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National Liberation Front of Corsica

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For the human gene, see FLNC (gene).

The National Liberation Front of Corsica (Corsican: Fronte di liberazione naziunale di a Corsica or Fronte di liberazione naziunale corsu; French: Front de libération nationale corse, abbreviated FLNC) is a name used by various guerrilla and paramilitary organizations that advocate an independent or autonomous state on the island of Corsica, separated from France.[6] The original FLNC was founded on 5 May 1976 from a merger between two smaller armed groups: the Corsican Peasant Front for Liberation (Fronte Paesanu Corsu per Liberazione, FPCL), and Ghjustizia Paolina (Corsican for Paoline Justice). This organization persisted until 1990, when a 1988 ceasefire agreement caused the unstable organization to split into two organizations based around separate ideas. In 1999, various factions merged to form the FLNC-Union of Combatants (FLNC-Unione di i Cumbattenti, FLNC-UC), a larger organization and one of the FLNCs which still exist today.[7][8] In the present day, there are four organizations still active with the FLNC name: The FLNC-UC, The FLNC-22 October (FLNC-22 Uttrovi, FLNC-22U), the FLNC-1976, and the FLNC-21 May (FLNC-21 Maghju, FLNC-21M). The FLNC-UC and FLNC-22U, the two largest and most active groups, often sign press releases and communiqués together, and have been allied since at least 2022. The political party Nazione was founded in 2024 from the political party Corsica Libera, the modern political wing of the FLNC-UC. is led by Petr'Antu Tomasi, Ghjuvan-Guidu Talamoni and Josepha Giacometti-Piredda, with the participation of the former FLNC political prisoner Carlu Santoni.[9][10] The FLNCs are all mostly local to Corsica but also commit attacks on the French mainland.[11]

National Liberation Front of Corsica
Fronte di liberazione naziunale di a Corsica
Front de libération nationale corse
LeadersLéo Battesti (founder; formerly)
Alain Orsoni (FLNC-CA)
François Santoni (FLNC-CS)
Charles Pieri (FLNC-CS and FLNC-UC)
Paul-Felix Benedetti (FLNC-22U)
Stephane Ori (FLNC-21M)
Dates of operation4 May 1976 – active
Active regionsCorsica, France
French mainland
IdeologyCorsican nationalism
Anti-French sentiment
Anti-semitism (alleged)[1][2][3]
Environmentalism
Secessionism
Factions:
Left-wing nationalism
Right-wing nationalism
SloganÀ populu fattu, bisogna à marchja (to people done, it is needed to march)
Allies
Opponents
Battles and warsCorsican conflict
FLNC organizations:
FLNC (1976-1990)
FLNC-Canal Habituel
FLNC-Canal Historique
FLNC-5 May
FLNC-UC
FLNC-22 October
FLNC-Solu è Unicu
FLNC-1976
FLNC-Unified
FLNC-9 July
FLNC-Rinascita
FLNC-21 May
New FLNC
Preceded by
Fronte Paesanu Corsu per a Liberazione (FPCL), Ghjustizia Paolina

Typical militant acts by various FLNC organizations were bombings aimed at public buildings, banks, tourist infrastructure, military buildings and other perceived French symbols, in addition to armed bank robbery and extortion against private enterprises through so-called "revolutionary taxes".[12] The attacks were usually performed against buildings and the island's infrastructures, but it was also not uncommon for FLNC organizations to have individual people as targets. This was especially common during the tumultuous period of the “years of lead”, in which a large number of assassinations occurred between various warring factions, many successors of the original FLNC.

A road sign near Bastìa with the non-Corsican place names defaced, signed by the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC)
FLNC fighters

Ideology

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Ideology differs throughout the various FLNC groups, however there are some ideas that are common throughout all of them, such as defense and officialisation of the Corsican language, the release of political prisoners, the environmental protection of the island, the economic development of the island, and the end of the mass immigration of French mainlanders to Corsica (described as “settler-colonialism by some FLNC organizations, noteably the FLNC-CS and FLNC-UC).

The original FLNC was notable for achieving a number of political objectives through peace agreements, notably the Defferre Agreements, a set of agreements between the FLNC and the French government named for French interior minister Gaston Defferre that created the modern Corsican political system, including the creation of the Corsican Assembly and the establishment of autonomous Corsican institutions, such as circuit courts and an executive council. The agreements also reopened the University of Corsica, closed by the French army in 1769, and outlined the removal of French Foreign Legion members from their posts across the island. The agreement also released many political prisoners and FLNC members through amnesty policies.[13] When the promises of lowering military presence was not honored, the FLNC resumed its political campaign.

Environmentalism and defense of the land (incorporating a form of agrarianism or peasant socialism and the protection of grazing lands, mountains, forests, and marshes) have always been very important in the ideology of the FLNC groups, particularly in connection with the popular struggles of the 1970s against the pollution of red mud and the allocation of remediated lands of the Aléria plain (originally subject to malaria and now the only land on the island suitable for intensive agriculture) to pied-noir farmers rather than Corsicans.

Corsican nationalism is often the ideology of the FLNC groups, but some, most notably Alain Orsoni’s FLNC-Canal Habituel (FLNC-Canale Abituale, FLNC-CA), advocate greater autonomy instead. The embrace of autonomy rather than independence was a source of contention between the FLNC-CA and the rival FLNC-Canal Historique (FLNC-Canale Storicu, FLNC-CS), one of the most radical FLNC organizations.

The various FLNC organizations almost all hold a far-left political position. The original FLNC, as with the FLNC-CS, followed a Communist ideology based on Marxist ideas.[14] Nowadays, the current FLNCs all retain similar ideas but reject the Marxist label.

With the dissolution of the Canal Habituel and the formation of the FLNC-UC, led by Charles Pieri, the FLNC returned to a hardline independence line of protest against French colonialism as well as the monopoly economy, launching for example a campaign against supermarkets in the late 2000s (without adopting an explicitly Marxist discourse, but declaring itself to be "in line with the social and union struggles of our people in the face of the multiple relays of French colonialism in Corsica"). The FLNC of 22 October, which announced in a press release of 21 March 2023 that it would now operate in concert with the Union of Combatants, claimed in the 2000s to embody an even more radical independence line than the FLNC-UC.

At the international level, the FLNC supports the causes of Irish and Basque nationalists and supports the Palestinian national movement.[15]

History

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Foundation and objectives

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The first FLNC was created from a merger of Ghjustizia Paolina and the Fronte Paesanu Corsu per Liberazione, the two largest Corsican armed organizations.

The FLNC carried out its first attacks on the night of 4 May 1976 with 21 bombs exploding in Ajaccio, Bastia, Sartène, Porto-Vecchio and other Corsican towns.[16] The majority of the targets were public buildings and offices of civil servants. On 5 May the FLNC formally announced its existence when it issued a bilingual manifesto which also claimed responsibility for the previous night's attacks.

The manifesto contained six demands:[17]

  • The recognition of the national rights of the Corsican people.
  • The removal of all instruments of French colonialism – including the French Army and colonists.
  • The setting up of a popular democratic government which would express the will and the needs of the Corsican people.
  • The confiscation of "colonial" estates.
  • Agrarian reform to fulfill the aspirations of farmers, workers and intellectuals and rid the country of all forms of exploitation.
  • The right to self-determination of the Corsican people.

2014 to present

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In 2014,[18] the FLNC-Union of Combattants (FLNC-Unione di i Cumbattenti, FLNC-UC), the largest successor to the original FLNC at that time, announced the cessation of its armed struggle. This was followed by the FLNC of 22 October (FLNC 22 Uttrovi, FLNC-22U) in 2016.[19] Nevertheless, a number of minor splinter groups have so far emerged and are still active.[20][21][22] The FLNC-22U warned in 2016 that any attacks on Corsica by ISIL will be met with swift retaliation.[23]

On 2 March 2022, Yvan Colonna, a member of the FLNC that was arrested for his alleged role in the 1998 assassination of Claude Érignac, was put in a coma in prison after being assaulted by an Islamic Cameroonian-born inmate for "disrespecting Muhammad."[24] Colonna would die of his wounds on March 21, 2022, resulting in rioting and unrest across the island.[24] The French interior ministry then floated the idea of political autonomy to Corsica to defuse the situation, with the FLNC-22U and FLNC-UC announcing they would jointly resume their armed campaign if said autonomy is not granted.[24] On 21 March 2023, exactly one year after the death of Colonna, the FLNC-UC and FLNC-22U signed a joint press release where they declared a return to armed conflict and claimed 17 attacks.[25]

In October 2023 explosions rocked secondary residences and under-construction villas across Corsica, with pro-FLNC slogans being spray-painted nearby.[26]

In January 2024, anti-Semitic and anti-French graffiti appeared in Corsica, it is alleged that supporters of the FLNC may had sprayed the graffiti, although it is likely this is not a representation of any FLNC organization.[27]

Armed campaign

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See also: Corsican conflict

Notes

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  1. ^ "Anti-Semitic and anti-French graffiti condemned in Corsica". RFI. 5 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Vers une alliance entre le FLNC et le Hamas". Atlantico. 29 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Corse : Enquête ouverte après la découverte de tags antisémites à Calvi". The Times of Israel. 4 January 2024.
  4. ^ The Corsican Time-Bomb, p. 141, Robert Ramsay, UK: Manchester University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-7190-0893-X
  5. ^ "Corsican nationalists warn jihadists of tough response". BBC News. 28 July 2016.
  6. ^ Jean-Pierre Santini, "FLNC : de l'ombre à la lumière, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2000"
  7. ^ Pantaléon Alessandri, "Indépendantiste Corse", Calmann-Levy, Paris, 2002"
  8. ^ Deviens Qui Tu Es (21 July 2020). Génération FLNC : les années de plomb. Retrieved 16 October 2024 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Petru-Antone Tomasi : "Le FLNC a la légitimité pour intervenir dans le débat" - France Bleu". ici par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). 5 August 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  10. ^ irrintzi films (17 July 2024). TEASSER - RESISTENZA - CORSICA. Retrieved 16 October 2024 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ Alain Orsoni, "Le maquis ardent", Gawsewitch Jean-Claude, Paris, 2011"
  12. ^ Glen109 (4 September 2021). Génération FLNC - 1ère partie - Les années romantiques. Retrieved 16 October 2024 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "#corse StoriaCorsa 1982 « Loi Statut Particulier, seconde amnistie pour les militants du FLNC » -" (in French). 29 August 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Fronte di Liberazione Naziunale Corsu / Front de la Liberation Nationale de la Corse [FLNC]". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  15. ^ Marion Galland (26 January 2024). "Le FLNC sort du silence : " L'autonomie évoquée ne sera pas en mesure de préserver le peuple corse "". Francebleu.fr.
  16. ^ Ramsay, p. 118
  17. ^ Ramsay pp. 118–119
  18. ^ "Corsican separatists to end military campaign". 25 June 2014.
  19. ^ "Corse: le FLNC dépose les armes". 3 May 2016.
  20. ^ http://www.corsematin.com/ta/vescovato/205162/corse-deux-membres-d-un-flnc-unifie-revendiquent-l-attentat Archived 3 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Two members of a unified FLNC claimed the attack, Corse Matin, 10 August 2009
  21. ^ "Un nouveau groupe clandestin revendique des attentats en Corse". 23 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Un groupe clandestin revendique la série d'attentats en Corse". 23 June 2017.
  23. ^ "Corsican nationalists warn jihadists of tough response - BBC News". BBC News. 28 July 2016.
  24. ^ a b c Willsher, Kim. "Macron calls for calm after death of jailed Corsican nationalist". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Le FLNC rend hommage, met en garde et revendique dans une nouvelle communication". www.corsematin.com (in French). 21 March 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  26. ^ "France: the Liberation Front claims responsibility for the explosions against some buildings in Corsica". Agenzia Nova. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Anti-Semitic and anti-French graffiti condemned in Corsica". 5 January 2024.

References

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