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The party was banned in 1939 by the government of [[Édouard Daladier]] as a result of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|German–Soviet Non-aggression Pact]], due to its membership in the [[Comintern]], which opposed the War (prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spencer |first=Erika Hope |title=Research Guides: France in WW II: The French Resistance: Communists in the French Resistance |url=https://guides.loc.gov/french-resistance-world-war-two/communists-in-the-french-resistance |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=guides.loc.gov |language=en}}</ref> The leadership, threatened with execution, fled abroad. After the [[Fall of France|German invasion of 1940]] the party began to organise opposition to the occupation. Shortly before [[German invasion of the Soviet Union|Germany invaded the Soviet Union]] the next year, the PCF formed, in May 1941, the [[National Front (French Resistance)|National Front]] movement within the broader [[French Resistance|Resistance]], together with the armed ''[[Francs-Tireurs et Partisans]]'' (FTP) group. At the same time the PCF began to work with [[Charles de Gaulle|de Gaulle]]'s "[[Free France]]" government in exile, and later took part in the [[National Council of the Resistance]] (CNR).
By the time the [[liberation of France|German occupation ended]] in 1944, the party had become a powerful force in many parts of France. It was among the leading parties in elections in 1945 and 1946, and entered into the governing [[Tripartisme|Tripartite]] alliance, which pursued social reforms and [[statism]]. However, amid concerns within France and abroad over the extent of communist influence, the PCF was excluded from government in May 1947. Under pressure from Moscow, the PCF thereafter distanced itself from other parties and focused on agitation within its trade union base. For the rest of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] period the PCF, led by [[Thorez]] and Jacques Duclos, remained politically isolated, still taking a Stalinist line, though retaining substantial electoral support.
Although the PCF opposed de Gaulle's formation of the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]] in 1958, the following years saw a {{lang|fr|rapprochement}} with other left-wing forces and an increased strength in parliament. With [[Waldeck Rochet]] as its new secretary-general, the party supported [[François Mitterrand]]'s unsuccessful presidential bid in 1965. During the student riots and strikes of [[May 1968 in France|May 1968]], the party supported the strikes while denouncing the revolutionary student movements. After heavy losses in the ensuing parliamentary elections, the party adopted [[Georges Marchais]] as leader and in 1973 entered into a "Common Programme" alliance with Mitterrand's reconstituted [[French Socialist Party|Socialist Party]] (PS). It provided for an increase in wages and social benefits, a reduction in working hours, a retirement age of 60 for men and 55 for women, the expansion of workers' rights and freedoms, the [[abolition of the death penalty]] and [[nuclear disarmament]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.franceinter.fr/politique/1936-1972-1997-ces-annees-ou-la-gauche-francaise-s-est-unie | title=1936, 1972, 1997 : Ces années où la gauche française s'est unie | date=5 May 2022 }}</ref> Under the Common Programme, however, the PCF steadily lost ground to the PS, a process that continued after Mitterrand's victory in 1981.
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