Federalism in the history of France

Although of Anglo-Saxon origin, the notion of federalism was already known in France at the time of the French Revolution where deputies called the “Girondins” were already promoting it, taking as an example countries which had already implemented it such as the Helvetic Confederation (Switzerland) or even the brand new United States of America.

In 1791, within the National Legislative Assembly, two opposing currents of opinion emerged among the deputies regarding the organization of power within the future 1st Republic ¹ under construction. On one side, the Jacobins or Montagnards, supported by the sans-culottes and Robespierre, advocated a centralized system within which political and administrative decisions would be taken by a single authority. On the other, the Girondins advocated for a federal government, made up of strong territorial entities articulated around a sovereign state ² .

If in the chaos of the Revolution and the change of regime this idea made its way to the point of annual festivals called the Federation being celebrated in Paris, attended by delegates from all departments, strengthening the links between the provinces and the capital, unfortunately this was not enough to prevent the struggle from breaking out between the two parties, aspiring to direct the revolution and subsequently preside over the destiny of France.

Although the federalists advocated provincial autonomy , the Montagnards proclaimed the unity and indivisibility of the Republic in 1793, overthrowing the federalist party, accusing the Girondins of wanting to dismember France. 45 Girondin deputies were thus killed, as well as 1,500 citizens promoting this concept. The other Girondin deputies were excluded from political life. A centralized government thus saw the light of day, marking the beginning of the period known as the “Terror” for two years (1793-1794).

The Girondins recalled that the Federalists during the American Revolution also defended the principle of a central state, demonstrating that the two notions could coexist.

For some, the French rejection of federalism is explained above all by the lack of a republican model then available (see Les revendications des peuples autochtones de Guyane appréhendées par le droit français: entre évolutions, conciliations et aménagements (cnrs.fr)). At that time, France had no republican examples other than federal models. Thus, when the First Republic was proclaimed, the fear of a division of the country was strengthening, France then adopted the principles of indivisibility and unity, still displayed in the 21st century in the face of the autonomists of the Republic, for whom the State often leaves only 2 choices, namely: integration (or assimilation) or independence.

A century later, in 1871, the “communards” also demanded a federalist , democratic and social republic, demanding greater administrative freedom through autonomy for the communes of France. During the final battle of Bloody Week, on May 28, 1871, hundreds of communards were killed in combat. 20,000 were summarily executed by the army. 36,000 were arrested, 4,500 imprisoned and 7,500 were deported mainly to New Caledonia (see Communard — Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) ).

At the beginning of the 20th century, various French regionalist movements came together in the French Regionalist Federation, created in 1900 by Jean-Charles Brun, to advocate decentralization and the organization of France into regions ³ . Faced with accusations of separatism, this movement limited itself to the cultural sector, highlighting the cultures and traditions of the regions. The regions were created in their current form from 1956, acquiring the status of local authorities in 1982 and being included in the constitution in 2003 ⁴ .

At the end of the Second World War (1945) and faced with the desire for independence of its colonies, France evoked a potential federalist project . The French Union was born , which until 1958, would constitute the new political organization between France and its colonial empire. Unfortunately, although presenting principles worthy of a federal system, France would retain all executive and legislative powers, leaving the colonies only the ability to express an opinion. Equality between all citizens, colonial and metropolitan, had no concrete reality. This gap between theory and practice thus discredited the French Union. Several states left the Union, such as Vietnam and Cambodia. Other states, such as Morocco and Tunisia, never agreed to join the Union. The latter would finally be replaced by the French Community with the advent of the Fifth Republic in 1958 and the return of General de Gaulle to power.

The French Community, proposed by General de Gaulle, will unfortunately be a continuation of the French Union. If the African colonies do not initially reject the Community, which grants them statehood, equality remains an illusion. The sovereignty of its members is restricted . France, in addition to its sovereign powers (diplomacy, defense, currency, etc.), continues to retain control over economic policy and raw materials, which is deemed unacceptable by the States of the Community.

This Community, inspired by the British Commonwealth, created in 1931 , provided that the member states would enjoy autonomy, administer themselves and manage their own affairs democratically and freely, electing their own internal institutions.

The Community, although repealed in 1995, actually lapsed in 1961, after 3 years of existence, with the successive independence of each of the former French colonies.

Yet, many among the elites of the colonized peoples wanted to apply the concept of federalism to their territories. Let us quote Aimé Césaire , who, inspired by Proudhon’s federalist vision, argued in 1958 for Martinique’s entry into a federal system (see What if Martinique became a federated state in a federal France and Europe? – Federalist Press (pressefederaliste.eu)). stipulating that the federal idea… alone allows the West Indian problem to be properly resolved . Léopold Sédar Senghor , a French and then Senegalese statesman, attempted the same year to create the African Federalist Party and then a federation bringing together former French colonies neighboring Senegal, unfortunately without success (see Federalism and decolonization in Black Africa and the West Indies. – MondesFrancophones.com ).

In the 1950s, Albert Camus himself considered a federal-type solution to the Algerian crisis . The time for compromise and reason was unfortunately already over when the Nobel Prize winner for literature formulated his proposal. November 1, 1954 marked the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence. Having died prematurely in January 1960, Albert Camus was unable to develop his idea, which some of his close friends described as “far-fetched” (see Albert Camus, le fédéralisme et l’Algérie | Cairn.info)

The notion resurfaced in 1984-1988 with a view to finding a solution to the conflict in New Caledonia , which some described as a “civil war.” The Matignon-Oudinot peace accords of 1988 thus recorded in writing the establishment of a federal administration and development for a French territory. The Prime Minister at the time, Michel Rocard, who initiated these accords, later stipulated: ” We are making a federal agreement but we are not saying it because if I say the word then I immediately condemn the approach ” (cf. Jean – Jacques Urvoas, “État Fédéré ou État Associé ?” – Évènements 2024 Témoignages (youtube.com)) denoting the difficulty for the French State to resort to solutions derived from Anglo-Saxon law, also reminding it of dark periods in its history. The dynamics of the Noumea Accord , ten years later in 1998, is also federal according to Florence Faberon (cf. Le fédéralisme, solution française de décolonisation : le cas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie [1] | Cairn.info) and thus completes but does not finalize what was initiated in 1988.

The concept of federalism reappeared in 2017, when presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron proposed a “Girondin pact” for local authorities . On July 3, 2017, before the Versailles Congress, he denounced “Jacobin centralization,” which “too often reflects the fear of losing part of one’s power.” During a territorial conference, he outlined his proposed “Girondin pact,” which aims to offer “greater freedom to organize locally” to local authorities, by giving them more power over taxation, regional planning, housing, education, and culture. In 2022, the law relating to differentiation, decentralization, deconcentration and various measures to simplify local public action was passed , better known by the acronym 3DS, aimed at making relations between the State and local authorities more fluid, but which turns out to be for some to be nothing more than a catalogue, a hodgepodge, in other words a catch-all law containing all sorts of largely illegible provisions ⁵ .

It remains to be seen whether France under his presidency would be prepared to “lose some of its power” to New Caledonia so that the latter would achieve the status of a federated state rather than a sovereign one? This would not seem to pose any problem according to Thierry Michalon, for whom the French Republic is a federation that ignores itself due to the legal autonomy granted to certain overseas territorial communities ⁶ . He added that the unity and indivisibility of the Republic are an ideological slogan and are contradicted by the evolution of overseas law since 1946.