On October 31, 2026, police officers used megaphones to urge crowds not to gather on the Place de la Bastille in Paris, as reported by Le Monde.
For generations, the traditional triangle formed by République, Bastille, and Nation served as a familiar setting for social movements, but recent decisions by public authorities have thrown this historic geography into question.
Following degradations committed during the mobilization on October 17, Paris police prefect Patrice Faure announced that cortèges through République, Bastille, and Nation were finished “for a time” because the conditions were not met.
For the demonstrations on October 24 and October 31, the Préfecture de police pushed protesters toward the boulevards des Maréchaux at the eastern limits of the capital. Historian Danielle Tartakowsky noted that such a measure is unprecedented since the tolerance of worker demonstrations in Paris began in the mid-1930s.
Pour le 31 octobre, la CGT a déclaré un parcours entre la place de la Bastille et la place de la Nation, que la préfecture a refusé. The administrative tribunal subsequently authorized the route and suspended the police prefect’s decree, prompting an appeal and a decision by the Conseil d’État to annul the tribunal’s authorization.
Meanwhile, the prefecture proposed an alternative route between porte de Bagnolet and porte de Charenton via the boulevards des Maréchaux as reported by Le Parisien. Separately, the Gilets jaunes coordination had a proposed route from Place de la République to Place de la Concorde rejected.
L’importance des parcours de l’est parisien tient à la configuration de lieux comme la place de la Nation, qui permettait aux orateurs d’être entendus par la foule par rapport à la place de la Bastille, qui était plus exiguë, et où Léon Blum a pu lancer son programme du Front populaire.
While routes through the triangle became staples of social struggles, historians point out that alternatives have existed, such as the student protests of 1968 or the Place d’Italie-Invalides itinerary utilized during the 2023 pension reform mobilization.
