Victor Griffuelhes and French syndicalism, 1895-1922

Haughty and imperious despite his humble birth, a gifted orator and propagandist, and a born organizer of strikes and demonstrations, Victor Griffuelhes was the first French labor leader of genuine working-class origins to achieve national stature. An artisan shoemaker, Griffuelhes served from 1901 to 1909 as the general secretary of France's largest trade-union organization, the General Confederation of Labor, or CGT, as it is known from its French initials. In this study, based largely on French archival sources and contemporary printed materials, Bruce Vandervort examines Griffuelhes' growth as a labor radical in the context of the enormous changes in the industry and economy of France in the early years of this century. It was a time when French artisans were struggling to find a role for themselves in a world where mass-production methods were threatening their livelihoods and sense of self-worth, and where all French workers were seeking ways to establish and preserve their political and economic rights. By tracing Griffuelhes' life over a span that encapsulates the history of French organized labor from the Paris Commune to the Russian Revolution, Vandervort offers a fresh perspective on the syndicalist movement in France. Vandervort (modern European and African history, Virginia Military Institute) looks at the career of the French labor leader, examining his growth as a labor radical in the context of the history of French organized labor from the Paris Commune to the Russian Revolution. He challenges the notion that the de-skilling of artisans was the main impetus to labor radicalism in France. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.