French Section of the Workers' International

The French Section of the Workers' International (Section francaise de l'Internationale ouvriere, SFIO) was a major social democratic political party in France, founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. It was founded as the French representative to the Second International by merging the Marxist Socialist Party of France led by Jules Guesde with the possibilist French Socialist Party led by Jean Jaures, who became its leading figure. In 1920 it split over the Russian Revolution, and the majority became the French Communist Party. In the 1930s it joined the Popular Front, which won the 1936 election and formed a government under SFIO leader Leon Blum that lasted until 1938. The SFIO was banned after the German conquest of France in 1940, took part in the tripartisme government from 1944 to 1947, and its leader Guy Mollet served as prime minister from 1956 to 1957. Between 1909 and 1920 it published the newspaper L'Humanite.