Fifth French Revolution

French Artillery set up for the Battle of Meaux

The Fifth French Revolution was a civil war which gripped France following the General Surrender of 1916, fought mostly between the various French armies which mutinied in the final stages of the Great War. Some, like the Seventh, Ninth, Third, and Fourth Armies returned to the legitimate French government of Clemenceau after the 26th. Other armies, like the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Tenth armies fought against the government, branded the Reactionaries, and began to defect to the Unionists against the Reactionaries.

## Background

For two years, the French Army had continued brutal offensives into Alsace Lorraine, then into the Saar, and pushing up into the Moselle, before collapsing in the face of superior German forces in September 1916. Most of the army was in revolt by then, and general anarchy marred the situation of post-war France. Promises of amnesty won most of the armies around Paris to the Reactionary cause, as the war began to heat up.

## Escalating Situation

The various trade unions of Metropolitan France declared general strikes late into the war, and continued, even after the offensives had ceased. In the city of Paris, most notaably, the *Confédération générale du travail*declared for a general strike. Clemenceau's government attempted to crack down on the CGT, but was driven out of the city by a large militia. Workers in other major cities did so as well, resulting in the legitimate French Government relocating to Amiens, within the Reactionary field of occupation. The Seventh Army, the only army in functioning state, was ordered to attack the city.

The Seventh Army probed into the city from the north, with much of Saint Denis coming under Reactionary occupation, before being ejected by the rapidly expanding worker's militia.

After the battle, the CGT fundementally reorganized the structure of Paris, and pictures of French bankers being lynched in urban Paris became a powerful anti-leftist symbol for many years to come.

Much of the remaining French armies retreated from Northern France, retreating south of the Seine to prevent being annihilated by the Seventh Army.

The remaining Reactionary Armies in Pas de Calais, the Third, Fourth, and devastated Ninth Army were put back into commission, with a planned storming of Paris in October.

## Bloody Paris

Worker's councils and unions in Bordeaux and Brest assumed control of their respective cities. Worker's militias, although not expanded rapidly like in Paris, as the Reactionaries were not in a position to threaten them, began to expand.

On the Third of October, the Third, Fourth, and Seventh Armies launched three attacks north of the Seine, again entering the city. Rooftop snipers and hand grenades thrown out of apartment windows marred the once-picturesque Parisian avenues, plunging the city into brutal warfare.

By the Sixth, most of the organization of the worker's militia had collapsed under massive Reactionary pressure, and guerrilla attacks were the only thing slowing the Reactionaries inexorable advance into Paris.

## Armed Defection

Much of the mob-like Southern Armies were afraid of Reactionary reprisals in case Clemenceau eventually brought the rest of France into his sphere of influence. With much support amongst the working-class 'mob armies' in the South, many thousands of men, armed by the government they sought to destroy, set off to kick the Reactionaries out of Paris.

By the Eighth, just as the city began to pass into Reactionary occupation and the last pockets of civilian resistance began to collapse, the 'Glorious Arrival' of the mob-armies poured into the war-torn avenues of the City of Light. The exhausted, disorganized, and demoralized Reactionary Armies were ejected from Paris for a second time.

## The War Grounds Down

With the 'Second Defeat' in Paris, the Reactionaries new this new Revolutionary spark could not be crushed so quickly. The power base in Pas De Calais set to expand.

October 11th, 1916

The city of Le Havre was captured by Reactionary forces.

October 13th, 1916

A worker's council in Marsaille was set up to administrate the city.

October 18th, 1916

Montpelier also experiences it's own transition, as the Mediterranean coast of France falls under Revolutionary occupation.

October 28th, 1916

Much of the industry of Northern France is reorganized, giving the French Army an ability to make up for losses. The Reactionaries are also given mass shipments from Germany and Italy.

November 3rd-December 8th, 1916

The 'Southern Offensive' begins, with the cities of Nancy, Metz and Troyes falling into Reactionary occupation. The Revolutionary Forces push into Reactionary France, with little gain, and abandon the territory.

November 17th, 1916

The city of Toulouse's police forces are expelled, and a Revolutionary Council joins the Revolutionaries.

November 29th, 1916

Various Revolutionary armies of the Western Atlantic Coast, near the Bay of Biscay, launch an attempt to bring Central France into their occupation and check the Reactionary advance into Nancy.

December 31st, 1916

Dijon and Besacon fall into Reactionary occupation, and no Revolutionary forces stand between Clemenceau and Central France.

February 16th, 1917

The rapid Reactionary advance into Central France is finally checked at the Battle of Bourges, as while the city is occupied, forces from Paris threaten to encircle the Seventh Army, which pulls back into Orleans.

March 18th, 1917

The Seventh Army in Orleans and the Third in Caen launch an offensive to take the city of Le Mans and encircle Paris.

March 23rd, 1917

Forces in Paris launch a counter-offensive, reaching Dieppe on the 23rd. The 3rd Army is encircled.

The Sixth and Eighth Revolutionary Armies attack into Dijon, as an attempt to prevent the Ninth Army from redeploying to take Paris.

March 28th, 1917

Le Mans falls, despite heavy opposition from the Tenth Army. The Seventh Army marches towards Nantes.

April 7th, 1917

Dijon falls to the massively numerically superior Revolutionary Forces, and the French Armies in the south begin a March to the Moselle.

April 11th, 1917

The city of Nantes is entered by the Seventh Army, with only local worker's militias to defend them.

April 15th, 1917

The city of Nancy is re-occupied by Revolutionary forces, which immediately move towards Reims

April 16th, 1917

Nantes falls to the Seventh Army, but the situation is increasingly dire for the Reactionaries.

April 22nd, 1917

The city of Reims comes under Revolutionary siege.

April 29th, 1917

The Seventh Army leaves Nantes, hoping to free the Third Army from destruction.

May 2nd, 1917

The Fifth Army of Paris is faced with a pivotal decision, to engage the veteran Seventh and Third Armies in Normandy, or to begin a campaign towards Amiens.

The Fifth Army moves towards Amiens.

May 5th, 1917

Clemenceau boards a train to Belgium, seeing that Amiens is on the verge of enemy occupation.

May 6th, 1917

Reims surrenders to the Revolutionaries.

May 8th, 1917

The Reactionary armies in Normandy lay down their arms, and are given two weeks to either emigrate or return home. Most choose the former, with french commander Foch facing the worst of several show trials against the Reactionary government.