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French Communist Party (
French:
Parti communiste français or
PCF) is a political party in
France which advocates the principles of
communism. Although its electoral support has greatly declined since 1980, it remains the largest party in France advocating communist views, and retains a large membership (behind only the
UMP and the
PS) and considerable influence in French politics. It is a member of the
European Left group. Since its participation in
François Mitterrand's government, however, it is sometimes considered by the far left as a
social-democratic party, especially since
Robert Hue's "mutation". It supports
alter-globalization movements although it may sometimes also criticize them (in particular their alleged lack of organization). Following the low score obtained at the
legislative election of 2007, the party was not able, for the first time during the
Fifth Republic, to gain the minimum level of 20 deputies in order to form a parliamentary group by itself. Henceforth, the PCF allied itself with the
Greens and other left-wing MP's to be able to form a parliamentary group to the left of the
Socialist Party, called
Gauche démocrate et républicaine (Democratic and Republican Left).
History The PCF was founded in
1920 by those in the
French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) who supported the
Bolshevik Revolution in
Russia and opposed the
First World War. Tensions within the Socialist Party had emerged in
1914 with the start of the First World War, which saw the majority of the SFIO take what left-wing socialists called a "
social-chauvinist" line in support of the French war effort. At the
Tours congress of the SFIO in
1920, the left-wing faction (
Boris Souvarine,
Fernand Loriot) and the center faction (
Ludovic Frossard,
Marcel Cachin) had accepted to join the
Third International, obtained 3/4 of the votes and split away to form the SFIC (
Section Française de l'Internationale Communiste). They took with themselves the party paper
L'Humanité, founded by
Jean Jaurès in 1904, with them, which remained tied to the party until the 1990s. The newly created party, later renamed
Parti Communiste Français (PCF), was three times larger than the SFIO (120 000 members).
Ho Chi Minh, who would create the
Viet Minh in 1941 and then declare the independence of
Vietnam, was one of the founding members.
Foundation Further information: French Third Republic, France in the twentieth century, and Cartel des gauches Although at first the PCF rivalled the SFIO for leadership of the French socialist movement, but many members were expelled from the party (including
Boris Souvarine), and within a few years its support declined, and for most of the 1920s it was a small and isolated party. Its first elected deputies were opposed to the
Cartel des gauches ("Left-wing coalition") formed by the SFIO and the
Radical-Socialists. The first Cartel governed from 1924 to 1926.
The Communist Party attracted various
intellectuals and
artists in the 1920s, including
André Breton, the leader of the
surrealist movement,
Henri Lefebvre (who would be expelled in 1958),
Paul Eluard,
Louis Aragon, etc.
In the late 1920s the policies of the
Soviet Union under
Joseph Stalin, under which the PCF denounced the SFIO as "
social fascists" and refused any co-operation, kept the left weak and divided. Like all Comintern parties, the PCF underwent a process of "Stalinisation" in which a
pro-Stalin leadership under
Maurice Thorez was installed in
1930 and all internal dissent banned.
The PCF was the main organizator of a counter-exhibition to the
1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris, called "The Truth on the Colonies". In the first section, it recalled
Albert Londres and
André Gide's critics of
forced labour in the colonies and others crimes of the
New Imperialism period; in the second section, it opposed "
imperialist colonialism" to "the Soviets' policy on nationalities".
The second
Cartel des gauches was elected in 1932. This time, although the PCF did not take part in the coalition, it did support the government without participating in it (
soutien sans participation), in the same way that before
World War I (1914-18) the socialists had supported the
Republicans and the Radicals' governments without participating. This second Cartel fell following the far-right
6 February 1934 riots, which forced president of the Council
Edouard Daladier to pass on the power to conservative
Gaston Doumergue. Following this crisis, the PCF, as the whole of the socialist movement, feared that a fascist conspiracy had almost succeeded. Furthermore,
Adolf Hitler's access to power in 1933 and the destruction of the
Communist Party of Germany (KPD) following the
27 February 1933 Reichstag fire and Stalin's new "popular front" policy led the PCF to get closer to the SFIO. Thus, the
Popular Front was prepared, and got elected in 1936.
The
Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the following
Great Depression, which affected France in 1931, caused much anxiety and disturbance, as in other countries. As
economic liberalism failed, new solutions were being looked for. The
technocracy ideas were born during this time (
Groupe X-Crise), as well as
autarky and
corporativism in the
fascism movement, which advocated union of workers' and employers. Some socialist members became attracted to these new ideas, among whom
Jacques Doriot. A member of the
Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Comintern from 1922 on, and from 1923 on Secretary of the French Federation of Young Communists, later elected to the French
Chamber of Deputies, he came to advocate an alliance between the Communists and
Fascists with whom Doriot sympathized on a number of issues. Doriot was then expelled in 1934, and with his followers, he soon formed the
Parti Populaire Français, which would be one of the most
collaborationist party during
Vichy.
The 1920s and early 1930s Main article: Popular Front (France) The Popular Front Further information: World War II and Vichy France After the signing of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the outbreak of
World War II in
1939, the PCF was declared a proscribed organisation by
Edouard Daladier's government. The PCF pursued an anti-war course during the early part of the
Second World War. Thorez deserted from the French Army and fled to the Soviet Union. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the PCF was the first to organize the
Resistance, which was easier for it since it had been used to
clandestinity. It thus regained credibility as an anti-fascist force. By
1944 the PCF had reached the height of its influence, controlling large areas of the country through the Resistance units under its command. Some in the PCF wanted to launch a revolution as the Germans withdrew from the country, but the leadership, acting on Stalin's instructions, opposed this and adopted a policy of co-operating with the Allied powers and advocating a new Popular Front government. Many well-known figures joined the party during the war, including
Pablo Picasso, who joined the PCF in
1944.
World War II Further information: French Fourth Republic and France in the twentieth century The Communists had done particularly well from their war-time efforts in the
Resistance, in terms of both organisation and prestige. With the liberation of France in
1944, the PCF, along with other resistance groups, entered the government of
Charles de Gaulle.
As in Italy, the communists were at that time very popular and a strong political force.
By the close of 1945 party membership stood at half a million, a remarkable transformation when one considers that on the eve of the pre-War Popular Front it stood at well under under thirty thousand. This surge in membership when combined with the party's strong electoral showing in the Assembly elections of November 1946 led some, including
Dean Acheson, the American Under-Secretary of State, to believe that a Communist takeover was imminent. Nicknamed the "party of the 75 000 executed people" (
le parti des 75 000 fusillés) because of its important role during the Resistance, it was the first party in votes, ahead the
SFIO and the Christian-democrat
People's Republican Movement (MRP).
In the elections of
21 October 1945 for the then unicameral interim
Constitutional National Assembly, the RCF had 159 deputies elected out of 586 seats (that is, almost 30%). Two subsequent elections in 1946, first still for the Constitutional National Assembly, then for the National Assembly of the new
Fourth Republic – now the lower house of a bicameral system – gave very similar results. However, as in
Italy, the PCF was forced to quit
Paul Ramadier's government in May 1947 in order to secure
Marshall Aid from the
USA.
This certainly made France's financial position better in the long run, but it created immediate political problems. The
Italian Communist Party (PCI) was never to return to power, despite the
historic compromise attempt in the 1970s, and the PCF was also isolated until
François Mitterrand's electoral victory in 1981. A strong political force, the PCF nevertheless remained isolated due to persistent
anti-communism. It thus began to pursue a more militant policy, alienating it from the
SFIO and allowing the right-wing parties to stay in power.
The PCF, no longer restrained by the responsiblities of office, was free to channel the widespread discontent among the working class with the poor economic performance of the new Fourth Republic. Furthermore, the Party was under orders from Moscow to take a more radical course, reminiscent of the
Third Period policy once pursued by the
Comintern. In September 1947 several European Communist parties came to a meeting at Szlarska-Proeba in Poland, where a new international agency, the
Cominform, was set up. During this meeting
Andrei Zhdanov, standing in for
Stalin, denounced the 'moderation' of the French Communists, even though this policy had been previously approved by Moscow.
Out of government, and newly instructed, the PCF denounced the administration as the tool of American capitalism. Following the arrest of some steel workers in Marseille in November, the
CGT, the Communist dominated Trade Union block, called a strike, as PCF activists attacked the town hall and other 'bourgeoise' targets in the city. When the protests spread to Paris, and as many as 3 million workers came out on strike, Ramadier resigned, fearing that he faced a general insurrection. This is probably the closest France came to a Communist take-over.
This development was prevented by the determination of
Robert Schuman, the new Prime Minister, and
Jules Moch, his Minister of the Interior. It was also prevented by a growing sense of disquiet among sections of the labour movement with Communist tactics, which included the derailment in early December of the Paris-Tourcoing Express, which left twenty-one people dead. Sensing a change of mood, the CGT leadership backed down and called off the strikes. From this point forward the PCF moved into permanent opposition and political isolation, a large but impotent presence on the political map of France.
During the 1950s, the PCF critically supported French imperialism during the
Indochina War (1947-54) and the
Algerian War (1954-62), although many French communists also worked against
colonialism. Thus
Jean-Paul Sartre, a "comrade" of the Communist party, actively supported the
National Liberation Front (FLN) (the
porteurs de valises networks, in which
Henri Curiel took part). Long debates took place on the role of
conscription. While this stance by the PCF may have helped it retain widespread popularity in metropolitan France, it lost it credibility on the radical left. During his scholarship to study radio engineering in Paris (from 1949 to 1953),
Pol Pot, like many other colonial elites educated in France (
Ho Chi Minh in 1920), joined the French Communist Party.
The second half of the 1950s was also marked by some dissatisfaction with the pro-Moscow line continuously pursued by party leaders. However, no definitive
eurocommunist aspirations developed at the time. A major split occurred as
Maoists left during the late 1950s. Some moderate communist intellectuals, such as historian
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, disillusioned with the actual policies of the
USSR, left the party after the violent suppression of
1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Fourth Republic (1947-58) Further information: French Fifth Republic and France in the twentieth century In 1958, the PCF was the only big party which opposed
De Gaulle's return to power and the
Fifth Republic. Little by little, it was joined in opposition by the center and center-left parties. It advocated left-wing union against De Gaulle.
Waldeck Rochet became PCF leader after Thorez's death in 1964.
In the mid 1960s the
U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 260 000 (0.9% of the working age population of France). it began to follow a line closer to that of the
Italian Communist Party's
eurocommunism. However, this was only a relative change of direction, as the PCF globally remained loyal to Moscow, and in 1979,
Georges Marchais supported the
invasion of Afghanistan. Its assessment of the Soviet and East-European Communist governments was "fairly positive".
Marchais was a candidate in the
1981 presidential election. During the campaign, he criticized the "turn to the right" of the PS. But some Communist voters, wanting the left-wing union in order to win after 23 years in opposition, chose Mitterrand. The PS leader obtained 25% against 15% for Marchais. For the second round, the PCF called on its supporters to vote for Mitterrand, who was elected
President of France.
The 1960s and '70s Further information: French Fifth Republic and France in the twentieth century Under
Mitterrand the PCF held ministerial office for the first time since
1947, but this had the effect of locking the PCF into Mitterrand's reformist agenda, and the PCF's more moderate supporters drained away to the PS.
When the PCF ministers resigned in 1984 to protest the change of economic policy, the party's electoral decline accelerated.
André Lajoinie obtained only 6.7% in the
1988 presidential election. From 1988 to 1993, the PCF supported the Socialist governments at various times, depending on the issues.
The
fall of the Soviet Union in
1991 led to a crisis in the PCF, but it did not follow the example of some other European communist parties by dissolving itself or changing its name. In
1994 Marchais retired and was succeeded by
Robert Hue. Under Hue the party embarked on a process called
la mutation.
La mutation, which included the thorough reorganization of party structure and move away from Leninist dogmas, was intended to revitalize the stagnant left and attract non-affiliated leftists to join the party. But in effect it only resulted in increasing the pace of the decline of the party. Under
Lionel Jospin, the PCF again held ministerial offices from
1997 to
2002 (
Jean-Claude Gayssot as
Minister of Transportation, etc.). The party became riddled with internal conflict, as many sectors opposed
la mutation and the policy of co-governing with the Socialists.
Hue received only 3.4% of the vote in the
2002 presidential elections. For the first time, the PCF candidate obtained fewer votes than the Trotskyist representatives (
Arlette Laguiller and
Olivier Besancenot). At the
2002 legislative elections, the PCF came in fourth, polling 4.8% of the vote (the same as the center-right
UDF) and won 21 seats (out of 567). Chirac's UMP came in first, followed by the Socialist Party, the National Front, UDF, PCF, the Greens, and then the Trotskyist
Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) and
Lutte Ouvrière. Eventually Robert Hue had to resign, and in
2002 Marie-George Buffet took over the leadership of the party. Under Buffet the party embarked on a process of reconstruction, reversing some of the moves made during
la mutation.
On the proposed European constitution, French communists fought for 'No' alongside extreme left-wing groups, half of the Socialist Party, the
Greens, and right wing
eurosceptics. The victory of the 'No' in the
2005 French plebiscite on the
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), along with the campaign against the
Bolkestein directive, served as a major boost for the party. During the referendum campaign the party was revitalized, with a resurgence of the work in the party cells. The PCF retains some strength in the
Paris suburbs, in the industrial areas around
Lille, and in some areas of the south such as
Marseille.
In 2005, the labour conflict at the
SNCM in
Marseilles, then the
4 October 2005 demonstration against the
New Employment Contract (CNE) marked the opposition to
Dominique de Villepin's right-wing government, who shared his authority with
Nicolas Sarkozy as Ministry of Interior, leader of the
UMP right-wing party and already then a probable 2007 presidential candidate.
Marie-George Buffet also heavily criticized the government's response to the
riots in autumn, speaking of a deliberate "
strategy of tension" employed by Sarkozy who called youth from the
housing projects "scum" (
racaille) which needed to be cleaned up with a "
Kärcher" high pressure hose. While most of the Socialist deputies voted for the declaration of a
state of emergency during the riots, which lasted until January 2006, the PCF, along with the
Greens, opposed it.
2006 was marked by the
protests against the First Employment Contract, which finally forced president Chirac to scrap plans for the controversial law aimed at creating a more flexible
labour law.
In the run-up to the first round of the
2007 presidential election, Buffet hoped that her candidacy would be supported by the left-wing groups who had participated in the "No" campaign in the referendum on the EU constitution. This support was not forthcoming and she scored only 1.94%, even less than Robert Hue's 3.4% in the previous presidential election. The PCF's score was low even in its traditional strongholds such as the "red belt" around Paris. The disastrously low vote means that the PCF has not met the 5% threshold for reimbursement of its campaign expenses, and could portend a similarly low vote in the next general election. However, the party had prepared for this eventuality, and thus kept its expenses low for the presidential campaign. However, its very low score at the
subsequent legislative elections did weigh a lot on its budget .
One possible reason for this particularly low vote is that some PCF supporters voted tactically for Ségolène Royal so as to be sure that a candidate from the left would be present in the second round runoff. Another factor seems to have been competition from the young and charismatic candidate,
Olivier Besancenot, of the LCR (
Revolutionary Communist League).
Following the low score obtained at the
legislative election of 2007, the party was not able, for the first time during the
Fifth Republic, to gain the minimum level of 20 MP's in order to form a parliamentary group by itself. Henceforth, the PCF allied itself with the
Greens and other left-wing MP's to be able to form a parliamentary group to the left of the
Socialist Party, called
Gauche démocrate et républicaine (Democratic and Republican Left). Although the PCF and the Greens agree on a number of issues, especially on economic and social policies (consensus on the necessity to support lower classes,
right of foreigners to vote at municipal elections, regularization of aliens, etc.), but also on others themes (by contrast with the Socialist Party, both refused to vote the
state of emergency during the
2005 civil unrest), they also distinguished themselves on a number of others issues, the first of those being the theme of
nuclear energy.
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