Yellow vests in France: what happened to the protest movement?

The yellow vests shocked France. They devastated the Champs Elysees. Images of the destruction on the triumphal arch, broken cobblestones, shattered window glass, looted benches and burning cars went around the world. The protesters wanted to enter the Elysee Palace, the seat of President Emmanuel Macron.

It all felt like an eternity: From November 17, 2018 to June 2019, the yellow vests rioted across the country. They named themselves after the yellow safety vests they wore.

They always went into action on Saturdays, and mostly there were riots. Thousands of yellow vest sympathizers were arrested. The protest, one of the largest in France in recent decades, was organized mainly through social media.

The protests were sparked by a fuel tax that President Macron wanted to introduce. Above all, it affected the socially disadvantaged who live far from the big cities and depend on their cars. But as the months went by, there were more and more demands, from lowering all taxes to increasing pensions.

The government accommodated the yellow vests in some demands. The movement was very heterogeneous, from extremist currents from left to right. Therefore, there was no center speaker.

In the first demonstration on November 17, some 300,000 people took to the streets and, as the weeks passed, the number decreased. The protests almost came to an end in June 2019.

The main figures of the movement included, among others Jacline mouraud, Priscillia ludosky and Eric Drouet. Ludosky posted an online petition against raising fuel taxes in May 2018. That started the movement. Together with Drouet, he called the first demonstration.

At the end of the movement, the yellow vests looked for new ways to be heard and then heard. In the elections to the European Parliament on May 26, 2019, three electoral lists related to the movement were presented: “Évolution citoyenne”, “Alliance jaune” and “Mouvement pour l´initiative citoyenne”.

Its success was manageable. Together they only got 0.5 percent of the vote and no mandate. According to polls, 44 percent of yellow vest supporters voted for right-wing extremist Rassemblement National de Marine Le Pen. There were occasional protests and riots in the country in the summer and fall of 2019, including the anniversary in November.

The movement also came to a halt because France was paralyzed by a wave of strikes against the planned pension reform since late 2019. The strikes and protests affected a much larger population, causing the yellow vests to take a back seat.

At the time, the government feared that they could radicalize the strikes and win them over, but that never happened. Although they were seen at the demonstrations, they were not the center of attention. The unions that organized the strikes did not want to fraternize with the yellow vests.

The crisis of the crown made the yellow vests take a back seat, especially since large gatherings of people were prohibited. During the curfew, the yellow vests became somewhat noticeable. Every Saturday at 9 p.m. they rattled pots and pans in their windows.

However, yellow vests recently reappeared on the street during protests against the crown-related mask requirement. Some yellow vests had joined the anti-mask movement in Paris, which, however, was still very small compared to Germany, with about 300 people on the street.

The yellow vests are now more active where they started: on the internet. Solo: Because the yellow vests are divided, different sides have been configured. A prominent supporter of the yellow vests has called a new demonstration in Paris on September 12.