French branch of the international communist movement.
It was founded in 1920 by the left wing of the French Socialist Party but did not gain significant influence until it affliliated with Leon Blum 's Popular Front coalition government in 1936. From 1945 to 1968 it won almost 25% of the vote in each election and had a large representation in the National Assembly. It lost ground when Charles de Gaulle was elected in 1958, but in 1965 it formed an alliance with other left-wing parties. In the early 1980s it allied with the Socialist Party. It has since lost many of its traditional working-class supporters.