Communism in Rural France: French Agricultural Workers and the Popular Front (International Library of Historical Studies)

The French countryside and the Communist Party are inextricably linked. Communism in Rural France explores this complex and powerful relationship which is so crucial for an understanding of the history of modern France.During 1936 and 1937 a bitter struggle erupted among the agricultural workers and swept through parts of the French countryside, which rose up in strikes and increased unionization. Coinciding with the urban "social explosion" which followed the victory of the Popular Front government, the conflict shocked right-wing opinion and panicked wealthy land-owners, who blamed the spread of the "corrupting" collectivist influences of urban society into the countryside on the French Communist Party.  Communism in Rural France traces the evolution and characteristics of the agricultural workers’ movement from the turn of the 20th century through the inter-war years as well as the response of the government and the resistance organized by farmers. John Bulaitis focuses particularly on the role of agricultural workers in French rural and labor history, which has long been overlooked.  Communism in Rural France fully explores the workers' contribution for the first time and illuminates an important and previously neglected aspect of European politics.