The Socialist-Communist Union (french: Union socialiste-communiste, U.S.-C.), later renamed the Socialist-Communist Party (french: Parti socialiste-communiste), was a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

between 1923 and 1932.

Founding

The party was founded in

Boulogne-sur-Seine Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and th ...

on April 29, 1923, through the merger of two splinter groups of 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 ...

; the Federal Socialist Union (formed in December 1922, formed by the Raoul Verfeuil-led rightist tendency of the Communist Party (which opposed the integration of the party into the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

) and L-O Frossard's

United Communist Party The United Communist Party (UCP; russian: Объединённая коммунистическая партия; ОКП; ''Ob'yedinonnaya kommunisticheskaya partiya'', ''OKP'') is a communist party in Russia created at the founding congress in Mo ...

. Frossard had been the First Secretary of the Communist Party but left the party and founded the United Communist Party on January 2, 1923, taking with him several intellectuals and municipal councillors (especially from the Paris region).Perlès, Valérie.
Le Pré entre Paris et banlieue histoire(s) du Pré-Saint-Gervais
'. Paris .a. Créaphis, 2004. p. 214 The mayors of the Parisian suburbs of Boulogne-sur-Seine,

Issy Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

, Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen,

Le Pré-Saint-Gervais Le Pré-Saint-Gervais (; simply known by locals as Le Pré, i.e. "the meadow") is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. With a density of 25,643 inhabitants per square kilometres as of 20 ...

and

Pantin Pantin () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019 its population was estimated to be 59,846. Pantin is located on the edge of the city of Paris and is mainly formed by a plain ...

belonged to the party. Prominent members of the party included Georges Pioch,

Victor Méric Victor Célestin Méric was the pseudonym of Henri Coudon (10 May 1876 – 10 October 1933), a French journalist and libertarian author. He contributed to various anarchist journals before World War I (1914–18). Despite being a pacifist, he serv ...

and

Ernest Lafont Louis-Ernest Lafont (26 July 1879 in Lyon – 7 May 1946 in Paris French National Assembly. Ernest, Louis LAFONT (1879 - 1946)'Gordon, David M. Liberalism and Social Reform: Industrial Growth and Progressiste Politics in France, 1880 - 1914'. West ...

Crisis

U.S.-C. suffered a major setback Frossard and other prominent members (such as

Henri Sellier Henri Charles Sellier (22 December 1883 – 24 November 1943) was a French administrator, urban planner and Socialist politician. He did much to develop garden cities in the Paris region. He was Minister of Health in 1936–37. Life Early years ...

) returned to 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) in 1924. Both U.S.-C. parliamentarians rejoined SFIO.

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...

.
Kongress-Protokolle der Sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale - B. 3.1 Brüssel 1928
'. Glashütten im Taunus: D. Auvermann, 1974. p. IV. 52 The remaining U.S.-C. had around 1,000 members. The party got around 10,000 votes in the 1928 French National Assembly election, and a candidate of the party (

) was elected. Before the election the

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

André Morizet André Morizet (26 January 1876 – 30 March 1942) was a French politician. He served as a member of the French Senate from 1927 to 1942, representing Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevati ...

and his followers had deserted the party. The party was renamed 'Socialist-Communist Party' in 1927.
Le mouvement communiste international et ses oppositions: 1920-1940
'. Paris: PUF, 1984. p. 28 In 1932 the party merged with Workers and Peasants Party, forming the Party of Proletarian Unity.

International linkages

In July 1923 a meeting was held in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, attended by the U.S.-C.,

Georg Ledebour Georg Ledebour (7 March 1850, Hanover – 31 March 1947) was a German socialist journalist and politician. He served as a stretcher bearer in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. He worked as a journalist on several newspapers after 1875. He joined ...

's Socialist League from Germany, the Russian

Left Socialist-Revolutionaries The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...

and the

General Jewish Labour Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia ( yi, ‏אַלגעמײנער ייִדישער אַרבעטער־בונד אין ליטע, פּױלן און רוסלאַנד , translit=Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter-bund in Lite, Poy ...

. The meeting decided to set up a joint Information Bureau. The first meeting of the International Bureau of Revolutionary Socialist Parties (the 'Paris Bureau') was held in Berlin in December 1924, in which the U.S.-C. participated.

Press

The party published ''L'Egalité'' (started by Frossard's group in January 1923) until April 1924. ''L'Egalité'' was a six-page biweekly newspaper. The publishing of ''L'Egalité'' was suspended after the crisis in the party that followed the return of Frossard and other prominent members to SFIO. The party launched ''Bulletin de l'Union Socialiste-Communiste'' in June 1924. In March 1926 this publication was renamed ''L'Unité ouvrière''. This newspaper was published until December 1931.
Le mouvement communiste international et ses oppositions: 1920-1940
'. Paris: PUF, 1984. pp. 120-121 In

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

, the party published ''Le Peuple de la Loire''.Colson, Daniel.
Anarcho-syndicalisme et communisme: Saint-Etienne, 1920-1925
'. aint-Etienne, France Centre d'études foréziennes, 1986. p. 167

References

{{French Communist Party Communist parties in France Political parties established in 1923 Political parties disestablished in 1932 1923 establishments in France