The Rexist Party, or simply Rex, was a far-right Catholic authoritarian and corporatist political party active in Belgium from 1935 until 1945. The party was founded by a journalist, Léon Degrelle. It advocated Belgian unitarism and royalism. Initially, the party ran in both Flanders and Wallonia, but it never achieved much success outside Wallonia and Brussels. Its name was derived from the Roman Catholic journal and publishing company Christus Rex (Latin for 'Christ the King').
The highest electoral achievement of the Rexist Party was 21 out of 202 deputies (with 11.4% of the vote) and twelve senators in the 1936 election. Never a mass movement, it was on the decline by 1938. During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, Rex was the most significant collaborationist group in French-speaking Belgium, paralleled by the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (Flemish for 'Flemish National Union') (VNV) in Flanders. By the war's end, Rex was widely discredited and banned following the liberation.
Initially modeled on Italian Fascism and Spanish Falangism, it later drew closer to German Nazism. The Party espoused a "right-wing revolution" and the dominance of the Catholic Church in Belgium, but its ideology came to be vigorously opposed by the leader of the Belgian Church Cardinal van Roey, who called Rexism a "danger to the church and the country".
The ideology of the Rexist Party developed over time and is generally divided between an early phase rooted in Catholic authoritarianism and a later phase characterized by explicit fascism. Scholars commonly interpret Rexism as a movement that evolved from religiously inspired social reform into a radical authoritarian project shaped by broader European fascist currents.
The ideology of Rex, which was loosely based on the writings of Jean Denis, called for the “moral renewal” of Belgian society through the dominance of the Catholic Church by forming a corporatist society and abolishing liberal democracy. 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, reflecting a broader rejection of parliamentary liberalism and pluralism. The movement rejected liberalism, which it characterized as decadent, and opposed both Marxism and capitalism, instead advocating a corporatist economic model while idealising rural life, hierarchy, and traditional family values.
It emerged from the broader context of Catholic Action, seeking to translate religious activism into political transformation and to reshape Belgian society along moral and spiritual lines. Historians have debated whether Rex should be considered a fascist movement in this early period. Some scholars instead describe it as a populist, authoritarian, and conservative Catholic nationalist movement that initially sought to gain power through democratic means and did not aim to abolish democratic institutions outright.
Radicalization and fascist transformation
The party increasingly adopted fascist-style rhetoric during the late 1930s, particularly after Léon Degrelle’s defeat in a by-election in April 1937. Following this setback, Rexism shifted toward open antisemitism, anti-parliamentarianism, and a more explicit alignment with the ideological model of German Nazism. Historian Roger Griffin characterizes the movement as “proto-fascist” in its early phase, becoming fully fascist only during the period of German occupation. This interpretation reflects a broader scholarly consensus that Rexism underwent a process of ideological radicalization rather than emerging as a fully developed fascist movement from the outset. Contemporary accounts reflected elements of this transformation. In 1937, Time magazine described Rexism as opposing parliamentary government and advocating “discipline, order and social regeneration on a Christian basis,” while presenting itself as a movement against established political parties and financial elites.
Political positioning and alliances
The Rexist movement attracted support almost exclusively from Wallonia. On 6 October 1936, party leader Léon Degrelle made a secret agreement with the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV), led by Staf De Clercq, as both movements sought to establish corporatist systems. However, the alliance was short-lived. Unlike the Rexists, the VNV pursued Flemish separatism and union with the Netherlands, whereas Rex advocated Belgian unitarism. The agreement collapsed within a year. Rex also faced competition from the ideologically similar (but explicitly anti-German) Légion Nationale led by Paul Hoornaert.
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. He proclaimed a new, revolutionary "Burgundian" nationalism within the framework of a pan-German state. Following the speech, Streel and much of Rex's old guard left the party, Walloon competitors to Rex for German favor evaporated, 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.
The Rexist Party was founded in 1935 after its leader, Léon Degrelle, had left the mainstream Catholic Party, which he deemed too moderate. It targeted disappointed constituencies such as traditionalist Catholics, veterans, small traders and jobless people. In the Depression era, it initially won considerable popularity — mostly due to its leader's charisma and energy. Its most tremendous success was winning 11.5 per cent of the total vote in the 1936 election. On that occasion the Rexist Party took 21 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 8 out of 101 in the Senate, making it the fourth-strongest force in Parliament, behind the significant established parties (Labour, Catholic, Liberal).
However, the support for the party (even at its height) was extremely localized: Rexists succeeded in garnering over 30 per cent of the vote in the French-speaking province of Luxembourg, compared with just 9 per cent in equally French-speaking Hainaut. Degrelle admired Adolf Hitler's rise to power and progressively imitated the tone and style of fascist campaigning, while the movement's ties to the Roman Catholic Church were increasingly repudiated by the Belgian clergy.
Degrelle ran in the April 1937 Brussels by-election against Prime Minister Paul van Zeeland of the Catholic Party, who was supported — in the hope of thwarting a Rexist victory — by all other parties, including even the Communists. The Archbishop of Mechelen and primate of the Catholic Church of Belgium, Jozef-Ernest Cardinal van Roey, intervened, rebuking Rexist voters, insisting that even abstention from voting would be sinful, and calling Rexism "a danger to the country and to the Church". Degrelle was decisively defeated: he obtained only 20 per cent of the vote, the rest going to Van Zeeland.
The missionary spirit of Catholic Action attracted them because it allowed them to actively pursue societal reform and see tangible results from their efforts. However, they also understood that political involvement could only achieve meaningful, large-scale change. The story of the Rexist movement is, at its core, about the attempt to channel Catholic activism—focused on moral and religious renewal—into the political sphere in Belgium. It is also how fascism took root in the Belgian context. As Rex developed politically, it came under the influence of a rapidly spreading ideology across Europe—fascism—which appeared to offer solutions to others seeking societal transformation. Given Belgium's unique historical and geographic position and the political tensions in 1930s Europe, the form of fascism that emerged within Rex held particular significance.
Afterwards, Rexism allied itself with the interests of Nazi Germany even more strongly and incorporated Nazi-style antisemitism into its platform. At the same time, its popularity declined sharply. In the 1939 national election, Rex's share of votes fell to 4.4 per cent, and the party lost 17 of its 21 seats, largely to the mainstream Catholic and Liberal parties.