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 government provides funds for public services and infrastructure, a wide economic gap between the island and the mainland still remains. This, coupled with the settling of non-Corsicans on the island, has continued to fuel Corsican nationalism.

During the 1980s, the FLNC split into two groups: the Canal Historique (“Historical Faction”) and the Canal Habituel (“Usual Faction”). A series of new, smaller divisions formed and a number of other terrorist organizations followed, most of which lasted only a few years. The FLNC-canal historique and the FLNC-canal habituel thus remained the most important terrorist organizations; the latter, however, ended activities in 1997.

In the 1990s, the FLNC became more violent. Dozens of people were killed, including mayors, police officers, and other state workers. The violence culminated in the 1998 assassination of Prefect Claude Erignac, the highest representative of the French Republic on the island. The assassination was highly publicized and criticized so strongly that the FLNC publicly denied—and abjured—the attack.

In 1999, the FLNC-canal historique merged with some of the other underground organizations, taking the name “FLNC” again. With an estimated 600 members (organized horizontally into independent cells), the FLNC remains most active in Corsica, only occasionally bombing a building in mainland France. Although carrying out 200 to 800 bombings a year, FLNC has caused few deaths. The FLNC funds itself through armed robberies of banks and extortion of what it refers to as “revolutionary taxes.”

Most Corsicans wish to protect Corsican identity and stimulate peaceful economic growth; only a small minority supports the radical autonomists but the “see nothing, say nothing” attitude is generally accepted.

Despite the frequent bombings, the FLNC is considered relatively unthreatening; thus the French government has little incentive to come to the bargaining table. The French government has, however, recently granted more autonomy to Corsica; in addition, it has provided new aid for infrastructure development and for the teaching of the Corsican language in primary [Page 257]schools. Both the French and the Corsicans now hope that these concessions might support the ending of the more than 20 years of violence.