Just as a new prime minister was being appointed by the president of the republic, France was in the throes of one of those days of demonstrations and blockades of all kinds that it is so familiar with. “Let’s block everything!” (Bloquons tout!) was the slogan of this mobilisation. When it comes to blockades, France knows a thing or two. But perhaps the urgent need is not so much to block the country as to unblock it.
The mobilisation on Wednesday, September 10th, had been planned for weeks on social media. The aim was to bring the country to a standstill in order to send the leaders a powerful signal—yet another—of the deep discontent simmering in the country. The calls for blockades were varied: blockades of roads, motorways and roundabouts in towns and the countryside; blockades of transport; blockades of banks with calls to boycott card transactions or to withdraw large amounts of cash.
In the end, the French media did not focus as much attention on the day of blockades as expected, due to the appointment the night before of the new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, succeeding François Bayrou, who was ousted by a vote of no confidence earlier in the week.
Although spectacular images of the actions carried out on Wednesday, September 10th, 2025, across France were widely circulated, the “success” of the day remains difficult to quantify. Official figures report 150,000 to 200,000 demonstrators across the country. According to the Interior Ministry, the movement was generally poorly attended—at least, less than expected—and the damage, which was sometimes impressive in a few very localised areas, was ultimately not very significant.
The country was not really brought to a standstill. On the other hand, the episode proved once again how much France was paralysed by its evil geniuses—a far-left militancy incapable of curing the ills afflicting the country, which it had largely contributed to creating and perpetuating.
When the movement was launched a few weeks ago, it seemed likely that it would turn into a genuine popular uprising across the whole country, uniting the voices of all citizens exasperated by the negligence of their governments, which are incapable of responding to their distress and tackling the real problems—from the impoverishment of the country to rampant crime, not to mention the collapse of all public services—despite being funded by one of the highest tax rates on the planet. But the “Bloquons tout” movement was quickly hijacked by a handful of professional protesters from the far Left, primarily concerned with defending their eternal ideological obsessions.
This was a far cry from the groundswell of the Yellow Vests, which in 2018 swept away almost everything in its path. As reporter Vincent Lapierre, who followed the movement’s beginnings at the time, recalls, the Yellow Vests had explicitly requested that any flag other than the French flag be banned from the demonstrations. Nothing of the sort happened on September 10th, 2025, which saw a proliferation of red flags and, for reasons unknown, Palestinian flags.
In Aurillac, in central France, a local far-left organisation encouraged children to throw foam paving stones at shop windows to ‘train’ them in anti-capitalist activism.
In Lyon, the ranks of demonstrators were infiltrated by black blocs (radical protest groups dressed in black) and other ‘anti-fascist’ militias, who came to fight the police while fuelled by cocaine.
Under these circumstances, the great night or national uprising that some had hoped would shake the regime did not happen. But could we reasonably have hoped for an effective coalition of discontented people? The first of the discontented to take to the streets are fighting hard to defend what other French people, who are just as discontented, would like to see disappear. The profiteers cannot form a credible alliance, even a temporary one, with the ‘Nicolas’ camp, who are tired of paying for the privileges of the profiteers. A programme on the RMC channel opened the debate with the following question: “Let’s block everything: are you blocked, or are you blockers?” On the set, exasperated citizens testified: “The people burning rubbish bins are not craftsmen and entrepreneurs. Those folks are trying to go to work to pay their bills,” explained farmer Didier Giraud. The discontented have many faces and irreconcilable cultures.
Another day of protest is expected on Thursday, September 18th. This time, the main trade unions have all called for people to join the movement, and the effects are likely to be felt more strongly, particularly in the public transport and health sectors. The problem remains unresolved: professional blockaders are demanding ever more state intervention, ever more taxes, ever more immigration. Their revolt is only superficial: supported by a clique of irresponsible young activists, they continue to methodically lead the country towards bankruptcy.
France: To Block or To Unblock, That Is the Question
A protester holds a photograph of President Macron upside down during a demonstration as part of the “Bloquons tout” (“Let’s block everything”) protest movement, in Bayonne southwestern France, on September 10, 2025.
Gaizka Iroz / AFP
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Just as a new prime minister was being appointed by the president of the republic, France was in the throes of one of those days of demonstrations and blockades of all kinds that it is so familiar with. “Let’s block everything!” (Bloquons tout!) was the slogan of this mobilisation. When it comes to blockades, France knows a thing or two. But perhaps the urgent need is not so much to block the country as to unblock it.
The mobilisation on Wednesday, September 10th, had been planned for weeks on social media. The aim was to bring the country to a standstill in order to send the leaders a powerful signal—yet another—of the deep discontent simmering in the country. The calls for blockades were varied: blockades of roads, motorways and roundabouts in towns and the countryside; blockades of transport; blockades of banks with calls to boycott card transactions or to withdraw large amounts of cash.
In the end, the French media did not focus as much attention on the day of blockades as expected, due to the appointment the night before of the new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, succeeding François Bayrou, who was ousted by a vote of no confidence earlier in the week.
Although spectacular images of the actions carried out on Wednesday, September 10th, 2025, across France were widely circulated, the “success” of the day remains difficult to quantify. Official figures report 150,000 to 200,000 demonstrators across the country. According to the Interior Ministry, the movement was generally poorly attended—at least, less than expected—and the damage, which was sometimes impressive in a few very localised areas, was ultimately not very significant.
The country was not really brought to a standstill. On the other hand, the episode proved once again how much France was paralysed by its evil geniuses—a far-left militancy incapable of curing the ills afflicting the country, which it had largely contributed to creating and perpetuating.
When the movement was launched a few weeks ago, it seemed likely that it would turn into a genuine popular uprising across the whole country, uniting the voices of all citizens exasperated by the negligence of their governments, which are incapable of responding to their distress and tackling the real problems—from the impoverishment of the country to rampant crime, not to mention the collapse of all public services—despite being funded by one of the highest tax rates on the planet. But the “Bloquons tout” movement was quickly hijacked by a handful of professional protesters from the far Left, primarily concerned with defending their eternal ideological obsessions.
This was a far cry from the groundswell of the Yellow Vests, which in 2018 swept away almost everything in its path. As reporter Vincent Lapierre, who followed the movement’s beginnings at the time, recalls, the Yellow Vests had explicitly requested that any flag other than the French flag be banned from the demonstrations. Nothing of the sort happened on September 10th, 2025, which saw a proliferation of red flags and, for reasons unknown, Palestinian flags.
In Aurillac, in central France, a local far-left organisation encouraged children to throw foam paving stones at shop windows to ‘train’ them in anti-capitalist activism.
In Lyon, the ranks of demonstrators were infiltrated by black blocs (radical protest groups dressed in black) and other ‘anti-fascist’ militias, who came to fight the police while fuelled by cocaine.
Under these circumstances, the great night or national uprising that some had hoped would shake the regime did not happen. But could we reasonably have hoped for an effective coalition of discontented people? The first of the discontented to take to the streets are fighting hard to defend what other French people, who are just as discontented, would like to see disappear. The profiteers cannot form a credible alliance, even a temporary one, with the ‘Nicolas’ camp, who are tired of paying for the privileges of the profiteers. A programme on the RMC channel opened the debate with the following question: “Let’s block everything: are you blocked, or are you blockers?” On the set, exasperated citizens testified: “The people burning rubbish bins are not craftsmen and entrepreneurs. Those folks are trying to go to work to pay their bills,” explained farmer Didier Giraud. The discontented have many faces and irreconcilable cultures.
Another day of protest is expected on Thursday, September 18th. This time, the main trade unions have all called for people to join the movement, and the effects are likely to be felt more strongly, particularly in the public transport and health sectors. The problem remains unresolved: professional blockaders are demanding ever more state intervention, ever more taxes, ever more immigration. Their revolt is only superficial: supported by a clique of irresponsible young activists, they continue to methodically lead the country towards bankruptcy.
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