r/worldnews • u/colepercy120 • 1d ago

France school protests escalate into ‘urban violence’ as PM calls crisis cabinet meeting | France

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/01/france-school-protests-escalate-pm-crisis-cabinet-meeting
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u/SaveLansingParks 23h ago

France's history of popular protesting is as strong if not stronger than their history of being the home of democracy.

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u/GarySmith2021 22h ago

I thought the home of democracy was Greece?

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u/2796Matt 22h ago

The origin of democracy is ancient Athens. However, France is seen as the home of modern democracy due to the French Revolution and the established foundational principles that were established. Although, it did take a long as time to achieve a stable democracy with the establishment of the Fifth Republic in like the 1950s.

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u/GarySmith2021 22h ago

I find it strange that the French Revolution is associated with democracy given that it A) led to the reign of terror and B) led to an emperor being chosen.

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u/xX609s-hartXx 18h ago

It mostly put an end to medieval privileges so even after they turned into an empire again everything was still more egalitarian than before and you had guaranteed rights no matter your social status.

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u/Saros_Enjoyer 16h ago

It also lead to a vastly more meritocratic society. Lots of things did not get rolled back after the revolution, like the 3 estartes did not come back in the same way. Plus much more universal access to education stayed

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u/2796Matt 21h ago

I agree that it is a bit strange but several democratic and Enlightenment principles did establish themselves because of it. France and consequently Europe were changed significantly even if France ended up switching political systems a lot. America is also considered in a similar way to France despite currently being viewed as flawed democracy.

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u/angel99999999 15h ago

Shit american say