Marceau Pivert

**Marceau Pivert** (1895, Montmachoux, Seine-et-Marne) is a French schoolteacher, journalist and socialist politician. From 1935-1936 he served as the Premier of the Committee of Public Safety until being forced to resign after a Vote of No Confidence. Pivert is a member of the Travailleurs and helped negotiate their alliance with the Anarchiste faction. However after meeting strong opposition from the BGT the alliance ultimately failed in it's initial goals and collapsed. After the Travailleur alliance with the Jacobin faction following the elections of 1936 Pivert quit the faction and currently sits as an Independent member of the BGT. He is an alumnus of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud.

## Biography

### Early Life

Born to a family of peasant farmers Pivert grew up in a working class life. Desiring a better situation for their son Pivert's parents sent him to the École Normale Primaire in Seine to learn how to become a teacher. In 1914 he was conscripted into the Weltkireg and served in the French Army from 1915-1917. There he personally suffered from a gas attack and become opposed to the war and the current government. In 1917 he returned to his teaching position and became a member of the National Teachers' Union and a major member of the CGT. When the Civil War began Pivert temporarily put aside his anti-war positions and joined the revolutionary movement as a Junior Officer.

### Politics and Teaching Career

After the French Civil War Pivert returned to his position as a teacher however with the CGT now in control of France his position as a leader of the National Teachers' Union meant he was often pulled away from his job to discuss national education policy. Throughout the 1920s he taught at many schools in Paris while also staying somewhat active in the Trade Union scene and in National Politics. Pivert held many minor municipal level offices but was never elected to the BGT or the CPS.

### Election as Premier

With French politics becoming more contested than ever Pivert emerged as a dark horse compromise candidate between the Anarchistes and the Travailleurs. Though he lacked experience in national level politics he was widely popular in France for his contributions to national education and was a very well respected member of the CGT. Pivert was largely supportive of the proposed coalition government and believed that Syndicalists had little reason to fight one another. He ran for Premier on a joint Anarchiste-Travailleur ticket while anarchist leader Sébastien Faure ran for Chairman. Together they were able to easily gain a majority of votes within the first round and Pivert became the head of the Commune's government.

For all of his support of Syndicalist unity however, Pivert was virulently opposed to the Jacobins and the Sorelians. He believed that both of these factions were overly authoritarian and risked undoing the progress the Commune had made. His position became contentious under mounting opposition from these factions began to sink multiple government bills. Pivert's most controversial stance however was on the possibility of war with Germany. While he was supportive of defensive measures against Germany he refused to authorize a reformation of the Communal army, fearing that giving into Revanchist demands would lead to a second Weltkrieg. This alienated much of the BGT and even many within the governing coalition began to oppose his and Faure's government, fearing that more inaction would lead to France falling behind and being crushed by the German war machine. The last straw would come as L'Humanite printed an article denouncing Pivert and his positions and mocking his older articles on French politics. The next week a member of the Travailleurs proposed a vote of no confidence and with the support of Jacobins, Sorelians and even some Anarchists the Faure-Pivert government collapsed.

### Member of the BGT

After being ousted as Premier Pivert considered leaving politics forever and returning to teaching, however the possibility of a Jacobin lead government disturbed him greatly and with news that the Travailleurs had begun looking into the possibility of a coalition with Armand he left the faction and ran as an independent candidate. Despite his political record he was able to win a tidy majority and returned to French politics as an anti-war anti-Jacobin independent. Since then Pivert has become one of the most vocal members of the opposition and has opposed many of the new government's measures. He has also supported bills that will reform the Commune's education system and introduce more fair education for all.

In 1937 Pivert participated in the Movement for a United Socialist Europe, an organization in the Commune of France, the Union of Britian and the Socialist Republic of Italy that supports the creation of a Pan-European socialist state. Pivert believes that such a state would be a viable alternative to an offensive French war as it'd be too powerful to be threatened by Germany, which will inevitably collapse under the contradictions of capitalism regardless. Despite his anti-war stance Pivert and the MUSE have publicly supported the government of Jack Reed and the CNT in the Spainish Civil War, believing that revolutionary war is different from war between states.