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The party publishes a daily newspaper called L'Humanité, which was started in 1904 as the paper of the Socialist Party. In fact the PCF, originally known as the French Section of the Communist International (SFIC) as the Socialist Party was known as the French Section of the Workers International (SFIO), began with a split in the Socialist Party. The split in question having been in the process of development from 1914 when a majority of the SFIO took a " social-chauvinist" line and supported the First World War. By 1920 and the Congress of Tours the anti-war minority had developed to such an extent that they could, having won to their point of view many leaders who had supported the war, a majority of the party which then changed its name and became an affiliate or section of the Communist International.

Beginning in the 1930s, the French Communist Party became a mass party, their success fueled by the popularity of the Comintern's new Popular Front strategy, which advocated alliances with other socialist and progressive bourgeois parties to fight against fascism. Although, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the Communists pursued an anti-war course during the early part of the Second World War, following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the party took an active part in the Resistance, once again gaining credibility with many Frenchmen as an anti- fascist force. Many well-known figures joined the party at this time, including Pablo PicassoPablo Picasso formally Pablo Ruiz Picasso ( October 25, 1881 April 8, 1973) was one of the recognized masters of 20th century art. Overview His name in full was Pablo (or Pablito) Diego Jose Santiago Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispin Crispiniano, who joined the PCF in 1944Events World War II January January 4 The Battle of Monte Cassino begins. January 5 Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munck January 17 British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River. January 20 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin;, and remained an active member until his death, and the future CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia (Kampuchea, Khmer ) is a country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered in the south by the Gulf of Thailand, in the west by Thailand, Laos in the north, and Vietnam in the east. The majority of Cambodians are the Khmer people. Cambodian dictator Pol PotSaloth Sar ( May 19, 1925 April 15, 1998), better known as Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Cambodia (officially Democratic Kampuchea during his rule) from 1976 to 1979. His government is widely blamed for the deaths of. With the liberation of France in 1944Events World War II January January 4 The Battle of Monte Cassino begins. January 5 Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munck January 17 British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River. January 20 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin;, the Communists, along with other resistance groups, entered the government of Charles de GaulleCharles Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle ( November 22, 1890 November 9, 1970), in France commonly referred to as general de Gaulle , was a French general and politician. Prior to the Second World War, he was mostly known as a tactician of tank battles and an, but were forced to quit the government of Paul RamadierPaul Ramadier ( March 17, 1888 October 14, 1961) was a prominent French Socialist politician of the Third and Fourth Republics. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic in 1947. It was during his first ministry that the Communists were in 1947. During the Fourth Republic, the Communist Party consistently received more votes than any other party, although they were not allowed to enter the government.

Following the events of May 1968, in which the PCF was broadly hostile to the events, and the suppression of the Prague Spring in by Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops later that year, the French Communist Party began to distance itself from Moscow, ultimately becoming a strong critic of Soviet-style communism, which many decried as merely "state monopoly capitalism" (see Eurocommunism). This culminated with the Communists' entry into the government as a coalition partner to François Mitterrand's Socialists in 1981. The entry into the government accelerated the party's decline, as did the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.