France, history

The History of France covers the story from the prehistoric period to the modern day.

Early Modern Era

• Enlightenment
• Encyclopedié
• Denis Diderot
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The French Revolution: 1789-1799

• French Revolution

Napoleon: 1799-1815

• Napoleon

Third Republic (1870-1939)

The Third Republic was created following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In the aftermath of the war it was deemed necessary to hold elections to a national assembly which could authorize a formal, legitimate peace. Although the elections returned a largely monarchist Assembly, a Republican, Jules Grévy became its first President. Adolphe Thiers, elected by twenty six departements led the government. The Treaty of Frankfurt concluded the conflict, which stated that France would cede Alsace/Lorraine (Which held the provincial capital Strasbourg) to the German Reich, and would also pay five million francs in war indemnities to the Germans, who partially occupied the country until the debt was paid. The Germans eventually left in September 1873. The emotional and psychological cost of the resolution may have hurt more than the financial. Migrants from Alsace Lorraine who refused to live under German rule kept the issue alive in the French national consciousness.

The Paris Commune

Just after the treaty was signed, France was faced with a crisis that threatened to blow into a Civil War. There are three principal reasons why Parisians revolted in 1871:

1. Paris had endured a four month siege and Parisians were humiliated at the acceptance of the National Assembly of the peace terms which included a triumphant German march through the city.
2. Thiers was hated by Parisians for his role in putting down the 1834 revolt of Paris.
3. The National Assembly, which seemed to under-represent the French in seats (Only 43 out of 768 seats) began to antagonize the Parisians. Populist newspapers were banned, all debts built up during the siege were to repaid in 48 hours and the National Guard (The Parisian defense force) were no longer to be paid one and a half francs a day. These rulings seriously affected the livelihoods of ordinary Parisians. Anger and frustration was building up rapidly within the city.

On 18th March, 1871, Thiers ordered that two hundred big guns belonging to the National Guard be recaptured from the Parisians. A fight erupted, during which two generals were killed and the mob seized all the major barracks and forts in the city. Marx wrote in his Civil War in France that if the mob had of marched on Thiers army at Versailles they might well have defeated them. Discussions ensued and the opportunity was lost. Paris was once again under siege.

The Commune was declared on 28th March, 1871 by a disorganized, disparate body of organizations - Jacobin's, First Internationalists and Anarchists all claimed to be the guiding lights of the Paris Commune. Decisive action was rare as much time was spent debating.

Nevertheless, the Communaurds did improve the conditions of the Parisian working class; the length of the working week, the position of women and improved education opportunities were all considered. Workers were allowed to take over abandoned workshops.

The Commune passed the Law of the Hostages, which stated that any execution of a communaurd was to lead to the deaths of three anti-communaurd citizens. Raoul Rigault, in charge of security ensured this policy was carried through. Amongst his victims was the Archbishop of Paris.

Meanwhile Thiers was building up his forces. He used propaganda to portray the communaurds as international conspirators against French values - he depicted them as agents of anarchy, rape and lootery. He recruited soldiers from the countryside who had no love for what they perceived as being their decadent capital, and were by and large traditional minded catholic men. After some fighting on the outskirts of the city, MacMahon and Gallifet's forces entered Paris on 21st May. The following week has been remembered in Parisian history as the 'bloody week'. Large areas of Paris were destroyed by shellfire and a scorched earth policy was followed by some revolters. Around 25,000 Parisians died and a thousand soldiers. Almost 40,000 prisoners were taken of which 25,000 or so were given terms of forced labour. As a result of this conflict, the age old and prestigious office of Mayor of Paris was abolished, and not reintroduced until 1977 when Jacques Chirac was elected mayor.

Attempted coup d'état

The President at this time was the arch conservative and monarchist Marshall MacMahon (Who had strong Irish roots) After the 1876 elections, he was faced with a chamber of overwhelmingly republican deputies, yet he chose the Orleanist Duc de Broglie as Prime Minister. The Chamber refused to ratify the choice and MacMahon dissolved the Assembly and called for new elections. The event is known by its French name, de seize mai as it marked an attempted royalist takeover.

In the subsequent election campaign, pressure was brought on government employees to vote monarchist, opposition journals were closed down and the Church urged its faithful to vote monarchist. However, a Republican chamber was still elected, despite the oppositions dirty tactics. MacMahon accepted the will of the people and picked a Republican as Premier. As monarchist influences continued to decline in this period, he resigned and was replaced by Grévy. The new Republic had survived yet another crisis.

The Boulanger Affair

Boulanger was a veteran of French wars in Algeria, Crimea, Italy and the Franco-Prussian War. As one of the few committed Republicans in the army, he was appointed Minister of War in 1886 by Clemancau.

One of his first actions in government was the retiring of royalist officers from the army. The improving living conditions and modernised training and weapons improved morale throughout the armed forces. When Otto Van Bismarck complained that he was damaging Franco-German relations this only improved his popularity in the country. He soon became a symbol of French military glory, a reflection of the rising nationalism of the time.

The government, becoming increasingly worried by his increased popularity dismissed him as Minister of War and posted him to a provincial command. Nonetheless, various groups flocked to support him. Royalists hoped they could manipulate him to roll back the reforms of the Third Republic. Workers were attracted by his promise to protect the weak and vulnerable. Popular discontent with the Republic increased with the unearthing of a fresh scandal in 1887; the son in law of President Grévy - Daniel Wilson - was found selling decorations and honours from the Elysée Palace. Such corrupt behaviour weakened the moral stance of the Republic and provided Boulangism as an attractive alternative.

Momentum was growing throughout the country in support of Boulanger. On 22nd January 1889, and despite strenous opposition of Republicans he easily won a by-election in Paris. Excited supporters wanted him to stage an immediate coup d'état. The Cabinet called an emergency meeting which exposed their position. However, Boulanger allowed the opportunity to pass, perhaps because of last minute restraint but also because of the mixed nature of his grassroots support - a sustainable policy with such a various group of supporters would have been very difficult to achieve. He fled to Belgium in 1889 when the government began legal proceedings against him for plotting to overthrow the state - his supporters quickly drifted apart. Two years later he committed suicide by the grave of his mistress. Despite ending in such a farcical manner, Boulangism had been a force in the Third Republic which threatened its very existence.

The Panama Scandal

Ferdinand de Lesseps had achieved worldwide acclaim for the construction of the Suez Canal and when he decided to build a canal through the harsh terrain of Panama many small savers eagerly invested their money. However, the real power of the company was not in the hands of the famous engineer, but in a diverse band of financers with dispirate aims and objectives. When extra finance was needed they succesfully bribed many deputies to sign the necessary parliamentary authorisation.

Despite the extra cash the project made little headway and the company soon went bankrupt. Gross mismanagement, difficulty with the terrain and tropical diseases (22,000 workers died over the space of eight years) caused the collapse of the project in 1889. Newspaper articles uncovered the names of 150 deputies who had been bribed, including the Minister for Finance and veteran Republican Georges Clemancau. This scandal continued the lack of public confidence evident by other events. Radical Republicans were discredited (As many were guilty of taking bribes) and anti-semitism became a force in politics, as Jews were made a scapegoat for the disaster and lost savings. This anti semitism was to play a role in the Dreyfus Affair.

The Dreyfus Affair

In september 1894 a list of French military documents called the bordereau was found by a French agent working in the German embassy. It became evident that a German spy had infiltrated the French officer corps. The head of the counter-intelligence agency, Major Henry, began a search for the culprit and came up with the name of captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus was a member of a wealthy Jewish family and thus was a figure of hate in the largely Catholic and Monarchial officer corps.

Henry was determined to convict Dreyfus and forged the necessary evidence for his court-martial. He was found guilty, cashiered and deported to the penal colony of Devil's Island. Here the tropical heat and fevers slowly wasted him away.

Although it had seemed like the French had got their spy, staff papers continued to disappear and investigation by the new head of counter-intelligence, Colonel Picquart, discovered that the real spy was a French officer called Esterhazy. When Picquart pointed this out to his superiors they removed him from his position and sent him to Tunisia where it was hoped he would be killed in the fighting. Dreyfus's brother, Mathieu had independantly came to the same decision and publicly denounced Esterhazy as a traitor. Esterhazy was tried on 11th January 1898 and after a farcical trial was declared innocent by the judges.

Two days later, Emile Zola published an open letter to the President in Clemencau's newspaper l'Aurore. The letter was entitled ;J'accuse' and in seperate paragraphs each beginning with 'I accuse', Zola named the generals who ordered the acquital of Esterhazy.

France had become increasingly polarized between those who supported Dreyfus and those who opposed him. Dreyfusards included among their number republicans, radicals, Zola, Jaures and Clemencau. Clemencau wrote eight hundred newspaper articles on the subject. A League for the Defence of the Rights of Man was founded, which attracted Protestants, Freemasons, anti-cleralists and Jews.

Anti-Dreyfusards included the Catholic Church, especially the Assumptionist Order, the army and most of the ordinary people, who tended to have anti-semitic positions (A reflection of the growing anti-semitism of the time) Edmund Drumonts 'La Libre Parole' was their most important publication. To them the individual of Dreyfus was unimportant but if he were released it would damage the honour of France and one of her most respected institutions; the army.

In July 1898, the new Minister of War, Cavaignac, decided to end the Dreyfus controversy once and for all. He produced what he felt was documentary proof that Dreyfus was guilty. The documents were later proved to be forgeries. Major Henry was arrested and almost immediately commited suicide. Esterhazy fled to England and the Minister of War resigned.

A new trial was ordered and Dreyfus, who had been unaware of the developments all this time, arrived back at Rennes in September 1899. This court-martial again found him guilty with 'extenuating circumstances'. It was obvious that no military court would find him innocent and admit the prior error. A Presidential pardon was issued and the original verdict was quashed in 1906.

Bibliography

• James R. Lehning; To Be a Citizen: The Political Culture of the Early French Third Republic (2001, Cornell University Press)