Fight for the Larzac

Michel Debré, Minister of Defence in the Georges Pompidou administration, announced that the base would be extended to 13,700 ha (34,000 acres; 53 sq mi) and that the land would be expropriated in the public interest.

This activist group descended on the Larzac in support of the peasant landowners and extended the protest to a more general action against what they saw as the militarism of the Pompidou government.

This action, once it had achieved its focal aims on the Larzac, was the core of what then became the Anti-Globalism movement and also served to bring to public attention leaders such as Lanza del Vasto, José Bové, and the late Guy Tarlier.

Le Monde of 6 March 1971 quoted Deputy Delmas, then campaigning for election to UDR, as saying "The extension of the military base is doubtless the last chance for survival of the town of Millau."

Millau (IPA: [mijo],) at the Northern edge of the Larzac plateau, is today world-famous for its spectacular viaduct over the river Tarn.

[1] Sheep herders and producers of Roquefort cheese, the most famous product of the region, denied that the project would be a net boost for employment because, as a training camp, it would attract only temporary inhabitants.

[6] André Fanton made his attitude clear in a public speech: Whether we like it or not, the potential agricultural riches of the Larzac are extremely weak.

It means, loosely, THE LARZAC IS OURS, and significantly it's written in Occitan, the original language of Languedoc which is not used commercially but is cherished by a militant minority.

Socialists, Communists, and Trade Union militants appeared in Millau and in the villages of the Larzac noisily adding their support to a movement that had originally been declared apolitical.

[10] Further complicating the situation, a rag-tag assortment of hippies and drop-outs attached themselves to the resistance movement, together with protesters whose motives seemed very remote from the interests of sheep husbandry – pro-choice feminists, for example.

[10] This phase of the protest movement culminated in the first mass rally, on 25–26 August 1973, at Rajal del Guorp (the name means 'Crow Springs' in occitan,) a natural dolomitic amphitheatre north-west of La Cavalerie.

Between 60,000 and 100,000 people (the latter figure claimed by the organisers assembled to show their support, in a remote site entirely devoid of facilities for refreshment and hygiene).

Two members of the Irish Republican Army expressed their solidarity with the peasants of the Larzac and declared support for resistance "by whatever means are necessary".

Musical instruments and topless young women were much in evidence and commemorative T-shirts quickly appeared in local markets.

Even José Bové referred to those rallies with some pride as "the French Woodstock" but he also recognised that the effect on public relations was decidedly mixed.

Finally, at Orléans, the procession was blocked by the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS, French riot police) and their 26 tractors impounded.

Bernard Lambert, leader of the Mouvement des Paysans Travailleurs (Working Peasant Movement), promptly arranged for the loan of 26 tractors belonging to farmers in the Orléans area, the CRS were outflanked and the march proceeded to Paris.

The final Paris action began on 27 November 1980, at the height of the presidential campaigns of François Mitterrand and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

The action consisted of an encampment, in bitterly cold weather, on the Champ de Mars complete with farm animals, bales of straw, a radio station and a media information bureau.

As early as 1972, the communard, philosopher and theorist of non-violence Lanza del Vasto had taken an interest in the plight of the Larzac shepherds and farmers.

"[7] Civil disobedience was also partly the motive of the decision to rebuild the ruined stone sheep shelter (bergerie) at La Blaquière.

Hundreds of supporters came to join the effort, notably the hippie contingent who had to learn the art and craft of masonry very quickly, with somewhat random results.

Pierre Bonnefous recalled There was a mason in charge, and he was told 'Try and explain what needs to be done, and these guys can haul stone, make cement.'

The eight months of construction were marked by constant argument and conflict, but the bergerie was finished in February 1974 and stands to this day as a monument to the joint effort.

[15] Another tactic that was used with success was to sell very small parcels of land to many sympathisers, with the aim of making the eventual expropriation as difficult as possible for the bureaucracy.

A rule, never broken over the ten years of the campaign, was that only residents of the Larzac had voting power in the general assemblies.

In February 1979, local referendums were organised in the surrounding communities of Millau, Creissels, and La Couvertoirade (a medieval city of the Knights Templar.)