Across France, thousands took to the streets on Sunday to protest the assassination of a teacher. The stakes for President Emmanuel Macron are great. His response to this crisis won’t simply shape his legacy, but the future of the Fifth Republic itself.

Samuel Paty was beheaded on Friday by an Islamic terrorist. The terrorist apparently targeted Paty after learning that he had shown his class a photo of Charlie Hebdo’s famous Prophet Mohammed magazine cover. That cover led to a January 2015 attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the murder of 12 innocent people. Charlie Hebdo recently republished the cartoon to coincide with a trial of individuals over the original attack. But the follow-up publication itself led to an extremist knife attack in which two people were wounded. The context, here, is crucial.