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InFrance, several organizations identify withTrotskyism. These groups vary in size, with memberships ranging from a few dozen to several thousand activists.[1]
In 1929,Leon Trotsky wasexpelled from theUSSR by order ofJoseph Stalin.[2] Internationally, those who supported Trotsky's political views and hisLeft Opposition were expelled from theCommunist parties aligned with theThird International, which had come under Stalinist control. These initial "Trotskyists" (a term initially used by their adversaries) organized themselves nationally andinternationally despite significant challenges.[3]
In France, under Trotsky’s guidance, theCommunist League was founded in April 1930 byAlfred Rosmer,Pierre Naville,Gérard Rosenthal,Pierre Frank, andRaymond Molinier. Its members, all part of theFrench Communist Party (PCF), operated as a clandestine faction within the party and disseminated their ideas through the journalLa Vérité.[4]
After a stay in Turkey, in July 1933, Trotsky was offered asylum in France by Prime MinisterÉdouard Daladier. Trotsky accepted the offer, but he was forbidden to live inParis and soon found himself under the surveillance of the French police. From July 1933 to February 1934, Trotsky and his wife lived inRoyan. The philosopher and activistSimone Weil also arranged for Trotsky and his bodyguards to stay for a few days at her parents' house.[5]
Following the6 February 1934 crisis in France, the French minister of internal affairs,Albert Sarraut, signed a decree to deport Trotsky from France.[5] However, no foreign government was found willing to accept Trotsky within its borders. Accordingly, the French authorities instructed Trotsky to move to a residence in the tiny village ofBarbizon under the strict surveillance of the French police, where Trotsky found his contact with the outside world to be even worse than during his exile in Turkey.[5]
In May 1935, soon after the French government had agreed to theFranco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union government, Trotsky was officially told that he was no longer welcome in France. After weighing his options, Trotsky applied to move to Norway.
By 1934, the French Trotskyists numbered fewer than forty members. Following Trotsky’s advice, under what was known as theFrench Turn, theyjoined theFrench Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) to influence the party's political direction, particularly after the SFIO adopted a united front strategy with the Communist Party.[6] However, this effort ended when the SFIO adopted thePopular Front strategy at its1935 Mulhouse Congress, leading to the expulsion of the Trotskyists.[7]
Subsequent years saw internal divisions and the creation of several groups:
By 1938, the French Trotskyists unified into theInternationalist Workers' Party (POI), which represented the French section of the newly establishedFourth International. Internal schisms, however, persisted.[9]
DuringWorld War II, French Trotskyists faced difficult choices: whether to engage inresistance orentryism intocollaborationist movements to conduct propaganda among German soldiers.[10] Notable figures likeDavid Rousset endured Nazi deportation and later documented the concentration camp experience.[11]
The war also saw Trotskyist activities in theFree French and clandestine efforts. These years were marked by theassassination of Trotsky in 1940, leaving the Fourth International in disarray.[12]
The postwar years saw the unification of French Trotskyists into theInternationalist Communist Party (PCI), which became the French section of the Fourth International, though this unity was short-lived due to internal ideological divisions. By 1952, a major split occurred between thePabloist andLambertist factions, reflecting broader international divisions within the Fourth International[13] which removed its Central Committee. It split again when in 1953, the Fourth International itself divided.
During theAlgerian War of Independence, French Trotskyists played an active role. The Pabloists supported theFLN, providing material aid and political advocacy.[14] Conversely, the Lambertists aligned with theMNA.[15]
In 1967, the rump of the PCI renamed itself the "Internationalist Communist Organisation" (Organisation Communiste Internationaliste, OCI).
The events ofMay 1968 revitalized Trotskyist movements in France, with the emergence of theRevolutionary Communist League (LCR) and the growth ofLutte Ouvrière (LO). These groups, along with other smaller factions, gained electoral and political visibility in the decades following.[16]
They were banned alongside otherfar-left groups, such as theGauche prolétarienne (Proletarian Left). Members temporarily reconstituted the group as the Trotskyist Organisation but soon obtained a state order permitting the reformation of the OCI. By 1970, the OCI was able to organise a 10,000-strong youth rally. The group also gained a strong base in trade unions. However, further splits and disintegration followed.
In2002, three trotskyist candidates ran in the election.Arlette Laguiller ofLutte Ouvrière got 5.72%,Olivier Besancenot of theRevolutionary Communist League (Ligue communiste révolutionnaire) got 4.25% andDaniel Gluckstein of theWorkers' Party (Parti des Travailleurs) got 0.47%.
Trotskyist movements continue to influence French politics, particularly through electoral campaigns and activism in social movements.[17] While the broader left has fragmented, organizations like Lutte Ouvrière, theNPA, and smaller groups likeRevolution Permanente maintain the legacy of Trotskyist thought in the 21st century.[18]
In 2016Jean-Luc Mélenchon, formerly of the ICO, launched the left-wing political platformLa France Insoumise (Unbowed France), subsequently endorsed by several parties, including his ownLeft Party and theFrench Communist Party. In the 2017 French Presidential Election, he received 19% in the first round. In the same election,Philippe Poutou of theNew Anticapitalist Party, into which the Revolutionary Communist League dissolved itself in 2008, won 1.20% of the vote. The only openly Trotskyist candidate,Nathalie Arthaud of Lutte Ouvrière, won 0.64% of the vote.
