Tours Congress

The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25–30 December 1920. During the Congress, the majority voted to join the Third International and create the French Section of the Communist International, which became the French Communist Party in 1921.

The SFIO divided itself in three factions during the Congress:

* The larger one gathered those who had accepted the Third International's 21 Conditions behind Fernand Loriot, Boris Souvarine, Ludovic Frossard, and Marcel Cachin. They did not, however, accept all of Lenin's conditions, and no vote on the matter took place. This left-wing faction, formed by the younger leaders of the party and most of the SFIO's members, obtained three-quarters of the votes and split away to form the French Section of the Communist International (Section Française de l'Internationale Communiste, or SFIC). They took with them the party paper L'Humanité, founded by Jean Jaurès in 1904. L'Humanité remained tied to the party until the 1990s.
* The second faction was led by a minority who accepted the adhesion to the Third International, but only under specific conditions. They finally allied themselves to the third faction.
* The third faction led by Léon Blum and most elected socialists (including Paul Faure and Jean Longuet), who completely refused Lenin's conditions and preferred staying inside of the Second International. Blum, who would become Prime Minister during the 1936–1938 Popular Front, famously declared: "Someone has to stay and keep the old house."[1]

Hence the SFIO split in two: the SFIC (3,208 votes) and the SFIO (1,022 votes). The next year, the CGT trade-union also split, with the creation of the Communist Confédération générale du travail unitaire (CGTU), which itself merged again with the CGT at the 1936 Toulouse Congress during the Popular Front.

A young Ho Chi Minh, then known as Nguyen Ai Quoc, was present at the congress and made a speech decrying the exploitation of the French colonies, and supporting the proposal to join the Third International.[2]

## References

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1. ^ Léon Blum: Nous sommes convaincus jusqu'au fond de nous-mêmes que, pendant que vous irez courir l'aventure, il faut que quelqu'un reste garder la vieille maison... (full declaration available in French at fr:Congrès de Tours, as well as Antonio Gramsci's conclusions – Gramsci included the Tours Congress into a wider national and international context, and underscored the role of the 1 May 1920 demonstrations, which had led to the imprisonment of Boris Souvarine and Fernand Loriot, both secretaries of the Committee of the Third International, arrested on charges of conspiracy against state security (complot contre la sûreté d'Etat). According to Gramsci, this explained in part the popularity of the Third International, all the more since the socialist deputies and the CGT officials were accused of not having done anything, and thus of "treason to the French working class".
2. ^ Duiker, William J.,  Ho Chi Minh: A Life. New York: Hyperion. 2001. ISBN 0-7868-8701-X. p72-73

## External links

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* Leon Blum's speech at Tours Congress
* Dora B. Monefiore History in the Making: The Congress of the French Socialist Party at Tours
* Humanité: French Socialist Party to Join the III International

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French Section of the Workers' International

General Secretary|

* Louis Dubreuilh (1905−1918)
* Ludovic-Oscar Frossard (1918−1920)
* Paul Faure (1920−1940)
* Vacant (1940−1943)
* Daniel Mayer (1943−1946)
* Guy Mollet (1946−1969)

Related articles|

* Paris Commune
* French Socialist Party (Federation of the Socialist Workers of France and Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party)
* Socialist Party of France (French Workers' Party and Socialist Revolutionary Party)
* Globe Congress
* Second International
* L'Humanité
* Le Populaire
* Tours Congress
* French Turn (Trotskyism)
* Matignon Agreements
* The Vichy 80
* French Resistance (Brutus Network)
* National Council of Resistance
* Issy-les-Moulineaux Congress
* Revolutionary socialism
* Blanquism
* Marxism
* Possibilism
* Social democracy
* Democratic socialism
* Neosocialism

Derivatives|

* French Communist Party
* Socialist Party of France – Jean Jaurès Union / Socialist Republican Union / National Popular Rally
* Internationalist Workers Party
* Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party
* Democratic Socialist Party
* Union of the Socialist Left / Unified Socialist Party / Union of Clubs for the Renewal of the Left / Union of Socialist Groups and Clubs
* Socialist Party

Alliances|

* Lefts Cartel (1924–1934)
* Popular Front (1936–1938)
* Tripartisme (1944–1947)
* Third Force (1947–1958)
* Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left (1965–1968)

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French Communist Party

General Secretary|

* Ludovic-Oscar Frossard (1921–1923)
* Louis Sellier and Albert Treint (1923–1924)
* Louis Sellier (1924)
* Pierre Semard (1924–1929)
* Henri Barbé, Pierre Célor, Benoît Frachon and Maurice Thorez (1929–1930)
* Maurice Thorez (1930–1950)
* Jacques Duclos (1950–1953)
* Maurice Thorez (1953–1964)
* Waldeck Rochet (1964–1969)
* Georges Marchais (1969–1972)
* Waldeck Rochet (1972)
* Georges Marchais (1972–1994)
* Robert Hue (1994–2001)
* Marie-George Buffet (2001–2010)
* Pierre Laurent (2010–2018)
* Fabien Roussel (2018–present)

Related articles|

* History of the French Communist Party
* List of French Communist Party congresses
* French Section of the Workers' International
* Tours Congress
* Headquarters
* Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France
* Union of Communist Students
* National Front (French Resistance)
* Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP-MOI)
* Union of Russian Patriots
* French Resistance
* National Council of the Resistance
* May 1947 crises
* MRAP
* Institut Maurice Thorez
* Programme commun
* Unitary Left
* Marxism–Leninism
* Eurocommunism
* Cité Gagarine

Publications|

* L'Humanité
* Le Travailleur de Lot-et-Garonne
* Le Travailleur du Centre Ouest
* Le Travailleur du Loiret
* L'Enchaîné du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais
* Front rouge
* La Bretagne ouvrière, paysanne et maritime
* La Voix de l'Est
* Le Prolétaire normand
* Les Lettres Françaises
* Pif Gadget

Derivatives|

* Socialist-Communist Union
* Workers and Peasants Party
* Proletarian Unity Party
* French Popular Party
* Federation of Marxist-Leninist Circles in France / Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of France
* Workers' Communist Party of France
* Convention for a Progressive Alternative
* Pole of Communist Revival in France
* Movement of Progressives

Related|

* Popular Front (1936–1938)
* French Committee of National Liberation (1940–1947)
* Plural Left (1997–2002)
* Left Front (2008–present)

Parliamentary groups|

* National Assembly
* Senate

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