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Ted Grant France In Crisis

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

Ted Grant argues that the rise of de Gaulle in May 1958 was not a simple military coup or a triumph of Bonapartist reaction, but rather a symptom of a deeper crisis of French capitalism. The central thesis is that de Gaulle succeeded not because of his own strength or popular support, but because of the systematic betrayal and demoralisation of the working class by the leadership of the Communist and Socialist parties. Grant contends that the Bonapartist regime is inherently unstable and contradictory: it concentrates power in the executive to manage capitalist crisis, but in doing so it strips away democratic illusions and polarises society, thereby opening the door to revolutionary explosions. The pamphlet is a prediction that de Gaulle's victory would not stabilise French capitalism but would instead prepare the ground for a massive upsurge of the class struggle — a prediction confirmed by May 1968.

Theoretical Grounding

Grant's analysis is rooted in the Marxist theory of the state, specifically the Bonapartist form of rule as theorised by Marx in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte and by Trotsky in his writings on the rise of fascism and the degeneration of the workers' states. Grant distinguishes Bonapartism from fascism: Bonapartism arises when the bourgeoisie, unable to rule through parliamentary democracy and unwilling to hand power directly to the working class, elevates a "strong man" who stands above the contending classes. The regime balances on the threat of military force and the passivity of the masses. Grant draws on the historical experience of France itself — the original Bonapartism of Louis Napoleon — and on the experience of Germany in the early 1930s, where the Social Democratic leadership's refusal to fight opened the door to Hitler. The theoretical tradition here is the Trotskyist analysis of the crisis of bourgeois democracy and the role of reformist and Stalinist parties as the principal obstacle to working-class victory. Grant explicitly rejects the idea that de Gaulle represents a fascist takeover, insisting that the situation remains fluid and that the outcome depends on the consciousness and organisation of the working class.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article was written in May 1958, at the height of the Algerian War and the collapse of the Fourth Republic. The French army in Algeria had mutinied in effect, demanding de Gaulle's return. The bourgeoisie, terrified of both the colonial revolt and the radicalisation of the working class at home, turned to de Gaulle as a saviour. Grant notes that the Communist Party (PCF) and Socialist Party (SFIO) leaders, rather than mobilising the working class to resist, capitulated and voted for de Gaulle's investiture. He points to the specific treachery of the PCF leadership, which had abandoned revolutionary politics in favour of parliamentary respectability and alliance with the bourgeoisie. The conjuncture is one of acute political crisis: the old parliamentary forms are exhausted, the colonial war is bleeding France, and the working class is demoralised by years of Stalinist and reformist betrayal. Grant argues that this demoralisation is not permanent — it is the precondition for a sudden shift to revolutionary militancy when events break the spell. The relevance to the current moment is structural: Grant's method of analysing Bonapartist regimes as unstable, crisis-driven formations that generate their own opposition applies to contemporary phenomena such as the rise of authoritarian populism or "strongman" executives in periods of capitalist stagnation.

Where the Argument Continues

This pamphlet is a foundational text in the Ted Grant archive and in the tradition of the Revolutionary Communist International. The argument continues in several directions:

  • The May 1968 events themselves, which confirmed Grant's prediction and were analysed extensively by the International Marxist Group and later by the Workers' Revolutionary Party. The IDOM archive contains numerous articles on the French events of 1968 that explicitly reference this pamphlet.
  • The broader Marxist analysis of Bonapartism, developed in Trotsky's The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany and The Revolution Betrayed, and applied by Grant to other contexts, including the rise of Thatcherism in Britain and the Bonapartist character of the Gaullist Fifth Republic.
  • The critique of Stalinist and reformist parties, which is a constant thread in Grant's work and in the IDOM corpus. The argument that the principal obstacle to revolution is not the bourgeoisie but the treachery of the workers' misleaders is developed in articles on Spain, Greece, and Latin America.
  • Against the Stream episodes on France, the Algerian War, and the crisis of bourgeois democracy would be the natural audio companion to this text.

Connections

  • Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte — the theoretical source for the concept of Bonapartism.
  • Trotsky, The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany — the analysis of how Social Democratic passivity opened the door to Hitler, directly analogous to Grant's argument about the PCF and SFIO.
  • Trotsky, Whither France? — Trotsky's own analysis of the French political crisis of the 1930s, which Grant draws on methodologically.
  • IDOM articles on the French presidential system and the Yellow Vests movement — contemporary applications of the Bonapartist framework.
  • The writings of the International Marxist Group on May 1968, particularly those by Ernest Mandel and Pierre Frank, which develop the analysis of the French crisis in the same theoretical tradition.

Key Quotes

  1. "De Gaulle's bid for power was successful not because of his strength, but because of the treacherous policies of the Communist and Socialist Party leaders."

  2. "The Bonapartist regime is not a stable form of bourgeois rule. It is a symptom of the crisis of capitalism, a regime that balances on the passivity of the masses and the threat of military force. It contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction."

  3. "The working class is not a passive object of history. Its demoralisation today is the product of years of betrayal by its leaders. But when events break the spell, the same workers who were passive yesterday can become the most militant fighters tomorrow."

  4. "De Gaulle's victory is an expression of the crisis of French capitalism. It will not resolve that crisis. It will deepen it, and open up revolutionary events and an explosion of the class struggle."

  5. "The Communist Party leaders, who claim to be the vanguard of the working class, have shown themselves to be the most reliable defenders of bourgeois order. They have abandoned the class struggle for the parliamentary game, and in doing so they have prepared the ground for Bonapartism."

  6. "The French bourgeoisie, faced with the revolt of the Algerian masses and the growing radicalisation of the working class, has chosen the 'strong man' over the parliamentary farce. But the strong man cannot solve the contradictions of capitalism. He can only postpone the reckoning."