France is a nation with a long and storied history. It's a land whose written history goes back to the days of the Romans, who called much of what is now France, Gaul. It is from that name that we derive the term "Gallic" to this day, to denote all things French. France was of enormous assistance in our own revolutionary war, in which America won its independence from France's principal adversary, Great Britain — and in the last century, thousands of America, British, and Canadian soldiers stormed ashore at Normandy to rescue France from under the jackboots of Hitler's Germany.
But now France is in the process of collapse, and there won't be any landing craft full of Allied troops to save them this time. So, what's happening, and what might happen, should the rebels who are burning France, right now, win?
My colleague Nick Arama has done some sterling work presenting the state of play in France. Nick writes:
If you wonder where the Left wants to take us and how bad it can get, all you have to do is look at what's happening in France on Saturday with the violent riots across the country.
The protests which included students and trade unionists, were upset with, among other things, "high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system." Translation? This is what happens when a "social democracy" goes all in on welfare and fails.
Tens of thousands took to the streets in protests across the country, in places like Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and Limoges. Then they devolved into violence.
The masked rioters ransacked the Lyon tourist office, breaking the windows and setting it ablaze.
That's what's happening. A look at the protesters, the rioters, the rebels, is a look at a witch's brew of groups who appear to have formed a temporary alliance: French students, alongside people who appear to be North African and Middle Easter immigrants. Some of them are wearing black bloc. There are flags waving: Palestine flags, Antifa flags, even a few French flags- but exceedingly few of those. As Nick goes on to report, the country is coming apart at the seams. Historic buildings that have stood for centuries are ablaze. Cars are burning, businesses are being looted. The rioters are brushing French police aside, and are shouting about storming the Bastille; and this time, there's no Napoleon to administer a "whiff of grapeshot."
So, what happens if the unthinkable occurs — and these rioters win? What happens if they manage to overthrow the French government? As I see it, two key things will happen almost immediately.
First: Look at the rioters. There are none among them who could form anything resembling a competent civil government, even a far-left one. There won't be any new republic to come out of this; there won't even be a Soviet-style People's Republic. None of these "students," none of these "migrants" would know where to begin. There's a very real possibility that France could dissolve into anarchy, and the troubles that gave rise to that anarchy will spread across Europe, hot on the tails of waves of actual French refugees fleeing the wreckage. But there is one group among the rioters who does have an idea how to set up a government, but it won't be a civil one. Which brings us to...
Second: Look at the factions. If France falls, two primary factions will almost certainly, and almost immediately, turn on each other. Those factions would be the far-left — the socialists and communists — and the Muslim radicals. This won't end well for the socialists and commies because at the end of the day, they are hoping to still be breathing. If we've seen anything of the jihadi mindset in the last few decades, it's that they don't particularly care if they are alive or not, and a man who is willing to throw his life away is a tough foe to face. And the Muslim radicals do have a notion of how to set up a government. Their guidebook is the Quran, and their model is the Taliban government in Afghanistan. What's more, they will view their erstwhile allies as what they actually are: Useful idiots.
Either way, France as we know it is gone. There won't be any dedicated underground, no towns and cities welcoming parades of American and British soldiers liberating them. And the same people who will be ruling what was France will be looking to expand: To Spain, to Italy, to Germany, to Britain, and they won't stop there.
This is why this is, as I have been saying and writing for years, the great conflict of our time. It is a conflict of civilization vs. barbarity, and now, in France, the barbarians have made common cause with another group of barbarians, that being the far left. It may well be too late to save France now, unless the Macron government is willing to take some extreme action; bringing in the French Foreign Legion would seem to be a good start, assuming they have some very liberal rules of engagement.
But if France falls, mark my words, it will be but the first major domino to go down. It won't be the last.
