The Communist Party appeared a hundred years ago on the French political and social scene. According to opinions and moments, it has been the party of Moscow, of those shot, of the working class, of the union of the left, the party of the foreigner or that of the nation. It has been underground, in government, in town halls, in factories or in the streets. Some considered it too revolutionary, others not enough. More than others, it aroused passions, positive or negative. It attracted many and repelled just as many. After the fall of the USSR, it decided to remain a communist party, while many others gave it up. But it no longer has the place it once had, in reality as in the imagination. This book does not intend to judge, but to provide keys to understanding. It is based on a considerable number of archives that are now available and is an ordered and distanced look at an object that is not lacking in complexity and no doubt even in mystery.
Author(s): Roger Martelli, Jean Vigreux, Serge Wolikow
Series: Marx, Engels, and Marxisms
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 367
City: Cham
Titles Published
Titles Forthcoming
Introduction
Contents
Acronyms
1 Origin and Formation of a New Party
The Shock of War
The Impact of the Russian Revolutions
The Appeal of the International
Debate Among Socialists
The Tours Congress
2 The Emergence of a New Party 1921–1933
First Rifts
Facing the Storm
Hesitations and the “Class Versus Class” Turnaround
On the Way to Revolution?
The PC at Its Lowest Point
3 The Time of the Popular Front
The PCF at the Origins of the Popular Front
New Motto, New Project
The PC Becomes Part of the Political Landscape
The “Ministry of the Masses”
A Popular Party
A Time of Difficulties and Isolation
4 The PCF in the War
The German-Soviet Pact and the “Phoney War”
The Defeat and the Beginning of the Occupation
Entering the Armed Struggle
At the Heart of Resistance Action
Preparing for Liberation
Polemics
5 The First Party of France
Insurgency and Position of Power
A Governing Party
The PCF and the Left: A New Power-Based Relationship
The Communist Galaxy
6 Joining the Cold War
The Dismissal of the Communist Ministers
PCF, Kominform, and International Relations
The PCF and People’s Democracies
The Strikes of 1947–1953: The Shadow of the PCF?
Colonial Wars and the Struggle for Peace
Anti-Americanism
The Return of Anti-Communism
A Monolithic Party?
The Marty-Tillon Case
7 An Uncertain Party (1953–1958)
The Death of Stalin
The Time of the EDC (1950–1954)
Hardening or Opening?
The PCF and the 20th CPSU Congress
Mao Zedong’s Appeal to Fight the “Opportunists”.
The PCF and the Beginning of the Algerian War
8 The PCF and Gaullism 1958–1968
Faced with the Gaullist Coup De Force
The Servin-Casanova Case
The Beginnings of a Modernisation
Waldeck Rochet at Work
Continued Dialogue with Christians
Strengthening the Union of the Left and the Party
9 1968–1972: Between Two Springs
Satisfaction and Concerns
The “Leftists” on the Move?
The Labour Movement Enters the Scene
The Alternative at the Corner of Street?
The Political Imbroglio
The Time of Rising
Prague Spring
The Shock
After the Storm
Time for Renewal?
The Programme, at Last!
10 From the Common Agenda to the Departure of the Government (1972–1984)
A Puzzling Direction
Everything Was on the Move
The Party of Georges Marchais
Eurocommunism
The Split of the Union of the Left
Disaccords and Tensing
The Shock of 1981
In the Government
11 1984–2002: An Irresistible Setback
1984–1985: Beginning of the Crisis
The “Party of Struggles” and Perestroika
A Cultural Crisis
Respite and “Mutation”
12 2002–2019: Conjuring Decline
A Retracted Continent
The Social Substratum of Decline
Left and Labour Movement: End of the Game?
The “Antiliberal” Experiment
The Hopes of the Left Front
The Front Breaks up
The Shock of 2017
No More “International Communist Movement”
Conclusion
Annexes
Staffing Levels
Election Result
Legislative Elections
Presidential Elections
Regional Elections
Cantonal and Departmental Elections
The European Elections
Communist Elected Representatives
The Sociology of the Vote
The Workers’ Vote Since 1958
The Communist Vote by Category of Voters Since 1978 (% Penetration)
The Sociology of Activists
The Members
Communist Leadership
The Central Committee 1920–2018
Municipal Communism
The Organisation
Democratic Centralism
Statutory Functioning
Counter-Company
Humanity Day
Women
The “ex” of the PCF
The Archives of Communism
General Secretaries and Congresses
Bibliography
Index
