THE French Revolution having taken place only two centuries previously, Chou En-lai famously remarked that it was too early to tell what its effects might be. A fortiori, it is too early only a few days after Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory in the French election to say what that victory means. One thing is certain: It means something.
The rioters in the Place de la Bastille agreed. What they feared was that Sarko, as he is known to both his friends and his enemies, is in reality what he has all along presented himself as being, a man determined to change France. One of the ironies of the election was that the conservatives wanted change, while the liberals wanted everything to remain the same. And there is nothing like the prospect of change in France to spark a riot.
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