In two Open Letters, a group of serving French soldiers recently accused the Government of President Emmanuel Macron of ignoring warnings of an impending Civil War!

A couple of months ago, the Right-wing magazine Valeurs Actuelles had published the first Open Letter that was reportedly signed anonymously “by active military personnel” and was appended with a petition on the magazine’s website for others to sign. The signatories mentioned the seventh verse of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, which refers to the “avenging” slain elders or following them to “their coffins”.

The second one was published on April 21, the 60th anniversary of a failed coup d’état against General Charles de Gaulle over his support for Algerian Independence. The second Open Letter was also signed by a number of retired Generals and 18 serving soldiers, including four officers. They reportedly warned of the “disintegration” of France, stating that the perils of Islamic Extremist and the hordes from the banlieue would destroy the Western European Nation soon.

The signatories further slammed Anti-Racism Groups for creating “hatred between communities”, insisting that “lax” government policies would only spark chaos and requiring military action to “protect our Civilisational Values”. The second letter categorically said that the threat of punishment quite perverse, adding: “Civil War is brewing in France.” The serving members of the French Military strongly criticised the Macron Administration for its “cowardice, deceit, and perverse” policies.

The second Open Letter read: “To quibble about the form of our elders’ tribune instead of recognising the evidence of their findings, you have to be cowardly. To invoke a misinterpreted duty of reserve in order to silence French citizens, one must be very deceitful. To encourage the Army’s senior officers to take a stand and expose themselves, before angrily sanctioning them as soon as they write anything other than battle reports, one must be quite perverse.” It added: “Cowardice, deceit, perversion: this is not our vision of the hierarchy. On the contrary, the Army is, par excellence, the place where we speak the truth because we commit our lives.” The letter concluded: “Once again, Civil War is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well.” Valeurs Actuelles claimed that by 10am in the next morning, 76,461 people had signed the petition!

As expected, the two Open Letters have invited a damning response from the Government of France and politicians across the spectrum. French Interior Minister Gérard Darmanin has targeted far-right Rassemblement National Party leader Marine Le Pen, stressing that it is basically a “crude manoeuvre” in the run-up to Regional Elections next month. He has also denounced the lack of courage of its unnamed authors. The minister has further criticised Le Pen for breaking military rules, saying that legal action should be taken against the culprits. For her part, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly stated: “The Armies are not there to campaign, but to defend France.”

Meanwhile, Former President François Hollande has expressed serious concern over the absence of professional code among the Army personnel. He told the press: “Where is the professional code… how can we let people think that today the Army would be driven by such feelings and by such a desire to challenge the very principles of the Republic?” Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) and Socialist Party’s Olivier Faure, too, have slammed the petitioners.

While the French officials have accused Le Pen of political manoeuvring, she is making preparations to tackle President Macron in the 2022 Election. With less than a year to go before the first round of Presidential Voting and Regional Elections due in June (2021), Le Pen is trying to capitalise on concerns about security that President Macron has failed to quell, despite a high profile campaign to push back against Islamists responsible for a spate of violent attacks.

Experts are of the opinion that Le Pen and her far-right Party are testing the patience of President Macron through some Army staff. The Rassemblement National Party leader is getting frustrated because of the French President’s apparent success as an administrator. The Experts believe that such Open Letters by anonymous authors would fail to destabilise a country with such a rich Political Culture.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das