France – Victory Day Actions: Lyon – The Capital of the Resistance
Featured image: May 8th Demonstration organized by the Communist Youth and CPES in Lyon. Source: La Cause du Peuple.
On the occasion of the Day of Victory, on the 8th of May, revolutionary youth of France, at the call of The Communist Youth of France and supported by activists from the French Federation of Students’ Unions (FSE), carried out a major anti-fascist agitation campaign in Lyon.
The 8th of May marks this year 81 years since the defeat of the Nazi regime. In celebration of this occasion, La Cause du Peuple (LCDP) writes:
“For us, the people of France, it is the end of a long ordeal marked by death, destruction, torture, mass graves, martyred villages, the deportation of Resistance fighters, and the extermination of a large part of the Jewish community. It is also the moment of a great collective catharsis, during which the vile and shameful policy of collaboration of almost the entire ruling class, the armed forces, civil servants, and the entire state apparatus was exposed. Unfortunately, it is also the time of compromise with these same forces, the return of the old world with France’s colonial massacres in Algeria, and the failure to purge itself in the name of national security—a compromise for which we continue to pay the price.”
LCDP concludes their article with a call to the people, faced with a resurgence of the fascist ideology:
“[…] on this May 8, 2026, political actions are being carried out throughout Lyon to affirm that Lyon was, is, and always will be the capital of the Resistance and antifascism. We call upon all sincere democrats, concerned citizens, and political forces claiming to represent progress to reject defeatismand break free from electoral and state consensus in order to actively defend a new society in the spirit of the National Council of the Resistance.
Let us keep the spirit of the Resistance alive!
Honor to the people’s heroes!
Freedom for imprisoned antifascists!
Long live May 8th, Victory Day against Nazism!“
You can read full LCDP article here:
Initiating the day of action, roughly 100 activistsfrom throughout the country traveled to Lyon to carry out this years agitation campaign, including students, factory workers, unemployed and high school students. Criss-crossing across the Lyon metropolitan area, activists distributed 45,000 leaflets, erected 250 posters and dropped 60 banners as part of the ‘Lyon – Capital of the Resistance’ agitation campaign.
In Vénissieux, Saint-Priest, and Vaulx-en-Velin, leaflets were distributed in front of major shopping centers and nearby mailboxes. Student residences near Lyon 2 University in Bron were also targeted. Activists alsodistributed leaflets as passengers disembarked trains arriving at the Part-Dieu station. Across the avenue, an impressive display of leaflets were dropped from the top floor in the middle of the Part-Dieu shopping center, right under the noses of security, drawingthe attention of passersby below. A similar action took place in the Confluence shopping center, where security tried by force to stop the activists, without success.
Several Resistance monuments were also visited and honored by the various action groups in the Croix-Rousse district, young people paid tribute to the Canuts, emblematic figures in the history of the Lyon class struggle. Banners of tribute and red roses were laid at the foot of the statue of Jean Moulin in Caluire-et-Cuire, in front of Fort Montluc, a stronghold of torture orchestrated by the Gestapo and collaborators under Klaus Barbie, and also in the Place des Martyrs de la Résistance (Martyrs of the Resistance Square). In front of the statue of the French Resistance in Bellecour, the activists also laid down a flag adorned with the hammer and sickle.
The large working-class neighborhoods of Mermoz, Paul Santy, and États-Unis saw posters of prominent communist figures of the Resistance, like Colonel Fabien, Guy Môquet, and Danielle Casanova, as well as posters, banners, and messages of support for the agrarian revolution in Brazil, plastered all over their walls. Outside Lyon itself, working-class neighborhoods in Vénissieux, particularly several sections of the Minguettes and Parilly districts, as well as in Saint-Priest, Bron, and Villeurbanne, were also visited.
The day was not solely a day of commemoration of the victory of the anti-fascist national resistance. Banners denouncing the massacres of Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata in Algeria on May 8, 1945—massacres perpetrated by colonial France—were also displayed. Several banners commemorating the founding of the International Anti-Imperialist League were also erected in several places.
After the agitation actions had been carried out, the activists convened for a May 8thdemonstration in the eighth district of the États-Unis,organized jointly by the Communist Youth and the Popular Committee for Mutual Aid and Solidarity of the États-Unisdistrict (CPES).
You can read the full agitation report published by La Cause du Peuple here:
In Lyon, a demonstration of approximately 175 peoplewas carried outin the États-Unis district, organized by the Communist Youthand the local Popular Committee for Mutual Aid and Solidarity, concluding thenational day of mobilization: “Lyon, Capital of the Resistance,”.
In the demonstration, speakers from the Communist Youth celebrated May 8th called for the people of France: “[…] our task is to organize ourselves wherever we are, in neighborhoods, factories, and universities. Young people must be at the forefront of all struggles, in a combative manner, and reject the future that the bourgeoisie has in store for them.”
Speakers from the Popular Women’s Committee and the International Anti-Imperialist League (AIL) also spoke, with AIL emphasizing the international significance of crushing fascism, with attention paid to the 27 million Soviets who sacrificed themselves in this war and recalling the central importance of developing a combative international anti-imperialist organization.
After the speeches, the demonstration headed towards Place René et Madeleine Caille, where a plaque commemorating the French Resistance stands, which the local council refuses to restore. At the site, the revolutionaries observed a minute of silence and read the last letter of Gabriel Péri, a leader of the Communist Party who was executed at Mont Valérien in 1941 by the fascists. Finally, a wreath was laid on the plaque, as the assembled procession sang “Le Chant des Partisans“.
At the end of a long day of agitation and actions, the activists headed to the heart of the Viviani district for a barbecue with a spirit of camaraderie.
Read the full report from the demonstration here:
LCDP also published an article explaining the historical context of the Day of Victory, emphasizing the need to reconstitute the Communist Party as the only way to combat the rise of fascism. You can read the full article here:
The Communist Youth of France have reported extensively on the actions, with pictures and videos, on their Instagram account, which we embed below:
