French Section of the Workers' International

The **French Section of the Workers' International** (FR: *Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière*, **SFIO**) was a French socialist party founded in 1905 and replaced in 1969 by the *Parti socialiste* (Socialist Party, PS). Created by a merger of several French socialist groups and parties ranging from social-democrats to communists, the SFIO became the dominant party of the left in the 1920s. Originally aligned with revolutionary socialist ideas, the SFIO moderated over time, helped along when communists split from the party to form the French Section of the Communist International (SFIC, later *Parti communiste francais,* PCF)

## French Section of the Workers' International

### Local Name

Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière

### Merger Of

French Socialist Party
Socialist Party of France

### Ideology(s)

Democratic socialism
**Factions:**
Communism
Revolutionary socialism
Syndicalism
Social democracy
Neosocialism

### Political Position

Center-left to far-left

The SFIO was founded in 1905 by a merger of 2 french socialist parties: The French Socialist Party and Socialist Party of France. Jean Jaures quickly became its key figure. The party experienced steady growth throughout the early 1900s. When World War I erupted in 1914, the party decided, like most other socialist parties in Europe, to support their government, although a notable section of the party, led by Jaures, continued to hold anti-war and internationalist positions. When Jaures was assassinated, this bloc was severely weakened.

After the war, the SFIO lost some seats due to a combination of the creation of the PCF and a wave of anti-communist paranoia. However, the Great Depression helped the party regain much of their support, and then some. In 1932, the SFIO participated in the *Bloc des gauches* coalition of left-wing parties, where they gained 20% of the vote. The 1936 elections saw the SFIO form the "Popular Front" with several other leftist parties, including the PCF and Radicals, who formed a government despite the SFIO losing some ground in the French parliament. SFIO leader Leon Blum became president. The Popular Front government enacted policies designed to lift France out of the great depression and prepare itself for the inevitable war with Nazi Germany.

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, France and the UK responded by declaring war on Germany, marking the start of World War II. Despite attempts to reform the military, the French army was still inefficient and mainland France was overwhelmed by the German war machine in just a few weeks in 1940. The SFIO participated in both the French resistance and Charles de Gaulle's Free French government. Some SFIO members, notably Marcel Deat, collaborated with the Vichy Regime, a German puppet state.

When the French mainland was liberated in 1944, the SFIO made up part of the post-war Tripartisme government along with the PCF and the Christian-Democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP). This government greatly expanded government intervention in the economy and was designed to prevent Charles de Gaulle from becoming President. However, the SFIO steadily lost ground to the PCF, as some blamed the SFIO for France's defeat in 1940, and Tripartisme collapsed in 1947. The SFIO then formed a new coalition with the MRP and other small leftist and centrist parties. This coalition lasted until 1951.

After this, the SFIO went into decline as both the PCF and followers of Charles de Gaulle gained ground. De Gaulle was elected president in 1958 and set about reforming France into a presidential republic. Gaullists remained in power until the 1970s, and the weakened SFIO was reformed into the Socialist Party in 1969.