The PCF's number two for 37 years: a Stalinist who moved between parliament and the underground
'There was opportunism, legalitarianism and parliamentary illusions... If we courageously carry out this self-criticism before the Party, we shall arouse among the masses a state of mind favourable for the fight,' founding Cominform conference, Szklarska Poręba, September 1947
Number two in the French Communist Party leadership for 37 years alongside Maurice Thorez, entering parliament by defeating Léon Blum in Paris's 20th arrondissement. He directed the clandestine PCF throughout the German occupation and served as vice-president of the National Assembly after the war. At the founding Cominform conference in 1947, he publicly admitted that the party's participation in government had been 'parliamentary illusions,' symbolising the PCF's turn to militant opposition against the Marshall Plan. In 1969, he won 21.3% of the vote as the Communist presidential candidate, the party's best-ever result.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1915–1917Fights at Verdun, wounded; captured at Chemin des Dames
- 1920–1926Founding PCF member; enters Central Committee and Chamber of Deputies
- 1928–1936Defeats Léon Blum; enters Political Bureau; Chamber vice-president
- 1940–1944Heads the clandestine PCF; directs the Communist Resistance
- 1945–1947Deputy and vice-president; PCF in tripartite government
- 1947–1953Cominform self-criticism; anti-Marshall Plan turn; acting secretary-general
- 1959–1975Senator, Communist group president; 21.3% in 1969 presidential election
- 1975Dies in Montreuil; buried at Père Lachaise
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World WarFrench soldierHe fought at Verdun, was wounded, and was later captured.
- 1934–1938The French Popular Front and the Strikes of 1936PCF leadership; vice-president of the ChamberWith Thorez he executed the line of support without participation, and served as vice-president of the Popular Front Chamber.
- 1940–1944The French Resistance and the Liberation of FranceLeader of the Communist ResistanceDuring the German occupation, he headed the clandestine PCF and directed the Communist Resistance.
- 1947–1948The Marshall Plan and the Cold WarFrench communist delegateAttended the Szklarska Poręba conference as French delegate, gave the self-critical speech admitting the PCF's 'opportunism' and 'parliamentary illusions', and was a key figure in the party's turn to militant opposition against the Marshall Plan.
On 28 May 1952 the French Communist Party and the communist-aligned World Peace Council organised a Paris demonstration against the arrival as NATO's supreme commander in Europe of the US general Matthew Ridgway, at the height of the Korean War and the campaigns against the Indochina war. The Paris police prefect Jean Baylot had banned the gathering the day before; the march went ahead, clashes with police followed, and 730 people were arrested. That evening Duclos, returning to Montreuil, was arrested near the place de la République. The interior ministry announced that a plot against state security had been uncovered and that his car contained a pistol, a club and two dead pigeons, which it described as carrier pigeons carrying secret messages to the Soviet Union; the affair became known as the 'pigeons' plot'. Duclos said the birds had been given to him to be eaten, and police inventories also listed tinned peas. Police seized a 135-page notebook of his notes from confidential party meetings; it was never returned to him, and excerpts were passed to the anti-union operation of Georges Albertini and published in the right-wing press. The government used the affair to launch a wider offensive. Raids on party and affiliated offices supplied membership and staff lists, and sanctions and dismissals followed among police officers, arsenal workers and railway workers; the general strike called for 4 June failed, and the defeat left the party's organisations at Renault-Billancourt decapitated. The affair ended as a setback for the government. In the autumn of 1953 the National Assembly rejected its request to lift the parliamentary immunity of six communist deputies, Duclos among them, ending the prosecution he had faced since 1952, and on 17 November 1953 the general dismissal in the Toulon case confirmed the end of the judicial offensive. At the final hearing in November 1955, with 22 of the up to 171 defendants appearing, the original accusations of endangering the internal security of the state were reduced to rebellion and insults to police officers.
On 28 May 1952 the French Communist Party and the communist-aligned World Peace Council organised a Paris demonstration against the arrival as NATO's supreme commander in Europe of the US general Matthew Ridgway, then commanding the United Nations forces in Korea. The Paris police prefect Jean Baylot had banned the gathering the day before; the march went ahead and, after clashes with police, 730 people were arrested.
The stated pretext for the arrest was an alleged plot against the security of the state. Police said they found a pistol, a club and two dead pigeons in his car; the interior minister presented the birds as carrier pigeons carrying information to the Soviet Union for a conspiracy, and the case became known as the 'pigeons' plot'. Duclos said the pigeons had been given to him to be eaten, and the inventory listed tins of peas alongside them. Police also seized a 135-page notebook of his notes from confidential party meetings; passages were passed to the anti-union operation of Georges Albertini and published in the right-wing press. Duclos maintained that the notebook had been falsified, and the PCF lodged an appeal.
The government turned the case into a wider offensive. Raids on party and affiliated offices in Paris and the provinces produced membership lists and led to suspensions and dismissals of police officers, arsenal workers and railway workers. The PCF answer, a general strike on 4 June, was poorly observed outside Paris, and the repression stripped the party of activists at Renault-Billancourt. Duclos was released on 1 July 1952 on appeal, a setback for the government; at the final hearing in November 1955, attended by 22 of the more than 170 people charged in the case, the original accusations of endangering the internal security of the state were reduced to ordinary offences such as rebellion and insults to police officers.