The youth-led revolt over living costs that has shaken France for weeks has crossed the Rhine. On Halloween, tens of thousands of young people marched in cities across Germany, while in France several hundred thousand turned out for a third straight weekend of protests that again ended in tear gas, water cannon and hundreds of arrests.
The demonstrations share a common thread: a generation that says it is paying more for everything, studying in crumbling schools and being shut out of decisions about its own future. Governments in Paris and Berlin, both under heavy budget pressure, have so far offered more police than concessions.
Germany: Gen Z takes to the streets
The German protests were organised by a movement calling itself “GenZ regelt!”, which roughly translates as “Gen Z has got this!”. About 150,000 people had registered to march in around 30 cities, Al Jazeera reported ahead of the day, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich. CNN put the eventual turnout at tens of thousands nationwide.
Their complaints mirror those heard in France: the cost of living, underfunded schools and universities, environmental worries and, in a German twist, the possible return of compulsory military service. The movement’s website says its members no longer want to watch decisions being made about their future without them.
Berlin’s march appeared largely peaceful, according to CNN, although luxury shops on the Kurfürstendamm had boarded up their windows in advance. Elsewhere the mood darkened. Police in Cologne used water cannon after fireworks were set off, riot officers moved in in Hamburg after barriers were set alight and emergency workers attacked, and in Frankfurt petrol bombs were thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows smashed. Part of the city’s Zeil shopping street was closed, one suspect was arrested and two weapons were seized.
France: the third weekend of fury
In France, the Interior Ministry counted about 320,000 protesters nationwide on Saturday, including 70,000 in Paris, RTÉ reported. Youth organisations claimed nearly half a million. The official figure is well down on the 550,000 recorded on 17 October and 410,000 a week later, CNN noted, suggesting the movement may be losing some momentum on the streets, if not in public anger.
The day was still violent. Masked protesters at the back of the Paris march prised up paving stones and hurled them at police, who responded with tear gas and baton charges. Police said a Molotov cocktail was thrown. There was tear gas in Lyon and water cannon in Toulouse, and in Rennes several hundred people attacked officers after the main march ended. By 6pm, 296 people had been detained nationwide.
The movement began in late September with secondary school students protesting about the state of school buildings, teacher shortages and changes to university admissions. Trade unions and Yellow Vest activists, the movement that grew out of fuel price protests in 2018, have since joined. The scale of the earlier unrest was dramatic: on 17 October more than 3,000 shops were attacked or looted and over 2,700 people arrested, and at least 1,193 police officers have been injured since the protests began, according to figures cited by CNN.
How governments are responding
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez deployed 70,000 extra officers, confined demonstrations to areas outside town centres and banned evening gatherings called by far-left groups. Face coverings at protests carry a €150 fine in Paris. President Emmanuel Macron described the violence as a “collective failure”.
The politics are combustible. France’s presidential election is less than six months away and far-right leader Marine Le Pen tops the polls, RTÉ noted. Hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Mélenchon joined the Paris march and accused the government of an authoritarian turn. With France’s economy close to recession and under pressure to cut its debt, there is little money available to buy peace.
In Germany, authorities deployed thousands of additional officers. None of the reports we reviewed carried a detailed response from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government.
What happens next
French student unions plan to blockade universities and secondary schools from Tuesday, and again on Thursday, before joining a nationwide strike and demonstration called by workers and trade unions on Thursday 5 November. Al Jazeera has also reported student and union protests in Italy. Irish travellers heading to France or Germany this week should expect disruption in city centres and check transport updates before travelling, particularly around 5 November.
Sources
- CNN (via Yahoo News): Protests spread to Germany as hundreds of thousands march again in France on Halloween (31 October 2026)
- RTÉ News: France braces for more unrest amid fresh protests (31 October 2026)
- Al Jazeera: Germany and France brace for protests on Halloween weekend (31 October 2026)
Featured image: Frankfurt Skyline 2022 bei Nacht by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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