The logo of the PCF. Note the absence of traditional communist imagery such as the hammer and sickle.

The French Communist Party (French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is France's largest communist party and a member of the European Left group. Hammer and sickle on the Soviet flag, together with the Red Star The hammer and sickle is a symbol used to represent Communism and Communist political parties. ... A Communist party is a party which promotes Communism. ... The European Left party is a political party at European level and an association of communist and socialist political parties in the European Union It was formed in January 2004 for the purposes of running in the 2004 European Parliament elections. ...

Foundation

The PCF was founded in 1920 by those in the French Socialist Party who had supported the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and opposed the First World War. Tensions within the Socialist Party (known as the French Section of the Workers International or SFIO) had emerged in 1914 with the start of the First World War, which saw the majority of the SFIO take a social-chauvinist line in support of the French war effort. The PCF affiliated itself to the Communist International. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The emblem of the French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste or PS), founded in 1969, is the main opposition party in France. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Aggressive or fanatical patriotism, particularly during time of war, in support of ones own nation (eg. ... The first edition of Communist International, journal of the Comintern published in Moscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. ...

1930s and 1940s

Beginning in the 1930s, the French Communist Party grew massively in size, their growth fueled by the popularity of the Comintern's new Popular Front strategy, which advocated alliances with other socialist and progressive bourgeois parties to fight against fascism. The parties involved in the Popular Front did well in the 1936 parliamentary elections and won a total of 376 seats in the National Assembly. However, after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 the PCF was declared a proscribed organisation by Edouard Daladier. The PCF pursued an anti-war course during the early part of the Second World War until the invasion of the Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa. Following this, the party took an active part in the Resistance movement, once again gaining credibility with many Frenchmen as an anti-fascist force. The first Nazi officer to be assassinated by the Resistance was killed by a member of the PCF in a Paris metro station shortly after the Germans invaded the city. The first edition of Communist International, journal of the Comintern published in Moscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. ... Popular Fronts comprise broad coalitions of political and other groups, often made up of oppositioners or left wingers, and often united against particularly stringent circumstances. ... The National Assembly is the name of either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. ... Molotov (lower left), Ribbentrop (in black) and Stalin (far right) The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, also known as the Hitler-Stalin pact or Nazi-Soviet pact and formally known as the Treaty of Nonaggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a non-aggression treaty between Germany and... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... French politician Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (June 18, 1884 - October 10, 1970) was a French politician, and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Original German plan Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which commenced on June 22, 1941. ... The French Resistance is the name used for resistance movements that fought military occupation of France by Nazi Germany and the resulting Vichy France during World War II after France surrendered in 1940. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Paris Art Nouveau Metro sign The Paris Métro is the metro (underground) system in Paris, France. ...

Many well-known figures joined the party during the war, including Pablo Picasso, who joined the PCF in 1944, and remained an active member until his death, and the future Cambodian dictator Pol Pot. With the liberation of France in 1944, the PCF, along with other resistance groups, entered the government of Charles de Gaulle, but were forced to quit the government of Paul Ramadier in 1947. During the Fourth Republic, the PCF consistently received more votes than any other party, although they were not allowed to enter the government. A young Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso, formally Pablo Ruiz Picasso, (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) was one of the recognized masters of 20th century art. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Pol Pot Saloth Sar (May 19, 1925 - April 15, 1998), better known as Pol Pot, was the leader of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Cambodia (officially Democratic Kampuchea during his rule) from 1976 to 1979. ... Portrait of General Charles de Gaulle. ... Categories: Stub | 1888 births | 1961 deaths | Prime ministers of France ... The Fourth Republic existed in France between 1946 and 1958. ...

May 1968 and the Fall of the Soviet Union

Following the events of May 1968, in which the PCF was broadly hostile to the events, and the suppression of the Prague Spring in by Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops later that year, the French Communist Party began to distance itself from Moscow, ultimately becoming a strong critic of Soviet-style communism, which many decried as merely "state monopoly capitalism" (see Eurocommunism). This culminated with the Communists' entry into the government as a coalition partner to François Mitterrand's Socialists in 1981. The entry into the government accelerated the party's decline, as did the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. May 1968 poster: Be young and shut up In May 1968 a general insurrection broke out across France. ... This article refers to a period of history of Czechoslovakia in 1968. ... Map of Warsaw Pact member countries. ... Saint Basils Cathedral Moscow  listen? ( Russian/Cyrillic: Москва́, pronunciation: Moskva), capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 1097. ... Eurocommunism was an attempt in the 1970s by various European communist parties to widen their appeal by embracing middle-class themes, rejecting unquestioning support of the Soviet Union and express more clearly their fidelity to the democratic institutions. ... François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterand ( October 26, 1916 - January 8, 1996;  pronunciation?) was a French politician and President of France from May 1981, re-elected in 1988, until 1995. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Leaders

Maurice Thorez was the general secretary of the party from 1930 until his death in 1964. Jacques Duclos was Thorez' deputy for much of this period and was acting general secretary during World War II while Thorez was living in exile in Moscow. Duclos succeeded Thorez as general secretary serving from 1964 until 1972 and running for the office of President of France in 1969 winning 21% of the vote. Thorez and Duclos led the Stalinisation of the party in the 1930s and expelled Trotskyists and other dissidents. Georges Marchais was the party's general secretary from 1972 to 1994. Marie-Georges Buffet is the current leader of the party (since 2001) and former Minister of Youth and Sport in the government of Lionel Jospin. She succeeded Robert Hue, who received only 3.37% of the votes in the 2002 presidential elections, placing 11th in a field of 15 candidates, while the party received an only slightly better 4.8% in the 2002 parliamentary elections. The list she led in Île-de-France received 7.2% in the 2004 regional elections, while other lists led by the PCF received more than 10% (in Nord and Picardie for instance). This is in comparison to the period after the Second World War, when PCF was France's largest political party, with 28.8% in the 1946 parliamentary elections. Maurice Thorez Maurice Thorez (April 28, 1900–July 11, 1964) was a French statesman and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... The President of France, known officially as the President of the Republic (Président de la République in French), is Frances elected Head of State. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... Georges Marchais (June 7, 1920 - November 16, 1997) was the head of the French Communist Party, and a candidate in the French presidential elections of 1981. ... the term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lionel Jospin (born 12 July 1937) is a French statesman. ... Robert Hue (born October 19, 1946) is a French politician. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Île-de-France can refer to: the historical province of France: see Île-de-France (province) the modern French administrative région: see Île-de-France (région) For other meanings without the circumflex accent, see Ile de France. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nord (French, the north) is a département in the north of France. ... Capital Amiens Area 19,399 km² Regional President Claude Gewerc Population  - 2005 estimate  - 1999 census  - Density 1,857,481 96/km² Arrondissements 13 Cantons 129 Communes 2,292 Départements Aisne Oise Somme For use in music, see Picardy third. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

Publications

The PCF publishes the following:

• Communistes (Communists)
• Info Hebdo (Fortnightly Information)
• Economie et Politique (Economics and Politics)

Traditionally, it was also the owner of the French daily L'Humanité (Humanity). Although the newspaper is now independent, it remains close to the PCF in a similar manner to the relationship between the British daily The Morning Star and the Communist Party of Britain. The paper is sustained by the annual Fête de L'Humanité (Festival of Humanity), held in the working class suburbs of Paris. LHumanité (Humanity), formerly the daily newspaper of the French Communist Party (PCF), was the only French newspaper owned by a political party. ... For other uses, see Morning Star. ... The Communist Party of Britain is the largest Leninist party operating in the United Kingdom, although it chooses not to be active in Northern Ireland where the Communist Party of Ireland works. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

See also

• List of foreign delegations at 24th PCF Congress (1982)

The following foreign delegations attended the 24th Congress of the French Communist Party in 1982: Afghanistan - Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan Angola - Movimiento Popular de Libertação de Angola - Partido do Trabalho Algeria - Front de Libération Nationale Argentina - Partido Comunista de la Argentina Australia - Communist Party of Australia Austria - Kommunistische...

External links

• PCF homepage (http://www.pcf.fr)
• Communistes homepage (http://www.pcf.fr/?iddos=53)
• Info Hebdo homepage (http://www.pcf.fr/?iddos=25)
• Economie et Politique homepage (http://www.economie-politique.org/)
• L'Humanité homepage (http://www.humanite.fr/)