Breton Communist Party

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Breton Communist Party
  • Parti communiste Breton
  • Strollad Komunour Breizh
Leader Kristian Hamon
Founded1 February 1971 (1971-02-01)
Dissolved1974 (1974)
Ideology
Political position Far-left
Party flag
Bandera de Strollad Kommunaur Breizh.svg

The Breton Communist Party [a] was a minor communist party in Brittany, France. It advocated an independent and socialist Brittany and consisted mainly of Maoists who broke from the Breton Democratic Union after the leftist uprising of May 68. The party had a minor presence in the French left-wing political scene and did not see electoral success with its candidates, who were on paper unaffiliated. It dissolved in 1974.

Contents

History

The Breton Communist Party (PCB) can trace its origins to the leftist Breton Democratic Union (UDB) and the May 68 period of civil unrest in France. The slow electoral progress of the UDB convinced many of its younger members to create a new, more radical party; the PCB was one of many organisations that emerged from this development. [1] Yann-Morvan Gefflot and Jean-Pierre Vigier jointly founded the party on 1 February 1971, [2] uniting a diverse membership of communists of different currents under the shared goal of an independent Brittany. [3] However, most members self-identified as Maoists. [4]

Immediately after its founding, the PCB ran unaffiliated candidates in local elections but found no electoral success. Its impact on French left-wing politics outside of elections was also minimal. [5] : 304  The party dissolved a few years later in 1974. [4]

Ideology

The PCB was a communist party that supported the establishment of an independent, socialist Brittany. [6] [7] Its members were mainly Maoists, [4] but the membership had communists of other currents, including council communists, Guevarists, spontaneists (foquismoists), anti-Stalinists, and libertarian socialists. [3] Jacques Duclos, a prominent contemporary member of the French Communist Party, criticised the PCB's ostensible ideological fluidity, saying: "I do not know if [the PCB] is Breton, but I can tell you that it is not communist." [8] The party supported the militant Breton Revolutionary Army, founded around the same time in 1971. [3]

Notes

  1. ↑

References

  1. ↑ Gardette, X. (1 January 1980). "Why? On some possible reasons for the present regionalist revival in France and elsewhere" . Journal of Area Studies: 9. doi:10.1080/02613530.1980.9673498. ISSN   0261-3530.
  2. ↑ Lehr, Heather Allison (1989). The Rise of the Socialist Party in France: A Study of the National Relevance of Local Elections as Illustrance of Local Elections as Illustrated by Lyon, Nantes and on, Nantes and Rennes (PDF) (Masters thesis). College of William & Mary . Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Kernalegenn, Tudi (2005). Drapeaux rouges et Gwenn-ha-du: l'extrême gauche et la Bretagne dans les années 1970 (in French). Apogée. pp. 48, 214. ISBN   978-2-84398-190-6 . Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Sibé, Alan (1 January 1988). Nations dépendantes, France métropolitaine (in French). FeniXX. p. 143. ISBN   978-2-402-56657-5 . Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  5. ↑ Tartakowsky, Danielle (2018). "Review of Les années 68 en Bretagne. Les mutations d'une société (1962-1981)". Le Mouvement social (264): 158–160. ISSN   0027-2671 . Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  6. ↑ Szajkowski, Bogdan (2004). Revolutionary and Dissident Movements of the World. John Harper Pub. p. 123. ISBN   978-0-9543811-2-7 . Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  7. ↑ Parry, Albert (1976). Terrorism: From Robespierre to Arafat. Vanguard Press. p. 404. ISBN   978-0-8149-0746-7.
  8. ↑ Mordrel, Olier (1 January 1981). L'idée bretonne (in French). FeniXX. p. 257. ISBN   978-2-307-46631-4 . Retrieved 21 April 2025. Je ne sais pas s'il est breton, mais je peux vous dire qu'il n'est pas communiste.
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