Capitalists fear armed Paris workers¶
Core Argument¶
The chapter, published in Socialist Appeal in September 1944, argues that the liberation of Paris was not primarily a military victory delivered by the Allied armies, but the product of a spontaneous and powerful mass insurrection by the French working class. The core narrative thrust is that the armed workers of Paris, despite being poorly equipped, forced the retreat of the Nazi occupiers through a general strike and the erection of barricades. The text highlights that the movement began in the industrial suburbs on 13 August, escalated rapidly into armed struggle, and drew in railwaymen and even the Paris police, bringing the capital to a standstill. The key claim is that the French capitalists, represented by de Gaulle and supported by Stalinists and reformists, deliberately sabotaged this revolutionary momentum. Evidence for this is the truce they signed with the Nazi generals at the height of the insurrection, allowing German troops 48 hours to withdraw. The chapter interprets this not as humanitarian mercy but as class fear: the bourgeoisie was terrified that prolonged fighting would destroy their property and, more critically, that an armed working class would seize control of Paris and then all of France, repeating the spectre of the 1936 factory occupations. The Nazis were thus given time to regroup and prolong the battle, costing more workers’ lives. The historical context drawn upon is the 1940 surrender of Paris, which the text characterises as a conscious sell-out by the French capitalists for the same reasons: fear of property destruction and of a revolutionary working class. The chapter’s polemic is directed against the capitalist press, which censored news of the workers’ role, and against the de Gaullist, Stalinist, and reformist leaders who betrayed the insurrection by imposing a truce. The central accusation is that these forces, having saved the bourgeoisie from the 1936 strikes through popular frontism, were now repeating the same betrayal to prevent a revolutionary outcome. The piece thus frames the liberation as a missed revolutionary opportunity, crushed not by Nazi arms but by class collaboration.