France, the revolution of 1968

An idea of TL:
Between 1947 and 1957:
The General de Gaulle dies.
Summer 1958:
The Algerian crisis reaches its peak.
The political heirs of the General de Gaulle are brought to power by a military coup.
The IVth Republic is abolished, the Vth Republic is bornt.
The Socialist opposition boycotts the new regime, and the french communist party enters in armed resistance.
1968:
Algeria is still french.
The students enter in dissidence. Massive strikes occur.
France is paralysed.
The army intervenes, fights occur.
It's the civil war, it's the revolution.
The VIth Republic is proclamed.

Would this be possible?
 
I don't know about the Algerian crisis.

The PCF is very much Moscow line, it is unlikely to go into armed resistance as such. Sections of the PCF going underground and forming arms caches is more likely.

* * *

More interesting is if Moscow would authorise the PCF taking power in France in 1968 if France were under a military dictatorship.
 
I'm curious. Who exactly are "De Gaulle's policical heirs"?
The RPF.

IOTL, demonstrations in support of a 'french Algeria' had degenerated. The 'Gouvernement général' was occupied by the rioters with the passive complicity of the army. Panicked, the governement gave to general Massu the full powers to 'restore' order. To do this, the general Massu created a 'Comité de Salut Public', but in fact, he took the command of the uprising and asked to the president Coty to recall De Gaulle and give him the governement.
The Operation Resurrection was imaginated to force if necessary the return of De Gaulle. In Metropol, according to a book I have on the subject, the Army was globally favourable and the Police wasn't reliable. The IVth Republic was weak and too unstable for them I guess.

The PCF is very much Moscow line, it is unlikely to go into armed resistance as such. Sections of the PCF going underground and forming arms caches is more likely.
I was thinking to a french version of the Red Army Faction.
 
I was thinking to a french version of the Red Army Faction.

You need to look up the enrages, the Situationalists, and Socialisme ou Barbarie.

In particular you may enjoy the Situationalist film /Can Dialectics Break Bricks?/ in this regard.

The PCF is unlikely to support minority armed fighting groups.

yours,
Sam R.
 
I'd think an OTL May 1968 goes very, very badly for de Gaulle TL would be more interesting. A series of butterflies lead to his support collapsing and the various leftist factions wreak more havoc than they did IOTL. What happens next? Elections forcibly held in a very high pressure atmosphere and a popular front led by Communists takes control? Can OTL's 1968 turn into a full-blown revolution, or at least de Gaulle's downfall?
 
The RPF.

IOTL, demonstrations in support of a 'french Algeria' had degenerated. The 'Gouvernement général' was occupied by the rioters with the passive complicity of the army. Panicked, the governement gave to general Massu the full powers to 'restore' order. To do this, the general Massu created a 'Comité de Salut Public', but in fact, he took the command of the uprising and asked to the president Coty to recall De Gaulle and give him the governement.
The Operation Resurrection was imaginated to force if necessary the return of De Gaulle. In Metropol, according to a book I have on the subject, the Army was globally favourable and the Police wasn't reliable. The IVth Republic was weak and too unstable for them I guess.


I was thinking to a french version of the Red Army Faction.

The RPF was disbanded in the early 1950s.

Lets not forget that 1958 was a coup only in the sense that De Gaulle used the military situation in Algiers to put pressure on the government, secure Pflimlin's resignation (the PM at the time) and his own appointment as head of government with full executive powers. But he came to power legally, and all the constitutional changes he made were sanctioned by a referendum. De Gaulle, and any of his close associates (Chaban, Debré, Guichard, etc.) would never have accepted to be put in power by a military junta.
 
I'd think an OTL May 1968 goes very, very badly for de Gaulle TL would be more interesting. A series of butterflies lead to his support collapsing and the various leftist factions wreak more havoc than they did IOTL. What happens next? Elections forcibly held in a very high pressure atmosphere and a popular front led by Communists takes control? Can OTL's 1968 turn into a full-blown revolution, or at least de Gaulle's downfall?

Unlikely considering that during the June 1968 elections the French electorate massively voted in favour of the Gaullists.

The Communists had nothing to do with the student mobs, in fact they consistently rejected any deals and alliances with them, despite the offers of the formers. Most of the students mobs never wanted any kind of regime change at all. The only thing they wanted and revolted for was the right to access the girls dormitories without any hindrance. Cultural marxoïd rethoric was used to justify this in rather weird terms, but that rethoric was irrelevant for most striking workers. Indeed they felt nothing in common with the students who mainly came from upper middle class backgrounds.

If De Gaulle had resigned it could lead to someone like Pompidou or even Chaban Delmas becoming president. If the latter ever takes the presidency, then the student movement will be effectively killed by his "New Society" project and gradual reforms will take place.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
You need to look up the enrages, the Situationalists, and Socialisme ou Barbarie.

In particular you may enjoy the Situationalist film /Can Dialectics Break Bricks?/ in this regard.

The PCF is unlikely to support minority armed fighting groups.

yours,
Sam R.

The PCF dithering and following the Moscow line is more or less what stopped 1968 from going the whole way. Whether it could have succeeded is another matter, but it would have made the political scene interesting. Italy would probably have been destabilized more, too.
 
I'm making searches to maybe write a TL.
I'm considering the election of Nixon in 1960 as a butterfly effect.
I have some interrogations:
1- Cuba:
Without popular support, there is little luck for the operation to succeed, but I don't know if Nixon would or not send US air force to help the landing.
What would be the consequences upon an eventual missile crisis?
2- Southeast Asia:
With Nixon, I guess a more offensive strategy.
In Cambodia, attacks against the PAVN/NLF sanctuaries could occur as soon as 1966/1967; this could cause a greater uprising in 1967.
In South Vietnam, Diem was the one to have some credibility. I don't know too if Nixon would keep him or not.
3- China:
What time for a recognition of PRC, and what consequences?
4- Racial segregation:
I have no great knowledges on the american political and social history. Could you provide me some pists about the behaviour of Nixon in this matter?
 
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