[1990]].

the ''Conférence Française de Scoutisme'' (CFS) is the meeting of 3 of the organizations born from the divides :

* '''Association des Guides et Scouts d'Europe''' (AGSE or FSE), part to the [[Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe|International union of European guides and scouts]] ;

* '''Fédération des Éclaireurs et des Éclaireuses''' (FEE), a federation of small and very different organizations.

* the '''Scouts Unitaires de France''' are not part to the ''Conférence Française de Scoutisme'', even though they signed its manifesto, called the ''Message aux Familles'' (Message to the Families).

There are many scouting organizations in France outside of the so-called G.9. Most of them are tiny, some of them are quite particular, as ''les Écuyers de Saint Michel'', an organization for fencing scouts, or some organizations devoted to the disabled.  

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[[Category:Scouting in the world]]

[[Category:History]]