A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #361 - Boulogne-sur-Mer: When the municipal authorities intend to bring the youth to attention... (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The Mad Seagull - No to the militaristic recruitment of youth! - While 
strolling through the heart of the city, a banner hanging from the gates 
of an elementary school immediately catches the eye of passersby. Its 
design, its garish colors, the youthful features of the figures, the 
very place where it is displayed-everything about it evokes, at first 
glance, a feeling of strangeness, even unease. Boys and girls of 
deliberately indeterminate age, depicted in a manga style and dressed in 
military uniforms, smile at the horizon in an evocative scene (1)... 
Like women's bodies, the bodies of young people and children have very 
early on been targeted by propaganda, whether it serves commercial, 
political, or religious interests, or all three at once-it matters 
little, as long as the control and power exerted over them are thereby 
legitimized and increased.

In the case at hand, a "Marine Military Preparation" program is nothing 
less than the enlistment of minors and young adults between the ages of 
16 and 21 in a program that includes, among other activities: "wearing 
the uniform, handling weapons, participating in military ceremonies, 
learning about the Defense organization, visiting warships, learning 
drill..." Making something that amounts to subordinating them to the 
exclusive interests of the bourgeoisie appealing to young people is the 
sleight of hand to which the local left, under the banner of the city of 
Boulogne-sur-Mer, is complicit. The signage affixed to the bottom of the 
banner in question and the dissemination of the recruitment campaign on 
the municipality's website leave no room for doubt (2).

"Militarism, a field of action for capital"
A militaristic wind is sweeping across Europe. Under the pretext of the 
conflict in Ukraine and international instability, the European 
bourgeoisie, losing ground, is once again playing out the unholy 
alliance of industrialists, politicians, and the military. In France, 
the latest multi-year spending bill passed by parliament hands out 
EUR436 billion to industry bosses, while Macron reintroduces compulsory 
military service (3). Across the Rhine, the coalition of German 
conservatives and socialists is not to be outdone, allocating EUR377 
billion to rearmament, and the state is also attempting to reintroduce 
compulsory conscription against the will of a majority of the population 
(4). On the eve of the First World War, Rosa Luxemburg asserted that, 
for the capitalist class, militarism had become indispensable from three 
points of view: "1. to defend national interests, (...) 2. to constitute 
a privileged area of investment for both financial and industrial 
capital, (...) 3. to ensure its class domination over the working 
people..." (5) As we discussed in a previous article, the possibility of 
war should never be taken lightly. For capitalism, war has a specific 
function: to destroy excess capital and launch a new cycle of 
accumulation. However, we will refrain from categorically stating, as 
some do, that we are on the verge of another global conflagration. For 
the time being, let us try to act where we live against all forms of 
militarism and those who promote them.

The left, militarism...
Contrary to the fiction perpetuated by some, the relationship between 
the left and the military has always been unambiguous, and as far as the 
Socialist Party is concerned, its inclination has never wavered. The 
founding act of its allegiance was the unanimous vote in August 1914 by 
the Socialist parliamentary group for war credits and martial law, which 
restricted liberties. From that date onward, and well before that with 
regard to the colonial question, the Socialists would consistently 
support the bourgeoisie's wartime endeavors.
As for the civic alibi of a republican army guaranteeing democratic 
values, it dissolves in the face of history (6). This army, in the pay 
of industrialists and financiers, has been guilty of the worst colonial 
and imperialist atrocities from the 19th century to the present day, 
while in mainland France it shot workers in Fourmies in 1891, fired on 
miners in 1948, and "will be called upon to open fire if necessary" 
against the Yellow Vests by the governor of Paris in 2019...

...and the school
Anyone who remembers the "left's rise to power in 1981" knows that, 
barely settled into the Élysée Palace, Mitterrand hastened to reassure 
his American counterpart at the time, Ronald Reagan, about his true 
intentions... The Communist ministers would soon learn, to their cost, 
the role they had been made to play in this charade. Thus, as early as 
1982, while the famous "110 Proposals for France" called for 
"progressive and simultaneous disarmament with a view to the dissolution 
of military blocs...", the Socialists, Charles Hernu for Defense and 
Alain Savary for National Education, jointly signed the first 
"Army-School Protocol." In 1989, it was Chevènement's turn to present a 
new version, and on April 11, 1995, the right, back in power, naturally 
followed in the reactionary footsteps of the Socialist Party. The two 
François, Bayrou for National Education, and Léotard for the army, once 
again intended to give "young people lacking direction the necessary 
keys to find their way in a world in crisis" (7). Since then, all 
governments, without exception, have worked to bring schools and the 
army into close collaboration.

The youth's response, without ever forgetting the class issue!
Under the bellicose Macron regime, this policy of regimenting youth has 
reached a new level. The fiasco of the National Universal Service (SNU) 
has not dampened the enthusiasm of his administration, which persists in 
forcing the military into school curricula and institutions at all 
costs. "Global Defense Classes," the intervention of military officers 
in schools, the dissemination of militaristic propaganda financed by 
arms manufacturers, the organization of supposedly "educational" 
"projects" directly linked to the Ministry of Defense, the mention of 
the military on the baccalaureate diploma... A whole arsenal of measures 
now contributes to conforming the minds and bodies of young people to 
the customs of the military. Among these young people, the primary 
target remains children from working-class backgrounds. Getting their 
skin riddled with bullets for industrialists and financiers, even in the 
age of so-called technological warfare, remains the privilege of the 
proletariat. Those for whom the school system has already done its work 
of selection and social reproduction, those struggling in the 
precariousness of dead-end programs and dead-end jobs, and to whom the 
military institution is now extending a merciful hand.
In Germany, young people are particularly mobilized against the military 
service that some would impose on them; demonstrations regularly take 
place, bringing together thousands of high school and university 
students. In France, school blockades and actions have taken place in 
several cities, such as Saint-Nazaire, where a thousand demonstrators 
marched in the streets and where the "Down with War!" collective intends 
to create an "Anti-militarist and Popular Front." In Italy, mass, 
class-based actions against war and militarism have shattered the image 
of a society supposedly fallen under the spell of the far right.

Against capital and its militarism, let's debate together, organize 
ourselves, and act!

Boulogne-sur-Mer, May 9, 2026

Notes
(1) A propaganda tool that oozes AI from every pore...
(2) https://www.ville-boulogne-sur-mer.... . Furthermore, elementary 
school premises belong to the municipalities; they alone decide whether 
to make them available, if necessary...
(3) It is ironic to learn that neither the bellicose Macron nor Trump 
has performed military service.
(4) A survey commissioned by Stern magazine indicates that 61% of 
Germans would not fight for Germany. Only 17% would be prepared for 
armed "defense" in the hypothetical scenario of a "military attack 
against Germany." A law would also require any man of fighting age to 
obtain military authorization to leave Germany for more than three months!
(5) Macron's war economy, or producing to the sound of gunfire: 
https://lamouetteenragee.noblogs.or...
(6) In France, throughout the 19th century and under all regimes, the 
army shot workers. To quote Diana Cooper Richet: "Whatever the regime, 
monarchical, imperial, or republican, soldiers fired on angry crowds on 
several occasions, even when women and children were involved." In: The 
Angry Crowd: Miners and the Strike in the 19th Century. 19th Century 
History Review, Volume 17, 1998/2. Crowds in the 19th Century. As a
reminder: Rosa Luxemburg was assassinated on January 15, 1919, by 
soldiers acting under the orders of the ruling German Social Democrats.
(7) Signing of the Defense-National Education Protocol on April 11, 
1995, at the Hôtel de Brienne.

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4726
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