Since the snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron on June 9, 2024, France has faced an unprecedented political crisis. The latest development is the resignation of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Monday, October 6, less than 24 hours after forming his cabinet.

Pierre Serna, a historian of the French Revolution, is the author of L'Extrême Centre ou le poison français ("The extreme center or a French poison"). In an interview, he says that the current upheavals are the latest manifestation of a government of the "extreme center," a transitional phase that can lead to authoritarianism.

I believe that we constantly refer to a political modernity that was born during the Revolution, when France became a republic. For me, the full range of republican possibilities is contained within the period from 1789 to 1804.

While studying the Revolution, I, who grew up believing that France's problem lies in the fact that left- and right-wing ideologies are so deeply entrenched that there is no culture of compromise, realized that something had been overlooked. From the Thermidorian Republic in 1794, a new space began to structure politics and, in my view, became just as important as the right and the left: the extreme center.

You have 80.49% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.