Fight for the Larzac

The Fight for the Larzac refers to a non-violent civil disobedience action by farmers resisting the extension of an existing military base on the Larzac plateau in South Western France. The action lasted from 1971 to 1981, and ended in victory for the resistance movement when the newly elected President François Mitterrand formally abandoned the project.

The base, used for training French soldiers, was originally established in 1902 on 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres; 12 sq mi) of uncultivated heathland. Michel Debré, Minister of Defence in the Georges Pompidou administration, announced that the base would be extended to 13,700 hectares (34,000 acres; 53 sq mi) and that the necessary land would be expropriated in the public interest.

An initial informal resistance movement was formed by 103 landowners whose land was subject to expropriation. In 1973 their cause was taken up by a much larger group of heterogeneous activists, predominantly left wing, and numbering up to 100,000. This activist group descended on the Larzac in support of the peasant landowners and extended the protest to a more general action against what they saw as the militarism of the Pompidou government.

This action, once it had achieved its focal aims on the Larzac, was the core of what then became the Anti-Globalism movement, and also served to bring to public attention leaders such as Lanza del Vasto, José Bové, and the late Guy Tarlier.

On 11 October 1970, during a session of the Union des démocrates pour la république (UDR) (Union of democrats for the Republic), André Fanton, secretary of state for defence, gave the first hint that the base would need to be extended. Le Monde of 6 March 1971 quoted Deputy Delmas, then campaigning for election to UDR, as saying "The extension of the military base is doubtless the last chance for survival of the town of Millau." Millau (IPA: [mijo],) at the Northern edge of the Larzac plateau, is today world-famous for its spectacular viaduct over the river Tarn. In 1971 it was chiefly known to French families for its sheepskin glove industry in decline and its infuriating traffic jams. Popular resistance to the proposal for the military base was immediately evident . On 28 October 1971, Defence Minister Michel Debré made the formal announcement in a televised interview. The base was to be extended from 3,000 to 17,000 hectares (30 to 170 square kilometers). Land would be expropriated from 107 farms in 12 communes centred on the small town of La Cavalerie. The extended base would form one sixth of the total area (100,000 hectares) of the Larzac itself. In subsequent commentary, Debré pointed out that the project would be "not only vital to the national defence", but would have "a positive impact" on the region. He cited improvement of the rural electrical distribution system, water supply, and roadways . He stated that the extension was necessitated by saturation of French military bases in general, and the need to maintain a military force in proximity to the Plateau d'Albion, launch site of ground-ground ballistic nuclear missiles which formed an important element of the French nuclear deterrent .

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