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== Formation and early years ==
The party was formed on 28 June 1936, by Doriot and a number of fellow former members of the [[French Communist Party]] (including [[Henri Barbé]] and [[Paul Marion (politician)|Paul Marion]]) who had moved towards [[nationalism]] in opposition to the [[Popular Front (France)|Popular Front]]. The PPF centered initially around the town of [[Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], where it was founded and of which Doriot was mayor (as a Communist) from 1930 to 1934, and drew its support from the large [[working class]] population in the area.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Belgion |first=Montgomery |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scROAQAAIAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22French+Popular+Party%22,+st+denis&q=%22French+Popular+Party%22,+st+denis&hl=en |title=News of the French |date=1938 |publisher=Faber & Faber limited |pages=338 |language=en}}</ref> Although not avowedly nationalistic at this point, the PPF adopted many aspects of social nationalist politics, imagery and ideology, and quickly became popular among other nationalists, attracting to its ranks former members of such groups as [[Action Française]], [[Jeunesses Patriotes]], [[Croix de Feu]] and [[Solidarité Française]]. The party held a number of large rallies following their formation and adopted as the party flag a [[Celtic cross]] against a red, white and blue background. Members wore light blue shirts, dark blue trousers, berets and armbands bearing the party symbol as a uniform, although the uniform was not as ubiquitous as in other far-right movements.
Despite the Communist origins of much of its leadership (which retained the name [[Politburo]]), the party was virulently anti-[[Marxism|Marxist]], which it came to regard as a Jewish pseudo-socialism which was not working for real improvements to the situation of the French working-classes. Physical violence by PPF members (especially the PPF paramilitary wing, the ''Service d'Ordre'') against Communist Party supporters and other perceived enemies was not uncommon. The PPF, in its initial, working class, phase, was economically populist and anti-banking. It moved closer to corporatism in 1937{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} when Doriot was deserted by his traditional working class base in losing the mayoral election in Saint-Denis, and the party began receiving financial support from right-wing leaders of business{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} and finance, such as the General Manager of the [[Banque Worms]], [[Gabriel Leroy-Ladurie]].
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