seen massive demonstrations by youth against the tightening up of the conscription laws. The
SSARMSSEMENT - EXTENSION
SURISE CONDORGA above: school students protest against new laws The French Trotskyists have fought to extend the struggle against the laws, The Ligue Communiste (French section of the Fourth International) has campaigned for the exemptions to be re-established and extended to apprentices and young workers in training: and this has been taken up by the 'Struggle Committees' in the lycees as well as in the apprentice schools. The Ligue has worked for and played a leading role in the organisation of these committees, which are elected in the lycees by students on strike, and of which there are 40 in Paris alone. Against the CP's attempts to split the movement and confine it within a reformnst perspective of "democratising the army', the Ligue sees that conscription is a class measure, which goes beyond the school and affects millions in the working class, The struggle against conscription has given an important demonstration that revolutionary forces can be organised independently of the control of the Stalinistsand shown the opportunist way in which the PCF adapted under the pressure of the mass movement. Such experiences are essential if the masses as a whole are to be educated in a spirit of distrust of the reformist leaders and increased confidence in their own initiatives.