French Left

The collective left-wing political forces, parties, and movements in France, particularly those active during the late colonial and postcolonial era (such as around the Algerian War), encompassing socialists, communists, and other progressive elements, and treated in historical analysis as a political bloc with shifting stances on national issues like decolonization.

Claims that use this term

• Algeria’s liberal European third force collapsed once the French Left aligned with settler fascism.
• Metropolitan terrorism alienated the French Left that supported Algerian independence
• The moderate French Left chose de Gaulle over facing civil war with paratroops