As a prominent Canadian Communist leader told me in a recent debate, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and he went on to explain that the Popular Front proved to be successful, resulting in the defeat of Fascism and Nazism, in the expansion of the Soviet system to Eastern Europe, and in the post-war anti-colonial movements. The Socialists were forced out; only the Radical-Socialists and smaller left-republican parties were left. What was going on here? Within France itself conservative and liberal capitalist parties were sometime challenged and sometimes supported by various socialist currents. Published: 27 November 1997. For the Popular Front, in fact, failed to defeat fascism, while the workers it had organized into unions were soon mobilized under their national flags to fight and die by the millions in a second great war to divide the planet between imperial powers, while at the same time in the Soviet Union the hope of socialism congealed into Communist totalitarianism. At the same time in France and Italy, as part of the postwar settlement, the Communists worked with the capitalist parties in Liberation governments to contain and to dampen revolutionary movements in those countries. Wimille would later take part in the Resistance. [11] The Socialists apparent leftism on this question and the Communists moderation represented a jockeying for position in an attempt to attract a radicalizing working class while at the same time maintaining an alliance with the Radicals, the petty bourgeois party, and possibly other parties to their right.[12]. . Blum's cabinet was also deeply divided. A decree was introduced that same month for the inspection of farm dwellings, and at the beginning of January 1937, an Advisory Committee on Rents was appointed by decree. ", Wardhaugh, Jessica. The video shows the woman and child standing in the doorway before beginning to go inside as a man stands off in the distance. [34] The Popular Front had failed in France disastrously. St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide: Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact. Please donateand subscribe to help provide our informative, timely analysis unswerving in its commitment to struggles for peace, freedom, equality, and justice what New Politics has called socialism for a half-century. It was done by Georges Barthlmy, deputy of the SFIO, who declared that sports contributed to the "improvement of relations between capital and labour, henceforth to the elimination of the concept of class struggle" and that they were a "means to prevent the moral and physical degeneration of the race.". (New York: St. Martins Press, Inc., 1999), p. 157. The International Olympic Committee chose Berlin over Barcelona for the 1936 Olympic Games. Hired by Delahaye, Ren Dreyfus beat Jean-Pierre Wimille, who ran for Bugatti. Martin Thomas, "French Economic Affairs and Rearmament: The First Crucial Months, JuneSeptember 1936". Unless explicitly set forth in the applicable Credits section of a lecture, third-party content is not covered under the Creative Commons license. The agreement provided for recognition of the unions and their right to strike. Consequently, the postwar decolonization movement, rather than finding leadership in a democratic, revolutionary and international socialism, was guided by Stalin and the Soviet Union. France was in the 1930s a major capitalist power and the center of a vast empire that stretched from the Middle East and Africa to Southeast Asia and to the Caribbean. 33. Zyromski, after decades as a leader of the Socialist Party, worked with the Communist Party during the Resistance and joined it in 1945. Three months after the victory of the Frente Popula III, No. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. - The Popular Front Overview A plethora of Far Right and fascist organizations emerged in the wake of World War I. Such a political position is, of course, a legacy of the Popular Front.[2]. [24], The Communists in the 1920s saw the need to mobilize young women but saw them as auxiliaries to male organizations. Omissions? [40][41], Economic historians point to numerous bad financial and economic policies, such as delayed devaluation of the franc, which made French exports uncompetitive. As the experience of France in the 1930s demonstrates, such tactics tend to disorient the labor and social movements while bringing them under the sway of a political party with capitalist objectives. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Danos and Gibelin, Juin 36, Vol. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. "The End of the Popular Front: The Paris Metal Strike of Spring 1938,", Wall, Irwin M. "Teaching the Popular Front,", Wall, Irwin M. "The Resignation of the First Popular Front Government of Leon Blum, June 1937. Popular Front in France | History, Purpose & Legacy | Study.com (New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1968) made up of articles written between Feb. 1934 and May-June 1936. As one historian has noted, The Popular Front government coalition did notat any stage question imperialism itself, even in its programme for government.[26], The Communist Party, once historically the most outspoken opponent of French imperialism, now became instead, along with the Socialist Party, an advocate of a more humane empire. ", Thus, as shown by the hierarchy of the ministers, which placed the sub-secretary of sport under the authority of the Minister of Public Health, sport was considered above all as a public health issue. Required fields are marked *. Why did the party fail to provide political leadership to advance working class power? If youve read this far, you were pretty interested, right? After the strike, the CGT grew faster than any labor union movement before it in European history, claiming 5,300,000 members by 1937. [14], The Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936 and deeply divided the government, which tried to remain neutral. The Popular Front had encouraged workers to fight, and fighting the workers had won what was at one level a tremendous victory. While some 40 million French enjoyed political democracy at home, authoritarian colonial governments ruled tens of millions abroad. During the Popular Front, the Communists were often less radical than the Socialists and the CGT, and certainly less radical than many working class militants. [20], An "art for the masses" movement flourished, led by efforts of three of the most influential art magazines to legitimize a visual imagery: Cahiers d'art, Minotaure, and Verve. All rights reserved. Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, the Popular Front and the Colonial Question. After all, Georges Vacher de Lapouge (18541936), a leading theorist of scientific racism, had been a SFIO member, although he was strongly opposed to the "Teachers' Republic" (Rpublique des instituteurs) and its meritocratic ideal of individual advancement and fulfillment through education, a Republican ideal founded on the philosophy of the Enlightenment. 26. How did these two forces thenthe needs of the workers movement and Soviet foreign policyshape the Popular Front? In addition, a secretariat for sports and leisure was established, and opportunities for the children of workers and peasants in secondary education were increased. HIST 276 - Lecture 17 - The Popular Front | Open Yale Courses ", Mitzman, Arthur. The working class desire for unity in the early 1930s initially conflicted with the Communist Partys opposition to an alliance with the Socialists and with the Socialist and Catholic labor unions. The regime succeeded in implementing an extensive program of social reform, including the institution of the 40-hour workweek. Fletchers position of critical support is also stated at Money Drives Politics. [30] That is, in the Soviet Union, the headquarters of the Communist International which set the policy of the Communist Parties throughout the world, the Stalinist counter-revolution was creating a dictatorship every bit as totalitarian as that of the Nazis in Germany, yet in France, the Communist called for a strategy of achieving workers democracy and socialist revolution by way of the Popular Front. [8] The Communists remained nevertheless, the revolutionary working class party of France. These parties represented a political platform. They wanted a larger budget for a stronger French army. The first Popular Front cabinet consisted of 20 Socialists, 13 Radical-Socialists and two Socialist Republicans (there were no Communist Ministers) and, for the first time, included three women (who were then not able to vote in France). Meanwhile in Russia, Stalins counter-revolution of 1927-1937 not only eliminated the Old Bolshevik revolutionaries in the notorious show trials, it also took the lives of millions of peasants in the collectivization of agriculture, and through its forced march to industrialization oppressed and exploited millions of workers. Workers reacted to the employers workplace and political offensive in the late autumn of 1938, once again engaging in strikes and factory occupations, but by November 25 and 26 the majority of the factory occupations had ended. Lorwin, French Labor Movement, p. 79. France - Great Depression, Stavisky Scandal, Popular Front, and Lon [2], The members of the Popular Front parties too small to form their own parliamentary grouping (the PUP, PF, PRS-CP and PJR) joined with several independents to sit together as the Independent Left (Gauche indpendante) parliamentary caucus.[3]. An order dealing with rescue equipment in mines was issued on 19 August 1936, followed by two orders concerning packing and caving on 25 February 1937. A harbinger of things to come was Le Pen's performance in the 1982 m, A labor union is a group of workers who have joined together to negotiate with employers in order to secure better wages and working conditions. The idea of a "Popular Front" therefore came simultaneously from three directions: Thus, antifascism became the order of the day for a growing number of Communists, Socialists and Republicans as a result of a convergence of influences: the collapse of the centre-left coalition of 1932, the fear of the consequences of the 1934 riots and the broader European policy of the Comintern. P3: Pre-WWII France and the Popular Front Flashcards | Quizlet We welcome the opportunity to be a site of left discussion and debate, and we are especially interested in running articles that engage important issues on the left that are in keeping with the broad democratic and socialism-from-below approach that is a proud tradition. Worker militants looked to the Communists to take the initiative. (Everything is possible). The Popular Front, A Social and Political Tragedy: The Case of France But such an international treaty could be negotiated only if there were liberal or social democratic governments in France and the other remaining European democracies; consequently it was necessary to create a Communist alliance with both Socialist and liberal capitalist parties in the Western European countries. The failure to advance the power of the working class meant that the power of the capitalists advanced. The policy of a united front against fascism was announced at the communist Third International (1935); it was to include not only communists and socialists but also liberals, moderates, and even conservatives. However, major differences between the SFIO and PRRRS prevented them from forming a cabinet together, as all had expected, leaving France governed by a series of short-lived cabinets formed exclusively of the six Radical parties. Blum's government implemented various social reforms. "[16] The Republicans in Spain found themselves increasingly on the defensive, and over 500,000 political refugees crossed the border into France, where they lived for years in refugee camps.[17]. The Great Depression and the crisis of the thirties created new pressures on French capitalism and its democracy leading to dramatic fluctuations and sudden shifts in politics. The Popular Front in France was a case of "internal contradictions," to use Gruber's phrase. [3] The folksy pudding metaphor used to describe the agony of the era suggests that Stalin was a hero after all, that Soviet Communism was a success, and that a bright future lies in that dark past. For the first time, the Socialists won more seats than the Radical-Socialists, and the Socialist leader, Lon Blum, became the first Socialist Prime Minister of France and the first Jew to hold that office. Omissions? Need help in making your donation or in subscribingor just want to send us your suggestions? The Popular Front, was a result of both striving in the workers movement and of Communist policy which was ultimately determined by the Soviet Unions foreign policy as directed by Joseph Stalin. The French Popular Front, 1936-37 | SpringerLink But the Communists could not have been successful without the support of a layer of skilled workers and shop floor militants in the plants. Many contemporaries and many students of the period today believe that revolution was possible. Lo Lagrange played a major role in the co-organisation of the People's Olympiad. The social changes that they tried to institute and the unrest that occurred while they held power combined to exacerbate Western capitalists fear and distrust of the Soviets. [30] There is also general agreement, that the Popular Front provided a set of lessons and even an inspiration for the future. The financial situation deteriorated, however, and Blum was replaced in June 1937, whereupon the liberals began to exclude other coalition members, including the Communists, from the government. The French Popular Front, 1936-37 David A. L. Levy Chapter 40 Accesses Abstract The fascist conception and use of sport as a means to an end contrasted with the SFIO's official stance, which had ridiculed sports as a bourgeois and reactionary activity. And, more important, was it necessary to go further? 3. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. They sought an alliance not only with labor parties and among workers, but also with the parties of the French capitalist class. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. This was supported by the middle and lower classes, but inflation and accusations prevented this . The European working classes, reading the handwriting on the wall, began from below to move, demanding unity on the left and a struggle against fascism both in their own countries and internationally. The Popular Front in France. [5] A decree of 18 June 1937 promulgated the Convention "concerning the marking of the weight on heavy packages transported by vessels which was adopted by the International Labour Conference at Geneva in 1929". "[9] In June 1937, holiday camps (colonies) received a nationwide public statute through their first comprehensive state regulation. Unemployment remained high, and overall industrial production was stagnant. Consequently, Stalins Popular Front would exert a powerful influence on the labor movement, society, culture, and politics. With the 1936 Matignon Accords, the working class gained the right to two weeks' vacation a year for the first time.
