Léon Blum’s Popular Front government, led by the French Section of the Workers’ International (SFIO), came to power in 1936 on the back of a massive strike wave. At the same time, rising fascism threatened the whole of Europe.

Blum described his efforts in office as “the occupation of power”: attuned to the larger balance of forces in French society, he felt that his government would be too weak to dismantle or even radically reform capitalism. Instead, its task was to preserve the gains of the workers’ movement by frustrating the Right’s ascent.

Nevertheless, to the hundreds of thousands of workers out on strike, Blum was the candidate of insurrection. His election only intensified the class struggle in the country, initiating a general strike of a million workers in a range of industries. The unrest strengthened Blum’s position enough for his government to pass a series of reforms, known as the Matignon Accords, which capped the workweek at forty hours and established twelve days of mandatory paid vacation, among other changes.