French Political Schism

The **Political Schism of France**, or the **French Political Schism**, was a political meltdown of the Fourth Republic of France and the fracturing of the government into 8 factions.

## Political Schism of France

Anti-government protestors demonstrating against the French-African War, 1935.

### Performers

Communard Coalition & AlliesOppositional Factions & Allies

## Background

When the Fourth Republic of France was declared, in March of 1935, the country seemed practically unstoppable to the faltering 3rd Republic. The new provisional government, formed mainly of trade unions, the Labor & Communist Party, as well as the SFIO stabilized alarmingly quickly in the 10 days before disaster. While various opposition movements had formed in one way or another, they were comparatively small, and wouldn’t go on to challenge the government until Operation Avalanche, an event which would shatter the government, and catapult the various opposition groups’ rise to power.

## Operation Avalanche

(Main article: Intervention in the French Civil War)

On March 25th, news alarmingly reached the provisional government in Paris that the Italians and Spanish garrisons stationed at the French border, had gone on the offensive. Southern France was, by this point, still controlled by the 3rd Republic, and this shaky gamble turned out highly successful in the next couple days, occupying swathes of French colonial and mainland territories. The mere idea of going to war with Italy and Spain was practically unthinkable, and even when the French Republicans were driven off of the mainland, promises of intervention to gain back occupied territory went nowhere, and so the government eventually recognized the Italian and Spanish annexations.

## Fracturing & French-African War

To this end, the ultimate, long-term goal of the Operation was achieved, which was igniting French political instability. Thanks to the move to recognize the new territorial differences, much of the French government became embroiled in infighting, while various groups formed in famous opposition to the government.

With the official end of the French Civil War, a new one began not long after. Combined with various generals and colonial governors refusing to accept the new Republic as well as a sudden uptake of African guerrilla activity would result in the unofficial French-African War, an event which further polarized the government, officially fracturing in the last two weeks of December, as many members in the parliament famously broke away from Labor, the PCF and SFIO, and the Coalition Manifesto collapsed. To safeguard the political stability of the government, the three different political parties united under the Communard Coalition, allowing them to retain a majority within the government.

## Political factions

### Government (Communard Coalition) factions

#### Labor Party

The **Labor Party of France** was formed originally in the early 1920s. Originally compromised of only 250 members due to the rejected idea of participating in parliamentary democracy, the Labor Party slowly grew throughout the decade, being a member of various Leftist factions such as the Cartel of the Left before merging with various reformist (but still far-left) trade unions, becoming their political wing. By 1933, the CGT, under pressure from other trade unions, officially sponsored and threw their support behind the LP, but refused to see them as an actual “party vanguard”, still adhering to strict Orthodox Syndicalism. With the outbreak of civil war, the LP was one of the first political forces to act in the Coalition Manifesto, swaying many moderate and left-leaning unions to the side of the rebels. The LP was hugely influential in the creation of the Fourth Republic, and came to rival the Communist Party due to the influence of Unions in the Party.

#### Communist Party

The **French Communist Party** was originally founded due to a split within the French Section of the Worker’s International in late 1920. This split, caused primarily due to the SFIO’s support of the syndicalist movement in Germany, meant that the PCF, for a long time like its rival, Labor, was small in number.

Over the years the PCF slowly grew a following in major cities hoping to rival the Syndicalists. Its policies of cooperation with other leftist or left-wing parties would turn out to be the party’s saving grace, being, like Labor, a faction within the Coalition Manifesto and rallying hundreds to the party during the early days of the civil war, and being a main founder of the Communard Coalition. Despite their cooperation, loyalties to the current status quo have been waning. The current party chairman has been vocal about moving France away from militant trade unionism towards a more vanguardist approach, in open defiance against the more powerful Labor Party.

#### SFIO

The **French Section of the International**, founded in 1905 during the Second International, was and is a major socialist organization currently active in the Parisian political scene. Unlike other parties, the SFIO was largely decentralized, but the events of 1919-1920 would change it’s leadership. Due to a split within the party caused by the creation of the Third International, the **Communist Party** was born, and in its break from the SFIO, the party would move closer to the ideas of modern proletarian internationalism, like it did before the Great War. As the 20s passed on, the SFIO would gradually lose its social democratic base to the **Socialist Party of France** over repeated issues of ideological radicalism. The SFIO was, originally, the most powerful socialist party in the entire country, owing to the small sizes of the PCF and the LPF, but that would be challenged as the 30s began. With the SFIO participating in the numerous left-wing coalitions of the 20s and eventually joining the Coalition Manifesto, the SFIO would have a large influence by the time of revolution.

However, that power came tenuously, as the SFIO, the oldest and most popular political group was rapidly losing support against the syndicalist and communist parties. Most trade unions rallied behind the Labor Party, and as a result the SFIO had marginalized influence as the Fourth Republic was created. A dividing issue of the SFIO was the French-African War, in which, due to the party's past of pacifism and anti-colonialism, many hoped the SFIO would join the opposition and oppose the war. Controversially, leadership of the SFIO opted to join the Communard Coalition, aligning themselves with the government in late 1935. It was a move which further decreased their popularity, as many saw it merely as a power move. Nevertheless, they've also been seen as the "lesser of the three evils", as the party has frequently put pressure on the leading Labor Party to end the war and come to an agreement, something which will go on to define the course of the SFIO depending on how the war will progress.

#### Other affiliates

The biggest affiliates of the Communard Coalition stand to be the General Confederation of Labor, aligned with the Labor Party faction of the Coalition and the biggest trade union in French history. The CGT has a long history of revolutionary trade unionism within France, spanning back several decades, but it was only after the 1920 German Revolution did the CGT fully embrace syndicalism as a viable alternative towards capitalism. The CGT is a powerful force within France, the first organization to revolt against the Third Republic and as a result it stands as a respected political body even by various opposition groups. Tensions have been reported in Paris however by CGT representatives and the Labor Party over various political issues, mainly the CGT believes the new Republic is becoming too statist with its recent takeover of the mainland and the start of the French-African War. With the CGT becoming more dissatisfied with the path the government is taking, some are wondering if the CGT may break away from the Coalition it so adamantly supported just a few months prior. Should that happen, it will undoubtedly create a permanent rift within the Republic, one that may not heal any time soon.

### Anti-government factions

#### Circle Party

The **Circle Party of France** was founded in 1928 by a small group of French soldiers and low-ranking commanders. The party was the first major National Syndicalist organization, founded and modeled after the Proudhon Circle of the early 1910s. Party officials, seeing the success of syndicalist movements worldwide, aimed to unite France under a model of socialist nationalism, viewing it as the only viable alternative to capitalism, while being disillusioned with the social and cultural change syndicalist societies were facing in Germany and America.

The Circle Party had no real political backing until 1934. While it did not join the Coalition Manifesto, with most party officials seeing it as “too radical” for the party, it, with its headquarters in Paris, openly condemned the Third Republic and vowed to join the rebels about two weeks after the CGT revolt in Northern France. Many officers, commanders and generals sided with the rebels not out of ideological similarity, but mostly out of pragmatism, a fact that would go on to favor the Party as time went on. As the Fourth Republic was declared, and efforts to sideline the military went underway, many men within the army, navy and air force began moving away from the Communard Coalition, right in the hands of the Party. The Party’s rhetoric of needing a strong, military state, combined with elements of far-fight nationalism was very appealing to many within the military, and from 1934 onward the party, while small, grew a large influence within the military. Being too large to outright ban the organization, many Communard officials worry that, if the party wanted to, they could revolt against the Fourth Republic at any time, and have the full backing of the military with them.

#### National Worker’s Party

The **National Worker’s Party** was created in 1932 due to a minor schism with the Circle Party. That year, due to political infighting, socialist politician Pierre Renaudel, alongside a couple dozen people went on to form the NWP. The NWP became the first self-proclaimed “neosocialist” political party. Neosocialism sprung up as an off-shoot of National Syndicalism, with a few key differences. Both National Syndicalism alongside neosocialism espoused Marxist revisionism and right-wing nationalism, but neosocialism put more emphasis on the principles of technocracy. Like the CP, the NWP advocated for a planned economy, class collaboration and corporatism as viable alternatives towards free-market capitalism.

Crucially however, the NWP began gaining attraction not among the military but among younger Frenchmen, especially intellectuals and university students. For a time, they gained a bigger following than the Circle Party until the 1934 French Revolution. Even up until that point, neosocialism remained a fringe yet emerging political ideology. They, like the Circle Party denounced the Coalition Manifesto, but once war had begun, party leadership began to rethink their political affiliations. Like the Circle Party, the NWP denounced the Third Republic and actively opposed their leadership, aiding the rebel cause as socialist forces started to encircle the capital. With the evacuation of the Republicans to the south and the founding of the Fourth Republic, the Worker’s Party supported the government but quickly broke away from its Labor-dominated leadership. Their later success was partly due to Renaudel’s vocal opposition towards syndicalism and the Communard Coalition’s falling popularity with the people. The NWP was enticing to many younger individuals, and has considerable credibility as one of the largest opposition group against the government. In a shaky gamble, Renaudel denounced the French-African War, but supported the Labor Party’s stance that the African colonies should belong to France. As the war has dragged on and is becoming ever more unpopular, the NWP in recent days has catapulted nationwide, rivaling not only the Coalition but the other opposition movements, mainly the Circle Party.

#### Bakuninists

While not a political patty or organization in the modern sense of the word, the **Bakuninists** are a loosely defined term given towards French Anarchists who oppose the Communard Coalition and the turn of the revolution to statism. Anarchists in France have had a long history, arguably dating back to the French Revolution of 1789. While several anarchists, including Proudhon and Bakunin rose to power, giving anarchism new heights, it wasn’t until the 1920s that anarchism would be given a new leash on life in France.

After the syndicalist revolution in Germany, the CGT, once anarcho-syndicalist in nature, gradually shifted away from anarcho-syndicalism for orthodox syndicalism. Despite this, anarchists still had marginal influence in the CGT, but as many were forced out of the organization, new anarchist trade unions were founded in the aftermath of the split. With the faltering of the Third Republic, and with the rise of various socialist parties also came the rise of the anarchist movement, most prominently in Paris, but many cities like Lille, Bordeaux and Lyon had sizable numbers of anarchists. The movement, while experiencing minimal growth compared to that of communism or syndicalism, had stabilized, and the situation wouldn’t evolve for another decade until the CGT revolt in northern France.

Seeing an opportunity with the collapse of the Third Republic and the breakdown of the status quo, many anarchists turned against the Republicans, loosely siding with the rebels. As the revolution grew, many anarchists militarized themselves. With the help of nationwide organizations and revolutionary trade unions, dozens of towns and cities in Normandy, Brittany and Île-de-France fell to a new, spontaneous revolution on the 10 of January, and arguably still continuing to this day. In its end result, over 50 towns, villages and cities are under the control of the Bakuninists, dubbed “communes”, the biggest of which remains Cherbourg, Lorient and Dieppe. Due to the influence of the anarchists across the country, and unwilling to see a complete breakdown of the new status quo or even a second civil war, most within Paris have given the communes autonomy under the new Fourth Republic, but many are skeptical as to how long it can last. As a breakdown over the state and the communes seems imminent, it’s also in the air who will win in a final showdown. One thing is certain, however. Should the French-African War go up in flames, and if the Communard Coalition disbands, the Bakuninists will waste no time in seizing power for themselves.

#### Republican-Socialist Party

The **Republican-Socialist Party** was a political organization founded in 1911, initially opposed to the radical Marxism of the SFIO and the liberalist tendencies of the Radical-Socialist Party, the Republican-Socialist Party founded and prided itself on its reformist stances, especially at a time which was characterized by revolutionary violence even before the start of the Great War. The party, as small as it was, managed to stay on the sidelines of the French political sphere until the upheaval of 1919-1922, marked by the collapses of the British Empire, the German Republic and the United States. But unlike various organizations such as the CGT, who took inspiration from the revolutionary fervor which one the German and American Civil Wars, RSP leadership took a strong stance against any revolutionary violence, moving ever more towards reformism as a viable option against French liberalism and conservatism.

Throughout the 1920s, the RSP would slowly grow a following throughout France, attracting those against the radicalism of the far-right, far-left and the seemingly sluggish efforts by the various liberal and conservative parties that dominated France at the time. Crucially for the party's survival, it allied itself with the various left-wing factions that came to win various elections throughout France, such as the Cartel of the Left, whose victory boasted that of the RSP. Taking an increasingly hard anti-rightist stance, leadership was torn by the creation of the Coalition Manifesto in December of 1934. Even with the increasing mobilization of the far-right, especially under the Criox de la Feu, the RSP refused to take part in the Manifesto, still hoping for peace as civil war seemed imminent.

As war erupted just weeks later, the Party took on a neutral stance, not supporting the anti-left Third Republic while also not sending support behind the revolutionaries in the north. But as the Republic suffered significant losses in battle, the Party, in a bid for power, moved slowly towards the revolutionaries, finally throwing their support behind them as the Battle of Paris began. This move proved to be quite beneficial for the Party, as representatives were invited in the creation of the Fourth Republic and of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, but thereafter the RSP would quickly fall out of favor with the new Parisian government.

They strongly condemned the use of revolutionary violence, with one representatives expressing that the civil war was "only a modern version of the 1790 reign of terror", a sentiment which many in the public strongly agreed with. It was due to these stances which brought them to bigger heights than they ever could imagine. Piggy-backing off of the general public's disdain for the civil war and more recently of the French-African War, many in the Provisional Revolutionary Government fear that if the French-African War should end badly, the Communard Coalition may be defenseless against the RSP who may just take Paris as they please.