WOTW 2022/Party of Revolutionary Communists of Occitania (Marxist-Leninist)

The Party of Revolutionary Communists of Occitania (Marxist-Leninist) (Occitan: Partit Comunista Revolucionari d'Occitania (Marxista-Leninista), PCRO-ML), also known as the Occitan Revolutionary Communist Party, formerly the Occitan Marxist-Leninist Organisation, is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist and Occitan separatist political party in France. It advocates for the creation of an independent socialist state in Occitania.

Background
Party founder Jean-Louis Lin's political career began in the 1950s when he joined the ruling French Communist Party. He was considered a party hardliner with his ardent support of Maurice Thorez though he never attained any position of power. He first advocated for Occitan regionalism in the early 1960s but did not yet advocate separatism, favouring an autonomous Occitan region within a federal France. Following the death of Maurice Thorez, he initially opposed the reforms and liberalisation but saw opportunity. He campaigned for the party to establish Regional Secretary positions, with himself being the Regional Secretary for the Occitan region. His proposals were rejected by the party at large though he had begun to make a name for himself in the political sphere. His Occitan regionalism grew into a support for French federalism and he gained support from Breton, Corsican, Basque and Occitan nationalists as well as others who generally wanted less centralisation. He left the party prior to the Pink Revolution and he founded the French Federalist Society amidst the opening up of politics. As President of the Society, he tried to influence the Popular Front but failed and the society was dissolved in 1965.

Occitan Revolutionary Current
Disillusioned with French federalism after the establishment of the unitary Sixth Republic, he moved towards libertarian socialism and established the Occitan Revolutionary Current (CRO) in 1966 based on Occitan separatism and libertarian socialism. The CRO was decentralised but Lin was an influential figure. They published The Libertarian newspaper. In 1969, a division grew in the CRO between the "Francists" and the "Occitanists". The former group grew to oppose Lin who had been sliding back into his hardliner Marxist-Leninist positions from when he was a member of the PCF as well as what they dubbed his "Occitan ultranationalism". The Occitanists, led by Lin, left the CRO while the Francists, now in control, evolved into the Revolutionary Current.

Formation of the OMLO
Lin and his supporting Occitanists met in Toulouse to form the Occitan Marxist-Leninst Organisation. The party, led by Lin as National Secretary, published the La revolucion magasine which grew popular, boosting the party itself. The party's popularity allowed it to make links with the Party of Labour of Albania which supplied funding to help the organisation. In 1971, the First Congress of the OMLO officially renamed the party to its current name of Party of Revolutionary Communists of Occitania (Marxist-Leninist). The party has applied to join the Revolutionary Communist International but has not been successful so far in joining due to the Communist Party of China wishing to improve relations with the French government.