Recently, students in France have risen up in protest against France’s lycee (High School) system, complaining of deteriorating schools, long study schedules, and a lack of qualified teachers. It’s the sixth time students have conducted massive street protests (the others occurred in 1968, 1986, 1995, 2006, & 2018).
Now France isn’t exactly a stranger to civil unrest: At least 8,516 rebellions took place in France between 1661 and 1789 alone.
If you want skip over the intro to compare “insurrections” just Click here
The most notable took place in 1763, when France lost the Seven Year War against Great Britain and signed the Treaty of Paris, surrendering Canada and all land East of the Mississippi River. When America’s colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776 France’s King Louis XVI saw a chance to weaken Britain’s control of North America and so supported America’s War of Independence against Britain.
Unfortunately for King Louis, once a group of Parisians upset at higher taxes, rising food prices, and a repressive monarchy – and perhaps motivated by the American Revolution’s success – decided to attack Paris’s Bastille fortress in 1789 to seize weapons & ammunition the King’s days were numbered.
King Louis XVI: “Is it a revolt?”
Duke of Rochefoucauld-Liancourt: “No, Your Majesty, it’s a revolution.”
Despite most historians agreeing that the Coup of 18 Brumaire on November 9th, 1799 represented the end of the French Revolution, France continued to have a number of uprisings, rebellions, and insurrections as various factions sought to define – and, control – the French Republic.
Speaking of control, Radical left-wing groups (Communists, Socialists, Anarchists), along with anti-Semitic Muslims, have co-opted France’s current Students protests to spread vandalism, looting, violence, and destruction throughout Paris, and generally throughout France in an effort to destabilize the government and advance their Communist agenda.
Hijacking well-intentioned, peaceful demonstrations for their own purposes seems to be a habit of Leftist groups (for example, the George Floyd Protests, Anti-Racist Protests of 2020, Anti-ICE Protests, “Pro-Palestinian” Protests, and even perhaps the 2021 Nation’s Capitol Protest in the USA), with their hijacking evident by the vandalism, looting, violence, destruction, and more which almost inevitably results.
Back in January 2022 I compared the historically destructive George Floyd Riots of 2020 to the Nation’s Capitol Protest of January 2021, and thought it might be nice to make another comparison:
Once again, some helpful definitions to keep in mind as you read through this post:
- Insurrection. n. The act or an instance of open revolt against civil authority.
- Civil Authority – a person who exercises authority over civilian affairs.
- Authority – n. One that is invested with the power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge, especially a government or body of government officials.
Mindful of these definition, let’s see which protest might be closer to “insurrection”:
|
“French Students” |
“Nation’s Capitol” |
|
| When: | October 13, 2026 (15 days, on-going) |
January 6, 2021 (1 day) |
| Total events: | 110 Marches (with more expected) | 1 protest |
| Where: | 40 Cities | Washintgon, DC (Democrat-led) |
| Why: | To protest school conditions, class schedules, class load, and teachers; €61 in proposed spending cuts. | To protest perceived cheating by Democrats during the 2020 Presidential Election which resulted in their candidate winning, and demand a review of the election process and results. |
| Law Enforcement Response: | Local Police confront protesters. Gov’t Troops called up to assist. Curfews initiated in two cities. 70,000 Security Forces mobilized. |
Routine Capitol Police staff only. Federal Troops refused. National Guard not called up. |
| Casualties: | 1 Protester dead (cardiac arrest). 248 Students injured. 148 School Staff injured. 700+ Law Enforcement Officers injured. (See here also). |
One Death: Black security guard shoots unarmed White woman. 203 Officers injured Unknown civilian injuries. |
| Property Damage: | $1,300 Million (estimated) 3,024 shops damaged or looted. |
$1.5 Million (estimated) No private property damaged. |
| Federal Property Damaged: | Town Hall in Limoges, France Town Hall in Marseille, France Tourist Office in Lyon, France (list may be incomplete) |
US Capitol Building vandalized |
| Monuments Affected: | One statute tipped over in Marseille, France. Graffiti on unknown number of monuments & statues. |
Minor damage to one statue in the Rotunda. |
| “Mostly Peaceful”: | 85% of city protests were non-violent (estimated). BBC calls riots “mostly peaceful“. |
99.8% of all Trump rallies were peaceful. (1 out of 408 total live Trump rallies) Liberal Media calls the Capitol protest an “Insurrection”. |
Note the last time the United States Capitol Building was “breached” by more than a handful of people was back in 1814, when the British Army invaded the United States to stop its’ expansion to the West and block US trade with France: The British burned out all but one of Washington D.C.’s Federal Buildings.
And note the damage attributed to the Nation’s Capitol protesters pales in comparison to the destruction now taking place in France, with both events clearly overshadowed by the unprecedented destruction by the George Floyd protests of 2020.
So, would one still consider the protest at the Nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C. to be an “insurrectionary event”?
Thanks for Reading!
