On 5 June, 14 tonnes of machine-gun parts were due to be loaded onto an Israeli cargo ship at the port of Fos-sur-Mer in southern France, bound for Haifa, Israel. The day before, however, the CGT general union of dockworkers and port handling personnel of the Gulf of Fos issued a press release announcing its categorical refusal to load the 19 pallets of military equipment.

Over the last ten years in France, repression against young people and workers has continued to intensify: police violence, ‘preventive’ arrests of activists, the criminalisation of trade union activity, bans on demonstrations, gatherings and meetings, etc. The repression of the Yellow Vests and the solidarity movement with Palestine are two glaring examples, but this is a serious and ongoing trend.

In an article published on 2 March, Révolution Permanente announced the launch of a campaign entitled: ‘Against Macron and the Fifth Republic, we need a radical democratic response from below’.

On 5 March, Emmanuel Macron addressed millions of television viewers to solemnly warn them: “Beyond Ukraine, the Russian threat is here and it affects the countries of Europe, it affects us.” 

To begin with the glaringly obvious. The author of these lines has absolutely nothing in common with Marine Le Pen, or the ideology or the movement for which she is the most visible head.

The sentencing of Marine Le Pen to five years of ineligibility for elected office, with immediate effect, is a political earthquake whose aftershocks and effects will be considerable. On the eve of this sentence, a new poll placed Marine Le Pen far ahead of all her competitors in the presidential election. Today, the leader of the Rassemblement National (RN) has been ruled out – perhaps definitively – from the next race to the Elysée.

The French ruling class and its government are on the offensive. In addition to the tens of billions of euros in cuts to social spending and the civil service, employers are orchestrating a massive destruction of jobs: 300,000 direct or indirect industrial jobs are under threat.

Thanks to the support of the Socialist Party (PS) and the National Rally (RN), François Bayrou – leader of the liberal Democratic Movement – has succeeded where previous Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government failed: they have approved a budget.

The struggle waged by the people of Cameroon against imperialist oppression contains many lessons for revolutionaries throughout Africa and the world. And today, the legacy of the dirty war waged by French imperialism to crush that struggle can still be felt. In this article, Jules Legendre explains how France came to rule Cameroon, and the methods it used to maintain its domination, even after the country’s formal independence in 1960.

This is a transcript of the introduction to a discussion on ‘Perspectives for France’ held at the Founding Congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR) on 30 November and 1 December 2024.

This week has been full of sharp and sudden turns. The Syrian civil war has suddenly reignited due to the shock advance of a Turkey-backed rebel group. The French prime minister was forced to resign after trying to force through an austerity budget. Joe Biden has used his last few weeks in power to pardon his corrupt son. And, to top things off, the president of South Korea declared martial law, only to be quickly defeated by opposition from the whole of parliament and mass mobilisations. 

On 30 November and 1 December, over 160 activists took part in the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR), held in Ivry-sur-Seine. Comrades came from the Paris region, Toulouse, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Grenoble, Reims, Gap, Lyon, Rennes, Morlaix, Brest, Nantes, Lille, Bourges, Dax, Cherbourg and Val d'Ajol.

Barring a dramatic turn of events, the Barnier government will fall tomorrow or Thursday. A new reprieve could only come from a last-minute retreat by the RN (National Rally) or the PS (Socialist Party). But these two parties would have nothing to gain – and a lot to lose.

French capitalism has entered a new period of massive job destruction. Announcements of closures and redundancy plans are multiplying: Michelin, Auchan, ArcelorMittal, and many others. According to the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), 150,000 industrial jobs are at risk in the short term. By closing down production, contractors are setting off a chain reaction, with suppliers and subcontractors filing for bankruptcy or laying off their own workers.

This week, the Middle East has once again dominated the news, with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the announcement of a supposedly ‘lasting’ ceasefire in Lebanon. In Europe, meanwhile, explosive events are being prepared in France, as the tottering National Assembly is set to face off against a rising tide of class struggle.