The Revolutionary Syndicalist Committees (french: Comités Syndicalistes Révolutionnaires, CSR) were a trade-unionist organization created in 1919 by

Pierre Monatte Pierre Monatte (15 January 188127 June 1960) was a French trade unionist, a founder of the ''Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT, Generation Confederation of Labour) at the beginning of the 20th century, and founder of its journal ''La Vi ...

inside the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT) trade-union. It grouped the

revolutionary syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...

s who were opposed to the ''

Union sacrée The Sacred Union (french: Union Sacrée, ) was a political truce in France in which the left-wing agreed, during World War I, not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made ...

'' national bloc during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and to the CGT's collaboration with the government. Pierre Monatte became the CSR general secretary in 1921. They boasted 300,000 members. Meanwhile, the revolutionary syndicalists quickly became again in majority inside the CGT, and in 1921, following the equivalent of the 1920

Tours Congress The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25–30 December 1920. During the Congress, the majority voted to join the Third International and create t ...

for the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(SFIO, socialist party), a split divided

Léon Jouhaux Léon Jouhaux (1 July 1879 – 28 April 1954) was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951. Biography Jouhaux was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Jouhaux's father worked in a match factory in Aubervillier ...

's reformist trade-unionists with other revolutionary members, who founded the

Confédération générale du travail unitaire The Confédération générale du travail unitaire, or CGTU ( en, United General Confederation of Labor), was a trade union confederation in France that at first included anarcho-syndicalists and soon became aligned with the French Communist Par ...

(CGTU). After Monatte's exclusion from the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

(PCF) in 1924, he created along with other ex-members the '' Ligue syndicaliste'' (Syndicalist League) to organize again the revolutionary syndicalists. They published the ''

Révolution Prolétarienne The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

'' (Proletarian Revolution) journal which succeeded to Monatte's ''

Vie Ouvrière Vie (IPA: /'vi.e/), is a district (or ''quarter''), of Oradea, a city in Bihor, Romania. The name means ''vineyard'' in Romanian. Geography Vie is situated in the hills overlooking Oradea, in the northern part of the town. It spans quite a lar ...

''. In 1936, the CGT and the CGTU re-unified themselves, an event in which the Syndicalist League's initiative of launching the '' Comité des 22'' (Committee of the 22) grouping together since 1924 known activists of the CGT, the CGTU and autonomous trade-unions. The following year, however, some revolutionary syndicalists opposed both to the parties' influence on the trade unions and to inner

bureaucracy The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

split to form the ''

Cercles Syndicalistes Lutte de Classe Cercles (; oc, Cercle) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Dordogne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Tour-Blanche-Cercles. History ...

'' (Syndicalist Circles Class Struggle). Following the 1995 strikes, a trade-unionist current took again the name, claiming itself of its founders. They included members of the CGT,

Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques The Solidaires or Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques (SUD) is a French group of trade unions. Political position They tend to favor progressive or even radical views and work with the alter-globalization or anti-globalization movement. Th ...

(SUD) and the CNT-Vignoles, and publish a journal called ''Syndicaliste!''.

External links

''Syndicaliste'' review
{{Authority control Trade unions in France National trade union centers of France Syndicalist trade unions Trade unions established in 1919