"Gilet Jaunes" Descend on France

Veronique De Viguerie/Getty Images

The scene on Saturday, December 1 at the Arc of Triumph in Paris was ugly. Just three weeks before leaders from all over the world met here and solemnly payed tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. Now the iconic symbol of France was clouded by tear gas, defaced, and surrounded by police trying to protect it from the "Casseurs," those who aimed to do violence to the monument. The Casseurs regularly attach themselves to public demonstrations and cause violent chaos. They are disenfranchised individuals who feel they have nothing to lose by their actions.

While the "Gilets Jaunes" (yellow vests) had been peacefully protesting in the streets all over France for the past two weeks, extremists from the Left and the Right mixed in with them on Saturday to raise their ire over capitalism, injustice against the poor, and general ennui over the Macron-led administration. By the following week, other groups joined the Gilets Jaunes and called for labor reforms, educational reform, and the like.

In Paris, the Casseurs' violent actions ended up costing an estimated 100 million euros in property damage on stores and boutiques in some of the wealthiest sections of the city. These people also overturned cars and sometimes set them on fire. More than 400 people were taken into custody, three died, and about 260 people were wounded. 

President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Argentina for the G-20 summit, promptly returned to Paris to meet with his cabinet ministers to determine how to respond to the crisis. He also cancelled his trip to a major environmental conference in Katowice, Poland. The environment has been one of Macron's signature policies of his administration, which began in May 2017. He has been an international advocate of curbing the use of fossil fuels by 2020, reducing the use of nuclear energy, and switching over to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.  

Who Are the Gilets Jaunes?
The Gilets Jaunes are a leaderless protest group that spontaneously emerged last month thanks to social media. They gather in key places on major highways throughout the nation with the aim of slowing down traffic in order to bring attention to the unfairness of the tax on oil set to be implemented in January 2019. They also took over highway toll booths and allowed vehicles to pass through for free. The toll booths are privately owned. 

The protesters used yellow vests as a rallying cry and identifiable symbol of their protest. The vests are part of a safety kit required by law  in October 2008 to be carried by motorists for emergencies. The kit includes a yellow vest, a reflector warning triangle, bandages, and gloves. The Gilets Jaunes use the yellow vests use as a symbol of government oppression.

Recently, the Macron government announced a plan for an Ecological Transition in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels and to encourage people to buy electric cars. This is a program that came out of the December 2015 Paris Agreement that addressed the problem of climate change by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to new technologies, and financing such efforts starting in 2020. Macron sought to hike gasoline taxes beginning in January 2019 to reduce the use of fossil fuels. In another measure he gave people an allowance to buy electric cars, however, it was quite a bit less than the cost of such cars. 

While this plan attempts to address climate change, it burdens people with the expense of making the transition to more ecological transportation. People who live in big cities would not be affected in the same way as people who live in rural areas. They have public transportation options (buses, trains, trams, bicycles) while people living in the country must rely on their cars to get to work. Many of these people are poor and paying the extra tax would pose an undue burden on them. 

Meanwhile, in trying to encourage big corporations to hire more people, Macron gave them tax breaks. This action infuriated citizens because they felt he was favoring the rich. Macron, himself a millionaire, was an investment banker before he went into public service. Among his positions in government was his appointment as Minister of Economy, Industry, and Digital Affairs in August 2014 where he was known for pushing through business-friendly reforms. He ran for president in 2017 as a centrist and defeated the far right candidate Marine La Pen. 

The Gilets Jaunes are calling for the 40-year-old president's  resignation. 

Marianne, the symbol of France since the French Revolution, was badly damaged at the 
Arc of Triumph during demonstrations in Paris held on Saturday, December 1
(AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

May 1968
Some news commentators have called the Gilets Jaunes a movement and compared it to the May 1968 period of civil unrest where there were massive general strikes and the occupation of universities and factories across France. At its height, the entire economy of France came to a virtual halt. Political leaders feared civil war or revolution and President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled France for a few hours in order to protect the Elysée Palace, the presidential residence, because "nobody attacks an empty palace." 

The protests spurred an artistic movement and became a cultural, social, and moral turning point in French history. Alain Geismar—one of the leaders of the time—later pointed out, the movement succeeded "as a social revolution, not as a political one".

It remains to be seen what the Gilet Jaune movement will mean and what outcome will result.