French Revivalism: Vive la France

France has been recently going through chaotic time as it is facing Islamic insurrection after killing of 17 year old young Nahel M of Algerian descent by the police in Paris on the basis of a criminal record which is denied by his family. Ever since that killing, mass riots have erupted across Paris and some other parts of France with people of minority community indulging in arsoning, violence, burning down public properties, trains and transport system. The violence has been such cold blooded that even a tourist bus of Chinese tourists was attacked in the crossfire of the rioters so much so that Beijing had to summon French Ambassador to lodge protest . The situation in France escalated badly so much so that President Macron had to cancel his visit to Germany to fix the situation arisen at home. Since then action has been initiated with nearly one thousand arrests made and internet clampdown on social media to bring the situation under control.

The French have seen many such protests in recent past during the President Macron’s presidency from Yellow Vests to Pension Reforms to the insurrection going on now. The question to ponder is that is this Chaos in France organic or is it orchestrated because once it can be spontaneous but certainly not twice or thrice. To understand what is happening in France we need to first revisit French history and its revival as a fifth republic after World War 2. The French much like other European powers had colonised many countries and areas specially in Africa, Indo-China. The first colonial empire of France had salve trade from Africa where lakhs of African salves were transported from Haiti, African and French Caribbean colonies. Slavery was first abolished by in France by Napoleon in 1815. After which Congress of Vienna also opposed the practice of slavery and the salve trade was banned in France in 1818.

The second colonial empire of France began with the conquest of Algeria in 1830, and thereafter it spread wide in western Africa. The French colonial system was based on the premise of French nationalism, imposition of culture and language with view of assimilation policy. The conditions that a “native” had to meet in order to be granted French citizenship included earning a decent living, displaying good moral standards, and speaking and writing French. The French assimilation policy was based on idea of expanding French culture to the colonies in Africa where the natives were to make sure that they would adopt French customs and culture. Literature and books in African colonies were promoted in French language with a series of decrees, ordinances, official memoranda & communiques and decisions made by the administrators of those French colonies of Africa. There was total subjugation of African culture as the French value system was imposed while exploiting the rich mineral wealth countries had in Africa.

Charles De Gaulle Era - The Fifth Republic

The French colonial empire got disbanded after wars of independence in Indo-China in 1955, Algeria in 1962 and peaceful decolonization of Africa of south of Sahara after 1960. The French gave independence to many African countries after1960 like Central African Republic, Chad, Benin, People’s Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Sudan, Mali, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia and Burkina Faso. President of France Charles de Gaulle granted independence to these colonies but he managed to give them same without severing the cultural links that it had established during its second colonial empire. Charles de Gaulle had floated an idea of autonomous and self governing dominions under “Franco-African community” to be modelled on British Commonwealth. However due to the increased pressures, the African nations refused to join Franco Federation which ultimately made Charles de Gaulle gave them full Independence.

Instead, an ingenious system of bilateral agreements between France and former African colonies was installed through a series of cooperation accords, covering trade, education, natural resources, currency, finance, security, defence, and so on. France signed eight secretive defence accords with Cameroon, the CAR, Comoros, Djibouti, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo. As a consequence of these accords, the presence of pre-positioned French troops was maintained in Djibouti (3,000 troops), Gabon (600), Côte d’Ivoire (550), Senegal (1,100), and Chad (700). But there are an additional 30 African countries that have signed defence accords of technical assistance, including Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, and Rwanda, as well as countries that were colonised by other European powers like Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Kinshasa, the legal substructure for the military superstructure of French military interventions. These accords were used by French to maintain their influence over former African colonies.

The colonial era is dark period of imperialistic European powers like British, Portugese, French & Spanish. However as time changes so do the nature and geo-politics and dynamics of regional power centers. After world war 2, France was faced with a different situation on European continent as Soviet Union had come upto central Europe and its arch rival Germany defeated in the war was divided between two blocs of East and West. This was also the period of Cold War between Soviet Union & USA with Britain and western Europe including France siding with America lead bloc. Owing to the cold war on the European continent and the communist threat from Soviet Union, America which had now risen as a super power replacing British empire formed a military bloc in NATO which included Western European countries, Canada etc.

The dominant feature of this regional order was that European continent was dominated by Anglo-Saxon alliance of America & Britain to which the French lead by Charles De Gaulle detested whilst looking to advance the French values of republic, culture and world view. The French were unwilling to submit to Anglo-Saxon alliance as a regional power on European continent. Charles De Gaulle’s foreign policy was authentically French which meant that the French sought a) a weak and divided Germany, b) suspicion of Britain and American specially the former, c) a closeness towards Russia to the extent of seeking an alliance with it. De Gaulle saw competing influences of American and Britain in western Europe and with Russia he sought recognition and identity of purpose. He summed up the relations with Russia as “la vielle Russie de toujours” meaning an enteral Russia which was distinct from concept of Soviet Union. After returning to power in 1958, De Gaulle had commented that there is no conflict of interest between France & Russia.

De Gaulle always felt a passion for French Literature and history that never dimmed. Out of his intimacy with French history and literature grew his epic view of France endlessly oscillating between greatness and decline. He saw that France was always betrayed by the weakness or divisiveness of her leadership until some great figure like a Joan of Arc, an Henri IV, a Bonaparte, Clemenceau, or Poincare aroused her genius for renewal. De Gaulle made an early identification with this sacred handful: “I was convinced that France would have to go through gigantic trials, that the interest of life consisted in one day rendering her some signal service, and that I would have the occasion to do so.”

Charles De Gaulle’s distrust of America was founded in the way America treated allies in western Europe & NATO. There was a lot of divergence in American administrations under Eisenhower and Kennedy Administration on whether to put France on same pedestal as that with Great Britain. De Gaulle feared American power, because it seemed to block realization of a great role for France and he claimed to see an imperial design in most American purposes. Britain was a threat only insofar as it was a work horse for Washington. Thus, in view of De Gaulle Britain had to be denied a continental role on Europe until it sheds the American baggage and gives up any claims or pretensions to power on the European continent which might jeopardize France’s pre-eminence in Western Europe.

The other facet of De Gaulle’s policy was quiet distaste for British who he saw as an adage to America in the Anglo-Saxon bloc. The conflict between De Gaulle and Anglo-Saxon allies arose during Suez Crisis in 1956 and later in war in Algeria. While Anglo Saxon bloc of America and Britain was engaged in war, France was occupied in restoring its glory in its territories in Africa. De Gaulle had even threatened in 1941 to use troops to displace the British forces in Lebanon & Syria. Thus after returning to power in 1958, Gaulle had made up his mind to rid France of the Anglo-Saxon domination of European continent. The French government ultimately rebelled against the Anglo-Saxon alliance and twice De Gaulle pulled France out of NATO putting the whole trans-atlantic security architecture in danger.

The French nationalism post World War 2 had anti-Germán sentiment. De Gaulle’s view was that while America may try to impose its values over French civilizational values but America is not prime threat to France as a power given its real rival on the continent is Germany for the place of western European leadership. He believed one day America will go back into an isolationist mode to being a western hemisphere and pacifist power leaving Europe to the Europeans. Thus he considered Germany might emerge as powerhouse in Europe challenging the French as natural leaders of European continental order. The view of Charles de Gaulle prophetically came true decades later when Trump administration in US implemented its America first policy and even threatened to withdraw from NATO while imposing the tariffs on the European Union. The saving grace for the French was that this time it was in power sharing model with Germany and other European countries in European Union a supra-national state & they collectively pushed back against an isolationist and protectionist America under President Macron of France.

Macron - The Return of the De Gaulle Era

The French have always prided on the French values of republic i.e. liberty, equality and fraternity. However in the recent past in the post colonial era French have a tumultuous history. It was President Nicholas Sarkozy who lead NATO effort against Gaddafi in Libya something which was very uncharacteristic of French foreign policy post the World War 2 as the French refused to participate in unilateral actions of Anglo-Saxon like the War in Iraq in 2003. He was followed by President Hollande who along with Angela Merkel did the cardinal blunder of opening the gates for Syrian refugees thus altering the demographics of the European continent which could prove costly for it. The demographic invasion of Europe was partly abetted by President Erdogan of Turkey who used the refugees influx as a tool as a leverage with European Union to extract concessions.

It was in backdrop of these policies that French people adopted for a far younger & dynamic leader Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker and a centrist leader someone who advocated French revivalism and an independent foreign policy based on French interests and not of the Anglo-Saxons. On assuming power in 2017, President Macron initiated many radical reforms domestically like pushing for Labour reforms in September 2017 despite protests overhauling century old labour code allowing companies more room for negotiations and flexibility over wages and conditions. This was followed by reform in Education system in February 2018 i.e. baccalaureate dating back to the age of Napoleon. The reforms in French education system was to make it more competitive and in compliance with French value systems.

In November 2018, French President brought a fake news law to make people who spread propaganda accountable for disinformation. This was done in backdrop alleged Russian interference in French presidential elections. The most radical reform introduced by President Macron was Anti-Radicalisation bill that was brought in 2021 after a slate of terror incidents. This law banned madrasas in France imparting Islamists fundamentalists education. The law stipulated that a person can be fined as much as 13 Lakh if he insists on medical examination of his wife or child will not be done by a male doctor or if a man forces a girl for marriage or marries more than one. The Sharia law practice of polygamy was thus banned in France, it must be stated here that French Civil Code is already in operation since Napoleonic era. The law also mandated that all religious institutions in France will have report about donations received from abroad thus regulating the sponsoring of radical agendas inside France.

President Macron’s revivalism at home was equally complemented by his independent foreign policy which mirrored Charles De Gaulle’s policy that is independent of Anglo Saxon bloc. President Macron has been persistently pressing on the pitfalls of Brexit something that has irked the British politicians. Much like De Gaulle, the French President in 2019 had warned that isolating Russia would be a profound error on part of Europe. He has been active participant in the Normandy four negotiations between Russia & Ukraine that had resulted in Minsk accord. After Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Macron while stating that Russia had made a fundamental error yet he went to say that we must not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels. Further he saw role of France was to be that of a mediating power putting time and energy into ensuring the conflict did not escalate into a wider war, including negotiating with the Russian president. This was exactly how the Charles De Gaulle had envisioned French foreign policy towards Russia to be.

In an interview in a recent visit to China in April 2023, the French President stated that “Europe must reduce its dependency on the United States and avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between China and the U.S. over Taiwan”. President Macron emphasized his theory of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, presumably led by France, to become a “third superpower.” The said comments drew an outrage across Europe and specially America however the American hypocrisy is writ large as Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently on his visit to stated that it does not consider Taiwan as an independent country and is committed to one China policy. Macron had also argued for Europe to decrease its dependency on US for weapons and energy while boosting Europe’s defense industries. He has also rankled many feathers in United States suggesting that Europe should reduce its dependence on extraterritoriality of the US dollar.

In December 2022, during the state visit to USA, President Macron had highlighted about the inflation reduction act & the CHIPS act passed by US Congress being against the interest of European industries providing tax subsidies to companies to shift production lines to America from Europe. He further urged the Europeans to bring their own laws without relying on any American support. These comments in Washington shook the hornet nests stinging the Biden administration. Former French ambassador to Washington Gérard Araud said on France’s LCI Television, “It’s a long-term protectionism that will not stop, it didn’t stop with Trump, or with Biden, and the Europeans must understand this.”. The relationship with America & France had soured after USA launched a military alliances of AUKUS consisting of USA, Australia & UK in Indo-Pacific countering China and snatched the nuclear submarine deal which the French had agreed with Australia. This drew furious response from President Macron and a tug of war of words erupted between Ellesse Palace and the White House, with the French withdrawing their ambassador to USA as well as Australia as a mark of protest.

The state visit later in 2022 was an effort by the Biden administration to fix the damage of American unilateralism in Indo-Pacific. The Biden administration’s decision to fete President Macron was a tacit acknowledgement that Macron has emerged in the wake of political turnover across the continent as the strongest, most high-profile European leader. President Macron’s independent foreign policy of French values sans Ango Saxon bloc and seeking emergence of France as a European and global power imbibes the same vision what Charles De Gaulle had. The western press and think tanks specially in America have characterized much the same. The Carnegie Foundation OpEd in November 2022 stated as follows:

“President Macron’s predecessors have been aggravating Washington for more than fifty years, starting with president Charles De Gaulle, who lambasted America for the Vietnam War, protested the U.S. dollar’s global dominance, built France’s own nuclear weapons, and distanced France from NATO. Macron has been no less frank. When he called NATO “brain dead” in 2019, heads exploded in the corridors of the Pentagon, CIA, and State Department. When the Biden administration announced new plans for military cooperation with Australia and Britain in 2021, U.S. officials were stunned by Paris’s sharp rebuke. Macron’s insistence on keeping a diplomatic channel open with Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine only made more steam blow from the ears of U.S. policy elites. Most of all, Macron’s energetic cheerleading for European “strategic autonomy”—by which he means that Europe needs the economic and military might to take on much more responsibility for its foreign policy—rankles ardent NATO backers here and in and Europe.”

In an oped in the Foreign Policy in February 2019 titled, “Macron Is Going Full De Gaulle”, it is stated as follows:

“President Macron, for his part, has always insisted on the difference between the Gaullist and Atlanticist positions—and on the superiority of the former. In an interview with several European newspapers shortly after becoming president, he announced: “I will bring to an end the form of will bring to an end the form of neoconservatism that has been imported to France over the past 10 years.” Rejecting the U.S. attempt at nation building in Iraq, Macron concluded: “Democracy cannot be imposed from the outside without the participation of the people. France was right not to participate in the war in Iraq and was wrong to go to war in this manner in Libya.”

In his speech at Sorbonne University in 2017, President Macron had laid out his vision of French foreign policy which would be at the heart of the European sovereignty. In the remarkable speech he had called out perils of growing populism, isolationism and protectionism citing the examples of Britain & America pointing towards the Anglo Saxon Bloc. He extolled the Europeans to envision their own independent future without dependence on Anglo-Saxon bloc. Macron has Gaullist impulses, on foreign policy and this has become most apparent on the European stage. In a curious way, Macron is re-enacting de Gaulle’s hostility to Britain. Just as the latter repeatedly rejected Britain’s repeated moves to enter the European Economic Community, the former has repeatedly reminded the Brits of the costs of moving out of the EU.

Foreign Policy article dt 03rd July 2023 titled, “Strategic Autonomy’ Is a French Pipe Dream” again dishes the Anglo-Saxon narrative against Macron showing disdain towards French foreign policy, the article says as under:

“The term strategic autonomy in the context of European security has been a part of official French foreign-policy discourse since at least 1994, but Macron injected it into the modern European debate in 2017 at a speech at Sorbonne University. Macron argued that Europe must build its defense capabilities to be able to defend itself in the context of then-U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to cut off NATO’s U.S. funding

Experts say U.S. officials tend to roll their eyes at Macron’s comments and dismiss them as rhetoric emanating from an inherited French strategic culture that envisages a bigger role for France in global affairs, even if it can’t always support its ambitions. They say Paris intends to use the European Union as a vehicle to realize its vision, and while it is not necessarily wrong in asking the EU to be self-sufficient, especially as the United States’ focus shifts to the Indo-Pacific, it has a long way to go in building and harmonizing its defense-industrial architecture.

“It is not enough to aspire, but can the EU defend itself without the U.S.?,” asked Ian Lesser, the vice president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “Can the EU have a predictable deterrent without the U.S.? Not at the moment,’’ he added. “The sources of American anxiety are twofold—one is a long-standing concern that this will somehow compete with or displace NATO’s role in EU security, and second, it would somehow push the U.S. out of defense-industrial cooperation.’’

While the individuals and issues on the European stage have changed over the past half-century, Macron believes, like de Gaulle, that France must play a leading role, this time in fending off the forces of populism and illiberalism. President Macron even though a former investment banker and supposedly an establishment guy has repeatedly asserted the French History, Values, Culture & Literature over American import of Values, Critical Race Theory. The French would ultimately get control over these protest but the larger point is that France is not totally aligned with Anglo American establishment. It has its own independent foreign policy by keeping lines open to Putin, engaging with China or deciding to defence deals with India much to the ire of Anglo-Saxons.

President Macron has followed independent foreign policy and has developed a special partnership with India. France had earlier also delivered 36 Rafale jets to India and there is talk of India negotiating Rafale M jets for Indian navy. The French have been a reliable partner for India even during the cold war when France was the only NATO power that had significant defence ties with India supplying Mirage jets to IAF. As per reports in the newspaper the French have agreed to transfer 100% transfer of technology in 110-130KN fighter jet engine to India for its AMCA project, the deal is likely to be signed on PM Modi’s visit to Bastille Day visit on 14th July 2023. The report states as under:

“The Emmanuel Macron government has given the green signal to defence major Safran to jointly design, develop, test, manufacture and finally certify an engine that will power India’s twin engine advanced multi-role combat aircraft (AMCA) and the twin engine deck-based fighter for Indian aircraft carriers. The French offer includes a completely new engine, new materials, new architecture, stealth compliance with full supply chains and ancillary manufacturing based in India. While the price of the jet engine deal will be extremely competitive per engine in US dollar terms, the total process from designing to certification of the manufactured engine will take 10 years from the date of signing. The offer also includes Safran setting up a centre of excellence in gas turbine technology in India with full design and metallurgical precision software tools”

While the government is tight-lipped about the deal, authoritative sources have confirmed that the 100% transfer of technology offered by the French Safran is free from US International Trade in Arms Regulation (ITAR) and the proposed 110 kilo newton engine will be fully “Made in India”.

France has repeatedly faced internal uprisings from Yellow Vests to Pension Protests and now this insurrection. The blunder of Hollande-Merkel era of an open door policy on immigration and refugees is coming back to haunt France. It is expected that crackdown by the French would be brutal going by the past precedent’s to bring this uprising under control. However it is worth noting that there is a pattern of Islamist-leftists collaboration in this violence in France, which could be sponsored by the Deep State dominated by Anglo-Saxon world view. Social media platforms have been a major contributor with incendiary posts fueling the violence in France on which President Macron has ordered action under the French law to bring the situation under control. It however is no brainer that the Anglo Saxon bloc deeply resents with De Gaulle’s foreign policy view which President Macron has espoused in his term so far.

The French world view of Europe and the world independent of the Anglo-Saxon block is big stumbling block for America which have sought to dominate Europe under its sphere of influence as has been the case in Russia-Ukraine war. The Russo-Ukraine war and De-industrialization of Germany as consequent provides a seminal opportunity for the French to rise not only as European power but also a global power. Countries like India in the global south should be encouraged by the rise of France as it is not only a reliable partner but also provides a hedge against the American hegemony in the West. With the Indian contingent marching & Rafale jet flypast in Paris this year on Bastille Day, atleast the Indians can say “Vive La France !”

“If you know a country's geography, you can understand and predict its foreign policy.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

Notes:

1. De Gaulle and the Anglo-Saxons - John Newhouse

2. General de Gaulle and the Anglo-Saxons - David Thomson, International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), Vol. 41, No.

   1 (Jan., 1965), pp. 11-21

3. France to revamp baccalaureate to improve standards - Financial Times

4. What does France's anti-radicalism Bill say? 10 pointers - DNA

5. Russian Isolation Would Be Europe's ‘Profound Error,’ France’s Macron Says - Moscow Times

6. Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, says Emmanuel Macron - Guardian

7. Macron Is Going Full De Gaulle - Foreign Policy

8. France's Macron signs labour reforms in law, defying protests - BBC

9. Europe must resist pressure to become ‘America’s followers,’ says Macron - Politico

10. Macron Uses White House Visit to Voice Frustration With Two U.S. Laws - Times

11. Europe must resist pressure to become ‘America’s followers,’ says Macron - Politico

12. What Makes France So Aggravating to the United States Is Also What Makes It So Valuable - Carnegie Foundation

13. Sorbonne speech of Emmanuel Macron - Full text / English version

14. ‘Strategic Autonomy’ Is a French Pipe Dream - Foreign Policy

15. De Gaulle, model for Macron - The Economist

16. Ahead of PM Modi’s visit, France offers to co-develop engine for combat jets - Hindustan Times

17. Indian marching contingents, Rafale jets to take part in French Bastille Day parade - The Hindu