French authorities say they're bracing themselves for possible acts of sabotage and other violence as thousands of protesters responded to online calls to disrupt the country on Wednesday, potentially compounding France's latest political crisis triggered by the government's collapse.

Protesters blocked roads, set blazes and were met with volleys of police tear gas on Wednesday in Paris and Marseille, seeking to heap pressure on President Emmanuel Macron by attempting to give his new prime minister a baptism of fire.

The interior minister announced nearly 200 arrests in the first hours of the planned day of nationwide demonstrations.

The “Bloquons Tout” (Block Everything) movement gathered steam on social media and in encrypted chats over the summer, before François Bayrou's ouster as prime minister in a parliamentary confidence vote on Monday.

Its called-for day of blockades, strikes, demonstrations and other acts of protest on Wednesday is now falling as President Emmanuel Macron — one of the movement's targets — is installing a fourth prime minister in 12 months.

Sébastien Lecornu, the outgoing defense minister, was named as Macron's latest new prime minister on Tuesday evening.