List of incidents of civil unrest in France

This is a list of incidents of civil unrest in France. Civil unrest can include, rioting, strikes, violent labor disputes, or minor insurrections.

13th century

• 1229: University of Paris strike of 1229, riots at the University of Paris that resulted in a number of student deaths and reforms of the medieval university.

16th century

• 1560: Amboise Conspiracy, a failed attempt by Protestant nobles and ministers to seize the King.
• 1560: Maligny Affair: an abortive Protestant uprising in the city of Lyon, backed by nobles and ministers including John Calvin.[1]

• 1561: Saint Médard Riot, a violent religious action in Paris that saw a church seized and more than ten killed.[2]

• 1562: 1562 Riots of Toulouse, a series of events that pitted members of the Reformed Church of France (often called Huguenots) against members of the Roman Catholic Church in violent clashes that ended with the deaths of between 3,000–5,000 citizens of the French city of Toulouse.
• 1572: St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.
• 1588: Day of the barricades, an uprising by the radical Catholics against the more moderate Henry III.

17th century

• 1620 – 1628: The Huguenot rebellions, a series of southern revolts in part led by Henri, Duke of Rohan in response to increasing reversals of the Edict of Nantes.
• 1648 – 1653: The Fronde, a wave of revolts against the young Louis XIV.

18th century

Day of the Tiles in Grenoble (1788), painting by Alexandre Debelle,
(Musée de la Révolution française).

• 1702 – 1715: Camisard Rebellion, a prolonged local guerrilla war by Protestants of the Cévennes region in the wake of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV.
• 1775: Flour War, a wave of riots in April to May 1775, that followed an increase in grain and bread prices, because police withheld grain from the royal stores in addition to poor harvests.
• 1789 – 1799: French Revolution, a revolution that overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, experienced violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship by Napoleon that forcibly brought many of its ideals to Western Europe.

19th century

• 1830: The July Revolution which led to the abdication of Charles X.
• 1832: The June Rebellion was an anti-monarchist insurrection of Parisian republicans on 5 and 6 June 1832.
• 1848: French demonstration of 15 May 1848, an event played out in the streets of Paris that was intended to reverse the results of a Second-Republic election of deputies to the Constituent Assembly
• 1871: Paris Commune, a radical socialist and revolutionary government that took power and ruled Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871.

20th century

• 1910 – 1911: Champagne Riots, resulted from a series of problems faced by grape growers in the Champagne area of France.
• 1921: Violence that broke out at the premiere of the play The Gas Heart.
• 1926: Bloody Sunday, political clashes that occurred in Colmar, Alsace on August 22, 1926.
• 1934: 6 February 1934 crisis, an anti-parliamentarist street demonstration in Paris organized by far-right leagues that culminated in a riot
• 1947: 1947 strikes in France, a series of insurrectional strikes
• 1968: May 1968 events in France, a volatile period of civil unrest that was punctuated by demonstrations and massive general strikes as well as the occupation of universities and factories across France.
• 1979: Youths of North African origin rioted in the Lyon suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin following an arrest of a local youth. Believed to be the first suburban riot in French history.[3]
• 1981: Rodéo (riot), riots that consisted of stealing cars, driving them in tight circles, and ultimately burning them.
• 1990: Rioting in Vaulx-en-Velin after a young man of Spanish origin was killed in a motorbike crash allegedly caused by police.[3]
• 1991: Violence broke out in Sartrouville after the fatal shooting of an Arab teenager by a supermarket security guard.[4]
• 1991: Rioting occurred in Mantes-la-Jolie after a policewoman and an Algerian man were killed.[5]
• 1992: Following the death of 18-year-old Mohamed Bahri in Vaulx-en-Velin at the hands of police, youths attacked the town's police station and burned cars.[3]
• 1995: Rioting in several eastern suburbs of Lyon following the police killing of terrorist Khaled Kelkal, a key organizer of the 1995 France bombings
• 1997: Rioting occurred in Dammarie-lès-Lys after 16-year-old Abdelkadher Bouziane was shot and killed by police and his 19-year-old friend wounded.[6]
• 1998: Two days of riots occurred in suburban Toulouse after 17-year-old Habib Muhammed was shot by police during a car theft.[7]

21st century

• 2005: 2005 French riots, a series of riots that occurred in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities involving the burning of cars and public buildings at night.
• 2006: 2006 youth protests in France, riots resulting from opposition to a measure set to deregulate labour in France.
• 2007: 2007 Villiers-le-Bel riots, riots in the Val-d'Oise department that began following the deaths of two teenagers whose motorcycle collided with a police vehicle.
• 2007–09: 2007–09 university protests in France, protest movements resulting from several reform projects under Minister for Higher Education and Research Valérie Pécresse.
• 2009: 2009 French riots, a series of riots that occurred on Bastille Day (14 July) in the commune of Montreuil, an eastern suburb area of Paris.
• 2013: 2013 Trappes riots, riots that broke out after police arrested a man who assaulted a police officer who tried to check the identity of his wife wearing a Muslim veil
• 2014: 2014 Sarcelles riots, a pro-Palestinian protest against the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza degenerated into an antisemitic riot in Sarcelles, France.
• 2016: 2016 French taxi driver strike, a strike by taxi drivers in several major cities against Uber, included many road blockades, fires, overturned vehicles, and the blockade of roads leading to the two major airports in Paris.[8]
• 2016: Nuit debout, protests that grew out of opposition to proposed labor reforms.
• 2017: Protests started following accusations a police officer anally raped a young black man with a baton.[9] Anti-police protests continued well into March 2017 when migrants were met with resistance from Paris residents.
• 2017: During May Day protests in Paris, a group of about 150[10] hooded demonstrators disrupted the march, throwing "Molotov cocktails, firebombs and other objects at the police near Place de la Bastille."[11] These "violent protesters, who did not carry any union or election paraphernalia, appeared to be from the same fringe groups that have targeted anti-government protests in the past."[11] Riot police responded with batons and tear gas.[11] Six police officers were injured, two of them seriously, by petrol bombs.[12]
• 2018: Ongoing Yellow vests movement (French: Gilets jaunes protests) over dissatisfaction with wealth disparity and ongoing increases to fuel taxes.

See also

• List of riots
• List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States

References

1. Benedict, Philip (2020). Season of Conspiracy: Calvin, the French Reformed Churches and Protestant Plotting in the Reign of Francis II (1559-60). American Philosophical Society Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-1-60618-085-3.
2. Zemon Davis, Natalie (1975). Society and Culture in Early Modern France: Eight Essays by Natalie Zemon Davis. Stanford University Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-8047-0972-6.
3. Motta, Alessio. "Police blunders and riots". cairn-int.info. CAIRN INFO. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
4. Phillips, John. "Youth of Paris suburbs rampage again". upi.com. UPI. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
5. "Riot Police Sent to Paris Suburbs". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
6. Pivois, Marce (20 December 2017). "Deux jeunes abattus par la police en deux jours. Soirées de violence à Dammarie-les-Lys. Mercredi, un jeune a été victime des balles d'un policier". liberation.fr (in French). Libération. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
7. Finn, Gary (December 15, 1998). "Second day of Toulouse riots over killing". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
8. "One in five flights cancelled as France hit by aviation, taxi strikes". France 24. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
9. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/parsi-protesters-pictures-clashing-police-riots-anal-rape-young-man-cell-truncheon-racial-tension-a7582911.html
10. "May Day in France: Six officers injured in riots". Ten Network Holdings. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
11. "May Day violence breaks out in Paris; demonstrations around the world". Associated Press. May 1, 2017.
12. "Riot officers injured after petrol bombs thrown in Paris clashes". ITV. May 1, 2017.