The National Liberation Front of Corsica (, abbreviated FLNC), informally known as “the front” (Corsican: u fronte) was a Corsican nationalist guerrilla and paramilitary organization formed on 5 May 1976. The group formed to violently overthrow French rule in Corsica to establish an independent Corsican state. It was the first group to form during the Corsican conflict, and the first to use the name “National Liberation Front of Corsica”. The group was declared an unlawful organization in 1983 and ordered to dissolve, but continued to operate regardless of the ruling.

The FLNC engaged the French in a guerrilla war in Corsica throughout its existence, defining the early period of the Corsican conflict. FLNC attacks were primarily in Corsica, but attacks on the French mainland were also common, mostly along the French Riviera and in Paris. The FLNC was allied with many other separatist armed organizations in Europe, as well as Palestinian militant groups. The FLNC declared a ceasefire twice during its existence: Once in 1981 for the Defferre agreements, and once in May 1988 to open dialogue with the recently re-elected Mitterand government. The latter ceasefire was extremely controversial, and led to the implosion of the group and the creation of Resistenza, the FLNC-Canal Habituel, and the FLNC-Canal Historique.

History

Origins Corsicans have, for most of their history under French rule, felt alienated from the French mainland due to geography, language, and customs. From the introduction of French rule, Corsican government institutions had largely been run by small, local families of politicians called “clans”.Regionalism and Ethnic Nationalism in France: a Case Study of Corsica by John P. Loughlin (PDF) The early French governments tolerated the clans, preferring to leave Corsica’s governance to the Corsicans. French officials in Corsica like the prefect were sidelined on the island, and the goal of the prefect was to stay out of Corsican politics most of the time, only providing insight or guidelines to the French government in Paris. Under Napoleon III, The French cabinet had begun a policy of appointing a Corsican deputy minister, and for most of the French Third Republic that minister was Emmanuel Arène. Known to the locals as “u re Manuele” (the king Emmanuel), who attempted to create a system of clanism where Corsican politicians would be more open to French authority. Regardless of his attempt, real power in Corsica remained with the local Conseil Général and the mayors, who often acted in their own interests and were hostile, sometimes even physically violent, to French authorities such as the prefect and the deputies.

By the 1900s, Corsica was slowly being brought into the sphere of metropolitan France. Large migrations, industrialization, and government subsidies allowed short-term economic growth in Corsica, causing many locals to adopt pro-French sentiment, not due to a shared national identity, but rather due to the economic growth from being a French territory. This was strengthened by the tragedy of World War I, which allowed Corsica and mainland France to share a sense of solidarity and pride due to the men from Corsica who fought in the war. After the war, many Corsicans became worried over the growing threat of Mussolini’s Italian Irredentism, as Corsica was included in the claims of many Italian irredentists. In December 1938, Violent protests broke out across the island between Italian irredentists and pro-French Corsicans. In Bastia, tens of thousands of Corsicans met and swore the now infamous Oath of Bastia, where they declared: “Before the world, with all our soul, on our glories, on our graves, on our cradles, we swear to live and die French”. After the outbreak of World War II, many Corsicans saw the war with Germany on the mainland as mostly irrelevant, fearing a possible Italian invasion more than a German one. Many Corsicans, despite the wish to remain French, largely still didn’t feel a national connection to mainland France due to a separate linguistic, historical, and cultural identity. Upon the fall of France in 1940, the new Vichy government made defending Corsica from the Italian threat a priority. Despite the insistence of French unity by Corsican citizens, many were only supportive of a French government to reject Italian sovereignty. Corsican prefect Paul Balley stated: “a Corsican who claims to be French is demonstrating not so much loyalty to France as rejection of Italy”.

In November 1942, German and Italian soldiers violently dismantled Vichy France, and Corsica came under Italian administration. A widespread Corsican resistance movement soon popped up, led mostly locally until the introduction of the National Front to the island. General Charles de Gaulle sent Corsican Fred Scamaroni to unify the maquis under his leadership, but he was captured by Italian police and tortured until he committed suicide on 19 March 1943. After the fall of Mussolini, many Italian soldiers joined the Corsican resistance and drove the Germans out of Corsica along with an allied invasion force. The invasion of Italy and the Corsican National Front being largely local and separate from the mainland one caused many Corsicans to redefine their relationship with France. By January 1943, reports began to reach Laval that support for a French government in Corsica had “drained away”. Corsica was the first department of France to be liberated, yet the French government maintained that Calvados was the first, demonstrating to many Corsicans the supposed indifference of the French towards Corsica.

Corsicans under the Fourth Republic were largely supportive of Charles de Gaulle, seeking economic interests from him. During the Algerian War and other colonial conflicts of the 1960s, Corsicans were drafted heavily, making up 22 percent of French colonial forces despite only being around 1% of all French citizens. This was done to bind Corsica to France through military service, though it also created a small sense of disdain amongst Corsicans. “Operation Corse”, an invasion of Corsica by soldiers attempting to reinstate de Gaulle into power, was supported by many Corsicans, and resistance to the landings were next to none. Despite this, de Gaulle’s administration during the Fifth Republic caused relations between Corsicans and France to sour greatly. De Gaulle’s opposition to regionalism and the establishment of a “strong state” caused Corsicans, who had been enjoyed Corsican self-government for the longest time, to feel betrayed by de Gaulle. funding for regional projects in Corsica dried up, and Corsicans felt that Corsica had become an oversight to the government in Paris. Policies of de Gaulle’s government led directly to the founding of the Muvimentu di 29 Nuvembri (November 29 Movement, M29N) in Ajaccio and Bastia on 4 October 1959.

The M29N was the first militant base of Corsican separatism. It was founded by Corsican communists who were sympathetic to the Algerian National Liberation Front (Front de Libération National, FLN) and led by Achille de Susini, who had spent many years rallying support for the FLN amongst Corsican separatists. It gained traction quickly due to many Corsican separatists feeling connected to Algerian colonial struggle as a “colonized peoples”.

The M29N led a small armed campaign which ballooned into the first insurgency in Corsica, in which various groups formed to combat French rule in Corsica. The three most important groups to form during this conflict were the Corsican Regionalist Action (Azione Regiunalista Corsa, ARC), later renamed to the Action for Corsican Rebirth (Azione per a Rinascita Corsa, ARC) in 1975 and renamed again to the Association of Corsican Patriots (Associu di i Patriotti Corsi, APC) in 1976, the Corsican Peasant Front for Liberation (Fronte Paesanu Corsu per Liberazione, FPCL), a Marxist formation, and Paolina Justice (Ghjustizia Paolina, GP).

The ARC formed in 1967 after leaving another group, the Corsican Regionalist Front (Fronte Regiunalista Corsa, FRC). They are most famous for the 1975 Aleria standoff, where a large number of ARC militants stormed a wine cellar in the town of Aleria owned by pied-noir settlers who had recently left Algeria after it gained independence.

The FPCL formed in 1973 out of a series of radical committees formed during the red mud affair, an affair in which Italian shipping company Montedison was dumping oil into the Ligurian Sea, causing the oil to float to Corsican shores and pollute the environment. This led to a very early form of environmental activism in which large committees formed in many major cities to organize against the actions of Montedison. This affair caused the Corsicans, many of whom already felt neglected by the government, to feel even more betrayed as the French government did nothing to address the pollution on the island. Thus, many turned to Corsican nationalism, leading to the proper establishment of the FPCL that year. On 15 September 1973, the FPCL bombed a Montedison ship docked in the Tuscan town of Follonica, beginning an armed campaign initially focused on the red mud affair, but soon the focus shifted to a proper liberation of Corsica from French colonialism.

The GP formed in 1974, beginning a series of actions in armed actions in Bastia in March of that year. The declared objectives of the GP were vague, however they were vaguely separatist. In the 1975 “Pentecost Manifesto” published by the GP and the FPCL, GP officials are especially critical of Edmond Simeoni’s on-and-off militarism as leader of the ARC. This sparked criticism of Simeoni within the ARC itself, with ARC member and future FLNC leader Pierre Poggioli stating: “Choose the fishing rod or the rifle, Edmond!”

After the August 1975 Aleria standoff, the French authorities strengthened their attempts to delegitimize and crack down on the growing nationalist movement. This caused nationalists to strengthen their campaigns as a response, and the FPCL and GP had begun a joint armed campaign by the end of 1975. To avoid being shut down by police, the ARC became the Association of Corsican Patriots (Associu di i Patriotti Corsi) in early 1976. However, many militants, notably Serge Cacciari, had already been arrested and were facing court charges due to be heard on 5 May 1976.

On 5 May 1976, the FPCL and GP met, along with many ARC dissidents, in a conference held in Saint-Antoine de Casabianca, a church where Pasquale Paoli declared the Corsican Republic’s existence in 1755. There, they merged the two organizations and formed the National Liberation Front of Corsica (Fronte di Liberazione Naziunale di a Corsica, FLNC).

Foundation The FLNC detailed the formal separation from the autonomist movement at Casabianca, declaring the movement to be supporting “neo-colonialism”, stating that institutions of an autonomous Corsica will be French in all but name. The FLNC also takes a stance against the overconscription of Corsicans in the French army, claiming the French state is “using [the Corsicans] as cannon fodder”. They also denounce any collaboration with the French Communist Party, claiming the party to have betrayed Marxist principles and “serving the interests of the colonialist state”. Many of the subjects discussed at this meeting were published a year later into the manifesto “a libertà o a morte” (“Liberty or Death”). Many dissidents from the APC joined the creation of the FLNC as well, notably Alain Orsoni, Pierre Poggioli, and Jean-Guy Talamoni, though the latter has denied any involvement within the FLNC.