5,000,000 Frenchmen

Five million Frenchmen vote Communist, more than vote for any other single party. Paris' monthly Realities asked the French Institute of Public Opinion to find out why.

After testing the political opinions of a representative sample of Communists, Realities concluded that most Communist voters are a fearfully loyal lot who don't really understand what they are being loyal to.

The average French Communist, Realities found, votes Communist in deference first to his stomach, which he believes the Communists can fill, and secondly to his skin, which he believes the Reds can save through their "policy of peace." He has taken aboard quite a bit of propaganda: 60% believe the U.S. is preparing a war of aggression, and 82% think that U.S. troops in France should be expelled. But three out of four are convinced that there is no close tie between French Communist Party policy and that of the Kremlin.

French Communists, said Realities, are Frenchmen first, and Communists afterwards. Most are industrial workers (38%) and housewives (22%) who support the Communist Party in the hope of "better working conditions." Only one in ten is interested in the "class struggle"; even fewer in foreign policy. But a huge majority (65%) want cheaper bread.

The majority also believes that Communism means peace. French Reds cling to this idea so firmly that four out of five (78%) expect to remain neutral in case of a war between the U.S. and Russia. Most Communist voters admired Soviet Russia (69% actually believed that the standard of living of Russian workers is equal to or higher than their own), but at a distance. Asked how the party could improve its propaganda, many observed: "Less talk about the U.S.S.R."

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