1949–1950 French dockers' strikes

Communist-led strikes against the First Indochina WarJuly 2026thumb|A French boat near Normandy in 1950 Between autumn 1949 and summer 1950, more than 35,000 French workers, primarily dockworkers, attempted to protest the First Indochina War alongside other grievances. This was achieved by blocking the transport of military equipment from French ports to assist in the war effort.Radenne Victoire 10 November 2025 Dockers antimilitaristes: des décennies de résistance contre le commerce des armes https://www.socialter.fr/article/dockers-greve-guerre-gaza-armes-genes-marseille-histoire Socialter fr Anti-military dockworkers: decades of resistance against the arms trade frLa vaine lutte des dockers contre la Guerre en Indochine https://www.retronews.fr/politique/echo-de-presse/2021/11/22/dockers-contre-la-guerre-en-indochine 2026-06-02 RetroNews fr fr 22 November 2021 The dockworkers' futile struggle against the Indochina War Pottier Jean-Marie Strikes began at Marseille on 2 November 1949 and spread to other ports until 18 April 1950.L'heure de Mendès https://www.lhistoire.fr/lheure-de-mend%C3%A8s 4 June 2026 L'Histoire fr Mendes's time September 2022 Garrigues Jean Action took place in Dunkirk, Rouen, Saint-Nazaire, Marseille, Nice, La Pallice, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Brest and Tunis as well by Algerian dockers.Vivent les dockers https://www.europeanfilmgateway.eu/detail/Vivent%20les%20dockers/ca::939b39c6347415c71b48296986329e78 https://web.archive.org/web/20240917080104/https://www.europeanfilmgateway.eu/detail/Vivent%20les%20dockers/ca::939b39c6347415c71b48296986329e78 17 September 2024 2026-06-03 European Film Gateway en live Alongside demonstrations during the trial of Henri Martin, the strike represented one of the main ways the French Communist Party opposed the Indochina war.Vaïsse Maurice Maurice Vaïsse https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/L_Arm%C3%A9e_fran%C3%A7aise_dans_la_guerre_d_Ind/kxGVMCls88QC?hl=en L'Armée française dans la guerre d'Indochine (1946-1954): adaptation ou inadaptation? Bizard Alain Complexe 2000 24 fr The French Army in the Indochina War (1946–1954): adaptation or maladaptation? Varus qu'a tu fait de mes légions Varus, what have you done with my legions? 44883311 limited Google Books Background thumb|Nicolas Derybalsky, a poor Marseille dockworker, photographed in a similar year to the strikes A communist-led sailors strike had occurred in French ports in 1948, including to protest the Marshall Plan. The sailors strike at Marseille ended in December 1948. 10 December 1948 Red-Led Ship Strike in Marseille Ended https://www.nytimes.com/1948/12/10/archives/redled-ship-strike-in-marseille-ended.html 3 June 2026 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 14 In March 1947, communist representatives in the National Assembly refused to vote for funding for the Indochina War.IVe RÉPUBLIQUE (1946–1958) http://www.quid.fr/2007/Histoire_De_France/Ive_Republique_1946_1958/1 https://web.archive.org/web/20070830150329/http://www.quid.fr/2007/Histoire_De_France/Ive_Republique_1946_1958/1 2007-08-30 2026-06-02 Quid fr 4th Republic (1946–1958) The war was considered by the communists and the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) as a "prelude to a third global conflict" which was leading France to be more integrated in the Western bloc.Lahaxe Jean-Claude https://books.openedition.org/pur/18925?lang=fr CGT et PCF dans les Bouches-du-Rhône : les cadres et les mots d’ordre Presses Universitaires de Rennes French 267–278 2015 At the Cominform meeting in November 1949, the French Communist Party (PCF) outlined its support for an immediate end to the war and for the success of the Vietnamese Liberation Movement. The party explained how French dockworkers were already refusing to unload ships bound for Indochina.Lodevole Matteo May 2010 The Western Communists and the European military build-up, 1949–50: a preventive strategy https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=f3be37af-0607-4f41-b250-523fa0ecf6f6@redis&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZW4tZ2Imc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=50791664&db=a9h Cold War History 10 2 203–228 10.1080/14682740903162383 EBSCO subscription en In July 1649, Jacques Cheragay Jacques Cheragay's fr account of torture by the French Army in Indochina, published in the Catholic newspaper Témoignage chrétien Témoignage chrétien fr, made the French public aware of atrocities being committed in Indochina.Torture, French https://indochine.uqam.ca/fr/le-dictionnaire/1420-torture-french.html https://web.archive.org/web/20260115054603/https://indochine.uqam.ca/fr/le-dictionnaire/1420-torture-french.html 15 January 2026 2026-06-02 Université du Québec à Montréal en live Paul Mus, head of the Colonial Academy and specialist in Indochina, 16 August 1969 Dr. Paul Mus Dies; A Yale Professor; Southeast Asia Authority Also Taught in France https://www.nytimes.com/1969/08/16/archives/dr-paul-mus-dies-a-yale-professor-southeast-asia-authority-also.html 2026-06-02 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 27 publicly condemned the French use of torture in a collection of essays (entitled Non, pas ça!) and also wrote anti-war articles in Témoignage chrétien from late 1940 to early 1950.Chandler David 2009 Paul Mus (1902–1969): A Biographical Sketch https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/vs.2009.4.1.149 Journal of Vietnamese Studies 4 1 149–191 10.1525/vs.2009.4.1.149 1559-372X JSTOR subscription Events As reported by the Civil and Military Gazette (Lahore) at the time, "the General Federation of Labour Dockers unions of Marseille" called on other workers to join them in refusing to load arms and ammunition for the war in Indochina in November 1949.2 November 1949 French Dockers to Refuse Loading Arms from Today https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19491102/088/0007 The Civil and Military Gazette 7 British Newspaper Archive subscription In December 1949, the PCF Central Committee met to discuss direct action against the war. The example of the Marseille dockers strike was praised. Shortly after this meeting, Laurent Casanova led a campaign, calling upon members of the French Seamen and Dockers Federation, to prevent the transfer of American arms in French ports including Nantes, La Rochelle, Saint-Nazaire, Brest, Rouen, Le Havre, Marseille, and Toulon. In Cherbourg, law enforcement and members of the military were required to intervene to oversee the unloading of the American ship Importer which was carrying arms and ammunition. According to contemporary reporting by the Grimsby Daily Telegraph, railway and mine strikes were organised by the CGT in February 1950. In response, ministers met to respond agitation against the Atlantic Pact and Indochina War.17 February 1950 French Strikes Get Off To Ragged Start https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001121/19500217/001/0001 Grimsby Daily Telegraph British Newspaper Archive subscription The newspaper also reported that on 27 March, a 24 hour strike by dockers at Marseille and Sete for wage claims and to boycott arms shipments to Indochina held up more than 130 ships.28 March 1950 French Dockers and Steelmen Go Back https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001121/19500328/001/0001 Grimsby Daily Telegraph British Newspaper Archive subscription On 4 March 1950, amidst tensions in the Assemblée Nationale with Premier Georges Bidault lacking a majority, the CGT called workers on strike to prevent US military equipment being unloaded which might be used against the Soviet Union under the terms of the North Atlantic Pact of Defense.James Edwin Leland 5 March 1950 French Dockers Strike to Halt Arms from U.S.; Communists, After Riots in Assembly, Act to Block Implementation of The Atlantic Pact https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/05/archives/french-dockers-strike-to-halt-arms-from-us-communists-after-riots.html 3 June 2026 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 141 Edwin Leland James Strike breakers were employed between January and mid-March 1950.Winkler Daniel March 2017 A Mediterranean gap in the national canon? Paul Carpita’s anti-colonial cinema between militant amateurism and New Wave https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121166787&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site Studies in French Cinema 17 1 21–43 10.1080/14715880.2016.1266849 EBSCO subscription Cultural depictions Film Paul Carpita Paul Carpita's fr 1955 full-length film Le Rendez-vous des quais (meeting on the docks) focused on the strikes in Marseille. Despite being realised after the withdrawal of French troops from Vietnam, the film was censored for its political message before its release and was not granted authorisation for public screening.Scullion Rosemarie 2000 On the Waterfront: Class Action and Anti-Colonial Engagements in Paul Carpita's "Le Rendez-vous des quais" https://www.jstor.org/stable/3190091 South Central Review 17 3 35–49 10.2307/3190091 0743-6831 JSTOR subscription Robert Ménégoz Robert Ménégoz's fr short-film Vivent les dockers fr also depicts the strikes of dockworkers across France. Painting Boris Taslitzky's painting Riposte (1951) depicts French riot police, the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité, violently suppressing the dockers strike at Port de Bouc near Marseille.2019-07-03 Boris Taslitzky's Riposte https://www.magnetmanchester.org/boris-taslitzkys-riposte 2026-06-03 MAGnet en-US23 December 2005 Boris Taslitzky https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1506136/Boris-Taslitzky.html The Daily Telegraph subscription The work reflected Taslitzky's horror at the actions of the police, painting one policeman to resemble Hitler and government ministers ordered it be removed from the Salon d'Automne. 'Riposte': 1951, Boris Taslitzky https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/taslitzky-riposte-t07431 3 June 2026 Tate Gallery en-GBBoris Taslitzky (1911–2005) https://holocaust-art.ort.org/artists/boris-taslitzky?paginate%5Bgallery-408%5D%5Bpage%5D=2&cHash=7dee337bc4877261f4bc94373abf2af4 3 June 2026 World ORT en Antoine Serra's painting entitled La grève des dockers contre la guerre d’Indochine (the dockers' strike against the Indochina War), created in 1950, is held in the Marseille History Museum.La grève des dockers contre la guerre d’Indochine https://marsimperium.huma-num.fr/s/marsimperium/item/281#lg=1&slide=0 4 June 2026 Mars Imperium Dockworkers' strike against the Indochina War References Category:Strikes in Europe Category:1949 in France Category:1950 in France Category:French Communist Party Category:First Indochina War