FRANCE: The Revolution of 1980

A new novel predicts a Giscard-Socialist alliance

It is late spring in 1980. Throughout France, unemployed workers stage factory sit-ins. Thousands of squatters move into unoccupied buildings. Corsica and Brittany are veritable battlegrounds as separatists intensify terrorist campaigns. The unrest stems from widespread disenchantment with President Valery Giscard d'Estaing's economic policy, which has produced record levels of inflation and unemployment. At 2 a.m. on May 20, a telephone rings in the Elysee Palace. "This is not a joke," says a stern voice. "Please warn the President that if by 6 a.m. he has not freed the Corsican and Breton fighters arrested two days ago, we will blow up the Eiffel Tower."

Thus begins a new novel called The Revolution of 1980. Its bestselling author is the pseudonymous "Philippe de Cormmines," whose cleverly futuristic The 180 Days of Mitterrand last year foreshadowed the rupture in the Socialist-Communist alliance. In Commines's new work, Giscard refuses to give in; at 6 a.m. three SAM II missiles transform the Eiffel Tower into a hulk of twisted steel. Responsibility is claimed by a terrorist group that calls itself Society Against the State. To restore his government's credibility, the President tries a dramatic gesture: he appoints Michel Rocard, a charismatic economist who is currently challenging Francois Mitterrand for leadership of the Socialist Party, as Premier. Rocard, however, exacts a price. During a secret meeting with Giscard, he warns: "I am not one of those leftists who, once in power, adopt the policies of the right."

Although Gaullists and Communists join forces to vote no, a narrow majority in the National Assembly approves Rocard's request to rule by decree for six months. Drastic reforms are instituted almost instantly. Rocard does not nationalize vast sectors of industry, as the 1972 Socialist-Communist "common program" calls for. Instead, all stock in private companies is converted to bonds, and shareholders are guaranteed 15% of profits; but corporate control passes to the workers. France's Paris-centered government is decentralized with the creation of new regional assemblies with broad local powers, including taxation. Welfare benefits are increased. To encourage public transportation, the Mètro becomes free and the price of gasoline rises to $7.20 a gallon. All high school graduates are required to work for two years before attending university. "Expect less from government and more from yourselves," Rocard exhorts the citizenry in launching what an awed U.S. visitor—California's Jerry Brown—hails as "the New French Revolution."