From Beginning to End: a history of the French Popular Front

The year is 1934, five years before the outbreak of the Second World War and world politics are undergoing a drastic change. The divides between the left and right are becoming all the more apparent, and France is no exception to this great divide.
The French far-right were getting impatient with the apparent lack of progress in the government, and claimed that it was run by the French leftists, mainly the radical party. There was trouble brewing beneath the surface which erupted on the 6th of February in the form of riots instigated by supporters of the far-right. These protesters formed large groups based on the political movements they were part of. There were several main groups of protesters:

• Action Française, the forerunners in the French far-right movement. They were by far the most numerous during the protests and dedicated to restoring monarchy in France.
• La Jeunesse Patriote, strikingly similar to Mussolini and Hitler's youth movements, they boasted to have numerous important political connections.
• Francisme, an organization holding fascist ideologies.
• Le Croix de Feu, an organization composed of war veterans.

The riots came at an opportune time internationally speaking, as both Hitler and Mussolini were now in power and ready to finance the far-right if they were to attempt a coup d'etat.
All of a sudden the streets of Paris were flooded with angry protesters. The police and national guard were called out into the streets and clashed violently with the opposition.
The photo on the left shows the extension of the violence in the city. A young man throws a potato covered in razorblades at a police horse (out of shot). This was but an example of the violence occurring sporadically throughout the center of Paris; and was far from over.



In face of the recent rioting, the left began to fear for the future of the country. The right was rapidly gaining popularity. Something had to be done quickly in order to counter the rise of the right in France. The SFIO (french socialist party) had suggested that the leftist parties joined forces in the upcoming legislative elections in 1936, but the PCF (french communist party) refused to do so. After the rise of Communism in Russia, the French socialists split into two factions, the SFIO, who opposed the Comintern controlling all of the international socialist parties, and the PCF who were loyal to the Soviets. As a consequence of the split, the Comintern forbade the PCF to join forces with the other socialists. Then, a major U-turn occured and the Soviets decided it would be a better idea for the French left to join forces to oppose the far-right. The SFIO and PCF then joined up with the radicals and thus was born the Front Populaire. While they didn't share all of each-other's views on political legislations, they were able to reach a compromise where the two other parties would back whoever appeared to be the strongest, in this case the SFIO. Along came the legislative elections and Léon Blum, head of the SFIO, became the French prime minister with Daladier (a radical) as his executive. The PCF decided to stay out of it all.
This was also notably the first time where three women had participated in the government, even before women had the right to vote. Things seemed good for the left at long last.

The Front Populaire then set about to changing the workings of French society and French economy, notably by inciting workers to strike. The workers striked and took control of the factories, thus making production impossible and immobilizing the economy. The radicals were incredibly unhappy about this, as they themselves did not support the proletariat, but the small enterprises, and urged workers to go back to work.
On the 7th June 1936, the Matignon Accords were put into practice. These accords allowed

• The existence and creation of worker syndicates, most notably the CGT (Comité General du Travail)
• Business owners and the state to have official representatives
• A substantial raise in minimum wage.
• Two legal weeks of paid leave per year
• A reduction of working hours, to 40 hours per week.

The business owners were understandably outraged, as they felt that they were being made to pay their workers more for less work. This proved to be an exceptional opportunity for the far-right to leap in and exploit this feeling of betrayal.
Owners therefore reduced their investments and started to invest their Capital abroad. The reduction in working hours also meant less production and therefore a higher demand, which forced prices to go up. The radicals weren't happy with all of the social unrest, but also were quite annoyed with the government's foreign policy.
In 1936, while Hitler was secretly rebuilding the German army, a situation similar to the French situation unfolded, with the Fruente Popular winning the legislative elections in Spain. Unfortunately, things were about to take a turn for the worst, as the Spanish right reacted with a coup d'etat led by General Franco. This sparked up a civil war between the Nacionales, who were led by Franco and financed by Mussolini and Hitler, and the Republicans who were financed by Russia, and had many young communists from all over the world joining forces with them.
The radicals decided to stay out of it, as did the SFIO. The front populaire officially declared not to intervene, but were secretly shipping arms across the Pyrenees into Spain to fuel the war effort. In charge of this operation was Pierre Cot, who worked with Jean Moulin, the future head of the French resistance and a native of Béziers.
The right wing were starting to exploit the feelings of the French people, putting up posters which played on the fears of Communism in France. One of the most famous strategies employed was in the form of a call published in over three hundred newspapers across the country by the far-right:

French people!
Despite the hard lesson we have been taught over the past four months, you're still ready to believe everything will work itself out.
Nothing can work out while those who want to bring the Soviets into the country are in power.
Blum's reign will finish one of these days either miserably or tragically.
The communist party is waiting for this opportunity to deliver their final desperate gestures, proclaim a general strike and try, in the light of provoked disarray, to institute their dictatorship and their inevitable reign of shame and horror, [...] as in Spain where the elections of the Fruente Popular ended up in a bloody catastrophe.
The same peril exists here.
French people of all opinions:
Have the courage to look the events that are being prepared in the face. This is the only way you will save your house, your land, your fortune large or small, your work, your freedom, your life.

A campaign of anti-semitism was started against Léon Blum, as well as a smear campaign against Roger Salenegro which claimed he had deserted during the first world war. In response to this campaign, Salenegro commited suicide.
The far-right parties also underwent a makeover, donning new names. Le Croix de Feu became the PSF (Parti Sociale français). A terrorist group was even founded, known as the CSAR (Comité Secret D'action Revolutionnaire), the Secret Comity of Revolutionary Action, who were well trained and had hundreds of hidden weapons stashes dotted around Paris. They were about 12000 men strong and backed by Mussolini, Hitler and Franco. Many rich members of the CSAR split off and created their own enterprises, the most famous being cosmetics company Loréal.
In 1938, Léon Blum decommissioned as Prime Minister, thus calling the end of the FP.