How a century’s old anti-fascist coalition inspired a modern wave of the progressive movement in France, and the world.
On the brink of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games–set to take place in just a few days in Paris–a new wave of political revision has erupted onto the already chaotic French political scene. Just over a month ago, France saw an overwhelming victory for the far right in the European Parliament elections after the Identity and Democracy group gained the majority of France’s seats. On top of that, Marine Le Pen’s ultranationalist group National Rally scored twice the support of President Emmanuel Macron’s own centrist coalition during the elections, giving a massive blow to the already slim majority of his party. This prompted Macron, 46, to call for an abrupt dissolution of France’s own parliamentary body in exchange for a wave of swift elections to decide the fate of France’s political future. And after a deliberate two weeks of voting, the results are in…and surprising.
Contrary to the highly anticipated right-wing surge that had been forecasted by previous elections, no party–not even The National Rally–was able to reach the required 289 seats for majority. But perhaps most surprising was that the right didn’t really win at all. In fact they came in third, behind even the centrist bloc. The most shocking turn of events that occurred with the impromptu elections was the outstanding victory from the left; One that mitigated the differences between each major party to form a coalition known as “The New Popular Front”.
Taking aim at preventing the far right from coming to power, this leftist coalition – composed of the Communists, Socialists, Greens and France Unbowed – takes its name from an analogous alliance in the 1930s. After the end of World War I, and the onset of the Great Depression, a wave of extreme nationalism swept throughout western and central Europe. Impacting areas like Spain, Italy, and Germany in particular, ultranationalist parties began to form and morph into fascist movements such as Benito Mussolini’s “Partito Nazionale Fascista” formed in 1921. Over the course of the Great Depression, the strength of the fascist movement skyrocketed with the rise of Adolf Hitler and violent new far-right leagues in France. This prompted what would be the formation of the Popular Front in France in 1936.
Prior to the establishment of the Popular Front, though, France was at a crossroads between not only the left and right, but the center-left, left, and extreme left. In 1932, elections resulted in the victory of two major leftist parties: the Marxist SFIO and the Radical-Socialist PRRRS. The communist (marxist) party had run on its own, arguing the socialists were promoting social-fascism: a belief held by many marxists that social democracies inherently were a moderate form of facism. Differences between the two parties led to the inability to jointly govern as well as a series of short-lived cabinets from each major party in the political spectrum; In other words, the government was at a stalemate thanks to partisanship and limited cooperation. So, as tensions mounted across France, the right finally found its foothold.
On February 6th, 1934, an anti-parliament street demonstration broke out in Paris, culminating in a riot. Organized by multiple far-right leagues, the riot, at the Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris, gave way to the collapse of the Radical-Socialist coalition. In turn, many center-left and republican parties from the coalition turned toward a new government dominated by the center-right. A brainchild of the far-right leagues, the new National Unity Government would be the start of a journey toward fascism if not interrupted.
Alarmed by the push toward the extreme right, the left feared changes to the French constitution that had been brought up by the new coalition would result in the desertion of a parliamentary government. So, with the preservation of democracy and antifascism becoming the primary goal of communists, socialists, and republicans alike, a new voting bloc was in order. Maurice Thorez, a secretary general of the SFIO, was the first to officially call for a “Popular Front” in the daily newspaper L'Humanité. He famously argued that “Everything isn’t possible” but that the guiding word for his communist party should remain:
“Everything for the Popular Front! Everything through the Popular Front!”
With a new sense of political unity against the common enemy of fascism, The Popular Front gained traction with support by other key political organizations. Among the associations which voiced support for the Popular Front was the French League of Human Rights, the General Confederation of Labour, as well as the Vigilance Committee of Antifascist Intellectuals. In addition, other minority parties that had been formed by dissidents of the three major parties in years past joined the coalition. This included groups ranging from Leninists to Anti-war catholic republicans. All of this to say, The Popular Front encompassed a wide range of political groups that while perhaps didn’t agree on the bulk of policy, came together to defeat facism.
Thus, on May 3, 1936 , the last legislative elections before World War II were held. And with the newfound voting coalition, The Popular Front was able to defeat the National Front with 389 seats versus 223. The momentous win by the Popular Front not only put an end to broad and short-lived Republican cabinets, but most importantly, sent a message against far-right extremism. The elections also gave way to the installation of Léon Blum who became the first socialist and jewish premier of France. With victory in hand, Blum introduced a wave of social reforms across France, but most importantly, put a thorn in the side of France’s fascist minority.
Today, we are seeing the rebirth of a rise in fascist ideology. Marine Le Pen, a longtime conservative voice in France’s politics, has emboldened her anti-immigrant sentiment dedicated to bringing France further to the right. Her protégé and leader of the National Rally Jordan Bardella has repeatedly said he will reduce immigration and strip away the automatic right to French citizenship for those born in France to non-French parents. The National Rally’s agenda also includes ending free medical treatment for undocumented people and restricting citizens with multiple passports from holding certain jobs. With an ever-increasing presence of the far right in mainstream French politics, The National Rally has continued to consolidate and grow its base to the scale of winning majority: an idea unheard of since the end of World War II. So, with this fear in hand and the help of a coalition from nearly 90 years ago, the left mobilized.
With The New Popular Front (NFP) now gaining the majority of the recent National Assembly vote, it puts them in control of nominating the next prime minister. But with no definitive majority, the NFP has had to negotiate with the center bloc towards finding a permanent solution, unleashing another round of deadlock in France’s parliament. Nevertheless, the strength of The New Popular Front in ruling out what had seemed an imminent right-wing surge is a testament to the roots of its purpose. While a coalition that can put aside political differences appears a rarity in today’s day and age, the Popular Fronts in France are proof that people can come together to preserve democracy while simultaneously furthering a progressive agenda.
And the victories against the far-right in France aren’t alone. Across the world, democratic nations are being tested on whether or not they will fall victim to the rise of far-right fascism. In the UK, the Labour Party’s recent victory against the Tories signaled a push-back against both right and left-wing populism. In countries like Germany, Austria, and Venezuela, upcoming national elections are also being closely observed after far-right parties gained traction in recent polls. And in the United States, an upcoming presidential election between far-right candidate Donald Trump and newly appointed democrat Kamala Harris could signal a drastic shift towards the right. Regardless, Popular Fronts around the world are taking shape with the intention not only to fend off far-right fascism, but to beat it.
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