In the early months of the war
both Communists (PCF) and Socialists were in the government. hench the first
protests cam mainly from the Trotskyists, in particular the "entrists" in the
Socialist Youth. The most effective analysies of the war also came from the
far left, Pierre Naville and in particular Claude Lefort. After May 1947 the
PCF were excluded from government and turned sharply left. But their campaign
against the war, though vigorous, was in several respects contradictory. The
war was labelled - with some justice - pro-American, and thence against the
French "national interest". The PCF thus, though militant, remained within
the parameters of the Jacobin left. PCF members were told to remain in post
in the armed forces but were given little guidance what to do there. A handfl
went over to the Viet Minh. Henri Martin was jailed for distributing leaflets
in the navy, provoking a vigorous national campaign. In the 1949-50 period
the PCF encouraged dock-strikes and mass demonstrations aimed at ships taking
supplies to Indochina. But this line was abandoned by 1950 in favour of a
less confrontational "popular-front"-style campaigning for "peace". This was
sharply criticised by André Marty, a PCF leader who was expelled in 1952. In
general, the Indochina War revelaled the weaknesses of the mainstream left,
which was to be put to an even harder test with the ensuing Algerian
War.
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