France

**France**, officially the **Federation of the Communes of France**, is a country in western europe, bordered by Belgium to the north, West Germany to the northeast, Switzerland to the east, Italy to the southeast, and the Iberian Federation to the south. France is a member of, and de facto leader of (along with Britain), the Third International.

## History

### Origins of the Revolutionary Left

#### Paris Commune

The modern history of France can date back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, in which the then-monarchist regime of France would be humiliated and toppled by its own people. Amid the chaos, Parisians, led by the working-class sections of the National Guard, would stage an uprising to seize power in the capital, founding the famous Paris Commune. Despite its passion, however, the Paris Commune was dismantled after a short few months, and the Paris National Guard would be utterly crushed with it.

The French government, now in the form of the Third Republic, would purge and repress the revolutionaries in what would come to be known as the Bloody Week. Within just seven days of combat, the revolutionary left would be crushed into the ground, as MacMahon's army of Versailles would see to the deaths of fifteen-thousand Communards. The greatest effect, however, would come from the executions of the Commune's leaders, which would leave a gaping power vacuum among those who survived,

### Interkrieg

???? In early 1936, ??? In the subsequent general election, the Travaillistes would narrowly maintain their majority as a result of

Léon Jouhaux

### Second Weltkrieg

#### Crisis of 1941

The risk of imminent Communard entry into the Second Weltkrieg was controversial. Though the political climate in France was dominated by a desire for revenge against the German Empire, there was a significant pacifist section of the government, primarily within the BGT, that advocated for the preservation of peace within Germany, many having campaigned for the same in the First Weltkrieg. Both times, they consistently held the belief that the war would be a disastrous wash for France. However, despite socialist pacifism being the mantra in the first war, the pacifist faction of the BGT, also known as les Jaurèsistes, would be censured by the CGT.

Controversy would rise as sections of the Anarchistes would protest in solidarity with the pacifists, attempting to organize a general strike in protest of new mobilization efforts. However, the strikes saw little effect, as many Anarchistes were in support of the war, and lack of factional cohesion would nearly risk a split within the Anarchistes between pro-war and anti-war factions. The crisis would hit its peak as Célestin Freinet, an anarcho-pacifist and a legendary education reformer, would be assassinated by a Sorelian fanatic.

When Freinet was killed, the anti-war movement turned into a real, mainstream issue, finally splitting the Anarchistes, as pro-war fragments moved closer to their Travailliste colleagues. Severing their historical coalition, in the 1941 elections, the Travaillistes would form a coalition with moderate Sorelians to maintain their government, controversially electing Jacques Doriot as the new Chairman. Focusing his new government on preparing for an imminent war draft cards would be introduced: a move which was controversial among Right-Travaillistes and pro-war Anarchistes.

Student activists, now aligned with the Jaurèsistes, burned their draft cards, taking inspiration from their fellow Francophones in Quebec, who had similarly resisted the war conscription. In a rare bipartisan effort between Jacobins and Sorelians, both factions would support vigilante groups who would break up these protests, and would eventually roam various neighborhoods to inspect draft cards. Eventually, the initial wave of protests would die down, but their impact would remain consequential on French politics for years. Anti-war anarchistes, now dominating the party, felt betrayed by the Travaillistes and became wildly popular among students and youth movements, now being defined by a strong pacifist streak in addition to its focus on decentralization. Radicalized and disillusioned, the Jaurèsistes would form the backbone of the "New Anarchistes", now far less willing to compromise with the Travaillistes.

#### Jouhaux's Government

The war was raging, but the government had grown deeply unpopular within the populace. Blaming the Doriot executive for its inefficiency, in 1945, the BGT voted no confidence in Jacques Doriot's chairmanship, and was forced to design. Right-Travailliste opposition figure and moderate trade unionist Léon Jouhaux would assume the role of Chairman in the same year, being pushed into the role to pick up the pieces of a deeply unpopular regime. In the following 1946 elections, Jouhaux and the Travaillistes would paradoxically form a sole majority for the first time in over a decade, as much of Doriot's failures were pinned on the Sorelian coalition partners, who saw their worst electoral performances that year, and the Anarchiste pacifist messaging backfired once France began to win the war.

### Post-War Period

#### Economic Reconstruction

Though France saw victory in the Second Weltkrieg, the peace afterwards was a period of many contrasts for the Commune's economy. Nearly all French people were put to work in the war, whether through factories, support, or military service, but when the time came for the war to end, it was unclear where these people should return to. Full employment brought prosperity to the people and greatly contributed to French industrialization, but France itself would be burdened by its own leadership in the Third International. Funds dedicated to rebuilding Europe through the International Phalanstère primarily came from France, leading to fears of a debt crisis as these efforts nearly dried up.

This worry would subside, however, when Britain would launch a grand reconstruction plan to rebuild Europe. Being the least devastated country in the war, Oswald Mosley himself would funnel much of Britain's income and manufacturing sector into the Phalanstère, with (northern) France being one of the regions it would concentrate the most funding towards. A few years later, Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, and the Nordic Federation would sign the Strasbourg Accord in 1947, creating the Union of Europe as a supranational economic and political organization.

France would see massive growth and rapid development, but many in the CGT would be skeptic of the form that European unity had been taking, and suspicious of Mosley's intentions. Nervous of the political support for Britain that the plans had caused in Germany, France would once more push itself ahead in the Phalanstère program, beginning the "Great Game" of investment rivalry between the two countries.

#### Crisis of 1951

The general elections of 1951 proved to be a pivotal year for the Commune, as, for the first time, the Anarchistes gained a majority in