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French President Emmanuel Macron solemnly declared in March that France was at war as it prepared to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. RFI looks back on 2020, a year of political and social upheavals as France faced a health crisis and a new peak of Islamist attacks.
Click below to see RFI’s 2020 slideshow in France
Less than a week after the declaration of a Covid-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization, Macron said in a televised speech that France was “at war” against the new coronavirus, putting the country under lock and key from leaving March 17.
Extended twice, the lockdown was lifted on May 11. At this point, France’s official coronavirus toll was over 26,000.
A second wave of infection in the fall saw the restrictions reimposed. Another national lockdown went into effect on October 30 and was replaced with a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on December 15.
At the end of 2020, France had more than 60,000 deaths of patients affected by the coronavirus.
The French lifestyle struck at the heart
Sanitary restrictions have brought far-reaching changes to French social life, with shops, bars, restaurants, theaters, museums, schools, universities and places of worship shutting down for long periods.
Massive unemployment, especially in the tourism and hospitality sectors, as well as a drastic increase in poverty have been direct economic consequences.
The French have adapted to new social phenomena such as working from home and online socialization. New labor laws have made working from home online mandatory in many cases.
Widespread testing and the first phase of the national immunization program in December bode well for better management of the pandemic, even though many vaccine skeptics remained wary.
Sextapes, green waves and government reshuffle
The municipal elections in France this year have been full of controversy.
In February, Benjamin Griveaux, mayoral candidate for President Macron’s LREM party, dropped out of the race following a smear campaign in which sexually explicit videos of him were leaked online.
Agnès Buzyn replaced Griveaux, but not without criticism, because she left her post as Minister of Health in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Buzyn has been replaced by Olivier Véran.
The municipal elections, the logistics and timing of which were criticized by many, saw record abstention.
In Paris, Anne Hidalgo was re-elected mayor of Paris against her two main rivals.
The overall results saw a strong rise in the strength of the Green Party in urban areas and of the right-wing Republicans in rural communities.
A government reshuffle ensued, with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe replaced by Jean Castex, commonly known as “Mr. Containment ”of France for its frontline role in coordinating the first lockdown of the coronavirus.
Eric Dupont-Moretti was appointed Minister of Justice, a decision criticized by many French magistrates.
Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin took over the French Interior Ministry, an appointment marred by outrage on the part of women’s groups over accusations of rape brought against the minister.
Later that year, Darmanin was accused of not having done enough to reprimand police brutality in France, particularly after incidents during the violent clearing of a migrant camp, and also an isolated incident where a producer of black music was beaten by a police patrol.
Charlie Hebdo and the tragic victims of satire
France has also been confronted with several terrorist attacks and Islamist threats as several young men, often radicalized on social networks, carried out various attacks against civilians and police across the country.
The threat increased with the start of the trial for the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015, in which the satirical newspaper republished cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
A few days after a knife attack in the old offices of Charlie Hebdo, the teacher Samuel Paty was ambushed and beheaded by a young Chechen refugee.
A few days later, a Tunisian attacked a church in Nice, killing three worshipers.
In the face of nationwide anger and outrage, Macron has taken a firm anti-terrorist stance.
The government has shut down mosques and other Islamic organizations suspected of promoting radical views.
This has led to anti-French protests and the boycott of French products in several predominantly Muslim countries around the world.
2021: the year when life returns to “normal”?
France began its Covid-19 vaccination campaign in December, following the EU’s provisional approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
After seniors, health professionals and people at high risk, the vaccine should be available for the general French population in spring 2021.
But with new strains of the virus detected in the UK, it could take some time before things get back to normal.
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