Rebellion to Revolution here French Imperialism in Decline here
Rebellion to Revolution
October 20— Massive protests still rock France after some 800,000 workers and youth surged into the streets last weekend. They are angered by the rising cost of living, which is boosted by high fuel prices stemming from the US/Zionist war on Iran. And by deteriorating conditions in schools, universities, and social services.
Many are outraged, too, by the genocide in Palestine. And inspired by the global movement against it.
In a recent poll, 98% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with France’s present state. It’s both an economic and a political crisis. Many see little hope of change within the current system.
They’re right. Capitalism has nothing to offer the masses but attacks, death, division, and devastation. No politicians – from the open fascist Marine LePen to the socialist France Unbowed—can change that.
President Macron is caught between the demands of the masses and the demands of big investors in the bond market. It’s a class struggle. And the state serves the capitalists, whoever runs it.
Only communist revolution can sweep away this deadly system. And clear the way for the masses to build a communist society that will serve our needs.
Only a mass, international, communist party deeply rooted among workers, students, and soldiers can lead that revolution and build that society. The best way to support the rebellion in France is to build the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) wherever we are. To spread communist ideas and build ICWP collectives.
Working-Class Immigrant Students Led the Way
The protest wave started in September with high school students in mainly-immigrant working-class suburbs of Paris. They protested racist conditions like run-down facilities, overcrowded classes, and teacher shortages. The movement quickly spread to other cities.
Student blockades and demonstrations reflected a growing sense that the state can’t provide the education and opportunities that youths need. It can’t. They need to overthrow the capitalist state. No capitalist schools will give young people the tools—the communist ideas and organization-- they need to do that. That’s why young anti-Apartheid activists in South Africa in the 1980s called for “liberation before education.”
Student protests were bolstered by a nationwide public sector strike (including teachers and school staff) against the government’s planned budget cuts. Adding to the masses’ fury, armies of police were deployed to brutally repress the youths. They arrested thousands and injured hundreds. A 15-year-old lost a hand to a police stun grenade. A 14-year-old had a jaw shattered by a tear gas canister.
But police have not quelled the rebellions. The interior minister admitted that they “lost control” in some cities.
October 5 was the third day of national mobilization. University students blockaded their institutions and joined demonstrations. By that time, the anti-revolutionary French “Communist” Party was busy promoting reforms under its “Youth Plan 2027-2032.” As in May 1968, it supports reform demands while denouncing revolutionary students.
Build ICWP to Mobilize Masses for Communism
The capitalist press has described the French protests as “riots.” It whines about the looting of luxury stores in Paris. But a comrade shared a video showing young protesters distributing looted shoes, groceries and women’s sanitary supplies to unhoused people. Others cleared barricades for ambulances and firefighters’ vehicles. “It’s a side of the story that is not being told in the US,” he remarked.
A revolutionary situation would exist in France today if there were a mass communist party with an even broader base to rise to the occasion. The same is true in Albania and Spain. And probably in Argentina, Chile, and elsewhere.
This can’t happen overnight. But, as we cheer the heroic rebels in France, we must do whatever we can now to build ICWP to prepare for more such opportunities that will surely arise as capitalist crisis deepens.
One bright spot is New Delhi (India). There, youth collectives of the ICWP have grown in maturity and numbers over the last decade. They are mobilizing masses for communism amidst the continuing youth protests there. That can, and must, happen elsewhere.
French Imperialism in Decline: The Chickens Come Home to Roost
Is France in decline? Eighty-five percent of respondents in a recent poll said “yes.” They’re right. That’s part of what’s behind the angry mass protests against the current crisis.
Fascist politicians try to blame immigrants for the decline. But the real culprit is imperialism.
Before World War II, French capitalists controlled the world’s second-largest colonial empire. By 1960, national liberation fights had challenged that control in Africa and southeast Asia. As France declined, US imperialism and a newly imperialist Soviet Union were rising to take its place.
French imperialists battled fiercely from 1946-1954 to sustain their exploitation of the Indochinese masses. The war was so unpopular that the government couldn’t risk a draft. Instead, it relied on its Foreign Legion, composed largely of German “ex”-Nazis. And on its French Expeditionary Corps. These troops were primarily Southeast Asian and African men. They came from French colonies, including Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.
The Viet Minh offered anti-imperialist political education to captured colonial troops. Released prisoners refused to fight for France. Some later organized and fought against it. France lost its Indochina war. US imperialism then tried to seize the prize. It failed, too.
From 1954 to 1962, French imperialism tried unsuccessfully to suppress the Algerian war for independence. This war, too, was unpopular. An estimated 15,000 French soldiers disobeyed orders, deserted, or joined the Algerian rebels.
President Charles deGaulle managed the transition from direct colonial rule to neocolonialism. After the May 1968 student-worker uprising, he warned that France was losing its status as a global power.
The word déclinisme officially entered the French vocabulary in 2016. When Macron became president in 2017, some saw him as its antidote. But France’s military budget continued to drop, from 5.5% of GDP in 1960 to 2.0% in 2025.
Since 2020, anti-French imperialist protests have surged in the Sahel. In June 2026, former French colony Burkina Faso cut all ties with France. Along with Mali and Niger, its rulers are pursuing closer ties with Russia.
Without colonies to superexploit, capitalists turn the screws tighter on both native-born and immigrant workers within France. While trying to divide them with racism and Islamophobia.
No worker should mourn the decline of a racist neo-colonial power like France. Or seek alliances with any other capitalist power. Instead, workers and soldiers should organize for communist revolution to destroy capitalism everywhere.
And prepare to build a new world without borders or wage slavery. Without markets or money. A communist world where all workers are welcome everywhere. And where the masses ourselves make the decisions that affect us globally.
Read the ICWP manifesto Mobilize the Masses for Communism here