The signing of the German-Soviet Pact, which was endorsed by the PCF, led the French government to prosecute the communists for treason against the country.
The crackdown on communists began on August 27, 1939, when communist newspapers, notably *L’Humanité*, ran headlines calling for the French nation to unite against Hitler’s aggression. The communist press was shut down because of its endorsement of the German-Soviet military and diplomatic non-aggression pact.
Repressive measures reached a new level in late September when, on the 26th of the month, the PCF was dissolved. Elected officials were ordered to issue a statement renouncing their support for the Communist International, under threat of prosecution and arrest.
From that moment on, a large portion of the parliamentary group was arrested and subsequently charged. When the Ministry of the Interior took stock of the crackdown in March 1940, it reported that 2,718 elected officials had been stripped of their seats, 3,400 people had been arrested, and 1,500 convictions had already been handed down—not to mention the hundreds of civil servants who had been purged.
Hundreds of unions were dissolved. In April 1940, 44 members of parliament were brought to trial for reconstituting a dissolved league. They were sentenced to five years in prison. Maurice Thorez and André Marty, leaders of the PCF, were also stripped of their French citizenship. On April 10, 1940, the government imposed the death penalty on communists whose activities were deemed tantamount to treason against the country.
Reference:
Martelli, Roger; Vigreux, Jean; Wolikow, Serge, 2020, *The Red Party: A History of the PCF, 1920–2020*, Fayard
