National Liberation Front of Corsica

aka Front de Libération Nationale de la Corse, Frontu di Liberazione Naziunalista Corsu

The National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) is the largest and most violent of the Corsican nationalist movements. Formed in 1976 from two smaller groups seeking self-government for Corsica through force, the FLNC has engaged in more than 20 years of violence. The FLNC has been responsible for thousands of bomb attacks on property of non-Corsican settlers, police stations, government offices (in both Corsica and France), and other symbolic targets of the “colonial state” in Corsica. Successive French governments have denied Corsica any distinctive regional autonomy, never recognized inhabitants of Corsica as a distinct nationality, and have never given official status to the Corsican language. As a result, the FLNC claims to be fighting French “internal colonialism.”

Corsica has always expressed discontent with French rule, even before its annexation in 1769. Although the Paris-based ...