The National Liberation Front of Corsica ( co, Fronte di liberazione naziunale di a Corsica or ; french: Front de libération nationale corse,

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

FLNC) was a militant group that advocates an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

state on the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

, separate from

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 ...

. The organisation was primarily present in Corsica and less so on the French mainland. '' A Conculta Naziunalista'' was often considered to be the political wing of the organisation. Typical militant acts by the FLNC were

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

ings aimed at public buildings, banks, tourist infrastructures,

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

buildings and other perceived French symbols, in addition to

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...

against civilians, armed

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

, and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

against private enterprises through so-called "

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

ary

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

es". The attacks were usually performed against buildings and the island's infrastructures, but it was also not uncommon for the FLNC to have individual people as targets, such as

Claude Érignac Claude Jean Pierre Érignac (; 15 December 1937 – 6 February 1998) was a French prefect on the island of Corsica. Érignac was born in Mende, Lozère. In the course of his political career, he had been prefect of several departments and ...

who was killed in 1998. Corse signalisation

History

Foundation and objectives

The FLNC was created from a merger of ''Ghjustizia Paolina'' and the ''Fronte Paesanu Corsu di Liberazione'', the two largest

n armed organizations. It was an offshoot of the

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 ideological or p ...

''A Cuncolta Independentista'' which had members in the

Corsican Assembly The Corsican Assembly ( co, Assemblea di Corsica; french: L'Assemblée de Corse) is the unicameral legislative body of the territorial collectivity of Corsica. It has its seat at the , in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio. After the 2017 territ ...

and some support among the locals. The FLNC carried out its first attacks on the night of 4 May 1976 with 21 bombs exploding in

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the '' Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsic ...

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

Sartène Sartène (; co, Sartè ; it, Sartena or ) is a commune in the department of Corse-du-Sud on the island of Corsica, France. Its history dates back to medieval times and granite buildings from the early 16th century still line some of the ...

Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; it, Porto Vecchio or ; co, Portivechju or ) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the mars ...

and other Corsican towns. The majority of the targets were public buildings and offices of estate agents. On 5 May the FLNC formally announced its existence when it issued a bilingual manifesto which also claimed responsibility for the previous night's attacks. The manifesto contained six demands: * The recognition of the National Right of the Corsican people. * The removal of all instruments of French colonialism – including the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

and colonists. * The setting up of a popular democratic government which would express the will and the needs of the Corsican people. * The confiscation of "colonial" estates. * Agrarian reform to fulfill the aspirations of farmers, workers and intellectuals and rid the country of all forms of exploitation. * The right to

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...

of the Corsican people.

2014 to present

In 2014, the organisation announced the cessation of its armed struggle, which they confirmed again in 2016. Nevertheless, a number of minor

splinter group A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

s have so far emerged and are still active.http://www.corsematin.com/ta/vescovato/205162/corse-deux-membres-d-un-flnc-unifie-revendiquent-l-attentat , Two members of a unified FLNC claimed the attack, ''Corse Matin, '' 10 August 2009 The FLNC warned in 2016 that any attacks on Corsica by

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

will be met with swift retaliation.

Armed campaign

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Corsican nationalist website, mostly in French, with a lot of information about the FLNC
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Liberation Front Of Corsica Corsican nationalism Paramilitary organizations based in France Separatism in France Secessionist organizations in Europe National liberation movements Terrorism in France Banned secessionist parties