ABSTRACT
Freedom of expression has, in France, been threatened from various sides since the war—not, as might be thought, only by civilian and military representatives of the state, but also by their critics and enemies, as much under the Fourth as under the Fifth Republic as much from the Left as from the Right. My folder bulges with clippings about such scandals, confiscations, lawsuits, fines, and the like; yet I think it can be said that no significant work of literature, or opinion, or piece of information actually fell sacrifice to this censorship. Considering the long colonial wars, the dangers of civil strife, the putsches, acts of terrorism, and attempts to murder high state officials, the extent to which freedom of opinion was maintained throughout nearly two decades of crisis is striking.
