The government is making schools, this is not new (1), the central relay of militarist propaganda - "the rearmament of minds begins at school" (Minister of Foreign Affairs, JN Barrot, March 2025). --- The re-militarization of minds is in full swing, and that's to be expected... --- Government measures to bring the army into schools are linked to a discourse on the intensification of conflicts on the international stage and the emergence of powers hostile to the European space and its "democratic" values, with a strong emphasis on the Russian threat. But they also correspond to a sharp rightward shift in society, which sees a collapse of authority that must be restored, among other things, through schools.
From the "we are at war" (against Covid) of March 2020 to "accept losing our children," a large-scale propaganda campaign is underway, with young people on the front lines, and in particular those from the working classes, who are being asked to be good little citizen-soldiers ready to enlist to "defend the nation"... that is to say, the State and the interests of capitalists.Educational guidelines, according to the needs of the time, respond to balances deemed essential to the interests of capital and the maintenance of social order (Box 1). With "defense needs" currently being strongly emphasized, schools are reconnecting with the militaristic spirit of J. Ferry, who, in 1882, ordered teachers to instill in students a love for "France and the motherland"...
The Collective Against the Militarization of Youth and Schools has identified no fewer than 150 programs or structures used by the armed forces to reach out to young people and recruit them in the short or long term.
Links between the Armed Forces and National Education since the end of compulsory military service in 1997.
2000s: development of academic partnerships (teachers, military personnel, IHEDN - Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defence) and defence classes, relaunched after their creation in 1982. Introduction of the mandatory Defense Preparation Day (JAPD).
2005: creation of Defence and Global Security Classes (CDSG) in the Nice academy.
2007: integration of defence education into school curricula, with the mandatory Defence and Citizenship Day (JDC, more militarized than the former JAPD).
2011: widespread implementation of Defence and Global Security Classes (CDSG), governed by an interministerial agreement.
2015: Signing of a framework agreement between the Ministry of National Education and the Armed Forces, strengthening partnerships and opening military high schools and preparatory classes for the prestigious military academies.
2016: Official integration of the CDSG (Defense Cadets) into the protocol between the Ministries of the Armed Forces and National Education.
2018: Launch of the Universal National Service (SNU), organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, attached to the Ministry of National Education.
2020s: Expansion of programs (defense cadets, youth air squadrons, etc.) and increase in the number of CDSG classes.
2025: End of the SNU and announcement by Macron of a voluntary military service (November 27, 2025).
Defense and Global Security classes, one of the flagship projects of the Armed Forces-National Education system
While there were 160 of these classes in 2016, with 3,700 students, there were approximately 1,200 during the 2025-26 school year, involving some 32,000 students. They have grown significantly in 10 years, but they are far from reaching the 5.6 million young people in secondary education.
What are these CDSGs (Defense Classes for General Security), and how do they work?
The academic partnership between the Ministry of National Education, the Armed Forces, and the Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defence (IHEDN) allows middle and high school classes to be sponsored by an entity within the Ministry of the Armed Forces (Defense Classes, with military personnel), or another ministry (Global Security, with police, firefighters, riot police, etc.).
The objective is threefold: "To contribute to national cohesion, to promote the spirit of defense, and to guarantee the attractiveness of careers in the armed forces." "This is ideological preparation, designed to legitimize war, prepare young people for a warlike order, and aim to enlist them in the army as soon as they finish middle or high school.
Last March, Education Minister E. Geffray announced that the duration of these classes would be extended from one to three years, that they would be renamed 'defense and national cohesion classes' in high school, and that participation would be noted on the baccalaureate exam and valued on the Parcoursup university application platform.
Throughout the year, students in these classes meet with military personnel or members of the 'law enforcement' forces, visit facilities, and internalize military 'values.' Ultimately, don't these values obedience, discipline, respect for hierarchy, competition, conformity share common ground with those taught in schools?"
The activities offered by the CDSG illustrate the bellicose orientation: "defense and citizenship rallies," laser pistol shooting sessions, visits to military sites, participation in commemorative ceremonies, searches of reconstructed prison cells and simulations of clashes with inmates, mock suppression of demonstrations with all the gear of the mobile gendarmerie, "zero tolerance" workshops... All the elements thought to appeal to young people are deployed: high-powered cars, uniforms, violent "role-playing" games, weapons, even the distribution of promotional keychains "the army is recruiting"...
When officers speak at conferences, they often use propaganda booklets financed by arms dealers as teaching materials (box 2).
The CDSG (Centres de Développement de la Sécurité et de la Sécurité) are deployed in rural areas, working-class neighborhoods, and priority education network (REP and REP+) schools (2), rather than in city-center schools or more affluent neighborhoods. Young people from working-class backgrounds are undoubtedly considered the primary target group to be supervised and disciplined. The aim is to try to recruit first and foremost the segment of the population that schools tend to discard under the guise of "academic difficulties." The military, for example, seeks to recruit students from vocational programs in particular. For instance, the French Navy offers "naval-focused" baccalaureate programs in over 100 high schools, while the army has created "specialized military training periods" within its units, aligned with the mandatory work placements for students. When it comes to recruiting the future workforce and cannon fodder, these young people are on the front lines. Whether through the "discovery" of careers in the police and the army, or the promise of a salary of 800 euros, with room and board provided, a 75% discount on SNCF (French National Railway) tickets, and "integration into the professional world," the government is dangling the prospect of a way out of precariousness before the new "volunteers" of military service (3), even at the cost of their lives.
Meanwhile, arms dealers are seeking to recruit the engineers they need from higher education. The benefits they are prepared to offer are far superior (see box 3); it's a matter of social class hierarchy...
As for how these defense classes operate, it is far from clear: is it voluntary or mandatory? Normally, it is up to each participating institution to decide. However, for the past year or two, Defense and Security Education Centers (CDSG) have been opened and imposed without consulting school boards and despite opposition from teachers, parents, and students. Or, they operate with a complete lack of transparency: agreements are rarely open for discussion, the content of the activities is not always presented, thus depriving parents, teachers, and students of any oversight. Participation is not always voluntary for students and their parents; and while it is supposed to be voluntary for teachers, many report pressure from their superiors to create these types of classes. In practice, therefore, there are significant disparities: in some cases, families are asked to volunteer, while in others, all students in a class are involved without prior notification to parents. And if a parent refuses to have their child "indoctrinated" into defense, they are simply told they can always change schools...
The lack of resources plays a role in the creation of these defense classes. While educational and cultural budgets are stagnating or decreasing and military budgets are increasing (4), the CDSG (Defense and Security Education Centers) are funded and supported by the Directorate of National Service and Youth (DSNJ) and the Directorate of Heritage, Remembrance and Archives of the Ministry of the Armed Forces (DPMA). Teachers say they are practically forced to sign a partnership agreement with the Ministry of the Armed Forces to carry out projects with their students, such as school trips. Thus, rather than fighting for adequate funding, the military is allowed to sponsor outings, disseminate its pro-war propaganda in schools, and create divisions among staff.
A militaristic propaganda booklet: "My First Military Ceremony."
Released in 2020 and distributed free of charge starting in primary school, this booklet is aimed at children aged 4 to 15. It was written by the wife of the former Chief of the Defence Staff, François Lecointre. It received funding from the Common Good Fund, created by the far-right billionaire Édouard Stérin, and was also sponsored by major French arms manufacturers: Dassault, Safran, Airbus, MBDA Missiles, Arquus, Naval Group, TechnicAtome, and others. This booklet covers the military ceremonies of July 14th and November 11th. It glorifies the "martial spirit" and death "for the fatherland"; it promotes the various military professions as well as the "modern and effective" military equipment of the French armed forces. This militaristic booklet proudly highlights those who benefit from wars: capitalists, arms manufacturers, right-wing and far-right ideologues, and those who govern in their interests...
One more measure: a mandatory November 11th ceremony in schools
Patriotic and military ceremonies, previously confined to outside the school and involving only a few students on a voluntary basis, are now widespread and mandatory.
An official circular, announced by Macron on July 2nd, just before the summer holidays, mandates that, starting in the 2026 school year, every elementary school (from CM1 onwards), middle school, and high school will hold an "annual commemorative ceremony honoring all those 'who died for France'"; it will be held "at the school's discretion, within the four days preceding or following November 11th." This is intended to glorify a "sacrifice for the homeland"... which, as in all wars, was a vast slaughter designed to defend the interests of capitalism and imperialism.
In a context of militarization, the ceremony honoring those "who died for France" is part of the ongoing process of bringing young people into line. This recent additional initiative complements the state's forced march toward "acculturing young people to war" (Box 4).
The circular concerning November 11th specifies that "national cohesion" is all the more necessary "in an international environment marked by renewed forms of conflict." It is not so much a tribute to the dead that is being paid, but rather the preparation for the next war, without questioning the interests at stake or the responsibility of those in power. Furthermore, this ceremony provides yet another opportunity to bring the armed forces into schools: school principals and heads of institutions can "mobilize teachers," but also call upon reservists, veterans' associations, local elected officials, and so on.
The military and higher education: advantages for future engineers.
In France alone, 1.3 million jobs will need to be filled in the defense industry over the next ten years, across all sectors: aeronautics, cybersecurity, space technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, etc. As defense bosses seek to attract young graduates, they offer them numerous advantages: high salaries (an embedded electronics engineer with less than two years of experience can demand up to EUR45,000 gross per year, an AI engineer EUR50,000, a cybersecurity architect EUR80,000 - Le Monde), eleven weeks of vacation, housing and tuition assistance, etc. Quality of life, work environment, and non-work environment are all integrated into the employment proposals made to prospective employees.
What resistances?
Programs promoting exchanges between the armed forces and students, seen as a means of indoctrination and militarization of youth, are criticized by teachers' unions (with the exception of UNSA and SNALC) and by the FCPE (Parents' Federation), which are calling for their abolition.
However, these criticisms are primarily expressed through press releases, petitions, and other means, without any significant response. It is true that organizing collective action against these school-military programs is difficult, as they are being implemented piecemeal across different regions and timeframes and do not involve all schools. For the time being, however, if the Blanchet Law (sponsored by the Democrats), passed quietly by the National Assembly on March 26, receives Senate approval, mandatory "structured courses in comprehensive defense" will be established from 6th grade through 12th grade (5), relying on reservists. "It is about preparing the rear lines that help the military to wage war - it is the duty of every citizen." (Blanchet)
There have been some sporadic mobilizations.
The khaki-colored guide, "Acculturating Youth to a Spirit of Defense,"
published by the Ministry of National Education in November 2025, contains a host of supposedly educational proposals that are, in reality, patriotic indoctrination. The state presents schools as spaces for conditioning and indoctrinating students. The Ministry of National Education thus clearly demonstrates that it is a core government ministry closely subservient to the political powers that dictate its approach in all areas to mold young people.
Parents are worried and denounce the conditioning of students in a political and geopolitical climate dominated by bellicose rhetoric. In late 2025 and early 2026, some parents mobilized in middle schools to refuse to allow their children to participate in the CDSG (Centre for the Defense of the Military). A rally was held on October 23, 2025, in Paris, called by several organizations (the movement of single mothers, SNAP CGT, CGT unemployed rebels) to denounce the army forum organized by France Travail. In some high schools, the army is no longer invited to the career fair due to staff opposition. Students often judge the activities organized by the military negatively: "They did this without asking us"; "The army in the schoolyard is scary"; "They make war seem cool. But war isn't a game, people die or end up traumatized." It sometimes happens that teachers who, in isolated instances, protest the presence of military personnel in schools face pressure, and even repression, from their superiors.
In a few high schools in Rennes, Le Mans, Marseille, and Grenoble, blockades have prevented army recruitment drives; students in Nantes demonstrated in front of the law school to prevent a lecture by a general...
But aside from a few examples of protest, there is a noticeable lack of resolute opposition from the educational community.
What is needed is collective resistance, like in Germany where thousands of young people took to the streets to oppose the return of compulsory military service, or in Italy where mass, class-based actions against war and militarism took place. It is essential that workers and young people, whom their leaders ultimately intend to use as cannon fodder, oppose rearmament and the race towards militarization, and refuse to serve the interests of employers and states.
Teachers have deemed it worthwhile to reactivate the "No to the SNU" collective, which, before the suspension of this universal national service in 2025, brought together staff, parents, and associations for joint actions. It has recently been transformed into the National Collective Against the Militarization of Youth and Society.
A collective movement could be launched around November 11th against the obligation to hold a ceremony of warlike and patriotic indoctrination, to express a widespread refusal to collaborate with the government's warmongering policies. There are only a few weeks left to make it known that schools do not want to participate in this patriotic charade...
Another opportunity for collective action would be to challenge the Blanchet bill (5), which seeks to establish compulsory indoctrination in militarism.
But above all, the fight against the militarization of schools could be part of a broader dynamic of renewed struggles against the armed forces.
Kris, September 18
A useful email address: antimilitarisme-education@framagroupes.org
Notes:
1- In 1982, under Mitterrand, following the establishment of a school-military partnership by Ministers Charles Hernu (Defense) and Alain Savary (National Education), other agreements were concluded by successive governments; while initially restricting defense education to civic and moral education (EMC) classes, they gradually extended it to the entire school curriculum.
2- Priority education networks and reinforced priority education networks
3- On November 27th, Macron presented the new voluntary "national service". The announced recruitment of 3,000 young volunteers (aged 18 to 25) starting in the summer of 2026 has been implemented, for a total of 10 paid months, with a target of 10,000 recruitments per year by 2030 and 50,000 per year by 2035. The hope is that a good percentage of these young people will ultimately make a long-term commitment.
4 - Total planned spending on armaments for the French state is EUR436 billion between 2024 and 2030. The military budget now exceeds that of the Ministry of National Education.
5 - Although the topics of "defense" and security have been integrated into Moral and Civic Education for 25 years, Blanchet wants even more, claiming that these hours are not actually taught, or are taught in a "too scattered" manner. "Do we love France enough to want to encourage our children to love it in turn with passion and fervor?" (Blanchet, February 25, 2026)
https://www.oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4778
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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