France
In France, Mélenchon advisor hails Wagenknecht’s anti-immigrant Aufstehen group
By Alex Lantier, 17 September 2018
Kuzmanovic applauded Aufstehen’s xenophobic line as a strategy for Melenchon's Unsubmissive France (LFI) to win workers’ votes.
Trial starts five years after fascist murder of French student Clément Méric
By Anthony Torres, 14 September 2018
As they try to integrate neo-fascist politicians into official mainstream politics, the police and the ruling elite are whitewashing the murder of Méric.
French ministers resign as Macron government plunges in polls
By Francis Dubois, 7 September 2018
Hostility to President Macron’s agenda is spreading among not only among workers, but also broad sections of small business.
070 French government minsters resign
6 September 2018
Why are French media obsessed with Ecology Minister Hulot’s resignation?
By Francis Dubois, 4 September 2018
While the media endlessly discuss the crisis of the government, their obsession with Hulot obscures the deep unpopularity of Macron’s policies of austerity and war.
French, British boats clash over English Channel scallops amid Brexit crisis
By Alex Lantier, 31 August 2018
The clash highlighted how unexpected conflicts could erupt over Britain’s exit from the EU amid the relentless stoking of nationalism on both sides of the Channel.
Arsène Tchakarian (1916-2018): the Manouchian Group’s resistance struggle
Part 2: Who betrayed the Manouchian Group?
By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 31 August 2018
There is no doubt that the Stalinists’ decision to sacrifice the Manouchian Group was bound up with their genocidal onslaught against Trotskyism and the Left Opposition.
Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France opens summer school with overtures to right-wing parties
By Francis Dubois, 30 August 2018
Mélenchon’s invitation of right-wing parties to his summer school marks another milestone in the right-wing trajectory of the middle-class pseudo-left.
Who is Unsubmissive France’s “Comrade Policeman” Alexandre Langlois?
By Anthony Torres, 30 August 2018
An intelligence agent who read some Marx while in an agency that set up provocations against strikers, Langlois was ideally placed to join the populist pseudo-left.
Arsène Tchakarian (1916–2018): The Manouchian Group’s resistance struggle
Part 1: The political origins and military record of the resistance fighters
By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 30 August 2018
Arsène Tchakarian, the last remaining survivor of the famed Manouchian Group of the French Resistance, died on August 4, 2018, at the age of 101.
French government announces plan to undermine pension system
By Francis Dubois, 28 August 2018
While giving tens of billions of euros in tax cuts to the super-rich, President Macron is slashing pensions, eliminating social rights established more than 70 years ago.
Macron’s education cuts deny admission to thousands of French university students
By Kumaran Ira, 27 August 2018
The measure aims to make universities more competitive and to prepare their privatization.
Unsubmissive France summer school: Mélenchon invites the right wing
By Anthony Torres, 14 August 2018
Mélenchon’s attempts to ally with the political right must serve as a warning to workers that he plans to carry out a violently anti-worker policy.
Spanish army hails record of fascist dictator Francisco Franco
By Alejandro Lopez, 10 August 2018
A group of 181 retired Spanish army officers issued a statement hailing fascist dictator Francisco Franco for "saving" Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
Appeal to neo-fascists on police scandal exposes reactionary role of Unsubmissive France
By Francis Dubois, 4 August 2018
Unsubmissive France is advancing out a populist, anti-worker policy compatible with police repression.
Lafarge investigation exposes US-French collusion with ISIS in Syria
By Francis Dubois, 3 August 2018
Former Foreign Secretary Laurent Fabius claimed to know nothing about it, but ties between terrorist groups and the former Socialist Party government are rapidly coming to light.
France sets aside €300 billion for military in 2019-2025 budget plans
By Kumaran Ira, 1 August 2018
The massive increase in military spending underscores the fact that a fundamental aim of European austerity policies is to finance large-scale imperialist wars.
Benalla affair destabilises Macron government in France
By Francis Dubois, 31 July 2018
The campaign by the police and parliamentary opposition to Macron is aimed at defending the police apparatus and supporting the president’s policies of militarism and austerity.
French police scandal exposes Mélenchon’s ties to the police state
By Anthony Torres, 31 July 2018
Mélenchon’s ardent defense of the police in his attacks on French President Macron reflect his organization’s close ties to the police and intelligence agencies.
Wealthiest 500 French people own 30 percent of the country’s GDP
By Kumaran Ira, 25 July 2018
The vast fortunes accumulated by the financial aristocracy are the product of the social plunder of the working class that President Emmanuel Macron is accelerating.
French presidential scandal: Mélenchon defends the riot police
By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 24 July 2018
Mélenchon was careful not to appeal to anger among workers and youth at the arbitrary police violence captured in a viral video of a presidential aide assaulting protesters.
Top French presidential aide held for illegally assaulting peaceful protesters
By Anthony Torres, 21 July 2018
For months, the Elysée presidential palace covered up this brutal and illegal assault on protesters who were exercising their democratic rights.
France wins football World Cup
By Anthony Torres, 16 July 2018
This Cup, marked by many surprise eliminations of top teams, ended with a match between two countries, France and Croatia, that were far from the favorites to win.
Human right groups reveal French complicity in torture in Egypt
By Francis Dubois, 14 July 2018
French corporations and governments are active accomplices in the bloody Egyptian military junta’s mass surveillance and repression of the Egyptian people.
Riots erupt in Nantes in western France after police murder
By Alex Lantier, 5 July 2018
Multiple witnesses to the killing, including journalists, stated that police coldly executed the victim at point-blank range even though he posed no danger to them.
Merkel, Macron call for more EU militarism at Meseberg conference
By Alex Lantier, 20 June 2018
Merkel and Macron signed an agreement for a drastic expansion of EU militarism and joint attacks on immigrants together with far-right governments in Italy and Austria.
Clashing with Rome, Paris persecutes refugees at Italian border
By Athiyan Silva and Alex Lantier, 18 June 2018
While making empty criticisms of Rome’s callous refusal to help 629 refugees trapped aboard the Aquarius, Macron is stepping up France’s offensive against refugees.
Despite rising social anger, Macron pledges to step up austerity attacks in France
By Alex Lantier, 16 June 2018
The multimillionaire banker-president denounced the “crazy amounts of money” he claims France spends on the poor.
Unions call four-day strike at Air France
By Kumaran Ira, 14 June 2018
The strike call comes amid rising anger in the workforce after workers voted to reject a concessions contract negotiation by the unions and Air France management.
Mass layoffs announced at French retail giant Carrefour
By Anthony Torres, 12 June 2018
Carrefour announced last week that it would close down 272 stores it purchased from the Dia retail chain, laying off thousands of workers.
Anti-“fake news” bill gives French state unchecked Internet censorship powers
By Alex Lantier, 8 June 2018
Judges will be allowed to force service providers to take down material posted on the Internet simply by asserting that they believe it to be “fake news.”
Merkel calls for EU militarism, financial austerity in reply to Macron
By Alex Lantier, 6 June 2018
While Merkel endorsed French calls for militarism and attacks on refugees, she gave little support for Macron’s calls for more investment and guarantees against new debt crises.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 8—The centrist line of the OCI (4)
By Peter Schwarz, 6 June 2018
Fifty years ago, in May–June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 7—The centrist line of the OCI (3)
By Peter Schwarz, 5 June 2018
Fifty years ago, in May-June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
SEP holds Paris meeting on 50 years since May 1968 general strike
By our reporters, 5 June 2018
The Socialist Equality Party of France held a meeting on the political lessons of the May 1968 general strike on Sunday in Paris.
French riot police launch mass expulsions of refugees from Paris
By Athiyan Silva, 4 June 2018
On Wednesday, hundreds of French riot police assaulted one of the biggest refugee camps in France, at the Saint Denis Canal in the 19th district of Paris.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 6—The centrist line of the OCI (2)
By Peter Schwarz, 4 June 2018
Fifty years ago, in May–June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 5—The centrist line of the OCI (1)
By Peter Schwarz, 2 June 2018
Fifty years ago, in May-June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
French rail workers strike at a crossroads
By Kumaran Ira and Alex Lantier, 1 June 2018
As the unions begin calling to put an end to the strike, the strike must be taken out of the hands of the unions and waged on an independent, revolutionary perspective.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 4—How Alain Krivine’s JCR covered for the betrayals of Stalinism (2)
By Peter Schwarz, 1 June 2018
Fifty years ago, in May–June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
French rail workers protest privatization plans
By V. Gnana and Senthooran Ravee, 31 May 2018
Rail workers were sympathetic to the Socialist Equality Party’s call for the formation of committees of action to unify the struggles against President Macron.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 3—How Alain Krivine’s JCR covered for the betrayals of Stalinism
By Peter Schwarz, 31 May 2018
Fifty years ago, in May–June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 2—The betrayal of the PCF and CGT
By Peter Schwarz, 30 May 2018
Fifty years ago, in May–June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
1968: The general strike and the student revolt in France
Part 1—A revolutionary situation develops
By Peter Schwarz, 29 May 2018
Fifty years ago, in May-June 1968, a general strike brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution. This eight-part series describes the events and draws the political lessons for today.
French rail workers demonstrate after voting against Macron’s privatization
By Alex Lantier, 28 May 2018
A class gulf separates growing working class militancy from the unions’ attempts to negotiate a deal with President Macron’s anti-worker government.
“Human Wave” rallies protest austerity in France
By our reporters, 28 May 2018
The protests took place in nearly 200 cities, according to protest organizers, with 250,000 people participating across France.
Billionaires’ wealth grows faster in France than in any other country
By Guillaume Garnier and Alex Lantier, 25 May 2018
As President Emmanuel Macron slashes wages and conditions across France, the country’s 13 wealthiest people have raked in $27.6 billion since the start of 2018.
The way forward for French workers
Build rank-and-file committees to oppose Macron’s austerity measures!
By Alex Lantier, 24 May 2018
In voting to reject privatization, French rail workers are at the forefront of a struggle of the entire working class against the Macron government. This struggle requires a revolutionary perspective.
French public sector workers strike against austerity and attacks on conditions
By Kumaran Ira, 23 May 2018
The strikes and the 130 protests across France are a sign of growing opposition to the militarist and austerity policies of Macron and the European Union.
France: PSA uses labor law to sack workers, boost working times in Vesoul plant
By Anthony Torres, 22 May 2018
Using the Socialist Party’s labor law and Macron’s labor decrees, automaker PSA Peugeot-Citroën plans to sack hundreds of workers and boost working times.
Persecution of refugees mounts after passage of French asylum law
By Athiyan Silva, 21 May 2018
WSWS reporters visited camps in Paris where 3,000 refugees, mostly youth born after the 1991 Iraq war, live in inhuman conditions.
French unions negotiate with government to impose railway privatization
By Anthony Torres, 19 May 2018
France’s major trade unions are moving toward a capitulation to President Emmanuel Macron’s government in the face of this politically explosive and deeply unpopular attack.
Striking workers and students in France denounce war, Gaza massacre
By Alex Lantier, 16 May 2018
Rail workers and students protesting selective admissions at universities denounced French bombings in Syria and the Israeli army’s massacre of unarmed Palestinians.
The massacre in Gaza and imperialist war policy
By Andre Damon, 16 May 2018
The defense by the imperialist powers of Israel’s murder of over 60 Palestinian demonstrators Monday makes clear that they have adopted the mass killing of unarmed civilians as a legitimate policy tool.
French students blockade universities in struggle against selective admissions
By Guillaume Garnier, 15 May 2018
After the March 22 protest of rail and public workers against the privatisation of railways, students launched a movement to blockade universities across France.
The fraud of Mélenchon’s call for a Franco-Russian alliance against war
By Alex Lantier and Kumaran Ira, 15 May 2018
Workers cannot rely on an alliance of capitalist powers proposed by pro-war politicians like Jean-Luc Mélenchon to stave off the growing danger of global conflict over Iran.
One dead, four injured Saturday night in Islamist terror attack in Paris
By Guillaume Garnier, 14 May 2018
The assailant did not have a police record, but he was known to the French intelligence services.
The referendum at SNCF: The unions seek to strangle French rail strike
By Alex Lantier, 12 May 2018
The referendum on Macron’s reforms being prepared by the unions for May 14-21 represents a dead-end for railway workers.
Defying the trade unions, Air France workers vote to reject contract
By Alex Lantier, 8 May 2018
Workers defied not only threats from Air France and the government, but also from the union bureaucrats, who demanded that they approve the contract.
French rail workers, teachers protest Macron’s social cuts
By Anthony Torres, 5 May 2018
Rail workers and high school teachers on strike Thursday spoke out against the social cuts and military spending proposed by President Emmanuel Macron.
Citing clashes at May Day rally, French government calls for end to strikes
By Anthony Torres, 5 May 2018
Officials are calling for stepped-up police deployments and closer collaboration with the trade unions to strangle political opposition.
French president calls for new Indo-Pacific “axis” against China
By Mike Head, 4 May 2018
Macron’s trip to Australia and New Caledonia has taken to a new level moves by France and other European powers to assert their interests in the region.
May Day 2018: Millions march on International Workers Day
By our reporters, 2 May 2018
Mass protests, including marches and strikes, and involving millions of people around the world, took place yesterday on every continent, reflecting a growing radicalization of the working class.
Trade unions in talks with French prime minister to strangle rail strike
By Anthony Torres, 1 May 2018
The unions are openly preparing to betray the strike, as the prime minister has said he will negotiate only if the unions accept virtually all of the government’s demands.
French immigration bill attacks right to asylum
By Athiyan Silva, 1 May 2018
The neo-fascist National Front voted for provisions of the bill, marking the first time a French government has passed legislative measures with FN support.
“Old Europe” comes to Washington
By Alex Lantier and Andre Damon, 28 April 2018
Fifteen years ago, the European powers opposed the US-British invasion of Iraq. Now they are scrambling to serve as junior partners in the new carve-up of the Middle East.
Addressing US Congress, Macron backs neocolonial carve-up of Middle East
By Alex Lantier, 26 April 2018
Emmanuel Macron’s address to a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday was one of the most belligerent public statements ever made by a French president.
In Washington, Macron calls for renegotiation of nuclear deal with Iran
By Alex Lantier, 25 April 2018
Paris is joining Washington in telling Iran it must comply with US dictates or face the renewal of trade sanctions and the possibility of military attack.
Starting Washington visit, Macron pledges endless war in Syria
By Alex Lantier, 24 April 2018
Notwithstanding the deep and growing tensions between US imperialism and its European counterparts, all of them are set on a course of escalating war.
French students, workers march in April 19 protests against Macron
By Anthony Torres, 21 April 2018
The first protest of strikers from multiple professions since November 2017 took place amid spreading blockades of universities by students opposed to Macron.
Melenchon keeps silent on Syria strikes at Marseille protest
By Anthony Torres, 21 April 2018
The rally underscored the gulf separating the determination of workers and youth to fight against Macron and the growing danger of war, and the pro-war petty bourgeois parties that called the rally.
Merkel, Macron meet in Berlin as Syrian strike deepens conflicts inside NATO
By Alex Lantier, 20 April 2018
The German and French leaders endorsed the unprovoked strike on Syria, but were unable to hide growing differences inside NATO, particularly over economic policy.
Macron and the democracy of class war
By Peter Schwarz and Andre Damon, 20 April 2018
For French President Macron, “democracy” means the untrammeled domination of the banks and the corporations.
Trudeau joins Macron in celebrating air strikes on Syria
By Roger Jordan, 18 April 2018
Trudeau’s summit with Macron came just days after France joined the US and UK in launching illegal air strikes on Syria.
Bombing of Syria exposes pro-war politics of France’s New Anti-capitalist Party
By Kumaran Ira, 18 April 2018
The fight against Macron requires a political break with the pro-war pseudo-left organisations that support the unprovoked military assault on Syria.
French students protest war, support striking rail workers
By Alex Lantier, 16 April 2018
Students at Tolbiac University spoke to the WSWS Friday about their opposition to war in Syria, plans to reinstate the draft, and social austerity in France.
US and imperialist allies launch strikes against Syria
The World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 14 April 2018
All of the governments participating in this new onslaught are crisis-ridden and lack any electoral legitimacy.
Macron threatens Syria, pledges to make no concessions to French workers
By Alex Lantier, 13 April 2018
Macron baldly announced he plans to launch unprovoked military attacks against Syria and that he would act with contempt for public opinion and the growing strike movement.
France and UK spar to be leading US military partner in Syria
By Chris Marsden, 11 April 2018
The UK’s standing with Washington was undermined in 2013, when Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron called a parliamentary vote on a planned strike on Syria and lost.
Students protest against Macron as strikes against austerity mount in France
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 11 April 2018
All over the country, students are occupying campuses and holding general assemblies and demonstrations.
UK and French forces on ground in Syria as US prepares wider war
By Halil Celik, 10 April 2018
The alleged chemical weapons attack provides an all-too convenient excuse for both countries to deepen their existing operations in Syria.
Strikes mount as National Assembly opens debate on French rail privatization
By Alex Lantier, 10 April 2018
Air France workers are taking strike action today over wage demands, after rail workers mounted a fourth day of rotating strikes yesterday.
French government launches brutal attack on environmental protest camp
By Johannes Stern, 10 April 2018
On Monday morning the National Gendarmerie deployed nearly 2,500 heavily armed officers to assault an environmentalist camp in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, near Nantes.
New Anti-capitalist Party seeks to strangle French rail strikes
By Alex Lantier, 10 April 2018
Fifty years after the 1968 general strike, the Pabloite NPA insists workers should take orders from organizations it admits support the attacks on rail workers.
As the unions continue talks with the government
French rail workers, students resume strike action against Macron
By Kumaran Ira, 9 April 2018
The trade unions are coordinating with the Macron government to contain the rail workers’ strike movement against the planned privatisation of the French National Railways.
Fifty years after May-June 1968, the class struggle erupts in France
By Alex Lantier, 7 April 2018
With growing opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s labour decrees, the class struggle in Europe is entering a new and explosive stage.
Strikes by railway workers and aircrews paralyze France
By our correspondents, 4 April 2018
The striking transit workers were joined by students walking out in opposition to the Macron government’s assault on public education.
Major strikes in France challenge Macron’s right-wing reforms
By Peter Schwarz and Eric London, 3 April 2018
The railway workers’ strike, which began Monday evening, is the biggest test of strength to date between President Emmanuel Macron and the French working class.
Perpetrator of Carcassonne and Trèbes terrorist attacks known to French intelligence agencies
By Anthony Torres, 29 March 2018
The bloody attack raises more questions about the responsibility of the French state, which has infiltrated Islamist terror networks in their war in Syria.
Major protests against French President Macron’s austerity measures
By Kumaran Ira, 24 March 2018
The strikes and protests express the social opposition that is developing against the Macron government.
No to talks with Macron on the privatisation of French railways!
For a political struggle against austerity and militarism in Europe!
By Alex Lantier, 22 March 2018
Workers taking part in a nationwide strike in France on March 22 are confronted with an international political struggle.
French President Macron signs basing deals in India
By Athiyan Silva, 20 March 2018
Macron’s four-day visit to India last week highlighted the growing military build-up in South Asia.
French ruling elite brays for war in Syria amid US-UK threats against Russia
By Alex Lantier, 15 March 2018
As Paris moves to restore the draft, the major NATO powers are creating conditions for major wars in which large draftee armies could be deployed.
Anger mounts after Paris tries to crush general strike in Mayotte
By Alex Lantier, 13 March 2018
Strikes erupted afresh on the French Indian Ocean department after police launched a sneak attack on pickets at the port of Longoni.
France’s fascist National Front congress sets out “to take power”
By Francis Dubois, 12 March 2018
The weekend congress of the National Front set out to deepen the neo-fascist party’s integration into official politics in France and internationally.
French ruling class promotes memoirs of neo-fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen
By Francis Dubois, 9 March 2018
As French imperialism prepares for new wars, a vast operation is underway to rehabilitate the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime and France’s colonial war in Algeria.
After Burkina Faso bombing, France pledges to step up war in Sahel
By Francis Dubois, 8 March 2018
The capital of Ouagadougou was shaken on March 2 by an attack by two commando squads on the French embassy and Burkinabe army headquarters.
French neo-fascist Marine Le Pen indicted for tweeting pictures of IS killings
By Francis Dubois, 3 March 2018
The indictment of two National Front deputies for posting pictures on Twitter is an act of political censorship threatening basic democratic rights.
French unions negotiate rail privatization with Macron government
By Anthony Torres, 2 March 2018
The unions and the Macron government plan to discuss for two months how to implement the EU-mandated opening of French railways to private competition by privatizing the SNCF and gutting the rail workers’ statute.
French President Macron turns his labor decrees against rail workers
By Alex Lantier, 28 February 2018
On Monday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced plans to end the French rail workers' statute and privatize the French National Railways.
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