Historical Milestones¶
Many rights exercised when protesting today were won in the street. This timeline gathers uprisings, social movements, episodes of repression and the laws that still frame the right to protest. Each date links to a source.
## What the street won
Paid holidays, the right to vote, bills withdrawn: many of today's rights were won through mobilisation. Each line links to its date in the timeline.
- 1848 February Revolution of 1848 — Universal male suffrage and abolition of slavery in the colonies (1848).
- 1936 Popular Front and the 1936 strikes — Paid holidays, 40-hour week, collective agreements and staff representatives.
- 1968 May 68 — Grenelle agreements: sharp rise of the minimum wage (SMIG); December 1968 law recognising union branches in companies.
- 1970 Birth of the Women's Liberation Movement (MLF) — Mobilisations (Manifesto of the 343, marches) leading to the 1975 Veil law legalising abortion.
- 1971 Larzac struggle — Expansion project abandoned in 1981.
- 1980 Plogoff — Plant project abandoned in 1981.
- 1981 First major gay march in Paris — Full decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1982.
- 1983 March for Equality and Against Racism — Creation in 1984 of the ten-year resident card.
- 1986 Death of Malik Oussekine — Withdrawal of the Devaquet university bill.
- 1995 1995 strikes — Special pension schemes reform dropped.
- 2006 Anti-CPE movement — Withdrawal of the “first job contract” (April 2006).
- 2018 Notre-Dame-des-Landes — Airport project abandoned.
- 2018 Yellow vests — Planned 2019 fuel tax rise cancelled and social measures worth about €10 billion (including a higher in-work benefit).
- 2020 'Global security' law — Article penalising sharing images of police struck down by the Constitutional Council (2021).
The timeline¶
Before 1900
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Uprising
Storming of the Bastille #
Parisians storm the Bastille prison, symbol of royal arbitrary rule. Founding act of the French Revolution, now the national holiday.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Rights won
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen #
Its articles 10 and 11 guarantee freedom of opinion and expression; it is still part of the Constitution.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Uprising
The Three Glorious Days #
Three days of uprising in Paris topple Charles X after his decrees against press freedom.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Uprising
February Revolution of 1848 #
Bans on republican banquets spark a revolution: end of the July Monarchy, universal male suffrage, abolition of slavery.
Won: Universal male suffrage and abolition of slavery in the colonies (1848).
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Uprising
Paris Commune #
Paris governs itself for 72 days; the “Bloody Week” crushes the Commune in May 1871.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Rights won
Freedom of assembly law #
Public meetings become free, with no prior authorization.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Rights won
Waldeck-Rousseau law (trade unions) #
Legalizes trade unions.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Repression
Fourmies shooting #
Troops fire on a May Day workers' march for the eight-hour day: nine dead, including young people.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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1900-1967
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Rights won
Associations law #
Freedom to found an association without authorization: the legal basis of most of today's collectives.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Uprising
6 February 1934 crisis #
Far-right leagues riot outside Parliament; in response, the left unites against fascism.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Rights won
Decree-law of 23 October 1935 #
Introduces prior notification of demonstrations to the prefecture, still in force today.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Rights won
Preamble to the 1946 Constitution #
Recognizes the right to strike and union freedom, still constitutional today.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Repression
17 October 1961 massacre #
Against a curfew imposed on 5 October on 'French Muslims from Algeria' only, about 22,000 Algerians march peacefully in Paris at the FLN's call. Under police prefect Maurice Papon, the crackdown is extremely violent: more than 11,000 people arrested, protesters shot dead or thrown into the Seine. The toll, from 32 to more than 200 dead depending on the source, remains unknown; only 3 deaths were acknowledged at the time.
See also: Charonne metro station (1962) · Injured and killed
Sources: Wikipedia (in French) · Larousse — 17 October 1961 massacre (in French) · Élysée — President's statement on 17 October 1961 (2012) · Al Jazeera — Macron decries 'inexcusable' Algerian protest massacre in Paris (2021) · LCP — The National Assembly recognises and condemns the 'massacre of Algerians of 17 October 1961 in Paris'
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Repression
Charonne metro station #
Nine people protesting the OAS and the Algerian War die in a police crackdown.
See also: 17 October 1961 massacre (1961) · Injured and killed
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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1968-1999
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Repression
Death of Malik Oussekine #
22-year-old student killed by police during protests against the Devaquet bill; the bill is withdrawn. Two police officers receive suspended prison sentences.
Won: Withdrawal of the Devaquet university bill.
Sources: Wikipedia (French) — Malik Oussekine case · Devaquet bill (Wikipedia, in French)
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2000-2016
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Vote or voice ignored
The 'no' in the European referendum bypassed #
54.67% of voters reject the European constitutional treaty (turnout: 69.36%). On 4 February 2008, Parliament meeting in Congress paves the way for the Lisbon Treaty without a new referendum; according to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, author of the first text, 'the tools are exactly the same, only the order in the toolbox has changed'.
See also: ADP referendum: a million signatures for nothing (2020)
Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — French referendum on the European Constitution treaty
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Uprising
2005 urban uprisings #
After the deaths of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré in Clichy-sous-Bois, uprisings in working-class suburbs; state of emergency.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Privatisation and markets
Electricity: EDF forced to sell its nuclear power to competitors #
After the electricity market opened to all households in 2007, driven by EU directives, the NOME law requires EDF to sell up to 100 TWh a year of its nuclear power to competitors at a fixed price (€42/MWh from 2012). In 2018 the regulator (CRE) concludes the scheme produced none of the promised incentives to invest. It ends on 31 December 2025.
Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — Regulated access to historic nuclear electricity (ARENH)
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Repression
Death of Rémi Fraisse #
21-year-old environmental activist killed by a gendarmerie grenade at the Sivens dam. The OF-F1 grenade is banned in 2017; the European Court of Human Rights finds France violated his right to life.
See also: Rémi Fraisse: the backpack theory (2014) · Injured and killed
Guides: Filing a complaintSources: Wikipedia (in French) · Wikipedia — Killing of Rémi Fraisse (OF-F1 grenade ban) · Le Temps — ECHR finds France violated Rémi Fraisse's right to life
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Official disinformation
Rémi Fraisse: the backpack theory #
At the Sivens dam, a 21-year-old environmental activist is killed by an explosion on the night of 25-26 October 2014.
See also: Death of Rémi Fraisse (2014)
Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — Death of Rémi Fraisse · Le Temps — ECHR finds France violated Rémi Fraisse's right to life
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Police discrimination
Racial profiling: the State definitively convicted #
The Court of Cassation definitively convicts the State of 'gross negligence' in three cases of identity checks based on physical appearance: a first. In January 2017, the Defender of Rights' survey finds that young men perceived as Black or Arab are 20 times more likely to be stopped than the rest of the population.
Guides: ID checks and searches
Sources: Politis — Ethnic profiling: the State convicted · Human Rights Watch — Ethnic profiling ruled out by the Court of Cassation · Defender of Rights — Access to rights survey, vol. 1: police/population relations (January 2017)
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Since 2017
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Privatisation and markets
SNCF: end of rail workers' status and opening to competition #
The law for a new rail pact opens passenger rail to competition, ends hiring under the railway workers' statute and turns the public company into a group of companies on 1 January 2020.
See also: Fret SNCF wound up (2025)
Sources: CMS Francis Lefebvre — Law no. 2018-515 of 27 June 2018 for a new rail pact
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Official disinformation
Zineb Redouane: 'the police did not kill' #
In Marseille, an 80-year-old woman hit in the face by a tear gas grenade while closing her shutters dies the next day in hospital.
See also: Yellow vests (2018)
Sources: Wikipedia (French) — Death of Zineb Redouane
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Official disinformation
Castaner: 'no police officer attacked protesters' #
During the yellow vests movement, the Interior Minister denies any police violence before the National Assembly.
See also: Yellow vests (2018)
Guides: Avoid disinformationSources: National Assembly — Government question no. 1544 (16 January 2019), answer by Christophe Castaner · Europe 1 — Yellow vests: 4 people seriously injured in the eye, says Castaner
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Vote or voice ignored
The RIC rejected by the National Assembly #
A flagship yellow vests demand, the citizens' initiative referendum (proposing or repealing a law, recalling an official, amending the Constitution from 2% of voters) is rejected by 91 votes to 50.
See also: Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten (2019)
Guides: The right to protestSources: Public Sénat — LFI's citizens' referendum bill rejected by the National Assembly
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Repression
Geneviève Legay (Nice) #
A 73-year-old activist is seriously injured in the head during a police charge. The commissioner who ordered the charge is convicted; the State is held liable.
Injured and killed
Guides: Filing a complaintSources: L'Avenir — The protester injured in Nice was indeed pushed by a police officer · LyonMag — Geneviève Legay case: the commissioner who ordered the charge convicted · Politis — Geneviève Legay case: the State held liable
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Vote or voice ignored
Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten #
The government's answer to the yellow vests crisis, the great national debate draws more than 1.5 million participants over two months: online platform, public meetings, grievance books and letters. On 25 April 2019, Emmanuel Macron rules out the RIC, which he says 'seems to call representative democracy into question', and does not restore the wealth tax (an evaluation is promised for 2020). He promises to lower the threshold of the shared-initiative referendum to one million signatures. Promise not kept: in 2020, the ADP referendum gathers 1,093,030 supporters, but more than 4.7 million are still required; in 2023, he again promises to simplify this referendum.
See also: Yellow vests (2018) · The RIC rejected by the National Assembly (2019) · ADP referendum: a million signatures for nothing (2020) · Grievance books: six years unpublished (2025)
Sources: Public Sénat — Great debate: "no unanimity" on the wealth tax or the RIC · Public Sénat — Macron wants to ease the popular-initiative referendum but rules out the RIC · Tendance Ouest — Macron proposes working more to pay less tax · Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2019-1-8 RIP of 26 March 2020 (Paris Airports) · Public Sénat — Deemed unworkable, can the shared-initiative referendum be reformed?
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Official disinformation
The Pitié-Salpêtrière 'attack' #
On May Day, protesters enter the hospital grounds; the Interior Minister speaks of an “attack”.
Guides: Avoid disinformation
Sources: Allodocteurs — No, the Pitié-Salpêtrière was not "attacked" · Public Sénat — Pitié-Salpêtrière: Castaner tries to end the controversy
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Repression
Death of Steve Maia Caniço #
In Nantes, during the music festival, a police operation precedes the fall into the Loire of Steve Maia Caniço, 24; his body is found in July.
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Vote or voice ignored
Citizens' Climate Convention: 'unfiltered' promise broken #
150 citizens drawn by lot write 149 proposals. Emmanuel Macron promises to pass them on 'unfiltered', except three 'jokers' he discards on 29 June 2020: rewriting the Constitution's preamble, a 110 km/h motorway limit and a 4% tax on dividends. According to Reporterre's count (March 2021), only 15 proposals are taken up unchanged and 54% are dropped or deeply altered: no crime of ecocide, no advertising ban on polluting products, no mandatory whole-house renovation, no nitrogen fertiliser tax; the domestic flight ban covers only 8 routes (under 10% of traffic); the car weight penalty only applies above 1,800 kg (2% of vehicles). In February 2021, the Convention's members grade the government's response 3.3 out of 10. The promised referendum to write the climate into Article 1 of the Constitution is dropped on 6 July 2021.
Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — Citizens' Convention for Climate · Maire-info — Climate convention: Emmanuel Macron takes up 146 proposals · Reporterre — Climate convention: only 10% of the proposals were taken up · Reporterre — Macron and the climate: 3.3 out of 10 according to the Citizens' Convention · Reporterre — Constitution: the government drops its environment referendum
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Vote or voice ignored
ADP referendum: a million signatures for nothing #
The first shared-initiative referendum in history, against the privatisation of Paris Airports. From 13 June 2019 to 12 March 2020, 1,093,030 voters back it, but 4,717,396 were needed (a tenth of the electorate): no referendum. The tool meant to give citizens a say turns out to be almost impossible to use.
See also: Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten (2019) · The 'no' in the European referendum bypassed (2005)
Sources: Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2019-1-8 RIP of 26 March 2020 (Paris Airports) · Public Sénat — Paris Airports referendum: the count of supporters
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Privatisation and markets
Privatised motorways: profits beyond forecasts #
In 2006, Dominique de Villepin's government sells the motorway companies for about €15 billion. In 2020, a Senate inquiry shows their profitability exceeds forecasts. Events prove it right: Vinci reaches in 2023 and Eiffage by the end of 2024 the return expected over concessions running to 2031-2036, with about €32 billion of excess profits expected.
Sources: French Senate — Inquiry report on motorway concessions (2020) · Public Sénat — Motorway company profits: the Senate was right
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Rights won
'Global security' law #
Protests against the article penalizing sharing images of police; the Constitutional Council strikes it down in 2021.
Won: Article penalising sharing images of police struck down by the Constitutional Council (2021).
Guides: Film the police
Sources: Wikipedia (in French)
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Vote or voice ignored
Pensions: fourteen days of protest, 49.3 and referendum refused #
From 19 January 2023, fourteen national days of strikes and marches. Despite this massive mobilisation, the pension reform is passed without a vote in the Assembly using Article 49.3; the no-confidence motion fails by 9 votes on 20 March. The Constitutional Council then rejects two shared-initiative referendum requests (14 April and 3 May 2023). Élisabeth Borne's government uses 49.3 23 times.
See also: Pensions conclave: 'no taboos', but 64 kept (2025)
Guides: Strikes, protests and workSources: Wikipedia — 2023 French pension reform strikes (in French) · Wikipedia (FR) — 2023 French pension reform · Wikipedia (FR) — Article 49 of the French Constitution
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Repression
Sainte-Soline #
Protest against agricultural “mega-basins” in Deux-Sèvres, marked by clashes and many seriously injured people. Gendarmes' body-camera footage revealed by Mediapart and Libération shows banned direct grenade shots and insults; an administrative inquiry is opened.
See also: Sainte-Soline: 'no LBD fired from quad bikes' (2023) · Injured and killed
Guides: First aid · Dispersal, warnings and kettlingSources: Wikipedia (in French) · Reporterre — Gendarmes' videos at Sainte-Soline revealed by Mediapart and Libération · franceinfo — Direct shots, insults: what the Sainte-Soline videos reveal
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Official disinformation
Sainte-Soline: 'no LBD fired from quad bikes' #
After the march against mega-reservoirs, the Interior Minister denies that gendarmes on quad bikes fired rubber bullets (LBD).
See also: Sainte-Soline (2023)
Sources: Politis — Repression at Sainte-Soline: the State's three lies · Reporterre — Gendarmes' videos at Sainte-Soline revealed by Mediapart and Libération
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Uprising
Death of Nahel Merzouk #
A 17-year-old is killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in Nanterre; several nights of urban uprisings follow.
Guides: Film the police
Sources: Wikipedia (in French) · Club des juristes — Nahel's death: murder trial sought against the officer
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Impunity
Ciivise: 3% of those accused of raping a minor convicted #
The Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children submits its report after 30,000 testimonies: 160,000 children suffer sexual violence each year, only 19% of victims file a complaint (12% for incest) and only 3% of those accused of raping a minor are convicted. Its chair speaks of a 'regime of impunity'.
Sources: ciivise.fr · Public Sénat — 'If 3% of those accused of raping minors are convicted, we live under a regime of impunity'
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Vote or voice ignored
2024 legislative elections: the coalition that came first set aside #
After the 9 June dissolution, the Nouveau Front populaire comes first with 193 seats, ahead of Ensemble (168) and the RN (143). Emmanuel Macron refuses to appoint its candidate Lucie Castets and on 5 September appoints Michel Barnier, from Les Républicains.
See also: Three Prime Ministers in one year (2025)
Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — 2024 French legislative election
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Privatisation and markets
Fret SNCF wound up #
To close a European Commission inquiry into about €5.3 billion of public aid deemed anti-competitive, Fret SNCF is replaced by two companies (Hexafret and Technis). It must hand 23 freight flows to competitors, about 20% of its business, and cut nearly 500 jobs, while rail carries only 10% of goods in France.
See also: SNCF: end of rail workers' status and opening to competition (2018)
Sources: Politis — Fret SNCF liquidation: unions prepare to respond
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Vote or voice ignored
Grievance books: six years unpublished #
During the 2018-2019 great debate, citizens fill in 19,247 grievance books in 16,337 municipalities. Promised as a 'national treasure' to be returned to the French, they are never published. On 11 March 2025, the National Assembly unanimously adopts a resolution to make them accessible; the government commits to opening access to the digitised books.
See also: Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten (2019) · Agora: the participation platform running out of steam (2026)
Sources: LCP — Yellow vests: the government commits to resume work on the grievance books
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Vote or voice ignored
Pensions conclave: 'no taboos', but 64 kept #
Promised 'without totems or taboos', the conclave meant to reopen the 2023 pension reform with unions and employers collapses on 23 June 2025 after four months: FO and the CGT had walked out, and François Bayrou refuses to return to 62. For the Socialist group, it was 'just a smokescreen'. The 2026 social security financing law then only suspends the rise in the retirement age until January 2028, for those born in 1964.
See also: Pensions: fourteen days of protest, 49.3 and referendum refused (2023)
Sources: Public Sénat — PS no-confidence motion: "the pensions conclave was just a smokescreen" · Le Monde du droit — 2026 social security financing law published in the Official Journal
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Vote or voice ignored
Three Prime Ministers in one year #
Barnier's government is brought down by a no-confidence motion on 4 December 2024, a first since 1962. François Bayrou loses a confidence vote on 8 September 2025 (364 against, 194 for). Sébastien Lecornu, appointed on 9 September, resigns on 6 October a few hours after forming his government, then is reappointed on 10 October.
See also: 2024 legislative elections: the coalition that came first set aside (2024)
Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — 2024 French legislative election · Wikipedia (FR) — François Bayrou government · Club des juristes — Sébastien Lecornu resigned and Emmanuel Macron accepted · Paris Match Belgium — Emmanuel Macron reappoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister
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Vote or voice ignored
Petition against the Duplomb law: 2.1 million signatures, a debate without a vote #
Adopted in July 2025, the Duplomb law notably reintroduces acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide banned in France. A petition filed on the Assembly's website by a student passes 2.1 million signatures. On 7 August 2025, the Constitutional Council strikes down the neonicotinoid exemption. On 11 February 2026, the petition is debated in the chamber, a first, but without a vote; in the meantime, Senator Laurent Duplomb has filed a new bill to reintroduce acetamiprid.
Sources: L'info durable — Petition against the Duplomb law: an unprecedented debate but no vote in the Assembly · Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2025-891 DC of 7 August 2025 (Duplomb law)
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Police discrimination
Carcassonne: racist remarks caught on a body camera #
A November 2025 video, recorded by an officer's bodycam and revealed by Midi Libre, shows Carcassonne municipal police officers making racist, sexist and conspiracy remarks. The prosecutor opens an investigation; the officers are suspended and their accreditations withdrawn.
Guides: Filing a complaint
Sources: France 24 (AFP) — Racist remarks by a Carcassonne police officer, investigation opened · Euronews — 'Sickening' racist remarks and calls for a coup: French police under investigation
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Repression
17 and 24 October 2026 protests: curfews, sweeping bans and planned social media shutdown #
On 17 October 2026, 550,000 to 800,000 people march against the cost of living following calls by yellow vests groups, high-school and university students and unions (2,397 arrests). Ahead of Act II on 24 October (410,000 to 800,000 protesters, 70,000 police and gendarmes backed by Sentinelle soldiers), curfews and gathering bans are imposed in many cities. On 22 October, Emmanuel Macron announces that rallies not organised by unions will be banned 'wherever possible', a distinction deemed illegal by the Human Rights League (LDH) and denounced by Amnesty International as a 'security escalation'. The same day, the Prime Minister's office writes to the four main telecom operators asking them to prepare a DNS block of TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X.
See also: 2026 high-school movement (2026) · Yellow vests (2018)
Guides: The right to protest · communiquer · organiserSources: Wikipedia — 17 October 2026 French protests (in French) · Wikipedia — 24 October 2026 French protests (in French) · Amnesty International France — Amnesty denounces a security escalation and serious obstacles to the right to protest in France (October 2026, in French) · LDH — The Human Rights League challenges several protest ban orders on 24 October 2026 (in French) · franceinfo — 24 October protests: 'Allowing only union marches is completely illegal', says the LDH (22 October 2026, in French) · Blast — The Prime Minister prepared a social media shutdown for 24 October (24 October 2026, in French)
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Vote or voice ignored
Agora: the participation platform running out of steam #
Launched in September 2023 to let citizens have their say, the Agora app quickly loses momentum: only one consultation published in 2024. Relaunched in June 2026, it hosts the high-school students' consultation after the blockades from 6 to 23 October, with about 100,000 contributions. Researcher Magali Della Sudda calls it 'authoritarian participation', where the format constrains what can be said; as with the great debate and the Climate Convention, participants fear yet another promise without follow-up.
See also: Grievance books: six years unpublished (2025)
Sources: Maire-info — To boost citizen participation, the government bets on its Agora digital platform · France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine — Agora, the new grievance books? The State and the participatory illusion · Reporterre — "Each time people believe in it, then the promise is broken": Macron's citizen consultations no longer work
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