France Protests: 320,000 March as Germany Gen Z Rallies Turn Violent in Frankfurt

Europe's autumn of protest reached a new peak on Saturday, 31 October, when about 320,000 people marched in France and youth-led rallies spread across 34 German cities — largely peaceful in the daytime, violent after dark in Frankfurt and in several French cities.

According to reports from the Times of India and 3News, the French Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 320,000, including 70,000 in Paris. That is down from 550,000 on 17 October and 410,000 on 24 October, according to official figures — but organisers claimed nearly 500,000, and the movement showed no sign of ending.

France: a third weekend, and a violent edge

The French protests began last month with high-school students demonstrating against teacher shortages, deteriorating school buildings and problems with the university admissions system. Labour unions and other groups then joined, widening the demands to the cost of living, wages and the state of public services.

On 31 October, about 150 demonstrations were held across the country, including in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse. The Interior Ministry said 565 people were arrested across France. In Paris, a police officer was struck by a Molotov cocktail during clashes, an incident the Times of India report describes as attempted murder in its headline. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez condemned what he called an "extraordinary" level of violence by some groups as rallies ended, even as most marches passed off peacefully within declared routes.

Student groups have threatened further high-school and university blockades on 3 and 5 November, before joining a demonstration called by workers and trade unions on 5 November. The calendar, in other words, is already set for the next confrontation.

Germany: Gen Z takes charge — then Frankfurt burns

In Germany, the campaign group Gen Z regelt — "Gen Z takes charge" — held its first nationwide day of action in 34 cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Hamburg. Demonstrators demanded bigger education budgets, action on the high cost of living, better healthcare and public services, and opposition to compulsory military service and the government's defence buildup. In Berlin, slogans included "social budgets instead of war."

Turnout figures are disputed. Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin counted up to 18,000 protesters across those three cities, roughly half the organisers' website estimate, while organisers said about 184,000 people nationwide had expressed interest online. What is not disputed is what happened after dark.

In Frankfurt, rioters smashed shop windows, looted stores including a gun shop, and damaged several establishments, according to Reuters witnesses cited in reports. In Cologne, police used water cannon after protesters allegedly targeted officers with fireworks. In Berlin, demonstrators threw bottles and eggs; in Hamburg, barricades were set on fire. Police in Frankfurt struggled to regain control as peaceful daytime rallies escalated after nightfall.

One grievance, two countries

The French and German protests are not the same movement, but they rhyme. Both are led in large part by young people. Both began with education — crumbling schools in France, underfunded schools in Germany — and broadened into a general complaint about who pays for the cost-of-living crisis and for rearmament. Both have now produced a split screen: huge, largely peaceful daytime marches, and a violent fringe that dominates the evening news.

That split is the political problem for both governments. A movement that can put 320,000 people on the streets for three weekends running cannot be dismissed as a fringe. A movement whose evenings end in looted shops and Molotov cocktails gives its opponents an easy counter-argument. The next test comes this week, with the planned blockades and the 5 November strike — and with whether the daytime crowds or the nighttime clashes define what Europe remembers from this weekend.

Related: London police arrested 139 at a protest outside the US embassy, in another weekend of mass demonstrations across Europe.