Yellow vests movement

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Yellow vests will block Route nationale 19 near Vesoul ( Haute-Saône ) on November 17, 2018
Demonstration in Belfort on December 1, 2018

The yellow vests movement ( French Mouvement des Gilets jaunes ) is a citizens' movement in France , organized mainly via social media , which called nationwide protests between November 2018 and its decline in spring 2019. The name is derived from the yellow safety vests that the protesters wear as identification. The demonstrations of the “yellow vests”, which take place on Saturdays over several months , initially began as a protest against a higher taxation of fossil fuels (especially diesel) planned by President Emmanuel Macron to finance and implement the energy transition in France. Further demands were made later, such as lowering “all taxes”, raising the minimum wage and pensions, and introducing a “grassroots” RIC (référendum d'initiative citoyenne) with which political issues should be more directly shaped.

The political orientation of their supporters is mixed and ranges from extreme nationalists to anarchist activists; the movement has no program, and there are no contact persons or official speakers. The protests were repeatedly accompanied by violent riots (including arson) and a radicalization of some demonstrators over the months.

course

Number of participants
date     Attendees
Nov 17
  
 288,000
Nov 24
  
 166,000
1st Dec
  
 136,000
Dec 8
  
 126,000
Dec 15
  
 66,000
22 Dec
  
 39,000
5th Jan
  
 32,000
Jan 12
  
 50,000
19 Jan
  
 84,000
26 Jan
  
 69,000
Feb 3
  
 58,600
Feb 9
  
 51,400
Feb 16
  
 41,500
23 Feb
  
 46,600
2nd Mar
  
 39,300
9 Mar
  
 28,600
16 Mar
  
 32,300
23 Mar
  
 40,500
30th Mar
  
 33,700
Apr 6
  
 22,300
13 Apr
  
 31,000
April 20
  
 27,900
27 Apr
  
 23,600
1st of May
  
 164,400
May 3rd
  
 18,900
10th of May
  
 18,600
May 18
  
 15,500
25. May
  
 12,500
June 1st
  
 9,500
8th June
  
 10,300
15th June
  
 7,000
June 22
  
 11,800
June 29th
  
 5,800
Participation in the Saturday demonstrations since November 17, 2018 according to the French Interior Ministry

The protests were initially directed against the planned additional fuel taxes from January 1, 2019 of 7 cents on a liter of diesel and 3 cents on a liter of gasoline , after a general price increase of 18 percent had already been recorded in 2018. The initiators and spokesmen for the movement include the former bank clerk Priscillia Ludosky , the truck driver Éric Drouet, the hypnotherapist Jacline Mouraud and the nurse Ingrid Levavasseur. Ludosky published an online petition against the increase in fuel taxes in May , which was signed thousands of times. In the course of further events, the movement published a list of more than 40 demands that had been created following an Internet vote, including an increase in the minimum wage , an increase in pensions and the reintroduction of the property tax that was abolished the previous year .

Members of the movement called for more direct democracy on the internet and during demonstrations . The introduction of a citizens' or popular initiative referendum was one of the main demands of the movement and aims to enable laws to be passed without going through parliament. The Swiss system was cited as an example in appeals. Measures against tax evasion and to support retail stores were also called for.

November and December 2018

On the first day of the protest, Saturday, November 17, 2018, around 2000 roadblocks were set up. About 300,000 people took part in the protest. The movement organized itself through social media and the protest was almost evenly spread across the country. Many participants reported in the press that they had never protested publicly in their lives. On the sidelines of the demonstration, there were riots in Paris by demonstrators who wanted to penetrate the Elysée Palace, the seat of government of President Macron. The following Saturday, November 24th, around 106,000 people across France took part in the protests. Around 8,000 people demonstrated in Paris, around 5,000 of them on the Champs-Élysées alone . On this second day of protest there were serious riots with road blockades and arson.

On December 1st there were renewed protests. According to the AFP, the government mobilized around 5,000 police officers; the most violent riots to date against the police took place, in which demonstrators repeatedly built road blockades, set vehicles on fire and looted shops and bank branches. According to the government, 5,500 demonstrators gathered on the Champs-Élysées, including violent troublemakers (common French term "casseurs"). On December 3, 2018, the Ministry of Education reported the partial blockade of more than one hundred high schools across the country. The protest was directed against the Macron government's planned reform of the Abitur and high schools in general. On the same day, several hundred ambulance drivers blocked the Place de la Concorde together with the taxi drivers . On December 4, it was announced that the French government initially did not want to implement the planned increase in taxes on petrol and diesel by January 1, 2019.

The Interior Ministry estimates that around 125,000 people demonstrated across France the following Saturday, December 8th. According to the media, 120,000 police officers were on duty. Police made more than 700 arrests, including 575 in Paris. Tourist attractions - such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre - as well as numerous shops remained closed for fear of chaos and looting.

According to the Interior Ministry, on the fifth day of the demonstration, December 15, 2018, 4,000 yellow vests demonstrated in Paris and 66,000 across the country. Opposite them were 69,000 law enforcement officers. 168 people were arrested in Paris. At the end of the day, Interior Minister Castaner called for the roundabouts , which have been permanently occupied since November 17, to be cleared. Nonetheless, protests and demonstrations took place again on December 22, 2018, with significantly lower participation (only around 33,600 yellow vests). On December 29, 2018, 800 yellow vests protested in Paris in front of the broadcasters BFM TV and France Télévisions . Numerous persons of the movement also gathered in Lyon , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Metz , Amiens , Rouen and Marseille .

Spring 2019

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said on January 4, 2019 that the vast majority of yellow vests are complying with the law; But the movement had become a matter of agitators who wanted to overthrow the government. On the eighth Saturday of the protest, January 5th, the Interior Ministry counted 50,000 protesters across the country taking to the streets. Compared to the previous week, participation increased again, but was far below the figures for November and early December. In Paris, the police again used tear gas after police officers from the ranks of the demonstrators, who initially marched peacefully, etc. a. were pelted with bottles.

Clashes occurred again in Paris and other cities in France on the following Saturday, January 12, the ninth consecutive Saturday of protest; the number of demonstrators was estimated to be 84,000 nationwide, 8,000 of them in Paris. On January 19, around 84,000 demonstrators took to the streets in France, 7,000 of them in Paris; in Toulouse, on the other hand, there was a record turnout with 10,000 activists for the first time.

In the following week, the announcement was made of a group of yellow vests around Ingrid Levavasseur, who was one of the founding persons of the movement, on a separate list with the name Rassemblement d'initiative citoyenne (alluding to the requested referendum d'initiative citoyenne ) to the wanting to run for the upcoming European elections on May 26, 2019 . Other wings and personalities of the movement, including Eric Drouet, reject this initiative, testifying to increasing tensions within the yellow vests. On Saturday 26 January, the eleventh in a row, around 69,000 activists across the country took part in demonstrations, including 4,000 in the capital; There were demonstrations again in all the major provincial cities. The following day, around 10,500 people demonstrated in Paris for the fundamental freedoms of the republic and for law and order. The distinguishing marks of this group are red scarves ( Foulards rouges ). On their Facebook page, the red scarves called for an end to violence, road blockades and the restoration of public order and individual freedoms. On the same weekend in Commercy a "meeting of the assemblies" of the yellow vests met and formulated a call; this group strictly rejects participation in the European elections.

The twelfth day of the demonstration, on the first Saturday in February 2019, was dedicated by the organizers to the yellow vests who were killed, injured and imprisoned; the number of participants declined nationwide to 69,000. A meeting of the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio of the Five Star Movement (M5S), who had already expressed his sympathy for the French protest movement in the past, with activists of the yellow vest movement at the beginning of February led to tensions between the governments of France and Italy.

On the following Saturday of the demonstration, the number of demonstrators continued to decline, while the initial approval of the population turned into a negative attitude towards the movement. The 14th day of the protest took place on Saturday, February 16, with a continued decline in the number of participants - including the exceptional demonstration in Paris on Sunday, February 17, on the 3rd day of the month of the protests, only gathered between 1,000 and 2,000 people. The media coverage of the weekend was overshadowed by violent riots against the police in Lyon and anti-Semitic abuse against Alain Finkielkraut . After the demonstrations in February and early March were largely calm, on the 18th demonstration Saturday, March 16, 2019 in Paris, violence increased again , especially on the Champs-Élysées and around the Arc de Triomphe, by up to 1,500 rioters the protesters who set a bank and kiosks on fire, smashed display cases and looted shops. The government then said the security forces had reacted improperly, suspended the Paris Prefect of Police from his duties and tightened the rules against unannounced demonstrations; demonstrations and the like were held for the following Saturdays. a. prohibited on the Champs-Elysées.

The steadily declining number of participants in the Saturday demonstrations led to increasing radicalization, which manifested itself in a sharp, personalized rejection of Emmanuel Macron (and the “big debate” he initiated), as well as the denunciation of alleged police violence. On April 20, there were verbal statements made to police officers; Yellow vests chanted in the direction of the officers "kill you, kill you", a reference to a series of suicides among police officers since the beginning of the year. The public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into insulting public officials. On the same day, rioting and arson broke out again as part of the protests; 200 people were arrested. On Wednesday May 1st, yellow vests participated in the traditional Labor Day Parades; According to the Home Office, the number of participants was 164,400 nationwide (up from 143,500 on May 1, 2018); the unions spoke of a total of 310,000 participants. On the sidelines of the demonstrations, rioters rioted again among the demonstrators and the police.

The movement subsides

The European Parliament elections took place on May 26, 2019 , the first election since the protests began. Three electoral lists from the environment of the yellow vests movement ("Evolution citoyenne", "Alliance jaune" and "Mouvement pour l'initiative citoyenne") had registered for election; in addition, there were figures of movement u. a. in the lists of the two sovereign right-wing parties DLF and Les Patriotes (in less promising list places). In total, the three lists received around 0.5% of the vote and thus no parliamentary seat; none of the yellow vests appearing at other parties won a mandate either. According to a poll Ifop of 24 May, 44% reported the trailer, the Rassemblement National of Marine Le Pen they would vote. With political reporting that henceforth concentrated on the elections and their consequences, the interest and support for the yellow vests increasingly waned; the weekly demonstrations from then on mobilized only a fraction of the participants, and the Ministry of the Interior no longer published the number of participants from the end of June. Nevertheless, on the sidelines of the celebrations of the French national holiday, on July 14 there were boos against Macron and in the afternoon there were renewed riots on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.

Weekly demonstrations continued over the course of summer and autumn 2019, particularly in the provinces; However, the number of participants fell sharply - on the anniversary of the first demonstration, the still active organizers hoped to revitalize the movement with significantly increased numbers of participants; On November 16, 2019, participation was relatively low with 28,000 demonstrators across the country and was largely overshadowed by riots by 200-300 rioters, especially in Paris, who set vehicles on fire and destroyed showcases despite the large police presence and extensive restricted areas.

Incidents and rioting

Violence against persons and damage to property

Graffiti with political messages
Improvised street barricades on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées , Paris

During the Saturday demonstrations, which were initially unregistered by the police, there were violent riots and the like. a. because of the lack of central leadership of the movement and the participation of extremist rioters, including members of the so-called Black Bloc who are prepared to use violence . At the beginning of December, during riots in Paris, a sculpture by Marianne and other inventory from the Arc de Triomphe , whose platform was occupied by yellow vests, were badly damaged. Even the tomb of the unknown soldier under the triumphal arch was in danger of being profaned when demonstrators and police clashed. Since the violence occurred mainly in the center of Paris, many followers of the yellow vests did not go there out of fear, but blocked traffic hubs across the country. Protesters also tried to break security barriers at the Elysée Palace . On the evening of November 23, 2018, a 45-year-old protester who tried to force a conversation with President Emmanuel Macron by tying an explosive device around his neck was arrested in Angers . The man surrendered to the police after a few hours. During the protest actions on January 5, supporters of the protest movement entered the ministry building of government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux in Paris with a forklift, despite the increased police presence. A police barracks was attacked in Dijon on the same day; seven gendarmes were injured, two of whom suffered serious injuries. On February 9, there was direct violent clashes between the extreme right and left yellow vests on the street in Lyon. In an April 2019 report , Reporters Without Borders also complained about violent attacks on media workers during the protests.

The riots were accompanied by arson, and barricades and vehicles were regularly set on fire. Shops and kiosks were also set on fire, a fire was set on the police prefecture of Puy-en-Velay at the beginning of December 2018, and in March 2019 a seven-story apartment building with a bank branch on the ground floor went up in flames.

Slurs and verbal violence

Anti-Semitic posters, graffiti, slogans and gestures were often found on the fringes of the demonstrations ; Protesters showing anti-Semitic gestures were already noticed in December 2018. On February 16, 2019, the philosopher Alain Finkielkraut , who had defended the yellow vests movement at the beginning of the protests, was openly insulted by demonstrators on the street with anti-Semitic slogans and had to be abused by the Police are taken under protection, the later arrested spokesman is said to come from the Salafist scene.

Reaction of the state

The government announced crackdown on violent demonstrators. On December 8, 2018, the police force reinforced by the CRS used tear gas , water cannons , stun grenades and several armored vehicles in Paris . On December 22nd, u. a. Eric Drouet, one of the founders of the movement, was also briefly detained because, according to police reports, he was carrying a prohibited weapon (a club) and was seen as the organizer of a demonstration that was not officially registered. On January 2, 2019, he was again briefly arrested in Paris, allegedly for reorganizing an unauthorized demonstration. In total, over 4,500 people were temporarily detained for rioting by the beginning of January 2019; Almost 700 defendants had been brought before the criminal judge by the beginning of January (for actions before mid-December) with 216 convictions of imprisonment.

The demonstrators complained about the methods used by the police - in the course of the demonstration months, the topic of the increasingly alleged police violence became the unifying driver of the protests. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović , who found out about possible human rights violations during the protests in Paris at the end of January 2019, sharply criticized the actions of the French security forces against "yellow vests" demonstrators in a report at the end of February 2019 and called for a temporary ban on hard rubber bullets. Their report said the "number and severity of injuries" called into question the methods of security forces. The French authorities should also provide detailed figures on injuries. At the same time, she condemned the violence against security forces and the racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements made by some demonstrators. On May 5, 2019, well over a thousand French artists (including Juliette Binoche , Emmanuelle Béart , Jeanne Balibar , Swann Arlaud , Annie Ernaux , Edouard Louis , Stanislas Nordey , Elli Medeiros , Jean-Claude Petit , Anouk Grinberg , Frank Margerin and Simon Abkarian) published ) an open letter in which they support the yellow vests and in particular complain about the violent repression of the police:

“The record of repression is getting worse every week. On April 19, 2019 there was already one death, 248 head injuries, 23 people who lost an eye, 5 who lost their hand. It is unworthy of our republic.
And we are not the first to denounce this: Amnesty International, the League for Human Rights, the United Nations, the European Union, the Ombudsman, they all condemn the police violence against yellow vests in France. [...]
The most threatening violence is economic and social. It is the violence of a government that defends the interests of a few at the expense of all. It is violence that leaves its mark on the minds and bodies of those who work their way to survival. ... we will not be fooled! We can see the over-worn strategies used to discredit the yellow vests described as anti-ecologists, extremists, racists. "

- Collectif Yellow Submarine : Nous ne sommes pas dupes

Government courtesy

On December 4, 2018, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced the suspension of tax increases from January 1, 2019 for six months. Unimpressed by this, the yellow vests announced that they would continue the protest.Emmanuel Macron finally turned to the French in a televised address on December 10, 2018: The events of the last few weeks had disturbed the nation. The outbreaks of violence will be countered uncompromisingly. Anger and anger of the protesters, on the other hand, are legitimate in some respects and may be used as an opportunity. What is boiling up now is a malaise that has built up in 40 years, to which one and a half years of his presidency did not find answers quickly and convincingly enough: It seems as if the socially weaker ones have been forgotten and left aside. He, Macron, is assuming his share of responsibility for this; He is also aware that he has hurt some with his statements. The government will now ensure that all French people can live from their work in dignity. He announced four specific measures to be implemented in the short term: a state subsidy for the minimum wage of up to 100 euros per month; Tax and duty exemption from overtime pay; Relief for pensioners with a monthly income below 2000 euros; a tax-free, voluntary premium from employers for employees at the end of the year. Macron was expressly negative about the reintroduction of the wealth tax, which the yellow vests movement also called for. In the meantime the government responded to certain demands of the yellow vests. It tipped the tax increases on fuel, decided on tax breaks for pensioners, non-taxation of overtime and an increase in the minimum wage by 100 euros per month.

In comments on the announcements, reference is made to the difficult domestic political position of the President; At the same time, the European Union was critical of the social policy concessions that would affect the deficit in French public finances. Regarding the appropriateness of the measures, it was also criticized that those who have part-time jobs or no work, as well as retirees with low pensions, would not benefit. Overtime pay plans, which would encourage an increase in overtime, were also criticized.

Big national debate

Furthermore, Emmanuel Macron , who was initially accused of a lack of communication, responded to the protests in early January by declaring a “Great National Debate” (grand débat national) and a letter (Lettre aux Français) to every citizen who died on 13 January was sent. To kick off the debate, on January 15, 2019, he met with the first 600 mayors in Grand Bourgtheroulde ( Normandy ), which has been converted into a high-security zone, also out of fear that representatives of the yellow vests movement could cause unrest. The Mayor of Grand Bourgtheroulde presented the President with a “complaint book” ( cahier de doléances ) . In this complaint book, 110 citizens of the municipality have written down their demands over the past few weeks, as have numerous others in thousands of municipalities in France, most of which sympathize with the movement. In the communities, debates with interested citizens are to take place from mid-January to mid-March.

On April 25, 2019, Macron finally presented its reform plans, updated through the dialogue, in a televised address and press conference. Under the motto of reconciliation between town and country, domestic political measures include a stronger decentralization of the country with more local citizen participation, a halt to the closure of schools and hospitals in the country and the abolition of the central elite administration school ENA .

Continuation of the reform course

After the number of participants in the haphazard yellow vest protests fell sharply in June 2019, the government continued its reform program, which had been suspended in the meantime. The government intends, on the one hand, to increase the incentive to take up work by reducing unemployment benefits in terms of both the amount and the basic entitlement and, on the other hand, the government plans to impose an additional tax on companies that mainly employ temporary workers.

Context and relationship to political currents

Poster in Paris in early January 2019 with a quote from Robespierre :
If the government violates the rights of the people, the uprising is the most sacred of all rights and the most indispensable of all duties for the people and for every part of the people.

The yellow vests movement is one of the largest protest movements in the fifth republic . So much violence was last used by protesters in Paris during the May 1968 protests. In 2016, the Nuit Debout movement pointed out social inequalities through protest actions . The composition of the movement was initially “broad and diffuse”, but later became radicalized, especially after the government had made concessions. Both left and right-wing parties and groups tried to make the protest movement their own: the left-wing populist party La France insoumise , the right-wing extremist Rassemblement National (Front National until June 2018) and the CGT union claimed the goals and protests of the yellow vests for themselves.

In the course of events, the narrative became popular that the yellow vests movement was primarily directed against the political course of President Emmanuel Macron and his government Philippe . Planned price increases for petrol and diesel through an increase in the taxe intérieure de consommation sur les produits énergétiques (abbreviated TICPE or TIPP) triggered the public protests. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) pointed out that France had the highest tax rate of all 36 OECD member states at 46.2 percent in 2017 . This primarily affects small and medium-sized enterprises , whose social security contributions were significantly reduced by the government for 2018; many of those affected still see this as too high. Income tax , on the other hand, is one of the lowest in Europe. Élie Cohen, former professor of economics at the École nationale d'administration , relates the protests to a phenomenon that affects all highly developed Western countries: the purchasing power of the lower middle class has stagnated there for ten years, while their monthly fixed expenditures have been strong over the same period have risen. Macron made unpopular decisions with the intention of making the business location more attractive and countering a process of de-industrialization in France.

The party leader of the Republicans , Laurent Wauquiez , met with media-effective demonstrators, but distanced himself again after the outbreak of violence. Spokesmen for the yellow vests affirmed that they distance themselves from parties or institutions in order to enable the broadest and most diverse mobilization possible. On November 21, 2018, the non-attached MEP Jean Lassalle demonstratively wore a yellow safety vest during a session of parliament, which led to the session of the National Assembly being interrupted . Political scientist Chantal Mouffe sees the movement as an opportunity for a broad-based left-wing policy against neoliberalism .

While the philosopher Alain Finkielkraut initially supported the “dignified expression of suffering and despair” among the yellow vests, but later accused them of increasing lack of clarity about their goals and restlessness, the publicist Bernard-Henri Lévy saw the danger of infiltration by “brown vests” and recalled fascist ones Groups in France in the 1930s. The Franco-German politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit criticized the protest actions: “This movement has more than just slightly authoritarian features. She refuses the interview, she doesn't want to find a compromise. ”He called the comparison with 1968 grotesque. The French historian Denis Peschanski and other observers attested to the yellow vest movement that it was not subliminally anti-Semitic as such , but - as one study also confirms - “more susceptible than all others to conspiracy theories […] - be it the Illuminati , the Zionist world conspiracy or the ' great replacement ' ”. “At their 'margins'” there were repeated anti-Semitic manifestations; In relation to Macron, for example, banners read “pute à juif” (“Jew whore”) or “Macron = Sion ”. In conspiracy-theoretical notions of an alleged entanglement of “the banks”, “the media” and “the Jews” with the “system” there is an “intersection of some anti-capitalist-anti-liberal argumentation patterns” with an anti-Semitic worldview, “that [...] also for one Movement like that of the 'yellow vests' could offer connectivity ”.

Assessment of the French population

At the start of the protests in November 2018, pollsters estimated that - depending on the poll - around 70% of the French population were behind the movement, compared to around 54 percent of Macron's voters. However, only about 45 percent could identify with the type of protest. 15 percent also supported the violent riots, including mainly supporters of left and right-wing extremist parties.

In mid-December 2018, only about 45% supported the continuation of the protests, in February 2019 this figure fell to 38%. The increasing radicalization of the demonstrators is blamed for the decline in support for the movement.

Reception abroad

Imitation of the protests

International yellow vest meeting 2019 in Vaals with German, Dutch and Belgian participants.

The demand for lower fuel prices was taken up in Belgium and to a lesser extent in the Netherlands. In Wallonia, Belgium , Gilets jaunes blocked a motorway and the access roads to several fuel depots and refineries. This started the protest against fuel prices that were perceived as being too high and declining purchasing power . In Italy there was a first campaign by yellow vests in Genoa on November 24, 2018 . Masked people with yellow safety vests blocked the access to the Genoas motorway and smeared slogans against the motorway company Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), operator of the Morandi Bridge , which collapsed on August 14 , on the walls of a toll station.

In Portugal, on December 21, protesters in the central square in Lisbon paralyzed traffic, demanded lower taxes and protested against corruption in the country. In the northern city of Braga , access roads were blocked all day. Calls on Facebook for relevant protests were removed at the urging of the police after more than 40,000 people expressed their interest in attending the event. In December, in the city ​​center of Ireland's capital Dublin , there were protests in front of the Custom House and the Leinster House against the housing market and for the legalization of cannabis as a medicinal product . The traffic in the city center came to a standstill at times.

In Taiwan in December 2018 up to 20,000 demonstrators of the yellow vests movement demonstrated peacefully for lower taxes in front of the Ministry of Finance in Taipei .

In order to prevent the yellow vests movement from spreading to Egypt, the authorities there have practically banned the sale of yellow vests until at least the end of January 2019. Supporters of the yellow vests were arrested on the grounds of "supporting a terrorist group ". In Turkey, prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into television journalist Fatih Portakal for calling for non-violent protests against the rising cost of living on Twitter , and his broadcaster Fox Haber received a media regulator fine. Hundreds of citizens in yellow vests took to the streets in Tel Aviv after the price of electricity, water and food rose .

Capture by foreign politicians

Due to the yellow vest movement, there was diplomatic resentment between France and Italy. The relationship between the two states had cooled down considerably since the coalition government of Lega Nord and the Five Star Movement ( Cabinet Conte ) took office in June 2018 due to various disputes. After Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio met with leading representatives of the yellow vests movement near Paris on February 5, 2019 and published various photos of the meeting on Twitter - with the comment that the "wind of change" had now "crossed the Alps" - the French Foreign Ministry responded with a statement in which “this new provocation” was qualified as “unacceptable”. After there was no relaxation, France recalled its ambassador to Italy on February 7, 2019 for “consultations” in Paris.

The politician and initiator of the organization “ Stand Up ”, Sahra Wagenknecht (left), published a video in which she stands in front of the Chancellery in a yellow vest and calls for protests without any significant action.

The yellow vest protests are seen in the United States by US President Donald Trump and the conservative media as evidence of the correctness of the departure from the Paris climate protection agreement . In early December 2018, for example, Trump forwarded a tweet from a US conservative activist after the yellow vests (translated) in Paris were said to have chanted “We want Trump”. This claim is also made by influential conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and is believed to be based on a video that turned out to be a recording from London. In March 2019 Trump tweeted: “How is the Paris Environmental Accord working out for France? After 18 weeks of rioting by the Yellow Vest Protesters, I guess not so well! "

photos

  • Yellow vest protest in Villeneuve-la-Guyard (Yonne) on December 1, 2018

  • Yellow vests in front of Belfort Town Hall on December 29, 2018

  • Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris, on January 5, 2019

  • Protesters at the Arc de Triomphe , on January 5, 2019

  • Burning street barricade on Boulevard Saint-Germain , January 5, 2019

  • Banderole with the inscription "Macron divides the people"

literature

Web links

Commons : Yellow West Movement  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leo Klimm: Uprising of the middle class. In: SZ.de . November 17, 2018, accessed December 14, 2018 .
  2. ↑ The yellow vests: who they are and what they want. December 3, 2018, accessed December 23, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Bernhard Pötter: "Yellow West" -Proteste in France: class struggle with climate change . In: The daily newspaper: taz . April 25, 2019, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed April 25, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Yellow vests and trade unionists on the occasion of Labor Day
  5. ↑ a b c Le Monde: Act XI: les "gilets jaunes" tiraillés mais déterminés . January 25, 2019, accessed on the same day (French)
  6. ^ A b Protests in France: France's "yellow vests" back on the streets. In: waz.de . January 26, 2019, accessed January 26, 2019 .
  7. ^ L'Express: Gilets jaunes, acte 14: le bilan de la journée en France . February 16, 2019 (French)
  8. ↑ a b Europe 1: "Acte 18" des "gilets jaunes": scènes de chaos sur les Champs-Élysées, 151 interpellations et 45 blessés , March 16, 2019, accessed on the same day (French)
  9. ↑ Birgit Holzer: Jacline Mouraud was France's first "yellow vest". In: Augsburger Allgemeine. December 4, 2018, accessed December 23, 2018 .
  10. ^ Rudolf Balmer: The yellow west uprising in France - next test of strength in Paris. In: taz.de. November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Martin Bohne: Government seeks dialogue with the “yellow vests”. In: Deutschlandfunk. December 1, 2018, accessed December 2, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Gilets jaunes: la pétition de Priscillia Ludosky dépasse le million de signatures. In: Le Parisien. November 29, 2018, accessed December 2, 2018 (French).
  13. ↑ Violent protest of the "Yellow West." In: Tagesschau. ARD, December 1, 2018, accessed on December 1, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Yellow West Protest - President Macron condemns violence . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed on December 2, 2018]).
  15. ↑ Le casse-tête du dialogue between the “gilets jaunes” and the government .
  16. ^ "Social - Les Gilets jaunes et la démocratie directe", La Voix du Nord, 2018 http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/498711/article/2018-12-01/les-gilets-jaunes-et-la-democraie -directe
  17. ^ Pourquoi le "RIC" est devenu la revendication numéro un des gilets jaunes . December 6, 2018.
  18. ^ "Social - Les Gilets jaunes et la democratie directe", La Voix du Nord, 2018
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