The French navy, in Aug. 1914, only owned eight flying machines, and no more than 200 men were attached to the service of naval aviation. When the Armistice was signed the number of men employed in this service amounted to 1 1 ,000, and the navy had 1,264 air-planes or water-planes, of which 370 were in active service, and 257 dirigible and captive balloons. During the last year of the war the naval aeroplane service had over 70,000 flying hours and nearly 4,000,000 flying miles to its credit; and the lighter-than-air service had been in the air for over 12,000 hours, covering over 500,000 miles.
In 1921 the battle fleet of France consisted of three 1912 battleships, the "Bretagne, " "Provence," and "Lorraine"; four battleships of the 1910-1 programme; four of the 1906 programme ; five of the 1905 budget : the remainder were, in order, the "Courbet,"" Jean-Bart," "France," "Paris"; "Diderot," "Condorcet," "Voltaire," "Vergniot"; "Justice," " Verite," " Democratic," " Patrie " and " Republique." The 1912 bat- tleships were of 23,500 tons, steaming 20 knots; the 1910-1, of 23,400 tons and the same speed; and the rest had a steaming capacity of about 19 knots.
Of battle cruisers, France had three of the 1907-8 programme of 14,000 tons; three of the 1904 budget of 12,500; four of the 1900 programme of 10,400 tons; two of 1900 of 9,500 tons; one of the 1901 programme of 7,700; one of the 1899 programme of 11,300 tons, and one of the 1895 programme of 5,350 tons. There were six protected cruisers, which might be regarded as obsolete; one old cruiser which had been converted into an aeroplane tender; and some 70 destroyers and torpedo-boats, most of them of ancient date. French submarines numbered 43 ; the Peace Treaty had given to France a certain number of obsolete German units. (G. A.)
THE FRENCH LABOUR MOVEMENT
The most prominent feature in the contemporary French labour movement has been the check given to " Syndicalism," as represented by the Confederation Generale du Travail (C.G.T.). This body is peculiar inasmuch as it is quite independent of political parties. Its organization is somewhat complicated. The workers of any one trade builders for instance have their National Federation, which is constituted by delegates appointed by the various building trades syndicates, masons, carpenters, etc. The various federations building trades, metal workers, railwaymen, etc. each elect a delegate, and their delegates together form one section of the C.G.T. Another section is formed by delegates elected by regional groups of all syndicated workers without distinction of trades. The C.G.T. is thus a body formed by delegates of regional unions on one hand and of national trade federations on the other. It groups labour representatives nationally and regionally vertically and horizontally. The men thus elected form the National Committee of the C.G.T. It meets every three months, lays down the broad lines of syndicalist policy and every two years appoints the administrative committee of the C.G.T.
It should be noted that all these various groups preserve their autonomy as regards action provided that they observe the general statutes of the C.G.T., the chief of which declares that the C.G.T. groups working-men without distinction of religious or philosophical opinions with the object of suppressing " wages and employers." Every two years the bureau of the C.G.T. has to give an account of its stewardship to the National Con- gress, at which every syndicate, no matter what the number of its members may be, has one vote.
Such was the organization in 1921. It changed but little in form during 1910-20, but one slight modification whereby provincial delegates were allowed to sit every three months on the National Committee considerably modified its operation after 1918. Up till then provincial organizations were always represented by Parisian " militants," usually extremist in tone. Fernand Pellontier, Pouget and Griffuelhes were then the organ- izers of the C.G.T., by which they hoped to wean the syndicalist movement from the influence of the parliamentary Socialists who were in favour of accepting social reforms. Their aim was
to bring about a syndicalist revolution, and, as preparation for this upheaval, to accustom the working classes to " direct action," "sabotage," "anti-militarism" and violence of every kind were weapons to be used.
This doctrine of 1910 was systematized by the syndicalist thinker Georges Sorel. All social reform was scorned by these revolutionary syndicalists as being nothing but an opiate admin- istered to the working-classes. Thus the Workmen's Pensions bill (1910), which made contributions from employers and employed obligatory, was vigorously resisted by the C.G.T.
More moderate men, however, while they were in favour of the independence of the C.G.T. from socialism, opposed violence and supported reform and parliamentary action. For three months indeed, one of their number, Niel, held the post of general secretary of the organization after the failure of the postal and railway strikes of 1909-10. The revolutionaries, however, after storming the offices, drove him from power. Constant street disturbances, May Day riots, prosecutions for seditious anti-militarist propaganda, make up the history of the C.G.T. in the few years before 1914. The fact that it had not more than 300,000 subscribing adherents kept funds low in accordance with the doctrine that revolutionary action can only be obtained by a vigorous minority. At Havre (1912) the independence of the C.G.T. from all political parties was again affirmed, but the C.G.T., which declared that syndicalism was sufficient to itself, nevertheless desired to convince the world at large of this truth. International syndicalism met with but little success, for the German syndicalists would not look at plans for a general strike in the event of war.
C.G.T. and War. Resolutions had been frequently adopted at C.G.T. congresses making it the duty of every member of the C.G.T. to reply to mobilization orders by proclaiming a general strike. But when mobilization was ordered on Aug. i 1914, national enthusiasm swept away even the recollection of such decisions. French syndicalists had many reasons for suspecting the sincerity of German revolutionary pacifism, and on Aug. 3 Jouhaux, secretary general of the C.G.T., speaking at the funeral of Jaures, preached the duty of national defence. This lead was accepted so loyally that none of the contemplated arrests of anti-militarist agitators was effected. Throughout the war Jouhaux and his followers observed the " union sacrie " and indeed began to perceive that capital and labour might have interests in common. A noteworthy sign of this new feeling was the presence of Jouhaux at the 1917 banquet of the federa- tion of French manufacturers and merchants.
A small group of men inside the organization looked upon Jouhaux as a " traitor " to the cause, and sought at Kienthal and Zimmerwald the means of bringing the war to an end, at the same time encouraging agitation in this sense among workmen in France. By 1917 large numbers of men had been sent back from the front to work in munition factories. Consider- able discontent prevailed, which led to grave strikes especially in the Loire. The settlement of those disputes in no way dis- armed the extremists, who were dazzled by the Russian Revolu- tion. The split widened with time, and peace in no way im- proved matters. The strength of the C.G.T. was officially recognized by the appointment of Jouhaux to be a delegate of the French Government for the consideration of Labour ques- tions at the Peace Conference in Paris. He subsequently became a member of the International Labour Bureau, the director of which, Socialist deputy Albert Thomas, while Minister of Munitions, had exerted great influence over labour.
Syndicalism flourished at this period. Its effectives had risen from 300,000 before the war to 2,000,000. One cause of this is to be found in the special treatment given to labour during Albert Thomas' term of office. Skilled men obtained exemption from the army with greater ease than before, wages had been greatly increased, and in negotiations the C.G.T. had become an officially recognized body, of which it was almost necessary to be a mem- ber. M. Jouhaux, its head, played an important part in Govern- ment councils, and M. Clemenceau himself at one time wanted to offer him office as Minister of Labour. C.G.T. doctrine had
