if for the italian left the end of war marked a new beginning, it also did so for the german-dutch left. although in germany it was the case that the communist left tradition was all but extinguished, surviving only in the form of a few scattered groups holding councilist views, by comparison france saw an interesting development with the beginning of a conscious attempt to develop a synthesis of the two strands of left communism in the form of the "gauche communiste de france", which built on pre-war contributions.