This Wednesday, September 10, 2025, in the early hours of the day, France is holding its breath. The viral protest call Bloquons tout September 10 (“Block everything”) begins to take shape across the country — with barricades, disrupted trains, tense campuses, and police on edge. Behind the surface chaos lies something deeper: an exhausted state, teetering between authoritarian overreaction and quiet panic.
A government weakened, a protest leaderless
Just hours before the day of unrest, the political ground had already shifted. Prime Minister François Bayrou resigned in the midst of a budgetary and social firestorm. His replacement — Sébastien Lecornu — was appointed in haste by President Macron, a last-ditch attempt to give an image of control before the storm. But it all smelled of improvisation.
The Bloquons tout September 10 movement isn’t led by parties or unions. It sprang from encrypted Telegram channels and fringe sovereignty groups, fusing Gilets Jaunes nostalgia with economic rage and social fatigue. The target? Austerity measures amounting to €43.8 billion in spending cuts, the elimination of two national holidays, and the freezing of pensions — all presented under the veneer of “reform”.
Early Morning: Low-scale chaos, high-tension response
As of 8:30 AM, the figures are modest — around 3,000 protesters and 80 actions across the country, of which only 16 involve blockades. But the state isn’t taking chances. Over 80,000 police and gendarmes are mobilised nationwide, supported by drones, helicopters, water cannons, and armoured vehicles.
This display isn’t security, it’s theater.
- 75 arrests in Paris alone before 9 AM.
- Tensions around university campuses and high schools in Île-de-France.
- Disruptions in public transport (RATP, SNCF), with some flight delays anticipated.
- Supermarkets and gas stations report panic buying and stockouts.
- Refineries and logistic hubs are under watch as potential flashpoints.
- On Reunion Island, symbolic protests turned real: 50+ arrests, traffic halved.
This is less a protest than a stress test of France’s internal order.
Strategic overreaction or preemptive deterrence?
The Bloquons tout September 10 movement does not currently paralyze the country, but it shakes it. The real story isn’t the number of roadblocks. It’s the nervous twitch in the arm of the state.
The Macron government chose a militarised response. Not because the threat warranted it, but because the political climate, the financial markets, and the diplomatic pressure demanded it. A security performance designed for investors and ambassadors, not citizens.
And yet, this reaction betrays more weakness than strength. Because when a government fears a protest with no central leadership, no union support, no militant infrastructure… it is no longer afraid of chaos. It is afraid of itself.
A deeper fault line
What makes Bloquons tout noteworthy is not its coordination — but its symbolism. It’s an anti-system gesture in a country where the system has become too abstract, too punitive, and too dependent on appeasing foreign capital rather than protecting national sovereignty.
- The Anglo-American media barely reports it — perhaps because chaos in France no longer surprises.
- The French media, meanwhile, oscillates between alarmist coverage and mocking detachment.
- The population, for the most part, supports the grievances (polls showed over 60% in favor) but not necessarily the methods.
This fracture — between the public mood, the government’s stance, and media narrative — is the real instability.
Conclusion: France on edge
As of this morning, September 10, 2025, we’re not seeing a revolution. We’re witnessing a rehearsal. The state, armed to the teeth, awaits a ghost protest movement. The people, fragmented and fatigued, push back not in numbers — but in meaning.
Today will not shut down the country. But it exposes just how close France is to losing grip on itself.
