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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32715-8.txt b/32715-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f2953c --- /dev/null +++ b/32715-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5325 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of the Third French Republic, by +C. H. C. Wright + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of the Third French Republic + +Author: C. H. C. Wright + +Release Date: June 6, 2010 [EBook #32715] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY--THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + +A HISTORY OF THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC + +BY + +C. H. C. WRIGHT + +_Professor of the French Language and Literature in Harvard University_ + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS + +[Illustration] + +BOSTON AND NEW YORK +HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + +COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY CHARLES H. C. WRIGHT + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + +_Published May 1916_ + + +TO + +MY WIFE + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +I. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 1 + +II. THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR--THE GOVERNMENT OF +NATIONAL DEFENCE (SEPTEMBER, 1870, TO FEBRUARY, +1871). 11 + +III. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADOLPHE THIERS (FEBRUARY, +1871, TO MAY, 1873). 31 + +IV. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARÉCHAL DE MAC-MAHON +(MAY, 1873, TO JANUARY, 1879). 50 + +V. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JULES GRÉVY (JANUARY, +1879, TO DECEMBER, 1887). 75 + +VI. THE ADMINISTRATION OF SADI CARNOT (DECEMBER, +1887, TO JUNE, 1894). 96 + +VII. THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JEAN CASIMIR-PERIER (JUNE, +1894, TO JANUARY, 1895) AND OF FÉLIX FAURE +(JANUARY, 1895, TO FEBRUARY, 1899). 115 + +VIII. THE ADMINISTRATION OF EMILE LOUBET (FEBRUARY, +1899, TO FEBRUARY, 1906). 134 + +IX. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARMAND FALLIÈRES (FEBRUARY, +1906, TO FEBRUARY, 1913). 159 + +X. THE ADMINISTRATION OF RAYMOND POINCARÉ (FEBRUARY, +1913-). 176 + +APPENDIX: PRESIDING OFFICERS OF FRENCH CABINETS. 187 + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. 193 + +INDEX. 199 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +RAYMOND POINCARÉ _Frontispiece_ + +ADOLPHE THIERS 32 + +EDME-PATRICE-MAURICE DE MAC-MAHON 50 + +LÉON GAMBETTA 70 + +JULES FERRY 78 + +SADI CARNOT 96 + +MARIE-GEORGES PICQUART 124 + +RENÉ WALDECK-ROUSSEAU 136 + + + +[Illustration: Raymond Poincaré] + + + + +A HISTORY OF THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR + + +Two men were largely responsible, each in his own way, for the third +French Republic, Napoleon III and Bismarck. The one, endeavoring partly +at his wife's instigation to renew the prestige of a weakening Empire, +and the other, furthering the ambitions of the Prussian Kingdom, set in +motion the forces which culminated in the Fourth of September. + +The causes of the downfall of the Empire can be traced back several +years. Napoleon III was, at heart, a man of peace and had, in all +sincerity, soon after his accession, uttered the famous saying: +"L'empire, c'est la paix." But the military glamour of the Napoleonic +name led the nephew, like the uncle, into repeated wars. These had, in +most cases, been successful, exceptions, such as the unfortunate Mexican +expedition, seeming negligible. They had sometimes even resulted in +territorial aggrandizement. Napoleon III was, therefore, desirous of +establishing once for all the so-called "natural" frontiers of France +along the Rhine by the annexation of those Rhenish provinces which, +during the First Empire and before, had for a score of years been part +of the French nation. + +On the other hand, though France was still considered the leading +continental power, and though its military superiority seemed +unassailable, the imperial régime was unquestionably growing "stale." +The Emperor himself, always a mystical fatalist rather than the hewer of +his own fortune, felt the growing inertia of his final malady. A +lavishly luxurious court had been imitated by a pleasure-loving capital. +This had brought in its train relaxed standards of governmental morals +and had seriously weakened the fibre of many military commanders. +Outwardly the Empire seemed as glorious as ever, and in 1867 France +invited the world to a gorgeous exposition in the "Ville-lumière." But +Paris was more emotional year by year, and the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud +were dominated by a narrow-minded and spoiled Empress. Court intrigues +were rife and drawing-room generals were to be found in real life, as +well as in Offenbach's "Grande Duchesse." But nobody, except perhaps +Napoleon himself, realized how the Empire had declined. The Empress +merely felt that it was time to do something stirring, and, without +necessarily waging war, to assert again the pre-eminence in Europe of +France, weakened in 1866 by the unexpected outcome of the rivalry +between Austria and Prussia for preponderance among the German States. + +Beyond the eastern frontier of France a nation was growing in ambition +and power. Prussia still remembered the warlike achievements of +Frederick the Great, although since those days its military efficiency +had at times undergone a decline. But now, under the reign of King +William, guided by a vigorous minister, Bismarck, an example, whatever +his admirers may say, of the brutal and unscrupulous _Junker_, the +Prussian Government had for some time tried to impose its leadership on +the other German States. Some of these were far from anxious to accept +it. In the furtherance of Prussian schemes, Bismarck had been able to +inflict a diplomatic rebuff on Napoleon, as well as a severe military +defeat on Austria. + +In 1866, Prussia won from Austria the important victory of Königgrätz or +Sadowa, and thereby asserted its leadership. The outcome was a check to +Napoleon, who had expected a different result. Moreover, by it Bismarck +was encouraged to pursue his plans for the consolidation of Germany +under a still more openly acknowledged Prussian supremacy. A crafty and +utterly unscrupulous diplomat, he was able to mislead Napoleon and his +unskilful ministers. + +Soon after Sadowa the Emperor tried to obtain territorial compensation +from Prussia. He wished, in return for recognition of Prussia's new +position and of the projected union of North and South Germany minus +Austria, to obtain the cession of territories on the left bank of the +Rhine, or an alliance for the conquest and annexation of Belgium to +France. Such schemes having failed, Napoleon tried next to satisfy +French jingoism by the acquisition of the Duchy of Luxembourg. This move +resulted only in securing the evacuation by its Prussian garrison of the +Luxembourg fortress and the neutralization of the duchy. From that time +on, tension increased between France and Prussia. Bismarck was, indeed, +more anxious for war than Napoleon. He suspected the weakness of the +French Empire, he despised its leaders, he realized the advance in +military efficiency of his own country, and his aim was unswerving to +establish a Prussianized German Empire at the cost, if possible, of the +downfall of France. As a matter of fact, France, as now, was far from +being permeated with militarism and, a few months before the war in +1870, the military budget was actually reduced. + +The occasion for a dispute arrived with the suggested candidacy of +Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a German prince related to the King +of Prussia, to the crown of Spain. As early as 1868, intrigues had begun +to put a Prussian on the Spanish throne, but Napoleon had not as yet +been disturbed. It was not until 1870 that he took the matter seriously. +In July, Prince Leopold accepted the crown, egged on by Bismarck, and +with the fiction of the approval of King William as head of the +Hohenzollerns, as distinguished from his position as King of Prussia. + +At that time the French Emperor was in precarious health and scarcely in +full control of his powers. The French people at large were pacifically +inclined and would have asked for nothing better than to remain at home +instead of fighting about a foreigner's candidacy to an alien throne. +But, unfortunately, the Empress Eugénie was for war. The Government, +too, was in the hands of second-rate and hesitating diplomats. Emile +Ollivier, the chief of the Cabinet, was an orator more than a statesman, +and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the duc de Gramont, was a conceited +mediocrity more and more involved in his own mistakes. In consequence, +the attitude of the Government was not so much deliberate desire for war +as provocative bluster, of which Bismarck was quick to take advantage. +The Cabinet was egged on by Eugénie's adherents, the militants, who had +been looking for an insult since Sadowa, and by obstreperous journalists +and noisy boulevard mobs, whose manifestations were unfortunately taken, +even by the Corps législatif, for the voice of France. + +In consequence, blunder after blunder was made. The ministers worked at +cross-purposes, without due consultation and without consideration of +the effect of their actions on an inflamed public opinion or on +prospective European alliances. Stated in terms of diplomatic procedure, +the aim of the French Cabinet was to humiliate Prussia by forcing its +Government to acknowledge a retreat. King William was not seeking war +and was probably willing to make honorable concessions. Bismarck, on the +contrary, desired war, if it could be under favorable diplomatic +auspices, and the Hohenzollern candidacy was a direct provocation. He +wanted France to seem the aggressor, in view of the effect both on +neutral Europe, and particularly on the South German States, which he +wished to draw into alliance under the menace of French attack. + +The French Ambassador to the King of Prussia, Benedetti, was instructed +to demand the withdrawal of Prince Leopold's candidacy. This demand +followed a very arrogant statement to the Corps législatif, on July 6, +by the duc de Gramont. The assumption was that Prince Leopold's presence +on the Spanish throne would be dangerous to the honor and interests of +France, by exposing the country on two sides to Prussian influence. +King William was, on the whole, willing to make a concession to avoid +international complications, but he obviously wished not to appear to +act under pressure. M. Benedetti went to Ems and, on July 9, he laid the +French demands before the King. After long-drawn-out discussion the +French Government asked for a categorical reply by July 12. On that day +the father of Prince Leopold, Prince Antony of Hohenzollern, in a +telegram to Spain, formally withdrew his son's name. The King had +planned to give his consent to this apparently _spontaneous_ action on +the part of the candidate's family, when officially informed. Thus +France would obtain its ends and the King himself would not be involved. + +Unfortunately the thoughtlessness of the head of the French Ministry +spoiled everything. Instead of waiting a day for the King's +ratification, Emile Ollivier, desirous also of peace, hastened to make +public the telegram from the Prince of Hohenzollern. Thereupon the +leaders of the war party in the Corps législatif at once pointed out +that the telegram was not accompanied by the signature of the Prussian +monarch, declared that the Cabinet had been outwitted, and clamored for +definite guarantees. Stung by the charge of inefficiency, the would-be +statesman Gramont immediately accentuated his stipulations and demanded +that the King of Prussia guarantee not to support in future the +candidacy of a Hohenzollern to the Spanish throne. + +Matters were rapidly reaching an _impasse_, and Bismarck was +correspondingly elated, because France was appearing to Europe a +trouble-maker. The duc de Gramont and Emile Ollivier committed the error +of dictating a letter to the Prussian Ambassador for him to transmit to +the King, to be in turn sent back as his reply. King William was +offended by this high-handed procedure. He had already told comte +Benedetti at Ems that a satisfactory letter was on its way from Prince +Antony and had promised him another interview upon its arrival. After +receiving the dispatch from his ambassador at Paris communicating +Gramont's formulas, he sent word to Benedetti that Prince Leopold was no +longer a candidate and that the incident was closed. Nor was the King +willing to grant Benedetti's urgent requests for an interview (July +13). + +The King and the French Ambassador had remained perfectly courteous, and +the next day, at the railway station, they took leave of each other with +marks of respect. Things were not yet hopeless, until Bismarck, by a +trick of which he afterwards bragged, caused a dispatch to be published +implying that Benedetti had been so persistent in pushing his demands +that King William had been obliged to snub him. The French were led to +believe that their representative had been insulted, and neutrals sided +with Prussia as the aggrieved party. After deliberation the French +Ministry decided on war and the decision was blindly ratified by the +Corps législatif on July 15. At this meeting Emile Ollivier made his +famous remark that the Ministry accepted responsibility for the war with +a "clear conscience." His actual words, "le coeur léger," seemed, +however, to imply "with a light heart", and thereafter weighed heavily +against him in the minds of Frenchmen. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR--THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE + +September, 1870, to February, 1871 + + +On July 19 the French Embassy at Berlin declared a state of war. Paris +was wild with enthusiasm and eager for an advance on Berlin. The +provinces were for the most part cool, but accepted the war calmly +because they were assured of an easy victory. The leaders of the two +nations had for each other equal contempt. "Ce n'est pas un homme +sérieux," Napoleon had once said of Bismarck, and Bismarck thought +Napoleon "stupid and sentimental." Meanwhile each nation had eyes on the +territory of the other: France was ready to claim the Rhine frontier; +Prussia wanted all it could get, and certainly Alsace and Lorraine. The +idea, so often repeated by the Germans since the war, that these +provinces were annexed because they had once been German, was not in +Bismarck's mind,--"that is a Professor's reason," he said.[1] He wanted +Strassburg because its commanding position and the wedge of Wissembourg +could cut off northern from southern Germany. The frontier of the Vosges +was as desirable to the Germans as the Rhine to the French. + +From the beginning all went wrong in France. The Government found itself +left in the lurch by the European states whose alliance it had expected. +Moreover, mobilization proceeded slowly and in utter confusion. In spite +of Marshal Le Boeuf's famous exclamation ("Il ne manquera pas un +bouton de guêtre"), never did a nation enter on a war less prepared than +the French. On the other hand, all Germany, well trained and ready, +sprang to the side of Prussia. The whole military force was grouped in +three armies--under Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, and the Crown +Prince. But, meanwhile, it seemed necessary to the French to give a +semblance of military achievement. The Emperor had started from Paris on +July 28 leaving the Empress as regent. On August 2, a vain military +display with largely superior forces was made across the frontier at +Saarbrücken, a practically unprotected place was taken, and the Emperor +was able to send home word that the Prince Imperial had received his +"baptism of fire" and that the soldiers wept at seeing him calmly pick +up a bullet. The same day King William took command of the German forces +at Mainz, and on August 4 the army of the Crown Prince entered Alsace +and defeated at Wissembourg the division of about twelve thousand men of +General Abel Douay, who was killed. On the 6th Mac-Mahon, with a larger +force, met the still more numerous Germans somewhat farther back at +Wörth, Fröschwiller, and Reichsoffen, and was utterly routed with a loss +of over ten thousand in killed, wounded, and taken. Alsace was thus +completely exposed to the enemy, and the road was open to Lunéville and +Nancy. On the same day, German armies under Steinmetz and Prince +Frederick Charles crossed into Lorraine at Saarbrücken and engaged the +troops of the French general Frossard at Forbach and Spicheren, +inflicting on them a severe repulse. Meanwhile Frossard's superior, +Bazaine, though not far away, did not move a finger to help him. "If +Frossard wanted the baton of marshal of France he could win it alone." + +The news of these disasters was a terrible shock to Paris. The "liberal" +Ollivier Cabinet was overthrown and replaced by a reactionary one led by +General Cousin-Montauban, comte de Palikao. The Emperor withdrew from +military leadership and Marshal Bazaine received supreme command. +Bazaine was a brave soldier, but a poor general-in-chief, and withal a +self-seeking man, incompetent to deal with the difficulties in which +France found itself. He was perhaps not a conscious traitor in the great +disaster which soon came to pass, but he thought more of himself than of +his country. At the time we are concerned with he was considered the +coming man. Meanwhile Mac-Mahon, cut off from Bazaine's main army, fell +back, between August 6 and August 17, to Châlons. Bazaine was apparently +without intelligent strategic plans. He professed to be desirous of +concentrating at Verdun, but was afraid to get out of reach of Metz. He +won first an indecisive battle at Borny (August 14), which was +unproductive of any concrete advantage. On August 16, he let himself be +turned back, by an enemy only half as numerous, at Rezonville +(Vionville, Mars-la-Tour). On the 18th, he encountered, on the +contrary, a much larger force at Saint-Privat (Gravelotte) and let +himself be cooped up in Metz. Critics of Bazaine say that he could have +turned both Rezonville and Gravelotte to the advantage of the French. + +The familiar military uncertainties now began to show themselves in the +movements of Mac-Mahon and his troops. The armies of Steinmetz and of +Frederick Charles were united under command of the latter to beleaguer +Metz, and a smaller force under Prince Albert of Saxony was thrown off +to coöperate with the army of the Crown Prince in its advance on Paris. +Mac-Mahon had collected about one hundred and twenty thousand men, and +Napoleon, without real authority except as a meddler, was with him. The +plan was originally to fall back for the protection of Paris, but the +Empress-Regent was afraid to have a defeated Emperor return to the +capital lest revolution ensue, and Palikao urged a swift advance to +rescue Metz, crushing Prince Albert of Saxony on the way, taking +Frederick Charles between the two fires of rescuers and besieged, with +the Crown Prince still too far away to be dangerous. Meanwhile +Mac-Mahon moved to Reims, which was neither on the direct road to Paris +nor to Metz, and at last started to the rescue of Bazaine by the +roundabout route of Montmédy, continually hesitating and retracing his +steps. On receiving news of his progress, the armies of the Crown Prince +and of Prince Albert converged northward. Mac-Mahon's right wing, under +General de Failly, was surprised at Beaumont, and finally the French +army in disorder drew up in most unfavorable positions between the Meuse +and the Belgian frontier, to face a foe twice as numerous and already +nearly completely surrounding it. The battle of Sedan broke out on +September 1. Mac-Mahon was wounded early in the fight and gave over the +command to Ducrot, in turn superseded by Wimpffen, already designated by +the Ministry to replace Mac-Mahon in case of accident. After a fierce +battle it fell to General de Wimpffen to capitulate on September 2. By +the disaster of Sedan the Germans captured the Emperor, a marshal of +France, and the whole of one of its two armies. + +The news of the overwhelming defeat of Sedan struck Paris like a +thunderbolt. Jules Favre proposed to the Corps législatif the overthrow +of Napoleon and of his dynasty; Thiers, who favored the restoration of +the Orléans family, wished the convocation of a Constituent Assembly; +the comte de Palikao asked for a provisional governing commission of +which he should be the lieutenant-general. But, before anything was +done, the Paris mob invaded the legislative chamber. Gambetta, with the +majority of the Paris Deputies, went to the Hôtel de Ville, and to +prevent a more radical set from seizing the Government, proclaimed the +Republic (September 4). A Government of National Defence was constituted +of which General Trochu became President, Jules Favre Minister of +Foreign Affairs, and Gambetta Minister of the Interior. Thiers was not a +member, but gave his support. Eugénie escaped from the Tuileries to the +home of her American dentist, Dr. Evans, and then fled to England. + +Jules Favre was innocent enough to think that the Germans would be +satisfied with the overthrow of Napoleon, and he was rash enough to +declare that France would not yield "an inch of its territory or a +stone of its fortresses." But, in an interview with Bismarck at +Ferrières, on September 19, he realized the oppressiveness of the German +demands. The rhetorical and emotional, even tearful, Jules Favre was +faced by a harsh and unrelenting conqueror, and the meeting ended +without an agreement. Meanwhile Paris was invested by the German forces +of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Saxony after a defeat of some +French troops at Châtillon. William, Bismarck, and Moltke took up their +station at Versailles. Europe, made suspicious by the numerous changes +of government in France in the nineteenth century, and moved also by +selfish reasons, refused its aid and looked on with indifference. Thiers +made a fruitless quest through Europe for practical aid, bringing home +only meaningless expressions of sympathy. + +Unfortunately even a number of people in the provinces, relaxed by the +factitious prosperity of the imperial régime, were too willing to yield +to the invaders. Where resistance was brave it appeared fruitless: +Strassburg capitulated on September 28, after the Germans had burned +its library and bombarded the cathedral. A scratch army on the Loire, +under La Motterouge, was beaten at Artenay (October 10) and had to +evacuate Orléans. On October 18, the Germans captured Châteaudun after +heroic resistance by National Guards and sharpshooters. + +Though one of the two great French armies was in captivity and the other +besieged in Metz, the idea of submission never for a moment entered +Gambetta's head. Paris was under the command of Trochu, patriotic and +brave, but military critic rather than leader, discouraged from the +beginning, and unable to take advantage of opportunities. A delegation +of the Government of National Defence had established itself at Tours to +avoid the German besiegers, but two of its members, Crémieux and +Glais-Bizoin, were elderly and weak. Admiral Fourichon was the most +competent. Gambetta escaped from Paris by balloon on October 7, and, +reaching Tours in safety, made himself by his energy and patriotic +inspiration, practically dictator and organizer of resistance to the +invaders. + +Léon Gambetta, a young lawyer politician of thirty-two, of +inexhaustible energy and impassioned eloquence, was the son of an +Italian grocer settled at Cahors. With the help of his assistant Charles +de Freycinet, he levied and armed in four months six hundred thousand +men, an average of five thousand a day. Everything was done in haste and +unsatisfactorily,--the army of General Chanzy was equipped with guns of +fifteen different patterns. But Gambetta did the task of a giant, in +spite of another crushing blow to France, the surrender of Metz. + +Bazaine had let himself be cooped up in Metz. Instead of being moved by +patriotism, he thought only of his own interests and ambitions. In the +midst of the cataclysm which had fallen on France he aspired to hold the +position of power. The Emperor gone and the Republic destined, Bazaine +thought, to fall, he would be left at the head of the only army. His +would be the task of treating for peace with Germany, and then he would +perhaps become in France regent instead of the Empress, or +Marshal-Lieutenant of the Empire, like the Spanish marshals. So he +neglected favorable military opportunities, and dallied over plans of +peace, while Bismarck misled him with fruitless propositions or false +emissaries like the adventurer Regnier. Finally, on October 27, Bazaine +had to surrender Metz, with three marshals (himself, Canrobert, and Le +Boeuf), sixty generals, six thousand officers, and one hundred and +seventy-three thousand men. France was deprived of her last trained +forces, and the besieging army of Frederick Charles was set free to help +in the conquest of France. After the war Bazaine was condemned to death, +by court-martial, for treason. His sentence was commuted to life +imprisonment, but he afterwards escaped from the fortress in which he +was confined and died in obscurity and disgrace at Madrid. + +No sooner did the news of the capitulation of Metz reach Paris than a +regrettable affair took place. There was much dissatisfaction with the +indecision of the Provisional Government, and, on October 31, a mob +invaded the Hôtel de Ville and arrested the chief members of the +commission. Fortunately they were released later the same day and a +plebiscite of November 3 confirmed the powers of the Government of +National Defence. Fortunately, too, within a few days came news of the +first real success of the French during the war, the battle of Coulmiers +(November 9). + +Gambetta had succeeded during October in organizing the Army of the +Loire which, under General d'Aurelle de Paladines, defeated the Bavarian +forces of von der Thann at Coulmiers and recaptured Orléans. The plan +was to push on to Paris and the objections of d'Aurelle were overcome by +Gambetta. But the fall of Metz had released German reinforcements. After +an unsuccessful contest by the right wing at Beaune-la-Rolande (November +28), and a partial victory at Villepion, the French were defeated in +turn on December 2 at Loigny or Patay (left wing), on December 3 at +Artenay. The Germans reoccupied Orléans and the first Army of the Loire +was dispersed. The Government moved from Tours to Bordeaux. + +After Coulmiers General Trochu had planned a sortie from Paris to meet +the Army of the Loire. This advance was under command of General Ducrot, +but was delayed by trouble with pontoon bridges. The various battles of +the Marne (November 30-December 2) culminated in the terrible fight and +repulse of Villiers and Champigny. In the north, a small army hastily +brought together under temporary command of General Favre was defeated +at Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens (November 27). + +The last phase of the Franco-Prussian War begins with the crushing of +the Army of the Loire and the check of the advance to Champigny. With +unwearied tenacity Gambetta tried to reorganize the Army of the Loire. A +portion became the second Army of the Loire or of the West, under +Chanzy. The rest, under Bourbaki, became the Army of the East. Faidherbe +tried to revive the Army of the North. + +To Chanzy, on the whole the most capable French general of the war, was +assigned the task of trying, with a smaller force, what d'Aurelle had +already failed in accomplishing, a drive on Paris. In this task Bourbaki +and Faidherbe were expected by Gambetta to coöperate. Instead of +succeeding, Chanzy, bravely fighting, was driven back, first down the +Loire, in the long-contested battle of Josnes (Villorceau or Beaugency) +(December 7-10), then up the valley of the tributary Loir to Vendôme +and Le Mans. There the army, reduced almost to a mob, made a new stand. +In a battle between January 10 and 12, this army was again routed and +what was left thrown back to Laval. + +Faidherbe, taking the offensive in the north, fought an indecisive +contest at Pont-Noyelles (December 23) and took Bapaume (January 3). But +his endeavor to proceed to the assistance of Paris was frustrated, he +was unable to relieve Péronne, which fell on January 9, and was defeated +at Saint-Quentin on January 19. + +Bourbaki, in spite of his reputation, showed himself inferior to Chanzy +and Faidherbe. He let his army lose morale by his hesitation, and then +accepted with satisfaction Freycinet's plan to move east upon Germany +instead of to the rescue of Paris. On the eastern frontier Colonel +Denfert-Rochereau was tenaciously holding Belfort, which was never +captured by the Germans during the whole war.[2] Bourbaki's +dishearteningly slow progress received no effective assistance from +Garibaldi. This Italian soldier of fortune, now somewhat in his +decline, had offered his services to France and was in command of a +small body of guerillas and sharpshooters, the Army of the Vosges. With +alternate periods of inactivity, failure, and success, Garibaldi perhaps +did more harm than good to France. He monopolized the services of +several thousand men, and yet, through his prestige as a distinguished +foreign volunteer, he could not be brought under control. Bourbaki won +the battle of Villersexel on January 9. Pushing on to Belfort he was +defeated only a few miles from the town in the battle of Héricourt, or +Montbéliard, along the river Lisaine. The army, now transformed into +panic-stricken fugitives, made its way painfully through bitter cold and +snow, and Bourbaki tried to commit suicide. He was succeeded by General +Clinchant. When Paris capitulated, on January 28, and an armistice was +signed, this Army of the East was omitted. Jules Favre at Paris failed +to notify Gambetta in the provinces of this exception, and the army, +hearing of the armistice, ceased its flight, only to be relentlessly +followed by the Germans. Finally, on February 1, the remnants of the +army fled across the Swiss frontier and found safety on neutral soil. + +Meanwhile, in Paris the tightening of the Prussian lines had made the +food problem more and more difficult, and the population were reduced to +small rations and unpalatable diet. After Champigny the German general +von Moltke communicated with the besieged, informing them of the defeat +of Orléans, and the means seemed opened for negotiations. But the +opportunity was rejected, and the Government even refused to be +represented at an international conference, then opening in London, +because of its unwillingness to apply to Bismarck for a safe-conduct for +its representative. A chance to bring the condition of France before the +Powers was neglected. Between December 21 and 26, a sally to Le Bourget +was driven back, and, on the next day, the bombardment of the forts +began. On January 5, the Prussian batteries opened fire on the city +itself. On January 18, the Germans took a spectacular revenge for the +conquests of Louis XIV by the coronation of King William of Prussia as +Emperor of the united German people. The ceremony took place in the +great Galerie des Glaces of Louis's magnificent palace of Versailles. +The very next day the triumph of the Germans received its consecration, +not only by the battle of Saint-Quentin (already mentioned), but by the +repulse of the last offensive movement from Paris. To placate the Paris +population an advance was made on Versailles with battalions largely +composed of National Guards. At Montretout and Buzenval they were routed +and driven back in a panic to Paris. General Trochu was forced to resign +the military governorship of Paris, though by a strange contradiction he +kept the presidency of the Government of National Defence, and was +replaced by General Vinoy. On January 22, a riot broke out in the +capital in which blood was shed in civil strife. Finally, on January 28, +Jules Favre had to submit to the conqueror's terms. Paris capitulated +and the garrison was disarmed, with the exception of a few thousand +regulars to preserve order, and the National Guard; a war tribute was +imposed on the city and an armistice of twenty-one days was signed to +permit the election and gathering of a National Assembly to pass on +terms of peace. With inexcusable carelessness Jules Favre neglected to +warn Gambetta in the provinces that this armistice began for the rest of +France only on the thirty-first and that, as already stated, the Army of +the East was excepted from its provisions. + +Gambetta was furious at the surrender and at the presumption of Paris to +decide for the provinces. He preached a continuation of the war, and the +intervention of Bismarck was necessary to prevent him from excluding +from the National Assembly all who had had any connection with the +imperial régime. Jules Simon was sent from Paris to counteract +Gambetta's efforts. The latter yielded before the prospect of civil war, +withdrew from power, and, on February 8, elections were held for the +National Assembly. + +The downfall of what had been considered the chief military nation of +Europe was due to many involved causes. The Empire was responsible for +the _débâcle_ and the Government of National Defence was unable to +create everything out of nothing. Many people were ready to be +discouraged after a first defeat, and few realized what Germany's +demands were going to be. The imperial army was insufficiently equipped +and the majority of its generals were inefficient and lacking in +initiative: there was no preparation, no system, little discipline. + +During the period of National Defence the members of the Government +themselves were usually wanting in experience and in diplomacy, and the +badly trained armies made up of raw recruits were liable to panics or +unable to follow up an advantage. There was jealousy, mistrust, and +frequent unwillingness to subordinate politics to patriotism, or, at any +rate, to make allowances for other forms of patriotism than one's own. +Gambetta and Jules Favre were primarily orators and tribunes and +indulged in too many wordy proclamations, in which habit they were +followed by General Trochu. The patriotism and enthusiasm of Gambetta +were undeniable, but he was imbued with the principles and memories of +the French Revolution, including the efficacy of national volunteers, +the ability of France to resist all Europe, and the subordination of +military to civil authority. Consequently, in a time of stress he nagged +the generals and interfered, and gave free rein to Freycinet to do the +same. They upset plans made by experienced generals, and sent civilians +to spy over them, with power to retire them from command. They were, +moreover, trying to thrust a republic down the throats of a hostile +majority of the population, for a large proportion of those not +Bonapartists were in favor of a monarchy. The wonder is, therefore, that +France was able to do so much. M. de Freycinet was not boasting when he +wrote later, "Alone, without allies, without leaders, without an army, +deprived for the first time of communication with its capital, it +resisted for five months, with improvised resources, a formidable enemy +that the regular armies of the Empire, though made up of heroic +soldiers, had not been able to hold back five weeks."[3] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Moritz Busch, _Bismarck_, vol. 1, chap. 1. + +[2] He surrendered by order of the Government. The isolated incident of +the resistance of the town of Bitche through all the war is no less +noteworthy. + +[3] _La guerre en province_, quoted by Welschinger, _La guerre de 1870_, +vol. II, p. 295. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADOLPHE THIERS + +February, 1871, to May, 1873 + + +The elections were held in hot haste. The short time allowed before the +convening of the Assembly made the usual campaign impossible. It met at +Bordeaux on February 13, 1871. The peace party was in very considerable +majority, and though Gambetta received the distinction of a multiple +election in nine separate districts, Thiers was chosen in twenty-six. +The radicals and advocates of guerilla warfare and of a "guerre à +outrance" found themselves few in numbers. Many of the representatives +had only local or rural reputation. They were new to parliamentary life, +and in the majority of cases were averse to a permanent republican form +of government. They would have preferred a monarchy, but they were ready +to accept a provisional republic which would incur the task of settling +the war with Germany and bear the onus of defeat. They were especially +suspicious of Paris, and hostile to it as the home of fickleness, of +irresponsibility, and of mob rule. They were largely provincial lawyers +and rural landed gentry, conservative and clerical, who felt that too +much importance had been usurped by the Parisian Government of National +Defence. + +[Illustration: ADOLPHE THIERS] + +The new Assembly, therefore, gradually fell into several groups. On the +conservative side came the Extreme Right, made up of out-and-out +Legitimists, believing in absolutism and the divine right of kings; the +Right, composed of monarchists desirous of conciliating the old régime +with the demands of modern times and of making it a practical form of +government; the Right Centre, consisting of constitutional monarchists +and followers of the Orléans branch of the house of Bourbon. Among the +anti-republicans the Bonapartists were almost negligible. Next came the +Left Centre of conservative Republicans, the republican Left, and the +radical Union républicaine, partisans of Gambetta and advanced +"reformers." + +At the first public session of the Assembly Jules Grévy was chosen +presiding officer. A former leader of the opposition to the Empire, he +had not participated in affairs since the Fourth of September, and, +therefore, had not yet identified himself with any set. Among the +Republicans he was averse to Gambetta and remained so even when the +latter became moderate. On February 17, Adolphe Thiers, the +"peace-maker," was by an almost unanimous vote elected "Chief of the +Executive Power of the French Republic." It was he who, thirty years +before, had fortified Paris that had now fallen only by famine, who had +opposed the war when it might yet have been averted, who had travelled +over Europe to defend the interests of France, who had been elected +representative by the choice of twenty-six departments. + +M. Thiers formed a coalition cabinet representing different shades of +political feeling, and in one of his early speeches, on March 10, he +formulated a plan of party truce for the purpose of national +reorganization. This plan was acquiesced in by the Assembly and bears in +history the name of the Compact of Bordeaux (_pacte de Bordeaux_). +France was to continue under a republican government, without injury to +the later claims of any party. Thiers, himself, as a former Orléanist, +advocated, at least in his relations with the monarchists, a +Restoration, with the _sine qua non_ that an attempt should be made at a +fusion of the Legitimists and the Orléanists. Meanwhile he was the chief +executive official of a republic. + +But, even before the formulation of the truce of parties, Thiers was in +eager haste to settle the terms of peace with Germany before the +expiration of the armistice. The preliminaries were discussed between +Thiers and Bismarck at Versailles. The Germans were almost as anxious as +the French to see the end of the war, and the objections and delays of +Bismarck were partly tactical. Brief successive prolongations of the +armistice were obtained, and finally the preliminaries were signed on +February 26. Thiers made herculean efforts to keep for France Belfort, +which Bismark claimed, and finally succeeded on condition that the +German army should occupy Paris from March 1 to the ratification of the +preliminaries by the Assembly. France was to give up Alsace and a part +of Lorraine, including Metz, and pay an indemnity of five billion +francs. German troops were to occupy the conquered districts and +evacuate them progressively as the indemnity was paid. The peace +discussions afterwards continued at Brussels, and the final treaty was +signed at Frankfort on May 10, 1871. + +No sooner were the preliminaries signed than Thiers returned post-haste +to Bordeaux, and obtained an almost immediate assent (March 1), so that +the Germans were obliged to forego a large part of their plans for a +triumphal entry into Paris and a review by the Emperor. Only one body of +thirty thousand men marched in through one section and, two days later, +evacuated the city. + +The same meeting which ratified the preliminaries of peace officially +proclaimed the expulsion of the imperial dynasty and declared Napoleon +III responsible for the invasion, the ruin and dismemberment of France. +The same day also beheld the pathetic withdrawal of the representatives +of Alsace and of Lorraine, turned over to the conqueror. + +The misfortunes of France were far from ended. Paris was soon to break +out into rebellion under the eyes of the Germans still in possession of +many of the suburbs. The enemy looked on and saw Frenchman killing +Frenchman in civil war. + +It had become obvious that the division of administration between +Bordeaux and Paris was making government difficult. The Assembly, still +suspicious of Paris, decided to transfer its place of meeting to +Versailles. But Paris itself was in a state of nervous hysteria as a +result of the long and exhausting siege (_fièvre obsidionale_). The +Paris proletariat were as jealous and suspicious of the Assembly as the +Assembly of them. The suggestion of a transfer to Versailles instead of +to Paris seemed a direct challenge. Versailles recalled too easily Louis +XIV and the Bourbons. The monarchical sympathies of the Assembly were, +moreover, well known, and the Parisians dreaded the restoration of +royalty. The people were hungry and penniless, and industry and commerce +had almost completely ceased. The city was full, besides, of soldiers +disarmed through the armistice and ready for riot. On the other hand, +the National Guards, a large body of semi-disciplined militia made up, +at least in part, of the dregs of the populace, had been allowed to +retain their weapons, and many of them gave their time to drunkenness, +loafing, and listening to agitators. Some rather injudicious +condemnations of leaders in the October riots merely aggravated the +dissatisfaction. All this led to the Commune. + +The leaders of the Commune were, some of them, sincere though visionary +reformers, whose hearts rankled at the sufferings of the poor and the +inequalities of wealth and privilege. The majority were mischief-makers +and café orators, loquacious but incompetent or inexperienced, without +definite plans and unfit to be leaders, some vicious and some dishonest. +The rank and file soon became a lawless mob, ready to burn and murder, +imitating, in their ignorant cult of "liberty," the worst phases of the +French Revolution and its Reign of Terror. Still, the Communards have +their admirers to-day, and, as the world advances in radicalism, it is +not unlikely that the Jacobin Charles Delescluze, the bloodthirsty Raoul +Rigault, and the brilliant and scholarly Gustave Flourens will be +considered heroic precursors. + +The idea of the Commune was decentralization. It was an experiment +aiming at a free and autonomous Paris serving as model for the other +self-governing communes of France, united merely for their common needs. +It amounted almost to the quasi-independence of each separate town. But +mixed up with the theorists of the Commune were countless anarchist +revolutionaries, followers of the teachings of Blanqui, as well as +admirers of the great Revolution which overthrew the old régime, and +socialists of various types. + +The germs of the movement which was to culminate in the Commune were +visible at an early hour. The dissatisfaction of the Radicals with the +moderation of the Government of National Defence, the riots of October +31 and January 22 were all symptoms of the discontent of the +proletariat. Indeed, the proclamation of the Republic, on September 4, +was itself an object lesson in illegality to the malcontents. Organized +dissatisfaction began to centre about the obstreperous and disorderly, +but armed and now "federated" National Guards. Manifestoes signed by +self-appointed committees of plebeian patriots appeared on the walls of +Paris. These committees finally merged into the "Comité central," or +were replaced by it. This committee advocated the trial and imprisonment +of the members of the Government of National Defence, and protested +against the disarmament of the National Guards and the entrance of the +Germans into Paris. + +The Government was almost helpless. The few regulars left under arms in +Paris were of doubtful reliance, and General d'Aurelle de Paladines, now +in command of the National Guards, was not obeyed. A certain number of +artillery guns in Paris had been paid for by popular subscription, and +the rumor spread at one time that these were to be turned over to the +Germans. The populace seized them and dragged them to different parts of +the city. + +The Government decided at last to act boldly and, on March 18, +dispatched General Lecomte with some troops to seize the guns at +Montmartre. But the mob surrounded the soldiers, and these mutinied and +refused to obey orders to fire, and arrested their own commander. Later +in the day General Lecomte was shot with General Clément Thomas, a +former commander of the National Guard, who rather thoughtlessly and +out of curiosity had mingled with the crowd and was recognized. + +Thus armed forces in Paris were in direct rebellion. Other outlying +quarters had also sprung into insurrection. M. Thiers, who had recently +arrived from Bordeaux, and the chief government officials quartered in +Paris, withdrew to Versailles. Paris had to be besieged again and +conquered by force of arms. + +In Paris the first elections of the Commune were held on March 26. On +April 3 an armed sally of the Communards towards Versailles was repulsed +with the loss of some of their chief leaders, including Flourens. +Meanwhile, the Army of Versailles had been organized and put under the +command of Mac-Mahon. Discipline was restored and the advance on Paris +began. + +As time passed in the besieged city the saner men were swept into the +background and reckless counsels prevailed. Some of the military leaders +were competent men, such as Cluseret, who had been a general in the +American army during the Civil War, or Rossel, a trained officer of +engineers. But many were foreign adventurers and soldiers of fortune: +Dombrowski, Wrobleski, La Cecilia. The civil administration grew into a +reproduction of the worst phases of the Reign of Terror. Frenzied women +egged on destruction and slaughter, and when at last the national troops +fought their way into the conquered city, it was amid the flaming ruins +of many of its proudest buildings and monuments. + +The siege lasted two months. On May 21, the Army of Versailles crossed +the fortifications and there followed the "Seven Days' Battle," a +street-by-street advance marked by desperate resistance by the +Communards and bloodthirsty reprisals by the Versaillais. Civil war is +often the most cruel and the Versailles troops, made up in large part of +men recently defeated by the Germans, were glad to conquer somebody. +Over seventeen thousand were shot down by the victors in this last week. +The French to-day are horrified and ashamed at the cruel massacres of +both sides and try to forget the Commune. Suffice it here to say that +the last serious resistance was made in the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, +where those _fédérés_ taken arms in hand were lined up against a wall +and shot. Countless others, men, women, and children, herded together in +bands, were tried summarily and either executed, imprisoned, or deported +thousands of miles away to New Caledonia, until, years after, in 1879 +and 1880, the pacification of resentments brought amnesty to the +survivors.[4] + +Fortunately, M. Thiers had more inspiring tasks to deal with than the +repression of the Commune. One was the liberation of French soil from +German occupation, another the reorganization of the army. With +wonderful speed and energy the enormous indemnity was raised and +progressively paid, the Germans simultaneously evacuating sections of +French territory. By March, 1873, France was in a position to agree to +pay the last portion of the war tribute the following September (after +the fall of Thiers, as it proved), thus ridding its soil of the last +German many months earlier than had been provided for by the Treaty of +Frankfort. The recovery of France aroused the admiration of the +civilized world, and the anger of Bismarck, sorry not to have bled the +country more. He viewed also with suspicion the organization of the army +and the law of July, 1872, establishing practically universal military +service. He affected to see in it France's desire for early revenge for +the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. + +M. Thiers, the great leader, did not find his rule uncontested. Brought +into power as the indispensable man to guide the nation out of war, his +conceit was somewhat tickled and he wanted to remain necessary. Though +over seventy he had shown the energy and endurance of a man in his prime +joined to the wisdom and experience of a life spent in public service +and the study of history. Elected by an anti-Republican Assembly and +himself originally a Royalist, the formulator also of the Bordeaux +Compact, he began to feel, nevertheless, in all sincerity that a +conservative republic would be the best government, and his vanity made +him think himself its best leader. This conviction was intensified for +a while by his successful tactics in threatening to resign, when +thwarted, and thus bringing the Assembly to terms. But he tried the +scheme once too often. + +The majority in the Assembly was not, in fact, anxious to give free rein +to Thiers, and it had wanted to avoid committing itself definitely to a +republic. It wanted also to insure its own continuation as long as +possible, contrary to the wishes of advanced Republicans like Gambetta, +who declared that the National Assembly no longer stood for the +expression of the popular will and should give way to a real constituent +assembly to organize a permanent republic. + +The first endeavor of the Royalists was to bring about a restoration of +the monarchy. The princes of the Orléanist branch were readmitted to +France and restored to their privileges. A fusion between the two +branches of the house of Bourbon was absolutely necessary to accomplish +anything. The members of the younger or constitutionalist Orléans line, +and notably its leader, the comte de Paris, were disposed to yield to +the representative of the legitimist branch, the comte de Chambord. He +was an honorable and upright man, yet one who in statesmanship and +religion was unable to understand anything since the Revolution. He had +not been in France for over forty years, he was permeated with a +religious mystical belief not only in the divinity of royalty, but in +his own position as God-given (_Dieudonné_ was one of his names) and the +only saviour of France. Moreover, he could not forgive his cousins the +fact that their great-grandfather had voted for the execution of Louis +XVI. So he treated their advances haughtily, declined to receive the +comte de Paris, and issued a manifesto to the country proclaiming his +unwillingness to give up the white flag for the tricolor. Henry V could +not let anybody tear from his hand the white standard of Henry IV, of +Francis I, and of Jeanne d'Arc. + +Such mediævalism dealt the monarchical cause a crushing blow. The +Royalists had already begun to look askance at M. Thiers and hinted that +his readiness to go on with the Republic was a tacit violation of the +Bordeaux Compact. Under the circumstances, however, his sincerity need +not be doubted in believing a republic the only outcome, and his +ambition or vanity may be excused for wishing to continue its leader. By +the Rivet-Vitet measure of August 31, 1871, M. Thiers, hitherto "chief +of executive power," was called "President of the French Republic." He +was to exercise his functions so long as the Assembly had not completed +its work and was to be responsible to the Assembly. Thus the legislative +body elected for an emergency was taking upon itself constituent +authority and was tending to perpetuate the Republic which the majority +disliked. + +From this time the tension grew greater between Thiers and the Assembly, +which begrudged him the credit for the negotiations still proceeding, +and already mentioned above, for the evacuation of France by the +Germans. It thwarted the wish of the Republicans to transfer the seat of +the executive and legislature to Paris. Thiers was, indeed, working away +from the Bordeaux Compact and was advocating a republic, though a +conservative one. This "treachery" the monarchists could not forgive, +though bye-elections were constantly increasing the Republican +membership. Thiers did not, on the other hand, welcome the advanced +republicanism of Gambetta declaring war on clericalism, and proclaiming +the advent of a new "social stratum" (_une couche sociale nouvelle_) for +the government of the nation. + +By the middle of 1872, Thiers was the open advocate of "la République +conservatrice," and this gradual transformation of a transitional +republic into a permanent one was what the monarchists could not accept. +So they declared open war on M. Thiers. On November 29, 1872, a +committee of thirty was appointed at Thiers's instigation to regulate +the functions of public authority and the conditions of ministerial +responsibility. This was inevitably another step toward the affirmation +of a permanent republic by the clearer specification of governmental +attributes. The majority of the committee were hostile to M. Thiers and +were determined to overthrow him. The Left was also growing dissatisfied +with his opposition to a dissolution. He found it increasingly difficult +to ride two horses. The committee of thirty wished to prevent Thiers +from exercising pressure on the Assembly by intervention in debates and +threats to resign. In February and March, 1873, it proposed that the +President should notify the Assembly by message of his intention to +speak, and the ensuing discussion was not to take place in his presence. +M. Thiers protested in vain against this red tape (_chinoiseries_). The +effect was to drive him more and more from the Assembly, where his +personal influence might be felt. + +The crisis became acute when Jules Grévy, President of the Assembly, a +partisan of Thiers, resigned his office after a disagreement on a +parliamentary matter. His successor, M. Buffet, at once rigorously +supported the hostile Right. In April an election in Paris brought into +opposition Charles de Rémusat, Minister of Foreign Affairs and personal +friend of Thiers, and Barodet, candidate of the advanced and disaffected +Republicans. The governmental candidate was defeated. Encouraged by this +the duc de Broglie, leader of the Right, followed up the attack, +declaring the Government unable to withstand radicalism. In May he made +an interpellation on the governmental policy. Thiers invoked his right +of reply and, on May 24, gave a brilliant defence of his past actions, +formulating his plans for the future organization of the Republic. A +resolution was introduced by M. Ernoul, censuring the Government and +calling for a rigidly conservative policy. The government was put in the +minority by a close vote and M. Thiers forthwith resigned. The victors +at once chose as his successor the candidate of the Rights, the maréchal +de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta, the defeated general of Sedan, a brave and +upright man, but a novice in politics and statecraft. He declared his +intention of pursuing a conservative policy and of re-establishing and +maintaining "l'ordre moral." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] The fierceness of hatreds engendered by the Commune may be +illustrated by the following untranslatable comment by Alexandre Dumas +fils on Gustave Courbet, a famous writer and a famous painter: "De quel +accouplement fabuleux d'une limace et d'un paon, de quelles antithèses +génésiaques, de quel suintement sébacé peut avoir été générée cette +chose qu'on appelle M. Gustave Courbet? Sous quelle cloche, à l'aide de +quel fumier, par suite de quelle mixture de vin, de bière, de mucus +corrosif et d'oedème flatulent a pu pousser cette courge sonore et +poilue, ce ventre esthétique, incarnation du moi imbécile et +impuissant?" (Quoted in Fiaux's history of the Commune, pp. 582-83.) + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARÉCHAL DE MAC-MAHON + +May, 1873, to January, 1879 + + +[Illustration: EDME-PATRICE-MAURICE DE MAC-MAHON] + +"L'ordre moral," such was the political catchword of the new +administration. Just what it meant was not very clear. In general, +however, it was obviously intended to imply resistance to radicalism +(republicanism) and the maintenance of a strictly conservative policy, +strongly tinged with clericalism.[5] The victors over M. Thiers had +revived their desire of a monarchical restoration and many of them hoped +that the maréchal de Mac-Mahon would shortly make way for the comte de +Chambord. But though an anti-republican he was never willing to lend +himself to any really illegal or dishonest manoeuvres, and his sense +of honor was of great help to him in his want of political competence. +So he did not prove the pliant tool of his creators, and his term of +office saw the definite establishment of the Republic. + +The first Cabinet was led by the duc de Broglie who took the portfolio +of Foreign Affairs. The new Government was viewed askance by the +conquerors at Berlin, who disliked such an orderly transmission of +powers as an indication of national recovery and stability. Bismarck +even exacted new credentials from the French Ambassador. Meanwhile, the +Minister of the Interior, Beulé, proceeded to consolidate the authority +of the new Cabinet by numerous changes in the prefects of the +departments, turning out the "rascals" of Thiers's administration to +make room for appointees more amenable to new orders. + +The time now seemed ripe for another effort to establish the monarchy +under the comte de Chambord. It culminated in the "monarchical campaign" +of October, 1873. The monarchical sympathizers were hand-in-glove with +the Clericals and for the most part coincided with them. The Royalists +were inevitably clerical if for no other reason than that monarchy and +religion both seemed to involve continuity, and the legitimacy of the +monarchy had always been blessed by the Church. The revolutionary +Rights of Man were held to be inconsistent with the traditional Rights +of God and the monarchy. Moreover, the founders of the third republic +had, with noteworthy exceptions like the devout Trochu, been mildly +anti-clerical. They were for the most part religious liberals and +deists, rarely atheists, but that was enough to array the bishops, like +monseigneur Pie of Poitiers, against them. Indeed, a quick religious +revival swept over the land, as was shown by numerous pilgrimages, +including one to Paray-le-Monial, home of the cult of the Sacred Heart. +France herself should be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, and the idea +was evolved, afterwards carried out, of the erection of the great votive +basilica of the Sacré Coeur on the heights of Montmartre. + +The first step toward the restoration of "Henry V" was to persuade the +comte de Paris to make new efforts for a fusion of the two branches. +Swallowing his pride, the comte de Paris generously went to the home of +the comte de Chambord at Frohsdorf, in Austria, in August, and paid his +respects to him as head of the family. As the comte de Chambord had no +children, it was expected that the comte de Paris would be his +successor. But the old difficulty about the white flag cropped up, and +the comte de Chambord stubbornly refused to rule over a country above +which waved the revolutionary tricolor. + +Matters dragged on through the summer, during the parliamentary recess, +and the conservative leaders were outspoken as to their plans to +overthrow the Republic. It was hoped that some compromise might be +reached by which could be reconciled, as to the flag, the desires of the +Assembly which was expected to recall the pretender and those of the +comte de Chambord who considered his divinely inspired will superior to +that of the representatives of the people. It was suggested that the +question of the flag might be settled _after_ his accession to the +throne. The embassy to Salzburg, in October, of M. Chesnelong, an +emissary of a committee of nine of the Royalist leaders, achieved only a +half-success, but left matters sufficiently indeterminate to encourage +them in continuing their plans. Matters seemed progressing swimmingly +when, on October 27, an unexpected letter from the pretender to M. +Chesnelong categorically declared that _nothing_ would induce him to +sacrifice the white banner. + +The effect of this letter was to make all hopes of a restoration +impossible. Everybody knew that the majority of Frenchmen would never +give up their flag for the white one, whether this were dignified by the +name of "standard of Arques and Ivry," or whether one called it +irreverently a "towel," as did Pope Pius IX, impatient at the obstinacy +of the comte de Chambord. In the midst of the general confusion only one +thing seemed feasible if governmental anarchy were to be avoided, +namely, the prorogation of Mac-Mahon's authority, as a rampart against +rising democracy and a permanent republic. This condition the Orléanist +Right Centre turned to their advantage. By a vote of November 20, the +executive power was conferred for a definite period of seven years on +the maréchal de Mac-Mahon. Thus a head of the nation was provided who +might perhaps outlast the Assembly. The vote might be interpreted either +as the beginning of a permanent republican régime, as it proved to be, +or as the establishment of a definite interlude in anticipation of a new +attempt to set up a monarchy, this time to the advantage of the younger +branch. Many hoped that the comte de Chambord would soon be dead, his +white flag forgotten, and the way open to the comte de Paris. The +Orléanists were pleased by this latter idea, the Republicans were glad +to have the republican régime recognized for, at any rate, seven years +to come, accompanied by the promise of a constitutional commission of +thirty members. The Legitimists alone were disappointed, and, oblivious +of the fact that the comte de Chambord had lost through his folly, they +were before long ready to vent their wrath on Mac-Mahon and his adviser, +the duc de Broglie, who was responsible for the presidential +prorogation. + +The pretender had been completely taken aback at the impression produced +by his letter. Convinced of his divinely inspired omniscience, and +certain that he was the foreordained ruler of France, he had thought +that the Assembly would give way on the question of the flag, or that +the army would follow him, or that Mac-Mahon would yield. His state +coach had been made ready and a military uniform awaited him at a +tailor's. He hastened in secret to Versailles, where he remained for a +while in retirement to watch events, and where Mac-Mahon refused to see +him. Then, after the vote on the presidency, he sadly returned into +exile forever. + +Never was a greater service done to France than when the comte de +Chambord refused to give up his flag. Completely out of touch with the +country through a life spent in exile, inspired with the feeling of his +divine rights and their superiority to the will of democracy, he would +scarcely have ascended the throne before some conflict would have broken +out and the history of France would have registered one revolution more. + +The duc de Broglie had considered it good form to resign after the vote +of November 20, but Mac-Mahon immediately entrusted to him the selection +of a second Cabinet. In this Cabinet the portfolio of Foreign Affairs +was given to the duc Decazes, a skilled diplomat, but the Legitimists +were offended by some of the cabinet changes and their dislike of the +duc de Broglie gradually became more acute. Finally, after several +months of parliamentary skirmishing the second Broglie Cabinet fell +before a coalition vote of Republicans and extreme Royalists with a few +Bonapartists, on May 16, 1874. The Right Centre and Left Centre had +unsuccessfully joined in support of the Cabinet. The nation was taking +another step toward republican control and the overthrow of the +conservatives. + +From now on, Mac-Mahon's task became increasingly difficult. After the +split in the conservative majority it was necessary to rely on +combination ministries, representing different sets and harder to +reconcile or to propitiate. The result of Mac-Mahon's first efforts was +a Cabinet led by a soldier, General de Cissey, and having no pronounced +political tendencies. + +Party differences were becoming accentuated. The downfall of the Broglie +Cabinet had been largely due to the extreme Royalists and the Orléanists +could not forgive them. The situation was made worse by differences in +interpretation of the law of November 20, establishing the "septennat" +of the maréchal de Mac-Mahon. Some of the Monarchists maintained the +"septennat personnel," namely, the election of one specific person to +hold office for seven years, with the idea that he could withdraw at any +time in favor of a king. Others interpreted the law as establishing a +"septennat impersonnel," a definite truce of seven years, which should +still hold even if Mac-Mahon had to be replaced before the expiration of +the time by another President. Then, they hoped, their enemy Thiers +would be dead. The Republicans were, of course, desirous of making the +impersonal "septennat" lead to a permanent republic, and declared that +Mac-Mahon was not the President of a seven years' republic, but +President, for seven years, of the Republic. + +In this state of affairs the Bonapartists now became somewhat active +again. Strangely enough, the disasters of 1870 were already growing +sufficiently remote for some of the anti-Republicans to turn again to +the prospect of empire. This menace frightened the moderate Royalists +into what they had kept hesitating to do; that is to say, into spurring +to activity the purposely inactive and dilatory constitutional +commission. + +The stumbling-block was the recognition of the Republic itself and the +admission that the form of government existing in France was to be +permanent. There was much parliamentary skirmishing over various plans, +rejected one after the other, inclining in turn toward the Republic and +a monarchy. Finally, some of the Monarchists, discouraged by the rising +tide of "radicalism," and frightened lest unwillingness to accept a +conservative republic now might result still worse for them in the +future, rallied in support of the motion of M. Wallon, known as the +"amendement Wallon," which was adopted by a vote of 353 to 352 (January, +1875): "The President of the Republic is elected by absolute majority of +votes by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies united as a National +Assembly. He is chosen for seven years and is re-eligible." + +In this vote the fateful statement was made concerning the election of a +President other than Mac-Mahon and the transmission of power in a +republic. The third Republic received its definite consecration by a +majority of _one vote_. + +The vote on the Wallon amendment dealt with only one article of a +project not yet voted as a whole, but it was the crossing of the +Rubicon. The other articles were adopted by increased majorities. + +The Ministry of General de Cissey had already resigned upon a minor +question, but had held over at the President's request. Mac-Mahon now +asked the Monarchist M. Buffet to form a conservative conciliation +Cabinet, which was made up almost entirely from the Right Centre +(Orléanists) and the Left Centre (moderate Republicans) and accepted at +first by the Republican Left. By this Cabinet still one more step was +taken toward Republican preponderance. + +During the Buffet Ministry three important matters occupied public +attention. One was the completion of the new constitution. A second was +the creation of "free" universities, not under control of the State. +This step was advocated in the name of intellectual freedom, but the +whole scheme was backed by the Catholics and merely resulted in the +creation of Catholic faculties in several great cities. A third matter +was the intense anxiety over the prospect of a rupture with Germany. +Bismarck was renewing his policy of pin-pricks. The French army had been +strengthened by a battalion to every regiment, and so Bismarck +complained of the strictures of French and Belgian bishops on his +anti-papal policy. Whether he only meant to humiliate France still more, +or whether he actually desired a new rupture so as to crush the country +finally, is not clear. At any rate, with the aid of England and +especially of Russia, France showed that she was not helpless, and +Bismarck protested that he was absolutely friendly. + +By the close of 1875, the measures constituting the new Government had +been voted and, on December 31, the Assembly, which had governed France +since the Franco-Prussian War, was dissolved to make way for the new +legislature. During the succeeding elections M. Buffet's Cabinet, +antagonized by the Republicans and rent by internal dissensions, went to +pieces, M. Buffet personally suffered disastrously at the polls. The +slate was clear for a totally new organization. The Assembly had done +many a good service, but its dilatoriness in establishing a permanent +government, its ingratitude to M. Thiers, its clericalism, and its +stubbornness in trying to foist a king on the people made it pass away +unregretted by a country which had far outstripped it in republicanism. + +The "Constitution of 1875," under which, with some modifications, France +is still governed, is not a single document constructed _a priori_, like +the Constitution of the United States. It was partly the result of the +evolution of the National Assembly itself, partly the result of +compromises and dickerings between hostile groups. Particularly, it +expressed the jealousy of a monarchical assembly for a President of a +republic, and the desire, therefore, to keep power in the hands of its +own legislative successor. The Assembly took it for granted that the +Chamber of Deputies would have the same opinions as itself. As a matter +of fact, the political complexion of the legislature has been +consistently toward radicalism, and the result has hindered a strong +executive and promoted legislative demagogy. + +The Constitution of 1875 may be considered as consisting of the +Constitutional Law of February 25, relating to the organization of the +public powers (President, Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Ministers, +etc.); the Constitutional Law of the previous day, February 24, relating +to the organization of the Senate; the Constitutional Law of July 16, on +the relations of the public powers. Subsidiary "organic laws" voted +later determined the procedure for the election of Senators and +Deputies. The vote of February 25 was the crucial one in the definite +establishment of the Republican régime. The Constitution has undergone +certain slight modifications since its adoption. + +By the Constitution of 1875 the government of the French Republic was +vested in a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Senate consisted of +300 members, of whom 75 were chosen for life by the expiring Assembly, +their successors to be elected by co-optation in the Senate itself. The +other 225, chosen for nine years and renewable by thirds, were to be +elected by a method of indirect selection. In 1884, the choice of life +Senators ceased and the seats, as they fell vacant, have been +distributed among the Departments of the country. The Deputies were +elected by universal suffrage for a period of four years. Unless a +candidate obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, the election +was void, and a new one was necessary. Except during the period from +1885 to 1889, the Deputies have represented districts determined, unless +for densely populated ones, by the administrative _arrondissements_. +From 1885 to 1889, the _scrutin de liste_ was in operation: the _whole_ +Department voted on a ticket containing as many names as there were +_arrondissements_. The prerogatives of the two houses were identical +except that financial measures were to originate in the Chamber of +Deputies. As a matter of fact, the Senate has fallen into the +background, and the habit of considering the vote of the Chamber rather +than that of the Senate as important in a change of Ministry has made it +the true source of government in France. The two houses met at +Versailles until 1879; since then Paris has been the capital, except for +the election of a President. After separate decision by each house to do +so, or the request of the President, they could meet in joint assembly +as a Constitutional Convention to revise the constitution. + +The Senate and Chamber, united in joint session as a National Assembly, +were to choose a President for a definite term of seven years, not to +fill out an incomplete term vacated by another President. The President +could be re-elected. With the consent of the Senate he could dissolve +the Chamber, but this restriction made the privilege almost inoperative +in practice. He was irresponsible, the nominal executive and figurehead +of the State, but all his acts had to be countersigned by a responsible +Minister, by which his initiative was greatly reduced. In fact the +President had really less power than a constitutional king. + +The real executive authority was in the hands of the Cabinet, headed by +a Premier or _Président du conseil_.[6] The Ministry was responsible to +the Senate and Chamber (in practice, as we have seen, to the Chamber), +and was expected to resign as a whole if put by a vote in the minority. +By custom the President selects the Premier from the majority and the +latter selects his colleagues in the Cabinet, trying to make them +representatives of the wishes of the Parliament. The French Republic is +therefore managed by a parliamentary government. + +The first elections under the new constitution resulted very much as +might be expected: the Senate became in personnel the true successor of +the Assembly, the Chamber of Deputies contained most of the new men. The +Senate was conservative and monarchical, the Chamber was republican. +Therefore, the President of the Republic entrusted the formation of a +Ministry to M. Jules Dufaure, of the Left Centre, the views of which +group differed hardly at all from those of the Right Centre, except in a +full acceptance of the new conditions. Unfortunately, M. Dufaure found +it impossible to ride two horses at once and to satisfy both the +conservative Senate and the majority in the Chamber of more advanced +Republicans than himself. He mistrusted the Republican leader Gambetta, +though the latter was now far more moderate, and he sympathized too much +with the Clericals to suit the new order of things. So his Cabinet +resigned (December 2, 1876), less than nine months after its +appointment, and the maréchal de Mac-Mahon felt it necessary, very much +against his will, to call to power Jules Simon. He had previously tried +unsuccessfully to form a Cabinet from the Right Centre under the duc de +Broglie. + +The duc de Broglie remained, however, the power behind the throne. The +President was under the political advice of the conservative set, whose +firm conviction he shared, that the new Republic was advancing headlong +into irreligion. The course of political events now took on a strong +religious flavor. Jules Simon was a liberal, which was considered a +misfortune, though he announced himself now as "deeply republican and +deeply conservative." But people knew his unfriendly relations with +Gambetta, which dated from 1871, when he checkmated the dictator at +Bordeaux. It was hoped that open dissension might break out in the +Republican party which would justify measures tending to a conservative +reaction, and help tide over the time until 1880. Then the constitution +might be revised at the expiration of Mac-Mahon's term and the monarchy +perhaps restored. + +Gambetta was, however, now a very different man. Discarding his former +unbending radicalism, he was now the advocate of the "political policy +of results," or _opportunism_, a method of conciliation, of compromise, +and of waiting for the favorable opportunity. This was to be, +henceforth, the policy closely connected with his name and fame. So +Jules Simon soon was sacrificed. + +The efforts of the Clerical party bore chiefly in two directions: +control of education and advocacy of increased papal authority, +particularly of the temporal power of the Pope, dispossessed of his +states a few years before by the Government of Victor Emmanuel. This +latter course could only tend to embroil France with Italy. So convinced +was Gambetta of the unwise and disloyal activities of the Ultramontanes +that on May 4, in a speech to the Chamber, he uttered his famous cry: +"Le cléricalisme, voilà l'ennemi!" + +Jules Simon found himself in a very difficult position. Desirous of +conciliating Mac-Mahon and his clique, he adopted a policy somewhat at +variance with his former liberal religious views. On the other hand, he +could not satisfy the President, who had always disliked him, or those +who had determined upon his overthrow. The crisis came on May 16, 1877, +when Mac-Mahon, taking advantage of some very minor measures, wrote a +haughty and indignant letter to Jules Simon, to say that the Minister no +longer had his confidence. Jules Simon, backed up by a majority in the +Chamber, could very well have engaged in a constitutional struggle with +Mac-Mahon, but he rather weakly resigned the next day.[7] Thus was +opened the famous conflict known in French history, from its date, as +the "Seize-Mai." + +No sooner was Jules Simon out of the way than Mac-Mahon appointed a +reactionary coalition Ministry of Orléanists and Imperialists headed by +the duc de Broglie, and held apparently ready in waiting. The Ministers +were at variance on many political questions, but united as to +clericalism. The plan was to dissolve the Republican Chamber with the +co-operation of the anti-Republican Senate, in the hope that a new +election, under official pressure, would result in a monarchical lower +house also. The Chamber of Deputies was therefore prorogued until June +16 and then dissolved. At the meeting of May 18, the Republicans +presented a solid front of 363 in their protest against the high-handed +action of the maréchal de Mac-Mahon. + +[Illustration: LÉON GAMBETTA] + +The new Cabinet began by a wholesale revocation of administrative +officials throughout the country, and spent the summer in unblushing +advocacy of its candidates. Those favored by the Government were so +indicated and their campaign manifestoes were printed on official white +paper.[8] The Republicans united their forces to support the re-election +of the 363 and gave charge of their campaign to a committee of eighteen +under the inspiring leadership of Gambetta. In a great speech at Lille, +Gambetta declared that the President would have to "give in or give up" +(_se soumettre ou se démettre_), for which crime of _lèse-majesté_ he +was condemned by default to fine and imprisonment. In September, Thiers, +the great leader of the early Republic, died, and his funeral was made +the occasion of a great manifestation of Republican unity. Finally, in +spite of governmental pressure and the pulpit exhortations of the +clergy, the elections in October resulted in a new Republican Chamber. +The reactionary Cabinet was face to face with as firm an opposition as +before. + +The duc de Broglie, in view of this crushing defeat, was ready to +withdraw, and Mac-Mahon, after some hesitation, accepted his +resignation. Mac-Mahon's own fighting blood was up, however, and he +tried the experiment of an extra-parliamentary Ministry led by General +de Rochebouët, the members of which were conservatives without seats in +Parliament. But the Chamber refused to enter into relations with it, and +as the budget was pressing and the Senate was not disposed to support a +second dissolution, Mac-Mahon had to submit and the Rochebouët Cabinet +withdrew. + +Thus ended Mac-Mahon's unsuccessful attempt to exert his personal power. +The Seize-Mai has sometimes been likened to an abortive _coup d'état_. +The parallel is hardly justifiable. Mac-Mahon would have welcomed a +return of the monarchy at the end of his term of office, but he +intended to remain faithful to the constitution, however much he might +strain it or interpret it under the advice of his Clerical managers, and +though he might have been willing to use troops to enforce his wishes. +One unfortunate result ensued: the crisis left the Presidency still more +weak. Any repetition of Mac-Mahon's experiment of dissolving the Chamber +would revive accusations against one of his successors of attempting a +_coup d'état_. There have been times when the country would have +welcomed the dissolution by a strong President of an incompetent +Chamber. Unfortunately, Mac-Mahon stood for the reactionaries against +the Republic. His course of action would be a dangerous precedent. + +The new order of things was marked by the advent of another Dufaure +Ministry, very moderate in tendency, but acceptable to the majority. +Most of the high-handed doings of the Broglie Cabinet were revoked, much +to the disgust of Mac-Mahon, who frequently lost his temper when obliged +to sign documents of which he disapproved. Finally, in January, 1879, in +a controversy with his Cabinet over some military transfers, Mac-Mahon +resigned, over a year before the expiration of his term of office. +Moreover, at the recent elections to the Senate the Republicans had +obtained control of even that body. Thus he was alone, with both houses +and the Ministry against him. + +In spite of the unfortunate endless internal dissensions, France made +great strides in national recovery during the Presidency of Mac-Mahon. +His rank and military title gave prestige to the Republic in presence of +the diplomats of European monarchies, the German crisis of 1875 showed +that Bismarck was not to have a free hand in crushing France, the +participation of France in the Congress of Berlin enabled the country to +take a place again among the European Powers. Finally, the International +Exhibition of 1878 was an invitation to the world to witness the +recovery of France from her disasters and to testify to her right to +lead again in art and industry. + +The Presidency of Mac-Mahon shows the desperate efforts of the +Monarchists to overthrow the Republic, and then to control it in view of +an ultimate Restoration, either by obstructing the vote of a +constitution or by hindering its operation. Throughout, the Monarchists +and the Clericals work together or are identical. The end of his term of +office found the whole Government in the hands of the Republicans. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] Clericalism does not imply political activity on the part of the +clergy alone, but quite as much of laymen strongly in favor of the +Church. + +[6] Before the Constitution of 1875, the Premier was only +_vice-président du conseil_. + +[7] The Chamber, on May 12, had expressed itself in favor of the +publicity of meetings of municipal councils, during the absence of the +Minister of the Interior. On May 15, it had passed the second reading of +a law, opposed by Jules Simon, on the freedom of the press. + +[8] In France only official posters may be printed on white paper. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF JULES GRÉVY + +January, 1879, to December, 1887 + + +The resignation of the maréchal de Mac-Mahon was followed by the +immediate gathering, in accordance with the constitution, of the +National Assembly, which chose as President for seven years Jules Grévy. +The new chief magistrate, elected without a competitor, was already +seventy-two, and had in his long career won the reputation of a +dignified and sound statesman, in whose hands public affairs might be +entrusted with absolute safety. He represented a step beyond the +military and aristocratic régime which had preceded him. The embodiment +of the old _bourgeoisie_, he had, along with its qualities, some of its +defects. Eminently cautious, his statesmanship had been at times a +non-committal reserve more than constructive genius. His parsimony soon +caused people to accuse him of unduly saving his salary and state +allowances, while his personal dislikes led him to err grievously in +his choice of advisers, or rather in his elimination of Gambetta, to +whom circumstances now pointed. + +Jules Grévy hated Gambetta, undeniably the leading figure in the +Republican party since the death of Thiers, and neglected to entrust to +him the formation of a Cabinet. Thiers himself had shown greater wisdom. +He, too, had disliked the raging and apparently futile volubility of the +young tribune during the Franco-Prussian War, but Thiers got over +calling Gambetta a "fou furieux." On the contrary, just after the +Seize-Mai and before his own death, when Thiers was expecting to return +to the Presidency as successor to a discredited Mac-Mahon, he had +intended to make Gambetta the head of his Cabinet. For Gambetta with +maturity had become more moderate. Instead of drastic political remedies +he was gradually evolving, as already stated, the policy of +"Opportunism" so closely linked with his name, the method of gradual +advance by concessions and compromises, by taking advantage of occasions +and making one's general policy conform with opportunity. + +If Gambetta, as leader of the majority group in the Republican party, +which had evicted Mac-Mahon, had become Prime Minister, it is conceded +that the precedent would have been set by the new administration for +parliamentary government with a true party leadership, as in Great +Britain. Instead, Grévy entrusted the task of forming a Ministry to an +upright but colorless leader named Waddington, at the head of a +composite Cabinet, more moderate in policy than Gambetta, who became +presiding officer of the Chamber of Deputies. The consequence was that, +after lasting less than a year, it gave way to another Cabinet led by +the great political trimmer Freycinet,[9] until in due time it was in +turn succeeded by the Ministry of Jules Ferry in September, 1880. + +It must not be inferred that nothing was accomplished by the Waddington +and Freycinet Ministries. Indeed, Jules Ferry, the chief Republican next +to Gambetta, was himself a member of these two Cabinets before leading +his own. + +The lining-up of Republican groups, as opposed to the Monarchists, under +the new administration was: the Left Centre, composed as in the past of +ultra-conservative Republicans, constantly diminishing numerically; the +Republican Left, which followed Jules Ferry; the Republican Union of +Gambetta; and, finally, the radical Extreme Left, which had taken for +itself many of the advanced measures advocated by Gambetta when he had +been a radical. One of its leaders was Georges Clemenceau. Between the +two large groups of Ferry and Gambetta there was little difference in +ideals, but Gambetta was now the Opportunist and Ferry made his own +Gambetta's old battle-cry against clericalism. + +[Illustration: JULES FERRY] + +The Chamber elected after the Seize-Mai was by reaction markedly +anti-Clerical, and the Waddington Cabinet, to begin with, contained +three Protestants and a freethinker. Obviously steps would soon be taken +to defeat the "enemy." In this movement Jules Ferry was from the +beginning a leader, by direct action as well as by the educational +reforms which he carried out as Minister of Public Instruction. Jules +Ferry became, more than Gambetta, the great bugbear of the Clericals +and the author of the "lois scélérates." + +During the Waddington Ministry Jules Ferry began his efforts for the +reorganization of superior instruction, and among his measures carried +through the Chamber of Deputies the notorious "Article 7" indirectly +aimed at Jesuit influence in _secondary_ teaching as well: "No person +can direct any public or private establishment whatsoever or teach +therein if he belongs to an unauthorized order." The Jesuits had at that +time no legal footing in France, but were openly tolerated. The Senate +rejected this article under the Freycinet Ministry and the law was +finally adopted thus apparently weakened. But Jules Ferry, nothing +daunted, immediately put into operation the no less notorious decrees of +March, 1880, reviving older laws going back even to 1762, which had long +since fallen into disuse. By these decrees the Jesuit establishments +were to be closed and the members dispersed within three months. +Moreover, every unauthorized order was, under penalty of expulsion, to +apply for authorization within a like limit of time. The expulsion of +the Jesuits was carried out with a certain spectacular display of +passive resistance on the part of those evicted. Later in the year +similar steps were taken against many other organizations. + +It is evident from the above that the promotion of educational reform +under Republican control was definitely connected with measures directed +against clerical domination. The French Catholic Church, on its part, +treated every attempt toward laicization as a form of persecution. But +Jules Ferry unhesitatingly extended his policy when he became Prime +Minister. His measures were genuinely neutral, but his reputation as a +Voltairian freethinker and a freemason inevitably afforded his opponents +an excuse for their charges. + +Jules Ferry's reforms in education, extending over several Cabinet +periods as late as 1882, included secondary education for girls, and +free, obligatory, lay, primary instruction. To Americans accustomed to +such methods of education it is difficult to conceive the struggles of +Jules Ferry and his assistant on the floor of the House, Paul Bert, in +carrying through these measures for the training of the democracy. + +In foreign affairs Jules Ferry inaugurated a more active policy +symptomatic of the return of France to participation in international +matters. At the Congress of Berlin, France had avoided entanglements, +but, even at that early period, Lord Salisbury had hinted to M. +Waddington, present as French delegate, that no interference would be +made by England, were France to advance claims in Tunis. This suggestion +came, perhaps, originally from Bismarck, who was not averse to +embroiling France with Italy. That country longed for Tunis so +conveniently situated near Sicily. England, moreover, was probably not +desirous of seeing the Italians thus strategically ensconced in the +Mediterranean. + +In 1881, financial manoeuvres and the plundering expeditions into +Algeria of border tribes called Kroumirs afforded a pretext for +intervention, to the indignation of Italy, which was thus more than ever +inclined to seek alliances against France, even with Germany. Here, +indeed, was the germ of the Triple Alliance. An easy advance to Tunis +forced the Bey to accept a French protectorate by the Treaty of the +Bardo on May 12, 1881. Later in the year the situation became rather +serious, and new and rather costly military operations became necessary, +including the occupation of Sfax, Gabès, and Kairouan. + +Thus France came into possession of valuable territories, but at the +cost of Italian indignation. Moreover, Jules Ferry, who was always one +of the most hated of party leaders in his own country, reaped no +advantage to himself. His enemies affected to believe that the whole +Tunisian war was a game of capitalists, or was planned for effect upon +elections to the new Chamber. The boulevards refused to take the +Kroumirs seriously and joked about "Cherchez le Kroumir." Finally, on +November 9, 1881, the personal intervention of Gambetta before the newly +elected Chamber of Deputies saved the Cabinet on a vote of confidence. +Jules Ferry none the less determined to resign, and Gambetta, in spite +of Grévy's aversion, was the inevitable man for the formation of a new +Cabinet. + +Gambetta's great opportunity had come too late to be effective. The +undoubted leader of the Republic, he had grown in statesmanship since +his early days, but was still hated by men like Grévy who could not get +over their old prejudices. Then the advanced radicals, or +_intransigeants_, thought him a traitor to his old platforms or +_programmes_.[10] They blamed his Opportunism and said that he wanted +power without responsibility. Gambetta's enemies, whether the duc de +Broglie or Clemenceau, talked of his secret influence (_pouvoir +occulte_), and accused him of aspiring to a dictatorship, in fact if not +in name. Their suspicions were somewhat deepened by Gambetta's ardent +advocacy of the _scrutin de liste_ instead of the existing _scrutin +d'arrondissement_.[11] + +It was asserted that Gambetta wanted to diminish the independence of +local representation and marshal behind himself a subservient majority. +To Gambetta the _scrutin de liste_ was the truly republican form of +representation, the one existing under the National Assembly and +abolished by the reactionaries under the new constitution. + +Thus, Gambetta had against him, during the campaign for renewal of the +Chamber of Deputies in the summer of 1881, not only the anti-Republicans +but also timid liberals like Jules Simon, the influence of President +Grévy, and the _intransigeants_. The Senate was averse to the _scrutin +de liste_ and rejected, in the spring of 1881, the measure which +Gambetta carried through the Chamber. Gambetta, formerly the idol of the +working classes of Paris, met with opposition, was hooted in one of his +own political rallies, and was re-elected on the first ballot in one +only of the two districts in which he was a candidate. + +The elections of the Chamber of 1881 resulted in a strongly Republican +body, in which, however, the majority subdivided into groups. Gambetta's +"Union républicaine" was the most numerous, followed by Ferry's "Gauche +républicaine," and the extremists. A certain fraction of Gambetta's +group, including Henri Brisson and Charles Floquet, also tended to stick +together. They were the germ of what became in time the great Radical +party. + +It had been hoped that Gambetta would bring into his Cabinet all the +other leaders of his party, and at last form a great governing ministry. +But men like Léon Say and Freycinet refused their collaboration because +of divergence of views or personal pride. Gambetta then decided to pick +his collaborators from his immediate friends and partisans, some of whom +had yet a reputation to make. The anticipated "Great Ministry" turned +out to be, its opponents said, a "ministère de commis," a cabinet of +clerks. The fact that it contained men like Waldeck-Rousseau, Raynal, +and Rouvier showed, however, that Gambetta could discover ability in +others. But it was declared that the "dictator" was marshalling his +henchmen. The extremists, especially, were furious because Gambetta also +magnanimously gave important posts to non-Republicans like General de +Miribel and the journalist J.-J. Weiss. + +The "Great Ministry" remained in office two months and a half and came +to grief on the proposed revision of the constitution, in which Gambetta +wished to incorporate the _scrutin de liste_. In January, 1882, it had +to resign and Gambetta died on the last day of the same year. Thus, the +third Republic lost its leading statesman since the death of Thiers. + +The year 1882 was filled by the two ineffective Cabinets of Freycinet +(second time) and of Duclerc. Under the former, France made the mistake, +injurious to her interests and prestige, of withdrawing from the +Egyptian condominium with Great Britain and allowing the latter country +free play for the conquest and occupation of Egypt. Thus the fruits of +De Lesseps' piercing of the Isthmus of Suez went definitely to England. +The death of Gambetta under the Duclerc-Fallières Ministry[12] seemed to +reawaken the hopes of the anti-Republicans, and Jerome Napoleon, chief +Bonapartist pretender since the decease of the Prince Imperial, issued a +manifesto against the Republic. Parliament fell into a ludicrous panic, +various contradictory measures were proposed, and in the general +confusion the Cabinet fell after an adverse vote. + +In this contingency President Grévy did what he should have done before, +and called to office the leading statesman. This was now Jules Ferry. +At last France had an administration which lasted a little over two +years. But Ferry was still intensely unpopular. He had become the +successor of Gambetta and the exponent of the policy of Opportunism, +which he tried to carry out with even more constructive statesmanship. +But he was totally wanting in Gambetta's magnetism, and his domineering +ways made him hated the more. The Clericals opposed him as the +"persecutor" of the Catholic religion, and the Radicals thought he did +not go far enough in his hostility to the Church. For Jules Ferry saw +that the times were not ripe for disestablishment, and that the system +of the _Concordat_, in vogue since Napoleon I, really gave the State +more control over the Clergy than it would have in case of separation. +The State would lose its power in appointments and salaries. Jules Ferry +knew that the Church could be useful to him, and the politic Leo XIII, +very different from Pius IX, was ready to meet him part way, though the +Pope himself had to humor to a certain extent the hostility to the +Republic of the French Monarchists and Clericals. Jules Ferry, like +Gambetta, also had to put up with the veiled hostility of President +Grévy, working in Parliament through the intrigues of his son-in-law +Wilson. Moreover, Ferry was made to bear the odium for a long period of +financial depression, which had lasted since 1882, starting with the +sensational failure (_krach_) of a large bank, the Union générale. So +his career was made a torture and he was vilified perhaps more than any +man of the third Republic. + +The extremists had in time another grievance against Jules Ferry in his +opposition to a radical revision of the constitution. The enemies of the +Republic still feigned to believe, especially when the death of the +comte de Chambord in 1883 had fused the Legitimists and Orléanists, that +an integral revision would pave the way for a monarchical restoration. +The Radicals demanded the suppression of the power of the Senate, whose +consent was necessary to summon a constitutional convention. A Congress +was summoned in 1884 at which the very limited programme of the Ministry +was put through. The changes merely eliminated from the constitution the +prescriptions for senatorial elections. After this, by an ordinary +statute, life-senatorships were abolished for the future, and some +changes were made in the choice of senatorial electors. + +Jules Ferry was what would to-day be called an imperialist. In this he +may have been unwise, for the French, though intrepid explorers, do not +care to settle permanently far from the motherland. The north coast of +Africa might have been a sufficient field for enterprise. But Jules +Ferry thought that the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, +formed in 1882, was going to isolate France permanently in Europe. So +she was to regain her prestige by territorial annexations in the Sudan, +the Congo, Madagascar, Annam, and Tonkin. + +The French had some nominal rights on Tonkin since 1874, and +disturbances there had caused a revival of activities. When the French +officer Rivière was killed in an ambuscade in May, 1883, Jules Ferry +sent heavy reinforcements and forced the King of Annam to acknowledge a +French protectorate. This stirred up the Chinese, who also claimed +Annam, and who caused the invasion of Tonkin by guerillas supported by +their own troops. After various operations in Tonkin the Treaty of +Tien-tsin was signed with China in May, 1884, by which China made the +concessions called for by the French. Within a month Chinese troops +ambuscaded a French column at Bac-Le and the Government decided on a +punitive expedition. Thus France was engaged in troublesome warfare with +China, without direct parliamentary authorization. The bombardment of +Foo-chow, the attack on the island of Formosa, and the blockade of the +coast dragged along unsatisfactorily through 1884 and 1885. + +While Jules Ferry in the spring of 1885 was actually negotiating a final +peace with China on terms satisfactory to the French, the cession of +Annam and Tonkin with a commercial treaty, and while he was +categorically affirming in the Chamber of Deputies the success of +military operations in Tonkin, a sudden dispatch from the East threw +everything into a turmoil. General Brière de l'Isle telegraphed from +Tonkin that the French had been disastrously defeated at Lang-son and +General de Négrier severely wounded. The news proved to be a grievous +exaggeration which was contradicted by a later dispatch some hours +after, but the damage was done. On March 30, in the Chamber of Deputies, +Jules Ferry was insulted and abused by the leaders of a coalition of +anti-Republicans and Radicals. The "Tonkinois," as his vilifiers called +him, disgusted and discouraged, made little attempt to defend himself, +and his Cabinet fell by a vote of 306 to 149. On April 4, the +preliminaries of a victorious treaty of peace were signed with China. + +The fall of Jules Ferry was a severe blow to efficient government. It +marked the end, for a long time, of any effort to construct satisfactory +united Cabinets led by a strong man. It set a precedent for innumerable +short-lived Ministries built on the treacherous sands of shifting +groups. It paved the way for a deterioration in parliamentary +management. It accentuated the bitter hatred now existing between the +Union des gauches, as the united Gambetta and Ferry Opportunist groups +called themselves, on the one hand, and the Radicals and the Extreme +Left on the other. The Radicals, in particular, were influential, and +one of their more moderate members, Henri Brisson, became the head of +the next Cabinet. Brisson's name testified to an advance toward +radicalism, but the Cabinet contained all sorts of moderate and +nondescript elements, dubbed a "concentration" Cabinet. Its chief +function was to tide over the elections of 1885, for a new Chamber of +Deputies. In anticipation of this election Gambetta's long-desired +_scrutin de liste_ had been rather unexpectedly voted. + +The workings of the new method of voting were less satisfactory than had +been anticipated. Republican dissensions and a greater union of the +opposition caused a tremendous reactionary landslide on the first +ballot. This was greatly reduced on the second ballot, so that the +Republicans emerged with a large though diminished majority. But the old +Left Centre had practically disappeared and the Radicals were vastly +more numerous. The great divisions were now the Right, the moderate +Union des gauches, the Radicals, and the revolutionary Extreme Left. The +Brisson Cabinet was blamed for not "working" the elections more +successfully and it resigned at the time of President Grévy's +re-election. He had reached the end of his seven years' term and was +chosen again on December 28, 1885. He was to have troublesome +experiences during the short time he remained in the Presidency. + +The Freycinet, Goblet, and Rouvier Cabinets, which fill the rest of +Grévy's Presidency, were largely engrossed with a new danger in the +person of General Boulanger. He first appeared in a prominent position +as Minister of War in the Freycinet Cabinet. A young, brilliant, and +popular though unprincipled officer, he soon devoted himself to demagogy +and put himself at the head of the jingoes who called Ferry the slave of +Bismarck. The expeditions of Tunis and Tonkin had, moreover, thrown a +glamour over the flag and the army. + +Boulanger began at once to play politics and catered to the advanced +parties, who adopted him as their own. He backed up the spectacular +expulsion of the princes, which, as an answer to the monarchical +progress, drove from France the heads of formerly reigning families and +their direct heirs in line of primogeniture, and carried out their +radiation from the army. The populace cheered the gallant general on his +black horse, and when Bismarck complained that he was a menace to the +peace of Europe Boulanger's fortune seemed made. At a certain moment +France and Germany were on the brink of war in the so-called Schnaebele +affair.[13] So, when Boulanger was left out of the Rouvier Cabinet +combination in May, 1887, as dangerous, he played more than ever to the +gallery as the persecuted saviour of France and, on being sent to take +command of an army corps in the provinces at Clermont-Ferrand, he was +escorted to the train by thousands of enthusiastic manifestants. + +Meanwhile, President Grévy was nearing a disaster. In October, 1887, +General Caffarel, an important member of the General Staff, was arrested +for participating in the sale of decorations. When Boulanger declared +that the arrest of Caffarel was an indirect assault on himself, +originally responsible for Caffarel's appointment to the General Staff, +the affair got greater notoriety. The scandal assumed national +proportions when it was found to involve the President's own son-in-law +Daniel Wilson, well known to be a shady and tricky politician, who had +the octogenarian President under his thumb. The matter reached the scale +of a Cabinet crisis, since it was by an overthrow of the Ministry that +the President could best be reached. Unfortunately, Grévy could not see +that the most dignified thing for him to do was to resign, even though +he was in no way involved in Wilson's misdemeanors. For days he tried to +persuade prominent men to form a Cabinet; he tried to argue his right +and duty to remain. But finally the Chamber and Senate brought actual +pressure upon him by voting to adjourn to specific hours in the +expectation of a presidential communication. He bowed to the inevitable +and retired from the Presidency with the reputation of a discredited old +miser, instead of the great statesman he had appeared on beginning his +term of office. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] Gambetta's former assistant during the national defence after the +first disasters; a brilliant organizer, but in general policy a +_nolonté_, to use the term Gambetta coined about him on the basis of the +word _volonté_. As Minister of Public Works he initiated at this period +great improvements in the internal development of France, especially in +the railways. + +[10] Especially as to the unlimited revision of the constitution and the +_immediate_ separation of Church and State. + +[11] Gambetta's contempt for the parochialism of the elections by +district was great. He felt that departmental tickets would favor the +choice of better men. One must remember how large a proportion of the +French Deputies are physicians to appreciate the scorn of Gambetta's +saying that the _scrutin d'arrondissement_ produced a lot of +_sous-vétérinaires_, that is, men who were not even decent +"horse-doctors." + +[12] M. Fallières took the place of Duclerc as President of the Council +during the last days. + +[13] The French claimed that a government official had been lured over +the frontier and illegally arrested. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF SADI CARNOT + +December, 1887, to June, 1894 + + +The successor of Jules Grévy was Sadi Carnot, in many ways the best +choice. As has been seen, the transition was less easy than the two +ballots of the National Assembly seemed to indicate (December 3, 1887). +The intrigues of the so-called "nuits historiques" (November 28-30) had +been an endeavor of the Radicals to keep Grévy, in order to ward off +Jules Ferry as his successor. Finally, Carnot was a compromise +candidate, or "dark horse," a Moderate acceptable to the Radicals still +unwilling to endure the leading candidate Ferry. + +[Illustration: SADI CARNOT] + +President Carnot, hitherto known chiefly as a capable civil engineer and +a successful Cabinet officer, was the heir to the name and traditions of +a great republican family. His integrity was a guarantee of honesty in +office, and his personal dignity was bound to heighten the prestige of +the chief magistracy, somewhat weakened by his predecessor Grévy. On +the other hand, Carnot's conception of the constitutional +irresponsibility or neutrality of his office was an insufficient bulwark +to the State against the intrigues of petty politicians and the +inefficiencies of the parliamentary régime. Consequently his term of +office saw the Republic exposed to two of the worst crises in its +history, the Boulanger campaign and the Panama scandals, while the +legislative history records the overthrow of successive cabinets. These +followed each other without definite constructive policy, and aimed +chiefly at keeping power by constant dickerings and playing off group +against group. + +The demoralization of parliamentary life had reached a climax. The +Republicans were divided into the Moderates, former followers of +Gambetta, the Radicals with Floquet and Brisson, the Extreme Left with +Clemenceau and Pelletan, the Socialists with Millerand, Basly, and +Clovis Hugues. The Royalists and Bonapartists worked against the +Government and the Boulangists took advantage of the chaos to push their +cause. The Socialists, in particular, were a new group in the Chamber, +destined in later years to hold the centre of the stage. In their +manifesto of December, 1887, signed by seventeen Deputies, they +advocated, in addition to innumerable specific reforms or practical +innovations, schemes for the reorganization of society: state +monopolies, nationalization of property, progressive taxation, and the +like. + +The year 1888, characterized by intense political and social unrest, was +critical. The trial and conviction of Grévy's son-in-law Wilson involved +washing dirty linen in public. The steady growth of Boulangism testified +to dissatisfaction, even though, as it proved, the enemies of the +established order had united on a worthless adventurer as their leader. + +General Boulanger had been first "invented" as a leader by the extreme +Radicals, and especially by Clemenceau, the _démolisseur_ or destroyer +of ministries. Then, being gradually abandoned by them, he went over to +the anti-Republicans and took heavy subsidies from the Monarchists, +while continuing to advocate, at least openly, an anti-parliamentary, +plebiscitary Republic. + +Early in 1888, in February, the candidacy of Boulanger to the Chamber +was started in several departments. The electioneering activities of a +general in regular service and sundry deeds of insubordination on his +part finally caused the Government, as a disciplinary measure, to retire +him. The result was that his partisans raised a cry of persecution, and +his actual retirement gave him the liberty to engage in politics which +his service on the active list had prevented. In April Boulanger was +elected Deputy in the southern department of la Dordogne and the +northern le Nord. His plan of campaign was to be candidate for Deputy in +each department successively in which a vacancy occurred, thus +indirectly and gradually obtaining a plebiscite of approval from the +country. At the same time he raised the cry in favor of militarism, not +for the sake of war, he said, but for defence. He attacked the impotence +of Parliament and, as a remedy, called for the dissolution of the +Chamber and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly to revise the +constitution. His opponents raised the answering cry of dictatorship and +Cæsarism. The election in the Nord was particularly alarming because of +Boulanger's majority. + +Boulanger now had both Moderates and many Radicals against him, +including the Prime Minister Floquet, and was, on the other hand, +supported openly or secretly by the Imperialists and Monarchists, +advocates for varying purposes of the plebiscite. The Royalists, who +thought their chances of success the most hopeful, wanted to use +Boulanger as a tool to further their designs for the overthrow of the +Republic. Not only did he receive funds from the pretender, the comte de +Paris, but an ardent Royalist lady of rank, the duchesse d'Uzès, +squandered millions of francs in furthering Boulanger's political +schemes as leader of the Boulangists: the "National Party" or +"Revisionists." + +In June, 1888, Boulanger brought forward in the Chamber a project for a +revision of the constitution. He advocated a single Chamber, or, if a +Senate were conceded, demanded that it be chosen by popular vote. The +power of the Chamber was to be diminished, that of the President +increased, and laws were to be subject to ratification by plebiscite or +referendum. The measure was naturally rejected, but Boulanger renewed +the attack in July by demanding the dissolution of the Chamber. In the +excitement of the debate the lie was passed between Boulanger and the +President of the Council of Ministers, Floquet. Boulanger resigned his +seat and in a duel, a few days later, between Floquet and Boulanger, the +dashing general, the warrior of the black horse, and the hero of the +popular song "En rev'nant d'la revue," was ignominiously wounded by the +civilian politician. + +But Boulanger's star was not yet on the wane. He continued to be elected +Deputy in different departments, and the efforts of the Ministry to cut +the ground from under his feet by bringing in a separate revisionary +project did not undermine his popularity with the rabble, the jingo +Ligue des Patriotes of Paul Déroulède, and the anti-Republican +malcontents. In January, 1889, after a fiercely contested and +spectacular campaign, he was elected Deputy for the department of the +Seine, containing the city of Paris, nerve-centre of France. It is +generally conceded that if Boulanger had gone to the Elysée, the +presidential mansion, on the evening of his election, and turned out +Carnot, he would have had the Parisian populace and the police with him +in carrying out a _coup d'état_. Luckily for the country his judgment +or his nerve failed him at the crucial moment, and from that time his +influence diminished. The panic-stricken Government was able to thwart +his plebiscitary appeals by re-establishing the _scrutin +d'arrondissement_, or election by small districts instead of by whole +departments. Moreover, when the Floquet Cabinet fell soon after on its +own revisionary project, the succeeding Tirard Ministry was able to pass +a law preventing simultaneous multiple candidacies, and impeached +Boulanger, with some of his followers, before the Senate as High Court +of Justice. Instead of facing trial, Boulanger and his satellites Dillon +and Henri Rochefort fled from France. In August they were condemned in +absence to imprisonment. Boulanger never returned to France, and with +diminishing subsidies his following waned. The elections of 1889 +resulted in the return of only thirty-eight Boulangists and, when in +September, 1891, Boulanger committed suicide in Brussels at the grave of +his mistress, most Frenchmen merely gave a sigh of relief at the memory +of the dangers they had experienced not so long before. + +The International Exposition of 1889 afforded a breathing spell in the +midst of political anxieties, and helped, by its evidence of the +Republic's prosperity, to weaken Boulanger's cause. But unsettled social +and religious problems remained troublesome. The successive cabinets +after the Floquet Ministry, and following the general election of 1889, +pursued a policy of "Republican concentration," combining Moderate and +Radical elements, disappearing often without important motives, and +replaced by cabinets of approximately the same coloring. The Clerical +Party was hand-in-glove with the Royalists and the Boulangists. It took +advantage of governmental instability to try to undermine the Republic, +but its own harmony of purpose was in due time diminished by the new +policy of Leo XIII. That astute Italian diplomat was himself +temperamentally an Opportunist. He conceived the idea of controlling +France by advances to the Republic and by feigning to accept it in order +to get hold of its policies, especially the educational and military +laws. He realized, too, the harm done to the Vatican by the stubbornness +of many French Catholics. He felt the necessity of making amends for the +behavior of the Catholic Royalists in the Boulanger affair. Certain +prelates, including the Archbishop of Aix, Monseigneur Gouthe-Soulard, +attacked the Government violently at the end of 1891 in connection with +disturbances by French pilgrims to Rome who had manifested in favor of +the Pope and written "Vive le Pape-Roi!" at the tomb of Victor Emmanuel. +The French Catholics tended to resent the interference of the Pope, but +the latter, who had for some months received the support of Cardinal +Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers and Primate of Africa, tried to bring +pressure on the leaders of the French clergy. In February, 1892, as a +rejoinder to a manifesto by five French cardinals, came his famous +encyclical letter advocating the established order of things. "The civil +power considered as such is from God and always from God.... +Consequently, when new governments representing this new power are +constituted, to accept them is not only permitted but demanded, or even +imposed, by the needs of the social good." This encyclical was followed +by a letter to the French cardinals in May and by other manifestations +of his wishes. Thus a certain number of Catholics, among whom the comte +de Mun and Jacques Piou were leaders, cut adrift from the Right and +adhered to the Republic, forming the small group of "Ralliés." They were +never very numerous or powerful, and the Dreyfus affair, a few years +later, showed how the Pope's desire to rally the Catholics to the +Republic was thwarted by the French clergy and the reactionaries. + +The procedure of Leo XIII was thus a proof that the Vatican wanted to be +on good terms with the Republic. The _rapprochement_ with Russia was +another proof that France, in spite of its troubles, was to be reckoned +with in Europe. France and Russia felt it necessary to draw together in +answer to the noisy renewal of the Triple Alliance. There had been +tension in the spring of 1891, in which the French were not wholly +blameless, as a result of the private visit to Paris of the dowager +empress of Germany, the Empress Frederick. In the summer of 1891 a +French fleet under Admiral Gervais was invited to Russian waters. It +visited Cronstadt, and the Czar and the President exchanged telegrams of +sympathy. On the return to France the same fleet visited Portsmouth by +invitation, and was welcomed by the Queen and the authorities. The visit +to England did not, however, have the same meaning as the Russian one. +"Portsmouth" meant an expression of England's freedom of action +face-to-face with the Triple Alliance, and an endeavor to smooth French +susceptibilities recently ruffled by Lord Salisbury. After an +Anglo-French compact, in August, 1890, for the partition of +protectorates and zones of influence in Africa, the British Prime +Minister alluded rather scoffingly in the House of Lords to the lack of +value of the Sahara assigned to the French. "Cronstadt," as opposed to +"Portsmouth," meant an active understanding, to be followed in 1892 by a +military defensive compact negotiated in St. Petersburg by General de +Boisdeffre, head of the French General Staff. + +The return visit of the Russians took place at Toulon in 1893, and +Admiral Avellan with his staff visited Paris, which went wild with +enthusiasm. At that moment French relations with Italy were strained, +partly because the Italian Government was jealous of the cordiality +between the Pope and the Republic. The Franco-Russian manifestation was +a new veiled warning. + +In 1892, under the leadership of Jules Méline, the Chamber adopted a +protective tariff policy. This resulted in several tariff disputes and +engendered bad feeling with various countries, including Italy. + +The desperate attack of the Royalists, engineered mainly against the +Republic in the Panama scandals, helped to bring the Pope and the State +still closer together, so that at certain times the Ralliés or +Republican Catholics and the Royalists fought each other violently. The +Panama scandal was planned in view of the elections of 1893. During the +decade following 1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the successful builder of +the Suez Canal, had organized and tried to finance a company to +construct a canal at Panama. The prestige of Lesseps's name and the +memory of his previous achievement made countless Frenchmen invest huge +sums in the company. But the expenses were enormous and the financial +maladministration apparently extraordinary, for the directors of the +company were led into illegal steps in order to influence legislation, +or pay hush money to the press to hide the condition of affairs, and +then were blackmailed into further outlays. The company failed in 1888, +and efforts to put it on its feet proved abortive. Hints of the scandals +leaked out, and the Government played into the hands of its opponents by +trying to conceal matters. + +In November, 1892, some Royalist members of the Chamber brought matters +to a head and the Government was obliged to do something. It was decided +to proceed against Ferdinand de Lesseps, his son Charles de Lesseps, +Henri Cottu, Marius Fontane, members of the board of directors, and G. +Eiffel, an engineer and contractor and the builder of the famous Eiffel +Tower. At this juncture a well-known Jewish banker of Paris, Baron +Jacques de Reinach, died suddenly and most mysteriously on November 20. +He was openly charged with being the bribery agent of the company, and +his sudden death was by some called suicide, while others hinted that he +had been put out of the way because of his dangerous knowledge. + +Under these exciting conditions a Boulangist Deputy named Delahaye made +an interpellation in the Chamber hinting at the campaign of corruption +carried on by the company through the agency of Reinach and two other +Jews of German origin, Arton and Cornelius Herz, the latter a +naturalized American citizen. By this campaign it was charged that three +million francs had been used to corrupt more than a hundred and fifty +Deputies, and much more had been spent in other ways. + +A commission of thirty-three was appointed under the chairmanship of +Henri Brisson. The Royalists and Radicals were having their innings +against the Government, and their newspapers continued to publish rumors +and "revelations." The commission called for the autopsy of Reinach. The +Loubet Cabinet, refusing to grant it, was voted down and resigned. The +Ribot Ministry was then constituted, but at intervals lost successively +two of its most prominent members, Rouvier and Freycinet, accused of +complicity in the scandals. Even the leaders of the Radicals, Clemenceau +and Floquet, in time found themselves involved. The former was charged +with tricky dealings with Cornelius Herz, the latter was shown to have +demanded money from the company, when Minister, in order to use it for +political subsidies. + +In December the Cabinet decided to arrest Charles de Lesseps, Marius +Fontane, Henri Cottu, and a former Deputy, Sans-Leroy, accused of having +accepted a bribe of two hundred thousand francs. At the same time, on +the basis of the seizure of twenty-six cheque stubs at the bank used by +the baron de Reinach, the Minister of Justice proceeded against ten +prominent Deputies and Senators, among whom was Albert Grévy, former +Governor-General of Algeria, and brother of Jules Grévy. The Government +seemed panic-stricken in its readiness to sacrifice, on mere suspicion, +prominent members of its party. All the parliamentaries accused were, in +due time, exonerated. + +The directors of the company came up for trial twice. The first time, +with M. Eiffel, in January-February, 1893, and the second time, with +other defendants, in March, before different jurisdictions on varying +charges, they were condemned to fine and imprisonment. On appeal, in +April, these condemnations were revised or annulled. One person became +the scapegoat, a former Minister of Public Works named Baïhaut, +condemned to civil degradation, five years' imprisonment, and a heavy +fine. + +Scandal was, however, not satisfied with these names. There was also +talk of a mysterious list of one hundred and four Deputies charged with +accepting bribes from Arton. Moreover, it was felt that quashing the +indictments against prominent men like Rouvier and Albert Grévy was poor +policy. If they were innocent they could prove their innocence. Under +the circumstances suspicion would still be rife. The state of general +anarchy was also revealed by the evidence of the wife of Henri Cottu, +who testified that agents of the Government had offered her husband +immunity if he would implicate a member of the Opposition.[14] + +The Panama scandal was largely the work of the Monarchists angry at the +failure of the Boulanger campaign. It did them no good, as the elections +to the new Chamber proved. On the other hand, it worked havoc among the +leaders of the Moderates, who, innocent or blameworthy, fell under +popular suspicion, and were in many cases relegated to the background in +favor of new leaders. Moreover, it helped the Socialists, and even, by +throwing discredit on parliamentarism, it encouraged lawless outbreaks +of anarchists. + +New men in party leaderships came in the composite Cabinet of Moderate +leanings led by Charles Dupuy in April, 1893. He seemed at first to +incline toward the Conservatives and treated with considerable severity +some street disturbances. A prank of art students at their annual ball +(_Bal des quat'-z-arts_) was magnified into a street riot and was not +quelled until after the loss of a life. The _Bourse du travail_ +(Workmen's Exchange) was closed by the Government after other +disturbances. + +The elections in August and September resulted in a large Republican +majority and a corresponding decline in the anti-Republican Right. On +the other hand, the Radicals rose to about a hundred and fifty, and the +Socialists were about fifty, forming for the first time a large party +able to make its influence felt. The "Socialistic-Radicals" represented +an effort toward a compromise between the advanced groups. + +The desire of the Moderate leaders of the Republic to meet the Pope +halfway in his policy of conciliation was expressed in a noteworthy +speech made in the Chamber in March, 1894, by the then Minister of +Public Worship, Eugène Spuller. Answering the query of a Royalist +Deputy, the Minister declared that the time had come to put an end to +fanaticism and sectarianism, and that the country could count on the +vigilance of the Government to maintain its rights, and on the new frame +of mind (_esprit nouveau_) which inspired it, which tended to reconcile +all French citizens and bring about a revival of common sense, justice, +and charity. + +But the anarchists were not moved by any spirit of conciliation. +Borrowing methods of violence from the Russian nihilists, they used +bomb-throwing to draw attention to the vices of social organization and +to themselves. During 1892, 1893, and 1894 they tried to terrorize +Paris. The deeds of various criminals, including Ravachol, Vaillant (who +threw a bomb in the Chamber of Deputies),[15] Emile Henry, among others, +culminated at last in the cruel murder of President Carnot. On June 24, +1894, while at Lyons, whither he had gone to pay a state visit to an +international exhibition, President Carnot was fatally stabbed by an +underwitted Italian anarchist named Caserio Santo, and died within a few +hours. Never were more futile and abominable crimes committed than those +which sacrificed Carnot and McKinley. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] The Panama affair was a violent shock to the Republic. People were +amazed at the charges of widespread corruption and the tendency on the +part of the Government to smooth things over. Suspicions aroused were +not fully satisfied because Reinach was dead and Herz and Arton in +flight. Cornelius Herz successfully fought extradition from England on +the plea of illness. Arton was arrested in 1895 and extradited. His +arrest caused a renewal of talk about Panama and the newspaper _la +France_ undertook to print the famous list of one hundred and four +Deputies. This publication was recognized to be a case of blackmail and +its promoters were punished. Arton was also condemned to a term of hard +labor, but his trial did not bring out the longed-for revelations. + +[15] M. Dupuy, then President of the Chamber, got much credit for his +calmness and his remark, as the smoke of the bomb cleared away, "La +séance continue." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JEAN CASIMIR-PERIER + +June, 1894, to January, 1895 + +AND OF FÉLIX FAURE + +January, 1895, to February, 1899 + + +The customary promptness in the choice of a President, so unfamiliar to +American campaigns, was observed in the election of Carnot's successor. +The historic name and the social and financial position of the new chief +magistrate, Jean Casimir-Perier, seemed to the monarchical +sister-nations a guarantee of national stability and dignity. In reality +the election brought about a more definite cleavage between rival +political tendencies. Casimir-Perier, grandson of Louis-Philippe's great +minister, obviously represented the Moderates, most of whom tried in all +sincerity to carry out the _esprit nouveau_ and a policy of good-will +toward the Catholic Church. The Radicals said that this was playing into +the hands of the Clericals, and to the Socialists Casimir-Perier was +merely a hated capitalist. He was, moreover, unfortunately unfit for +the acrimonies of political life. High-strung and emotional, he writhed +under misinterpretation and abuse, and rebelled against the +constitutional powerlessness of his office. He had never really wanted +the Presidency and had accepted it chiefly through the personal +persuasion of his friend the statesman Burdeau, who unfortunately died +soon after his election. The brief Presidency of Casimir-Perier, lasting +less than a year, was destined to see the beginning of the worst trial +the French Republic had yet experienced, the famous Dreyfus case. + +The Administration, in which Dupuy remained Prime Minister, began by +repressive measures, laws directed against the anarchists and the trial +_en masse_ of thirty defendants ranging from utopian theorists to actual +criminals. Most of them were acquitted, but the procedure did not +ingratiate the Government with the advanced parties. Toward the end of +1894 the Dreyfus case began to be talked of, an affair which was +destined to develop into a tremendous struggle of the leaders of the +army and the Church to obtain control of the nation. + +In September, 1894, an officer named Henry, of the spy service of the +French army, came into possession of a document pieced together from +fragments stolen from a waste-paper basket in the German Embassy. This +document, containing a _bordereau_ or memorandum of information largely +about the French artillery offered to the German military attaché, +Schwartzkoppen, was anonymous, but Henry undoubtedly recognized, sooner +or later, the handwriting of a friend, Major Esterhazy, a soldier of +fortune in the French army, of bad reputation and shady character. +Unable to destroy the document, which had been seen by others, Henry +tried to fasten it on somebody else. Indeed, many people believe that +Henry was an accomplice of Esterhazy in German pay. By a strange +coincidence it happened that the handwriting of the _bordereau_ somewhat +resembled that of a brilliant young Jewish officer of the General Staff +named Alfred Dreyfus. He belonged to a wealthy Alsatian family, and from +antecedent probability would not seem to need to play a traitor's part, +but he was intensely unpopular among his fellows because of many +disagreeable traits of character. Moreover, anti-Semitism, formerly +non-existent in France, was now rife. It had been largely fomented by +the anti-Jewish agitator Edouard Drumont, with his book _la France +juive_ (1886) and his newspaper the _Libre Parole_ (1892). Prejudice +against the Jews as tricky financiers had been prepared and encouraged +by the sensational failure of the great bank, the Union générale, a +Catholic rival of the Rothschilds, in 1882, and by the Panama scandals +with the doings of Jacques de Reinach, Cornelius Herz, and Arton. The +_Libre Parole_ had worked against Jewish officers in the army, an +activity which culminated in some sensational duels, particularly one +between Captain Mayer and the marquis de Morès (1892), in which the Jew +was killed. + +So, in the present instance, the Minister of War, General Mercier, who +had recently committed some much-criticized administrative blunders, and +who now wished to show his efficiency, caused the arrest of Dreyfus. +Then, egged on by anti-Semitic newspapers which had got hold of +Dreyfus's name, Mercier brought him before a court-martial. The trial +was held in secret, and the War Department sent to the officers +constituting the tribunal, without the knowledge of the prisoner or his +counsel Maître Demange, a secret _dossier_, a collection of trumped-up +incriminating documents. Demange devoted himself to proving that Dreyfus +was not the author of the _bordereau_, but the members of the +court-martial, believing in the genuineness of the additional documents, +unhesitatingly convicted him of treason. Consequently, in spite of his +protestations of innocence, Dreyfus was publicly degraded on January 5, +1895, and hustled off to solitary confinement on the unhealthy Devil's +Isle, off the coast of French Guiana. Meanwhile the whole French people +sincerely believed that a vile traitor had been justly condemned and +that the secrecy of the case was due to the advisability of avoiding +diplomatic complications with Germany. With dramatic unexpectedness, +only ten days later (January 15), Casimir-Perier resigned the +Presidency. + +During the whole Dreyfus affair Casimir-Perier had chafed because his +ministers had constantly acted without keeping him informed, +particularly when he was called upon by the German Government to +acknowledge that it had had nothing to do with Dreyfus. He had lost by +death the support of his friend Burdeau; he was discouraged by the +campaign of abuse against him, especially the election as Deputy in +Paris of Gérault-Richard, one of his most active vilifiers. In +particular he felt that his own Cabinet, and above all its leader Dupuy, +were false to him. A discussion in the Chamber concerning the duration +of the state guarantees to certain of the great railway companies ended +in a vote unfavorable to the Cabinet, which resigned, whereupon +Casimir-Perier seized the opportunity to go too. The Socialists declared +that Dupuy had provoked his own defeat in order to embarrass the +President by the difficulty of forming a new Cabinet, and make him +resign as well. + +Two days later the electoral Congress met at Versailles. The Radicals +supported Henri Brisson. The Moderates and the Conservatives were +divided between Waldeck-Rousseau and Félix Faure, but Waldeck-Rousseau +having thrown his strength on the second ballot to Faure, the latter was +elected. + +The new President, recently Minister of the Navy, was a well-meaning +man, but full of vanity and naïvely delighted with his own rise in the +world from a humble position to that of chief magistrate. The extent to +which his judgment was warped by his temperament is shown by the later +developments of the Dreyfus case. + +Félix Faure's first Cabinet was led by the Republican Moderate Alexandre +Ribot. It lasted less than a year and its history was chiefly +noteworthy, at least in foreign affairs, by the increasing openness of +the Franco-Russian _rapprochement_ at the ceremonies of the inauguration +of the Kiel Canal. In internal affairs there were some violent +industrial disturbances and strikes. + +In October, 1895, the Moderates gave way to the Radical Cabinet of Léon +Bourgeois. It was viewed with suspicion by the moneyed interests, who +accused it of gravitating toward the Socialists. The cleavage between +the two tendencies of the Republican Party became more marked. The +Moderates joined forces with the Conservatives to oppose the schemes for +social and financial reforms of the Radicals and of the representatives +of the working classes. Prominent among these was the proposal for a +progressive income tax. The Senate, naturally a more conservative body, +was opposed to the Bourgeois Cabinet, which had a majority, though not a +very steadfast one, in the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, usually a +nonentity in determining the fall of a cabinet, for once successfully +asserted its power and, by refusing to vote the credits asked for by the +Ministry for the Madagascar campaign, caused it to resign in April, +1896. The enemies of the Senate maintained that the Chamber of Deputies, +elected by direct suffrage, was the only judge of the fate of a cabinet. +But Bourgeois's hold was at best precarious and he seized the +opportunity to withdraw. + +The Méline Cabinet which followed was a return to the Moderates +supported by the Conservatives. Its opponents accused it of following +what in American political parlance is called a "stand-pat" policy, but +it remained in office longer than any ministry up to its time, a little +over two years. It afforded, at any rate, an opportunity for the +adversaries of the Republic to strengthen their positions and encouraged +the transformation of the Dreyfus case into a political instead of a +purely judicial matter. + +In foreign affairs the most spectacular events were the visit of the +Czar and Czarina to France in 1896 and the return visit of the French +President to Russia in 1897. At the banquet of leave-taking on the +French warship _Pothuau_, in their prepared speeches, the Czar and the +President made use of the same expression "friendly and _allied_ +nations," thus publicly proclaiming to Europe the alliance suspected +since 1891. + +In spite of the unanimous feeling of Dreyfus's guilt, his family did not +lose faith in him, and his brother Mathieu set about the apparently +impossible task of rehabilitation. But it chanced that one other person +began to have doubts of the justice of Dreyfus's condemnation. This was +Lieutenant-Colonel Picquart, who had been present at the court-martial +as representative of the War Department, and who had since become chief +of the espionage service, and Henry's superior. Another document stolen +from a waste-paper basket at the German Embassy, an unforwarded +pneumatic despatch (_petit bleu_), was brought to him, and directed his +suspicions to Esterhazy, to whom it was addressed. At first he did not +connect Esterhazy and Dreyfus, but on obtaining specimens of +Esterhazy's handwriting he was struck by the likeness with that of the +_bordereau_. Then, examining the secret _dossier_, to which he now had +access, he was stupefied to see its insignificance. + +[Illustration: MARIE-GEORGES PICQUART] + +From this time on, Picquart worked, with extraordinary tenacity of +purpose and against all obstacles, for the rehabilitation of a stranger. +Everybody was against him. His chief subordinate Henry dreaded +revelations above all things, and set his colleagues against him. His +superiors disliked any suggestion that an army court could have made a +mistake, the remedying of which would help a Jew. + +Gradually, however, the agitation started by Mathieu Dreyfus was +becoming stronger. He had won the help of a skilled writer Bernard +Lazare; a daily paper succeeded in obtaining and publishing a facsimile +of the _bordereau_. But Picquart was sent away from Paris on a tour of +inspection, and when the matter came up in the Chamber, through an +interpellation, the Minister of War, General Billot, declared that the +judgment of 1894 was absolutely legal and just. Matters thus seemed +settled again. + +But a prominent Alsatian member of Parliament, Scheurer-Kestner, one of +the Vice-Presidents of the Senate, was half-persuaded by Mathieu and +Bernard Lazare. When Picquart's friend and legal adviser, Leblois, +rather injudiciously, from a professional point of view, confided to him +his client's suspicions, he was thoroughly convinced and the two +separate currents of activity now coalesced. Yet the greater the +agitation in favor of Dreyfus, the greater grew the opposition. The +anti-Semites shrieked with rage against Judas, the "traitor." The upper +ranks of the army were honeycombed by Clerical influences. An enormous +proportion of the officers belonged to reactionary families and the +Chief of Staff himself, General de Boisdeffre, was under the thumb of +the Père Du Lac, one of the most prominent Jesuits in France. The +Clericals and anti-Semites, therefore, joined forces, and, by calling +the Dreyfus agitation an attack on the honor of the army and a play into +the hands of Germany, they won over all the jingoes and former +Boulangists, who formed the new party of Nationalists. This was the +so-called alliance of "the sword and the holy-water sprinkler" (_le +sabre et le goupillon_). Above all, certain religious associations, +particularly the Assumptionists, under the name of religion, organized a +campaign of slander and abuse against all who ventured to speak for +Dreyfus. By a ludicrous counter-play the scoundrel Esterhazy had +defenders as an injured innocent, the more so that Henry and the clique +at the War Office found it to their interest to support him. + +Matters reached a crisis when, on November 15, 1897, Mathieu Dreyfus +denounced Esterhazy to the Minister of War as author of the _bordereau_ +and as guilty of the treason for which his brother had been condemned. +This was partly a tactical mistake, because, even if Esterhazy were +proved to have written the _bordereau_, it would still be necessary to +show him guilty of actual treason. It made it possible to swerve the +discussion from the conviction of Dreyfus as a _res adjudicata_ (_chose +jugée_) to vague charges against Esterhazy. The later called for a +vindication, he was triumphantly acquitted by a court-martial early in +January, 1898, and Picquart was put under arrest on various charges of +indiscipline in connection with the whole affair. + +Few and far between as they now seemed, the lovers of justice were still +to be counted with. They consisted at first of a small number of +much-derided _intellectuels_, scholars and trained thinkers, who used +their judgment and not their prejudices. One of these was the famous +novelist Emile Zola, who, to keep the case under discussion, published +in the _Aurore_ on January 13, a few days after Esterhazy's acquittal, +his famous letter, _J'accuse_. In this article Zola denounced the guilty +machinations of Dreyfus's adversaries _seriatim_, blamed the Dreyfus +court-martial for convicting on secret evidence and the Esterhazy court +for acquitting a guilty man in obedience to orders. Zola was not in +possession of all the facts, since his precise aim was to have them +brought out, and in his charges against the Esterhazy court he was +technically and legally at fault. But he courted prosecution and got it. + +On February 7 Zola was brought to trial. The crafty authorities +eliminated all references to the trial of 1894 as a _chose jugée_ and +prosecuted Zola for having declared that Esterhazy was acquitted by +order. Their tool, the presiding magistrate Delegorgue, seconded their +efforts by ruling out every question which might throw light on the +Dreyfus case, in spite of the attempts of Zola's chief lawyer Labori. +Party passion was at its height, hired gangs of men were posted about +the court-house to hoot and attack the Dreyfusites, members of the +General Staff appeared in full uniform to interrupt the trial and +bulldoze the jury by mysterious hints of war with Germany. Finally Zola +was condemned to fine and imprisonment. At this trial for the first time +mention was mysteriously but openly made of a new document, understood +to be a communication alluding to Dreyfus between the Italian and the +German military _attachés_ at Paris. Zola appealed, the higher court +broke the verdict on the ground that the prosecution should have been +instigated by the offended court-martial and not by the Government, he +was brought to trial again on a change of venue at Versailles, was +unsuccessful in interposing obstacles to an inevitable condemnation, and +so fled to England (July). + +Meanwhile, public opinion was becoming yet more violently excited. +France was divided into two great camps, the line of cleavage often +estranging the closest friends and relatives. On the one side was a vast +majority consisting of the Clericals, the jingoes or Nationalists, the +anti-Semites, and the unreflecting mass of the population. On the other +were ranged the "intellectuals," the Socialists who were now rallying to +the cause of tolerance, the Jews, and the few French Protestants. The +League of the Rights of Man stood opposed to the association of the +_Patrie Française_. In the midst of this turmoil were held the elections +of May, 1898, for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies. The political +coloring of the new body was not sensibly changed, but the open +Dreyfusites were all excluded. The Moderates now generally dubbed +themselves "Progressists." None the less at the first session the now +long-lived Méline Cabinet resigned after a vote requesting it to govern +with fewer concessions to the Right. + +The next Cabinet was Radical, headed by Henri Brisson. His mind was not +yet definitely made up on the matter of revision, and he gave +concessions to the Nationalists by appointing as Minister of War +Godefroy Cavaignac. This headstrong personage, proud of an historic +name, undertook to manage the Cabinet and to prove once for all to the +Chamber the guilt of Dreyfus. In his speech he relied mainly on the +letter mentioned at the Zola trial as written by the Italian to the +German _attaché_. + +Once more the Dreyfus affair seemed permanently settled, and once more +the contrary proved to be the case. In August Cavaignac discovered, to +his dismay, that the document he had sent to the Chamber, with such +emphasis on its importance, was an out-and-out forgery of Henry. The +latter was put under arrest and committed suicide. Discussion followed +between Brisson, now converted to revision, and Cavaignac, still too +stubborn to change his mind with regard to Dreyfus, in spite of his +recent discovery. Cavaignac resigned as Minister of War, was replaced by +General Zurlinden, who withdrew in a few days and was in turn succeeded +by another general, Chanoine, thought to be in sympathy with the +Cabinet. He in turn played his colleagues false and resigned +unexpectedly during a meeting of the Chamber. Weakened by these +successive blows the Brisson Cabinet itself had to resign, but its +leader had now forwarded to the supreme court of the land, the Cour de +Cassation, the petition of Dreyfus's wife for a revision of his +sentence. The first step had at last been taken. The Criminal Chamber +accepted the request and proceeded to a further detailed investigation. + +The Brisson Ministry was followed by a third Cabinet of the unabashed +Dupuy. It became evident that the Criminal Chamber of the Court of +Cassation was inclining to decide on revision. Wishing to play to both +sides and, yielding in this case to the anti-revisionists, early in 1899 +Dupuy brought in a bill to take the Dreyfus affair away from the +Criminal Chamber in the very midst of its deliberations and submit it to +the Court as a whole, where it was hoped a majority of judges would +reject revision. Between the dates of the passage of this bill by the +Chamber and by the Senate, President Faure died suddenly and under +mysterious circumstances on February 16, 1899. He had opposed revision +and his death, attributed to apoplexy, was a gain to the revisionists +who were accused by his friends of having caused his murder. On the +other hand, stories, which it is unnecessary to repeat here, found an +echo some years later in the scandals repeated at the sensational trial +of Madame Steinheil. + +During the turmoil over the Dreyfus affair, France underwent a +humiliating experience with England. The colonial rivalry of the two +countries had of late gone on unchecked, embittered as it had been by +the ousting of France from the Suez Canal and Egypt. To many Frenchmen +"Perfidious Albion" was, far more than Germany, the secular foe. In 1896 +a French expedition under Captain Marchand was sent from the Congo in +the direction of the Nile. The English afterwards argued that its +purpose was to cut their sphere of influence and hinder the +Cape-to-Cairo project; the French declared they merely wished to occupy +a post which should afford a basis for general diplomatic negotiations +for the partition of Africa. The mission was numerically insufficient; +it struggled painfully for two years through the heart of the continent, +and at last the small handful of intrepid Frenchmen established +themselves at Fashoda on the upper waters of the Nile in July, 1898. At +once General Kitchener arriving from the victory of Omdurman appeared +on the scene to occupy Fashoda for the Egyptian Government. England +assumed a viciously aggressive attitude and, under veiled threats of +war, France was obliged to recall Marchand (November 4). The outburst of +fury in France against England at this humiliation was tremendous. No +sane man would have then ventured to predict that in a few years the +hands of the two countries would be joined in the clasp of the _Entente +cordiale_. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF EMILE LOUBET + +February, 1899, to February, 1906 + + +The successor of Félix Faure, Emile Loubet, was elected on February 18, +1899, by a good majority over Jules Méline, the candidate of the larger +number of the Moderates or "Progressists" and of the Conservatives. +Loubet was himself a man of Moderate views, but he was thought to favor +a revision of the Dreyfus case. Among the charges of his enemies was +that, as Minister of the Interior in 1892, he had held, but had kept +secret, the famous list of the "Hundred and Four" and had prevented the +seizure of the papers of Baron de Reinach and the arrest of Arton. So +Loubet's return to Paris from Versailles was amid hostile cries of +"Loubet-Panama" and "Vive l'armée!" + +On February 23, after the state funeral of President Faure, a detachment +of troops led by General Roget was returning to its barracks in an +outlying quarter of Paris. Suddenly the Nationalist and quondam +Boulangist Paul Déroulède, now chief of the Ligue des Patriotes and +vigorous opponent of parliamentary government, though a Deputy himself, +rushed to General Roget, and, grasping the bridle of his horse, tried to +persuade him to lead his troops to the Elysée, the presidential +residence, and overthrow the Government. Déroulède had expected to +encounter General de Pellieux, a more amenable leader, and one of the +noisy generals at the Zola trial. General Roget, who had been +substituted at the last moment, refused to accede and caused the arrest +of Déroulède, with his fellow Deputy and conspirator Marcel Habert. + +Meanwhile the Dreyfus case had been taken out of the hands of the +Criminal Chamber and given to the whole Court. To the dismay of the +anti-Dreyfusites the Court, as a body, annulled, on June 3, the verdict +of the court-martial of 1894, and decided that Dreyfus should appear +before a second military court at Rennes for another trial. + +Thus party antagonisms were becoming more and more acute. In addition +Dupuy, the head of the Cabinet, seemed to be spiting the new President. +On the day after the verdict of the Cour de Cassation, at the Auteuil +races, President Loubet was roughly jostled by a band of fashionable +young Royalists and struck with a cane by Baron de Christiani. A week +later, at the Grand Prize races at Longchamps, on June 11, Dupuy, as +though to atone for his previous carelessness, brought out a large array +of troops, so obviously over-numerous as to cause new disturbances among +the crowd desirous of manifesting its sympathy with the chief +magistrate. More arrests were made and, at the meeting of the Chamber of +Deputies the next day, the Cabinet was overthrown by an adverse vote. + +[Illustration: RENÉ WALDECK-ROUSSEAU] + +The ministerial crisis brought about by the fall of Dupuy was as +important as any under the Third Republic because of its consequences in +the redistribution of parties. For about ten days President Loubet was +unable to find a leader who could in turn form a cabinet. At last public +opinion was astounded by the masterly combination made by +Waldeck-Rousseau, Gambetta's former lieutenant, who of recent years had +kept somewhat aloof from active participation in politics. He brought +together a ministry of "défense républicaine," which its opponents, +however, called a cabinet for the "liquidation" of the Dreyfus case. The +old policy of "Republican concentration" of Opportunists and Radicals +was given up in favor of a mass formation of the various advanced groups +of the Left, including the Socialists. + +Waldeck-Rousseau was a Moderate Republican, whose legal practice of +recent years had been mainly that of a corporation lawyer, but he was a +cool-headed Opportunist. He realized the ill-success of the policy of +the "esprit nouveau," and saw the necessity of making advances to the +Socialists, who more and more held the balance of power. He succeeded in +uniting in his Cabinet Moderates like himself, Radicals, and, for the +first time in French parliamentary history, an out-and-out Socialist, +Alexandre Millerand, author of the famous "Programme of Saint-Mandé" of +1896, or declaration of faith of Socialism. Still more astounding was +the presence as Minister of War, in the same Cabinet with Millerand, of +General de Galliffet, a bluff, outspoken, and dashing aristocratic +officer, a favorite with the whole army, but fiercely hated by the +proletariat because of his part in the repression of the Commune. + +The first days of the new Cabinet were stormy and its outlook was +dubious. The task of reconciling such divergent elements, even against a +common foe, seemed an impossibility, until at last the Radicals under +Brisson swung into line. Such was the beginning of a Republican grouping +which later, during the anti-Clerical campaign, was known as _le Bloc_, +the united band of Republicans. + +The Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry took up the Dreyfus case with a queer +combination of courage and weakness. Insubordinate army officers were +summarily punished for injudicious remarks, but in order to appear +neutral and to avoid criticism, the Cabinet held so much aloof that the +anti-Dreyfusites were able to bring their full forces to bear on the +court-martial. For a month at Rennes, beginning August 7, an +extraordinary trial was carried on before the eyes of an impassioned +France and angry onlooking nations. Witnesses had full latitude to +indulge in rhetorical addresses and air their prejudices; military +officers like Roget, who had had nothing to do with the original trial, +were allowed to take up the time of the court. Galliffet, though +convinced of the innocence of Dreyfus, was unwilling to exert as much +pressure as his colleagues in the Cabinet desired. It soon became +evident that, regardless of the question involved, the issue was one +between an insignificant Jewish officer on the one hand and General +Mercier, ex-Minister of War, on the other. The judges were army officers +full of caste-feeling and timorous of offending their superiors. Thus, +on September 9, Dreyfus was a second time convicted, though with +extenuating circumstances, by a vote of 5 to 2, and condemned to ten +years' detention. This verdict was a travesty of justice, and a +punishment fitting no crime of Dreyfus, since he was either innocent or +guilty of treason beyond extenuation. The Ministry, perhaps regretting +too late its excessive inertia, immediately caused the President to +pardon Dreyfus, partly on the ostensible grounds that Dreyfus by his +previous harsher condemnation had already purged his new one. This act +of clemency was, however, not a legal clearing of the victim's honor, +which was achieved only some years later. + +During the turmoil of the Dreyfus affair the Cabinet was, it seemed to +many, unduly anxious over certain conspirators against the Republic. The +symptoms of insubordination in high ranks in the army, linked with the +Clerical manoeuvres, had encouraged the other foes of the Republic +(spurred on by the Royalists), whether sincere opponents of the +parliamentary régime like Paul Déroulède, or venal agitators such as the +anti-Semitic Jules Guérin. But, certainly, above all objectionable were +the proceedings of the Assumptionists, a religious order which had +amassed enormous wealth, and which, by the various local editions of its +paper _la Croix_, had organized a campaign of venomous slander and abuse +of the Republic and its leaders. + +The Government, having got wind of a project of the conspirators to +seize the reins of power during the Rennes court-martial, anticipated +the act by wholesale arrests on August 12. Jules Guérin barricaded +himself with some friends in a house in the rue de Chabrol in Paris, and +defied the Government to arrest him without perpetrating murder. The +grotesque incident of the "Fort Chabrol" came to an end after +thirty-seven days when the authorities had surrounded the house with +troops to starve Guérin out and stopped the drains. + +In November a motley array of conspirators, ranging from André Buffet, +representative of the pretender the Duke of Orléans, to butchers from +the slaughter-houses of La Villette, were brought to trial before the +Senate acting as a High Court of Justice, on the charge of conspiracy +against the State. After a long trial lasting nearly two months, during +which the prisoners outdid each other in declamatory insults to their +enemies, the majority were acquitted. Paul Déroulède and André Buffet +were condemned to banishment for ten years and Jules Guérin to +imprisonment for the same term. Two others, Marcel Habert and the comte +de Lur-Saluces, who had taken flight, gave themselves up later and were +condemned in 1900 and 1901, respectively, amid a public indifference +which was far from their liking. + +Thus the year 1899 had proved itself one of the most dramatically +eventful in the history of the Republic. It was also to be one of the +most significant in its consequences. For the new grouping of mutually +jealous factions against a common danger had, in spite of the fiasco of +the second Dreyfus case, shown a way to victory. And exasperation +against the intrigues of the Clericals and the army officers was going +to turn the former toleration of the "esprit nouveau" into active +persecution, especially as the Socialists and Radicals formed the +majority of the new combination. + +In November, 1899, Waldeck-Rousseau laid before Parliament an +Associations bill to regulate the organization of societies, which was +intended indirectly to control religious bodies. The leniency of the +Government hitherto and the commercial energy of many religious orders, +manufacturers of articles varying from chartreuse to hair-restorers and +dentifrice, had enabled them to amass enormous sums held in mortmain. +The power of this money was great in politics and the anti-Clericals +cast envious eyes on these vague and mysterious fortunes. There were in +France at the time almost seven hundred unauthorized "congregations." +Against the Assumptionists in particular the Government took direct +measures early in 1900, such as legal perquisitions, arrests, and +prosecution as an illegal association. + +The campaign went on through the year 1900, the Exposition of that year +helping to act as a partial truce. The expedition of the Allies to China +to put down the Boxer rebellion also diverted attention. +Waldeck-Rousseau was sincerely desirous of bringing about a pacification +of feeling in the country, and he felt bitter practically only against +the Jesuits and the Assumptionists. He even succeeded in carrying +through Parliament an amnesty bill dealing with the Dreyfus case and +destined to quash all criminal actions in process, whether of +Dreyfusites or anti-Dreyfusites. The former fought the project +vigorously on the ground that it opposed a new obstacle to ultimate +discovery of the truth, but they were unsuccessful. Waldeck-Rousseau +remained at heart, none the less, a believer in Dreyfus's innocence and +in spite of his amnesty project, he could not always hide his true +feelings. In consequence he offended his Minister of War, General de +Galliffet, Dreyfusite as well, but tired of the struggle now that the +Rennes trial had made the task of rehabilitation apparently hopeless. +Galliffet resigned his office and was succeeded by General André, a +politician soldier, who started out at once to purge the army +drastically of its Clericalism. + +Waldeck-Rousseau's Associations project was fairly mild. He had no +desire for a violent break with the Vatican, and the wily and diplomatic +Leo XIII probably so understood well enough in spite of his protests. +But, as debate and discussion went on, the measure became more severe. +Waldeck-Rousseau had originally planned a bill dealing with +authorization and incorporation of associations in general, in which he +refrained from any specific allusion to religious bodies of monks and +nuns, thereby assimilating them with other groups. As finally voted and +promulgated in July, 1901, the law made provisions for the privilege of +association in general, but made the important additional stipulations +that no religious order or "congregation" could be formed without +specific authorization by law, that a religious order could be dissolved +by ministerial decree, and that no one belonging to an unauthorized +order could direct personally, or by proxy, an educational +establishment, or even teach in one. Thus the enemies of the lay +Republic who, under cover of the "esprit nouveau," and by years of +manipulation of the feeding sources of army and navy officers, had hoped +to grasp power, and had made a supreme effort at the time of the Dreyfus +agitation, now saw themselves thwarted, and faced the prospect of +severer treatment. + +Matters had progressed even further than Waldeck-Rousseau himself +perhaps desired. In the spring of 1902, new legislative elections took +place for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies. The policy of the +Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry was endorsed by a sound majority, and yet at +this moment of triumph, after the longest rule as Prime Minister of any +hitherto in the history of the Republic, Waldeck-Rousseau resigned his +post without an adverse vote. Undoubtedly the state of his personal +health was partly responsible for his departure from office and he was +destined not to live beyond 1904. The last important events of his +administration were a visit of the Czar to France and a return visit of +President Loubet to Russia. + +Waldeck-Rousseau's successor as Prime Minister was Emile Combes, a +strong foe of the Church. Combes had himself been a former theological +student and had, in his youth, written a thesis on the philosophy of St. +Thomas Aquinas. He now had all the vindictiveness of one who burns what +he formerly worshipped. Encouraged by the recent elections, he turned +more and more against the Vatican and impelled by the more violent +members of the _Bloc_, he drifted toward the rupture which his +predecessor had tried to avoid. A committee of the different groups +supporting the Cabinet, called the "délégation des gauches," had in time +been instituted to formulate policies with the Prime Minister, who often +had to obey it instead of guiding. Waldeck-Rousseau had intended not to +apply his law retroactively. He had planned to spare educational +establishments already in existence before July, 1901, when his measure +went into operation, and had winked at lack of compliance on the part of +many others. Combes applied the letter of the law ruthlessly. Amid +public protestations and disturbances he closed a large number of these +unauthorized schools; firstly, those which had actually been opened +without permission since the promulgation of the law, then the many +schools which were older than the law. In so doing he was called a +persecutor, because the directors of the schools declared that they had +allowed the time limit of application for authorization to go by, only +through the understanding with the previous Administration that they +were not to be interfered with. Now they could not help themselves. + +Emboldened by success Combes next took up the applications of the +congregations which had duly followed the law and were seeking +authorization. By decree, as was his right, he first promptly closed +unlicensed schools of recognized orders. Then came the applications of +orders seeking authorization. Legal procedure demanded laws to reject as +well as laws to accept applications. A recommendation _favored_ by the +Government but _rejected_ by the Chamber of Deputies would not go before +the Senate. On the other hand, an _unfavorable_ opinion of the +Government _ratified_ by the House would still have to go before the +Senate. A way would thus be open for prolonged chicanery. + +Combes cut matters short. He lumped fifty-four individual applications +into three batches, teaching orders, preaching orders, and the +commercial order of the Chartreux, manufacturers of the liqueur called +"chartreuse." Then, presenting these batches of applications +collectively instead of individually to the Chamber, he caused their +rejection and proceeded to dissolve the orders and close their fifteen +hundred establishments. Through the spring of 1903 there were turbulent +scenes in consequence in various parts of France, the monks trying +sometimes passive resistance, sometimes actual violence. In the +reactionary districts the population attempted to stir up riots. +Occasionally, even, a military officer whose duty it was to evict the +monks refused to obey orders. But, nothing daunted, Combes went on, with +the support of the Chambers, to reject a large mass of applications from +teaching orders of women. Even Waldeck-Rousseau was led in time publicly +to declare that he had never contemplated the transformation of his +Associations law of 1901 from a measure of regulation to one of +exclusion, nor the assumption by the State of expensive educational +charges hitherto carried on by religious orders. At last the law of +July, 1904, put a complete end to all kinds of instruction by religious +bodies, thereby insuring, after a lapse of time for liquidation, the +disappearance of all teaching orders. + +These measures against the religious groups were, in spite of outcries +of persecution, after all matters of internal administration. But, +meanwhile, causes for direct dissension with the Vatican had arisen over +questions involving the _Concordat_ regulating the relations of Church +and State. + +The first dispute was about the method of appointing bishops. The +Concordat gave to the Government the right of appointing bishops, +subject to the papal ratification of the appointee's moral and +theological qualifications. During the Third Republic the habit had +grown up of mutual consultation before appointments were made, a +practice which led the Vatican to assume that its initial influence was +as great as that of the Government, and finally to make use of the +formula _nobis nominavit_, or _nominaverit_, as though the Government +merely proposed a candidate subject to the Vatican's free right to +accept or to reject. The keen-scented Combes took an early opportunity +to raise this issue by making certain appointments to bishoprics +without previously consulting the Vatican. In the midst of the +discussions Leo XIII died in July, 1903, and was succeeded by Pius X, +whose character was utterly different from that of his predecessor. His +primitive faith saw in France the home of heretics like the Modernist, +the Abbé Loisy; and his Secretary of State, the ultramontane Cardinal +Merry del Val, was as hostile to France, as his predecessor Cardinal +Rampolla had, on the whole, been well disposed to the "eldest daughter +of the Church." Between Merry del Val and Combes no agreement was +possible. So matters went from bad to worse. + +In the autumn of 1903 the King of Italy made a visit to France, and in +1904 it was deemed advisable to have President Loubet return this visit +to emphasize the new cordiality between France and Italy, the settlement +of long-standing difficulties, and to cultivate as much as possible one +member of the Triple Alliance. The Pope protested violently against this +visit to his enemy in Rome and made it clear that he would refuse to see +Loubet. The diplomatic crisis became acute and the French Ambassador to +the Vatican was recalled. + +Soon came a complete rupture over the treatment by the pontifical +authorities of two French bishops, Geay of Laval and Le Nordez of Dijon. +They had shown themselves loyal Republicans and had become the object of +attack in their own dioceses until personal scandals were imagined or +raked up against them. Combes took the part of the bishops and, to +punish the Vatican for interfering with the French prelates, definitely +broke off diplomatic relations in July, 1904, withdrawing even the +chargé d'affaires who had been left after the departure of the +ambassador. + +For some time, plans for the separation of Church and State had been +under discussion in a somewhat academic way by a committee or +_Commission_ of the Chamber, under the general guidance of Ferdinand +Buisson and Aristide Briand. The latter had even drawn up a preliminary +project. But Combes, in spite of his vehemence in words against the +Church, hesitated to involve the Ministry. He knew that the country at +large was fully satisfied with the maintenance of the Concordat and that +some of his own colleagues in the Cabinet, as well as Loubet, preferred +not to disturb it. + +Suddenly a great scandal broke out. The enemies of the Ministry got hold +of the fact that General André, through some of his subordinates in the +War Office, was carrying on a regular system of espionage upon army +officers suspected of luke-warm republicanism or of Clerical sympathies, +and was using as spies members of Masonic lodges or even subordinate +Masonic army officers throughout France.[16] These spies had filed +innumerable notes or memoranda known as _fiches_, containing +information, rumor, or scandal concerning the persons involved, their +families and intimacies. The discovery that leading members of the +Cabinet had been countenancing methods as reprehensible as those of the +worst of their opponents, caused an uproar. The Cabinet seemed on the +point of being overthrown when one of its enemies did it a great +service. A wild and blatant anti-Ministerialist named Syveton rushed up +to the Minister of War and struck him two blows in the face during a +meeting of the Chamber. The effect of this deed was to cause a temporary +reaction in favor of the Ministry, but also to draw Combes more to the +Radicals, and he promptly brought forward his own governmental +separation plan, which was considerably at variance with the Briand +project. The respite was, however, only momentary, and, after +sacrificing General André, Combes gave up the struggle and resigned in +January, 1905, without being actually put in the minority. + +It cannot be denied that there was a considerable deterioration in +government during the régime of Combes. In attempting to thwart the +Clerical Party he let himself lapse into methods as objectionable as +theirs. His anti-clericalism breathed the spirit of persecution, as much +as did the intrigues of the clergy during the early days of the +Republic. He transformed Waldeck-Rousseau's plans for the regulation of +religious orders into a measure of proscription. He countenanced +underhanded intrigues, and allowed his Minister of War to undermine army +discipline by his methods of political espionage almost as much as it +had been undermined in the days of the supremacy of the Clericals. The +concessions of the Ministers of War and of Marine to the Socialists and +pacifists considerably weakened the efficiency of both army and navy. +Combes's administration was pre-eminently one of self-seeking +politicians. + +Yet, on the other hand, certain very praiseworthy achievements may be +registered to its credit. One of these was the act of General André, in +1903, instituting a new private investigation of the Dreyfus case. It +resulted in the discovery of material sufficient to justify a new demand +for revision, which the Cour de Cassation admitted in March, 1904. +Another achievement was the _rapprochement_ with England known as the +_Entente cordiale_ or friendly understanding, which following the new +amity with Italy greatly strengthened France face-to-face with Germany. +The Russian alliance had given France one definite European ally, and +the cordiality with Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, cleared the +situation in the Mediterranean and on the frontier of the Alps. The +_Entente cordiale_ was engineered by Edward VII as a result of his visit +to Paris in 1903. The accord of April, 1904, was really due to English +as well as French fear of German aggression. It liquidated all the old +contentions between England and France, one of which, the French Shore +Dispute over Newfoundland fishing rights, dated back to the Treaty of +Utrecht in the early eighteenth century. But, above all, France +definitely gave up her Egyptian claims in return for freedom of action +in Morocco guaranteed by England. For France was anxious to add Morocco +to her African sphere of influence. A secret arrangement with Spain gave +that country reversionary claims to certain parts of Morocco. By the +agreement with England the bad blood caused by the Fashoda incident was +wiped away, a new intimacy sprang up between "Perfidious Albion" and +"Froggy," and through the natural drawing together of England and +France's ally Russia, the Triple Entente came into being some years +later, which was destined to face Germany and Austria in the Great +European War. + +Combes's successor as Prime Minister was a member of his own Cabinet, +Maurice Rouvier. More moderate in views than Combes, he would have been +content to let the Separation bill rest, but the Radicals were in the +saddle and he let things take their course. The discussions over the +project went on through most of the year 1905, under the guidance of the +Minister of Worship, Bienvenu-Martin, and particularly of Aristide +Briand, the _rapporteur_ or spokesman for the _Commission_ in the +Chamber. The bill, again and again modified in a spirit of conciliation +and leniency under the guidance of Briand, finally resulted, as +promulgated on December 9, in a sincere effort for a compromise between +different views on religion. It showed a desire, since Church and State +were to be divorced, to treat the former fairly. Provision was made, +when the budget for religious purposes should be suppressed, for the +legal inventory of ecclesiastical property, the pension of superannuated +clergy, and the formation of legal corporations to insure public worship +(_associations cultuelles_). It must be remembered that the new measure +applied quite as much to the Protestants and to the Jews as to the +Catholics. Before the separation the Protestant pastors and the Jewish +rabbis were maintained by the State no less than the Catholic clergy. +Their numerical insignificance made them of little importance in the +general combat over the Clerical question. Nor could they fairly be +accused of intrigue against the Republic. + +The year 1905 is noteworthy for two other important events. One was the +reduction of the term of compulsory military service from three to two +years. This measure was carried through largely under the auspices of +General André and proved an over-dangerous concession to the +anti-militarists and pacifists, since it was destined so soon to be +repealed. The other was the sensational diplomatic dispute with Germany +over Morocco, which resulted at first for France in a worse humiliation +than Fashoda. + +Germany under Bismarck had encouraged the numerous French colonial +schemes, as a way of keeping her busy abroad and of diverting her +thoughts from Alsace-Lorraine. But as the Empire began to develop its +Pan-Germanism and its aspirations to world-power under William II, it +grew jealous of England and France and of their arrangement of 1904 to +settle the interests of Morocco. Forthwith Germany began to intrigue +with the Sultan of Morocco against the French, and declared that, as it +had not been officially informed of the agreements between England, +France, and Spain, it intended to disregard them. The defeat of Russia +by Japan, in particular, encouraged Germany to feel that France, +deprived of its ally, could be bullied with impunity. On March 31, +Emperor William landed at Tangier and proclaimed that his visit was to +the Sultan as an "independent sovereign." Germany also called for the +convocation of an international meeting to regulate the Moroccan +question. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Delcassé, objected to +the thwarting of his plans, but because of the deterioration of the army +and navy and the lack of hoped-for Russian support, Rouvier was obliged +under German threats to drop him from his Cabinet and to agree to the +convocation of the Conference of Algeciras.[17] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] It should be remembered that, in France, the Freemasons are an +anti-religious political quite as much as a benevolent order. + +[17] The pro-German position, expressed in such works as E. D. Morel's +_Morocco in Diplomacy_ (1912), is that Sir Edward Grey and M. Delcassé +were engaged in tricky schemes to dispose of Morocco without regard for +German interests; that Germany was not officially notified by France of +the public agreements with England (April, 1904) and with Spain +(October, 1904); that these two agreements were both accompanied by +secret ones which nullified their effect; that M. Delcassé resigned, not +under German pressure, but at M. Rouvier's wish, for having unduly +involved and compromised France. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARMAND FALLIÈRES + +February, 1906, to February, 1918 + + +The international conference for the regulation of the Moroccan question +met at Algeciras in southern Spain, in January, 1906. Twelve powers +participated, including the United States. The negotiations were +prolonged until the end of March owing to the unconciliatory German +attitude, and resulted in an arrangement which the Germans looked upon +as totally unsatisfactory to themselves. In the shaping of the general +results the United States had considerable influence. The agreement put +out of discussion the sovereignty of the Sultan, the integrity of the +empire, and the principle of commercial freedom, and was largely devoted +to the question of the establishment of a state bank and the +organization of the police in international ports of entry. In the bank +France was to have special privileges, and the police was to be under +the supervision of France and Spain. Germany was eliminated. + +In the midst of the uncertainty over the outcome of the Conference two +important events took place in France, the second of which came near +seriously weakening the French position. These were the election of a +successor to President Loubet and the downfall of the Rouvier Ministry. + +M. Loubet's term expired in February and he did not desire re-election. +The two chief candidates were Armand Fallières and Paul Doumer. M. +Fallières was an easy-going, good-natured, and well-meaning but +second-rate statesman. Doumer was far more brilliant and vigorous, but +was accused of self-seeking and was thought a less safe person to elect. +Unfortunately, M. Fallières, when chosen, had his master, and was +largely under the control of Clemenceau. + +Meanwhile the almost unprincipled vacillation of M. Rouvier and his +spineless policy caused increased dissatisfaction to the Chamber. During +the discussion of a riotous episode connected with the enforcement of +the Separation law, which had resulted in the death of a man, Rouvier +was overthrown. He was succeeded by a colorless person, Sarrien, who +included Clemenceau in his Cabinet as Minister of the Interior. The +latter gradually pushed his chief aside and finally replaced him before +the end of the year as Prime Minister. + +Clemenceau showed himself during his lengthy control of power an astute +politician. In the public eye ever since the days of the Commune, he had +had success during the eighties as a destroyer of cabinets. Driven into +the background by the Panama scandals, he now came forward again to try +his fortune in holding the power from which he had often driven others. +With a Cabinet thoroughly under his dictatorial control, he announced a +programme which was to depend for success on the Radicals, rather than +on the Moderates or the Socialists. It was a departure from the policy +of the _Bloc_, though to conciliate the advanced parties he created the +new Ministry of Labor and put M. Viviani, a Socialist, in charge of it. +In practice, Clemenceau's policy was that of one determined to stay in +office, showing alternately conciliation and severity, explaining his +actions to the Chamber often with a flippancy which seemed out of place +and did not help the prestige of parliamentary government. + +Apart from the diplomatic tension with Germany, which was not settled by +the Act of Algeciras, the history of the Fallières Administration is +largely taken up with the final disposition of the religious controversy +and with labor questions. The constant advance toward radicalism and +socialism, the lack of great statesmen in Parliament and the presence of +professional politicians, the progress of anti-militarism and the +relegation of the question of Alsace-Lorraine to the background, left a +free field for the growth of social unrest. The tendency was encouraged +by the elections for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies in May, +1906. To the religious disturbances and the efforts of the Conservatives +to prove themselves persecuted, the country answered at the polls by an +increased anti-Clerical majority. + +In 1906 the Dreyfus case was at last settled. The Cour de Cassation +finally annulled the verdict of the Rennes court-martial. In consequence +Dreyfus was restored to the army with the rank of Major which he would +normally have reached had it not been for his great ordeal. Colonel +Picquart, to whom more than to any one he owed his rehabilitation, who +had been driven from the army in 1898, was now made Brigadier-General. +Promoted a few weeks later to Major-General, he became Minister of War +in Clemenceau's Cabinet. The remains of Emile Zola were also transferred +to the Pantheon. Such were the dramatic changes wrought in half a dozen +years. + +The troubles over the application of the law for the disestablishment of +the Church lasted more than two years. The Vatican was determined to +make itself a martyr. It would undoubtedly have been glad to see a +forcible closing of the churches in order to cause a reaction in its +favor. Moreover, it objected to the diminution of priestly power and the +participation of the laity as prescribed in the formation of the new +_associations cultuelles_. The Ministry, and particularly Briand, were +just as determined not to give it an opportunity to raise the cry of +persecution. + +The first opportunity for a conflict came when the Government tried to +make inventories of religious property, including valuables. This +measure was for the protection of the Church, but the Clericals chose to +call it inquisitorial and a first step to confiscation. In some parts +of France armed resistance, often systematically prepared, was made to +the authorities, army officers again occasionally refused to carry out +orders, and on March 6, at Boeschepe, a man was killed. It was this +incident which caused the downfall of the Rouvier Cabinet. + +It was the policy of M. Briand, entrusted with the application of the +new law, to employ the most conciliatory means face to face with the +Vatican, determined to be persecuted. As a matter of fact the French +bishops, after plenary consultation, had decided by a considerable +majority, to accept the law in a good spirit, with reservations as to +its justice, and to organize the _associations cultuelles_. Suddenly the +Pope intervened by an encyclical directed against any such acceptance, +and prescribed a continuation of the contest. These orders the bishops +felt constrained to obey. + +Therefore, at the advent of the Clemenceau Cabinet in October, 1906, M. +Briand had achieved nothing but compulsory inventories. He got +Parliament to allow the legality of the proposed religious organizations +under the Associations Law of 1901 or under the general law of 1881 on +public meetings, as well as under the special legislation of 1905. Again +the Holy See refused to obey, and ordered the clergy to continue their +occupancy of the churches, but to refrain from any legal declaration or +registration whatsoever. Then M. Briand did away with the declaration. +So the contest went on without agreement until it finally lapsed. The +clergy continued to occupy the churches, but without legal claim to +them, under the law of 1881 on public meetings, amended by the law of +March 28, 1907, suppressing the formality of a declaration. The Catholic +Church was stripped, by its own unwillingness to help organize holding +bodies, of all its possessions. By the good-will of the Government it +continued to occupy the religious edifices, but the maintenance and +repair of these was dependent on the good-will of the _commune_ or +administrative division in which the churches were situated. On the +other hand, nothing has materialized of the prophesied religious +persecutions, civil war, and martyrdoms. + +Apart from the annoyances caused by the separation of Church and State, +the history of the Clemenceau Ministry deals largely with labor +disturbances and social unrest. This was partly due to parliamentary +demagogy. A succession of weak and ineffective ministries had been +followed by Clemenceau's incoherencies and alterations of policy, though +it remained consistently _Radical_ and not socialistic. The Ministers +were often at loggerheads (even Clemenceau and Briand over the +Separation bill), and the Deputies were often mediocre politicians, +quick to vote themselves an increase of salary, but dilatory in other +achievements. The growth of socialism, with its theories of pacifism and +international brotherhood, encouraged the anti-militarists. The +brilliant leader Jaurès openly advocated the abolition of the army and +the creation of a national militia. Some anti-militarists, like Hervé, +carried their theories beyond all bounds and rhetorically talked of +dragging the national flag in the mire. Meanwhile the political methods +in the past of men like André in the War Department and Camille Pelletan +in the Navy had weakened those services, as Delcassé had found to his +cost in the controversy with Germany. The battleship _Iéna_ blew up in +March, 1907, there was a suspicious fire at the Toulon Arsenal, and +many other things disquieted people. + +The Government tried to cater to the labor parties, brought forward +plans for an income tax and for old-age pensions, and carried through a +law making compulsory one day of rest out of seven for workingmen. +Especially active were the efforts of the syndicalists and the +organizers of the anarchistic _Confédération générale du travail_, or +"C.G.T.," to promote every contest between capital and labor and to +bring about, if possible, a general strike of all labor. There were +strikes of miners, longshoremen, sailors, electricians among others. +Even more alarming was the formation of unions, affiliated with the +C.G.T., among state employees such as school teachers and postmen, and +efforts to disorganize the public service. These different movements +Clemenceau met with his customary seesaw of friendliness and harshness, +and the Government was usually victorious. Not less troublesome but +somewhat more picturesque was the quasi-revolutionary movement, in 1907, +of the wine-makers of the South, driven to desperation by overproduction +and low prices, attributed to the competition of adulterated wines. The +municipalities where these disturbances occurred were often in sympathy +with the creators of disturbance, not only in small towns, but in large +places like Béziers, Perpignan, Narbonne, and Carcassonne. Municipal +officials resigned or refused to carry out their duties, and some +regiments, made up of men recruited from one of the districts, mutinied. +The troubles at last quieted down. + +In the beginning of 1909 an important agreement was signed with Germany +which seemed to promise an end to the long disputes over Morocco. The +Moroccan question had continued to dominate French foreign policy even +after Algeciras and that conference had not ended the commercial +rivalries of the two countries. In March, 1907, a Frenchman, Dr. +Mauchamp, was murdered by natives at Marrakesh and the French in reply +occupied Ujda near the Algerian frontier. In July, after the murder of +some European workmen at Casablanca, the French sent a landing corps. In +1908 the Sultan Abd-el-Aziz, a friend of the French, was overthrown by a +rival, Muley-Hafid, egged on by the Germans. These also raised a +dispute over some deserters from the French Foreign Legion at +Casablanca, who had taken refuge at the German Consulate and whom the +Germans claimed as their subjects. For a moment war clouds seemed to +appear on the horizon until dissipated by mutual expressions of regret +and after a reference to the Hague Tribunal, which, on the whole, +justified the French. It was, therefore, good news for Europe to hear of +the agreement of February, 1909, which acknowledged the predominance of +French political claims, and tried to facilitate economic co-operation +instead of rivalry between France and Germany. Unfortunately, this +agreement was destined to prove ineffective. + +The Clemenceau Cabinet lasted until July, 1909. During a discussion on +the Navy, Clemenceau and Delcassé had an altercation as to their +relative responsibilities for the French surrender to Germany in 1905 +when Delcassé was driven from the Rouvier Ministry. The Chamber sided +with Delcassé and Clemenceau discovered that his sarcasm had overreached +itself. The new Premier was Briand, the Socialist and former bugbear of +the moneyed classes, who had shown by his management of the Separation +bill the abilities of a true statesman and who became more and more +moderate in his views under the increasing responsibilities of power. + +The history of the Briand Ministry was largely taken up by internal +questions and the elections of May, 1910, for the renewal of the Chamber +of Deputies. To propitiate the electorate the expiring Parliament passed +a law providing old-age pensions for workingmen. The elections left the +Radicals and the Socialistic Radicals (as opposed to the Socialists) on +the whole masters of the situation, but the general parliamentary +instability continued to prevail. The country felt the reaction. In the +autumn of 1910 far-reaching railway strikes broke out, resulting in +violence and injury to railway property or _sabotage_. Briand met the +difficulty energetically by mobilizing the employees still subject to +military duty, and making them perform their work under military orders. +The act of "dictatorship" was approved by the Chamber, but Briand went +through the ceremony of resigning and accepting the mission to form a +new Cabinet. It proved not very homogeneous and withdrew in February, +1911. The Monis Cabinet, of more advanced Socialistic-Radical +principles, lasted only a few months and faced new disturbances with +wine-producers. This time the trouble was in the East, where many were +dissatisfied with the artificial limitation of districts entitled to +produce wines labelled "champagne." The Socialistic-Radical Ministry of +Joseph Caillaux (June, 1911) encountered a new and dangerous crisis in +the relations with Germany. + +The mutual agreement between the two countries for the economic +development of Morocco had, through financial rivalries, not worked +well. There was also friction over similar attempts for the development +of the French Congo. In this state of affairs, the French sent a +military expedition to Fez in the early summer of 1911 for the +ostensible purpose of protecting the Sultan from attack by rebels and of +relieving the French military mission. The Germans, backed up, indeed, +by the French anti-militarist press, declared that this was a mere +pretext for encroachment. Spain also took the opportunity of asserting +its rights to parts of the North in accordance with its reversionary +claims by the Treaty of 1904. Thereupon Germany declared that the +agreements of Algeciras and of 1909 had been nullified by France and +demanded compensations. The gunboat _Panther_ suddenly appeared in the +port of Agadir (July 1) and the Germans began to call for their share in +the partition of Morocco. + +Difficult negotiations were carried on between France and Germany +through the summer of 1911, and at moments the two countries were on the +very brink of war. The English Government backed up France. Lloyd George +and Premier Asquith made public declarations to that effect. French +capitalists also began calling in their funds invested in Germany and a +financial crisis threatened that country. + +Thus brought to terms the Germans became more moderate in their demands, +and it was finally possible to reach a compromise, unsatisfactory to +both parties. Germany definitely gave up all political claim to Morocco +and acknowledged France as paramount there. On the other hand, a +territorial readjustment was made in the Congo by which Germany added +to the Cameroons about two hundred and thirty thousand square kilometres +of land with a million people, and the new frontiers made annoying +salients into the French Congo. The treaty was signed in November, 1911, +but the Pan-Germanists were angry at any concessions to France, the +Colonial Minister resigned, and the Emperor, who had thrown his +influence on the side of peace, lost much prestige for a while. On the +other hand, the French were correspondingly dissatisfied at the losses +in the Congo. The opponents of the Prime Minister, Caillaux, had often +taunted him with too close a relation between his official acts and his +private financial interests. They now accused him of tricky concessions +to Germany in connection with the Congo adjustments. M. Caillaux denied +in the Chamber that he had ever entered into any private dealings apart +from the negotiations of the ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, +Clemenceau asked the Foreign Minister, M. de Selves, point-blank if the +French Ambassador at Berlin had not complained of interference in the +diplomatic negotiations. M. de Selves refused to answer, thus +implicitly giving the lie to M. Caillaux. The consequence was a cabinet +crisis and the resignation of the Ministry (January, 1912). + +The upshot of the Agadir crisis was increased irritation between France +and Germany and the feeling in each country that the other was seeking +trouble. The French were now convinced that, some day or other, war +would inevitably result and the nation dropped its strong pacifist +tendencies and rallied to the army. The Germans were, above all, furious +against the English, whom they considered responsible for their +humiliation. + +So far as Morocco was immediately concerned, the French took steps to +develop their new privileges. In March, 1912, they imposed a definite +protectorate on the Sultan Muley-Hafid and soon replaced him by his +brother Muley-Yussef. They came to an agreement with Spain as to the +latter's claims in the North and entrusted to General Lyautey the +administrative and military reorganization of the country. The +pacification of the hostile tribes was not an easy task and went on +laboriously through 1912 and 1913. + +After the downfall of M. Caillaux, Raymond Poincaré became head of a +Cabinet more moderate than its predecessor, the Socialistic Radicals +seeming somewhat discredited in public opinion. M. Poincaré was a strong +partisan of proportional representation, and a measure for the +modification of the method of voting was, under his auspices, passed by +the Chamber, though it failed the following year in the Senate. + +In foreign affairs, Morocco having dropped into the background, the +Eastern question became acute. Fear lest the conflict in the Orient +should involve the rest of Europe led France to draw again closer to +Russia and England. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF RAYMOND POINCARÉ + +February, 1913 + + +M. Fallières' term expired on February 18, 1913. The two leading +candidates were Raymond Poincaré, head of the Ministry, and Jules Pams, +who was supported by the advanced Radicals. M. Poincaré's election was +looked upon, because of his personal vigor, as a triumph of sound +conservative republicanism, and it was predicted that he would prove a +strong leader, able to give prestige to the Presidency and to bring +order out of chaos. The early months of his Administration were less +productive of results than had been hoped, but the European War came too +soon to make definitive judgment safe. + +After M. Poincaré's election, M. Fallières made M. Briand President of +the Council during the last weeks of his term, and M. Poincaré kept the +same Cabinet. M. Briand, like M. Poincaré, advocated proportional +representation. As the Chamber failed to take a vigorous position in +support of the measure, and defeated the Ministry on a vote of +confidence, the latter withdrew (March, 1913). + +Louis Barthou next became Prime Minister, and the important legislative +measure of the year was the new military law. The Germans having largely +increased their army, it was deemed necessary, in spite of the violent +opposition of the Socialistic Radicals and the Socialists and the +attempts of the syndicalists of the _Confédération générale du travail_ +to work up a general strike, to abrogate the Law of 1905 and to return +to three years of military service without exemption. M. Barthou pushed +the three-years bill already supported by the Briand Cabinet. France +took upon herself an enormous financial burden, coupled with a +corresponding loss of productive labor, yet events soon proved the +wisdom of the step. + +The opposition to the Cabinet was virulent. There were now two great +groupings of the chief political parties.[18] The Radicals and +Socialistic Radicals, under the name of "Unified Radicals" waged war +against the President and the Ministry. They were under the inspiration +of men like Clemenceau and the active leadership of Joseph Caillaux and +tried to revive the methods of the old _Bloc_ of Combes. They +declared their intention of repealing the three-years law and +proclaimed the tenets of their faith at the Congress of Pau. The +Briand-Barthou-Millerand group, supporters of Poincaré, soon formed a +Moderate Party with a programme of conciliation and reform known as the +"Federation of the Lefts." + +The Barthou Cabinet had been overthrown early in December, 1913, after a +vote on a government loan. President Poincaré had to call in a Radical +Cabinet led by Gaston Doumergue, the programme of which Ministry was, +after all, less "advanced" than the Pau programme, especially as to the +three-years bill. M. Caillaux, the master-spirit of the Radicals, was +the Minister of Finance and the object of the hostility of the +Moderates. They claimed that he used his position to cause speculation +at the Stock Exchange, and accused him of "selling out" to Germany in +the settlement after Agadir. The _Figaro_, edited by Gaston Calmette, +began a violent campaign. Among the charges was that during the +prosecution in 1911 of Rochette, a swindling promoter, the then Prime +Minister Monis, now Minister of Marine, had, at Caillaux's instigation, +held up the prosecution for fraud, during which delay Rochette had been +able to put through other swindles. + +In the midst of the public turmoil over these charges Caillaux's wife +went to Calmette's editorial offices and killed him with a revolver. +Caillaux resigned and, the Rochette case having come up for discussion +in the Chamber, when Monis denied that he had ever influenced the law, +Barthou produced a most damaging letter. A parliamentary commission +later decided that the Monis Cabinet _had_ interfered to save Rochette +from prosecution. + +It was under such circumstances that the Deputies separated for the +general elections. Three chief questions came before the voters, the +three-years law, the income tax, and proportional representation. The +results of the elections were inconclusive and the new Chamber promised +to be as ineffective as its predecessor. On the second ballots the +Socialists made a good many gains. + +The Doumergue Ministry resigned soon after the elections which it had +carried through. President Poincaré offered the leadership to the +veteran statesman Ribot, who with the co-operation of Léon Bourgeois, +formed a Moderate Cabinet with an inclination toward the Left. This +Ministry was above the average, but its leaders were insulted and +brow-beaten and overthrown on the very first day they met the Chamber of +Deputies. So then a Cabinet was formed, led by the Socialist René +Viviani, who was willing, however, to accept the three-years law, though +he had previously opposed it. But this victory for national defence was +weakened by parliamentary revelations of military unpreparedness. + +In mid-July President Poincaré and M. Viviani left France for a round of +state visits to Russia and Scandinavia. Paris was engrossed by the +sensational trial of Madame Caillaux, which resulted in her acquittal, +but this excitement was suddenly replaced by the European crisis, and +President Poincaré cut short his foreign trip and hastened home. France +loyally supported her ally Russia, and, on August 3, Baron von Schoen, +the German Ambassador, notified M. Viviani of a state of war between +Germany and France. + +Indeed, no sooner had the Moroccan question been settled than danger had +loomed in the Orient, in which France was likely to be involved through +her alliance with Russia. Moreover, Germany had not got over the Agadir +fiasco and was furious with England as well as France. Thus the European +balance of power had long been in danger through the hostility of the +Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. It is beyond the scope of the +present volume to analyze in detail the Balkan question. The rôle of +France was consistent in the interest of peace by helping to maintain +the balance of power, but obviously she was loyal toward her partners of +the Triple Entente and acted in solidarity with them. + +So far as the outbreak of the war in 1914 is concerned, France stands +with a clear conscience. She had nothing to do with the disputes between +Austria and Serbia, or between Austria, Germany, and Russia. Once war +proved inevitable France faithfully accepted the responsibilities of the +Russian alliance. Against France, Germany was an open aggressor. +Germany's strategic plans for the quick annihilation of France, before +attacking Russia, are well known to the world. Everybody is aware how +scrupulously France avoided every hostile measure, and, during the +critical days preceding the war, withdrew all troops ten kilometres from +the frontier to prevent a clash. The Germans were obliged, in order to +justify their advance, to invent preposterous tales of bombs dropped by +aeroplanes near Nuremberg or of the violation of Belgium neutrality by +French officers in automobiles. France had no idea of invading Belgium. +All the French strategic plans aimed at the protection of the direct +frontier, and they were dislocated by the dishonest move of Germany +through Belgium. + +In 1914 France was not even prepared for war. The pacification of +Morocco immobilized thousands of her troops. Revelations in Parliament +as late as July 13 showed, as mentioned above, great deficiencies in +equipment. Public attention was taken up by the Caillaux trial and by +political strife apparently reaching the proportions of national +weakness. + +Since Agadir it is true that France, conscious of the constantly +provocative attitude of Germany, had seen the folly of plans for +disarmament. Love for the army had grown again, through realization of +its necessity. But no nation ever looked forward with more horror and +dread to military conflict than the French. They had been the last +victims of a great European war, of which the memories were still alive. +However much the loss of Alsace-Lorraine rankled in their hearts, they +knew too well the madness of war to seek it again. A new generation had +grown up reconciled to fate and willing to let bygones be bygones. + +But Germany would not. The new Empire, a _Bourgeois gentilhomme_ among +nations, but without even the breeding of the _parvenu_, dreamed of +world-supremacy. As the boor in society makes himself conspicuous, so it +was one of the tenets of Pan-Germanism to let no international agreement +take place without German interference. + +Some people, reading the annals of forty-four years since the +Franco-Prussian War, have been disposed to sneer at France. Some have +called the country degenerate because of its small birth-rate, its +fiction sometimes brutal, sometimes neurotic, its inefficient +Parliament, its vindictive political and religious contests. Such +critics should remember that the French Government is the result of +tactical compromise in presence of the Monarchical Party. Nobody denies +that it might be improved. As to religious persecution, Americans might +remember their own righteous feelings toward fellow citizens with +"hyphenated" allegiance, when they rebuke the French for fighting vast +organizations working against their Government under foreign orders. + +In 1914 France, bearing on her shoulders proportionably the greatest +burden of all the Allies, presented to the world a spirit of firmness, +unity, and national resolve that won the admiration of neutral nations. +Religious persecution and clerical manoeuvre were alike put aside. +France forgot all lassitude and discouragement. Atheist, Protestant, and +Catholic felt a great wave of spiritual as well as of patriotic fervor, +and took as symbol of love of country the heroic peasant girl of +Lorraine, Jeanne d'Arc, who, coming from the people and leading the +nation's army, sought to drive from the soil its foes and invaders. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] It must be obvious to the reader, after following all the changes +in nomenclature recorded in this volume, that in France party-names give +little hint of party-views: "In French political parlance 'Progressivs' +ar retrograde, 'Liberals' ar conservativ, 'Conservativs' ar +revolutionary in aim and methods, 'Radicals' ar trimmers and +time-servers, whilst one of the most reactionary administrations of +recent years was heded by three 'Socialists.'" A.-L. Guérard in _Pub. +Mod. Lang. Assoc. of America_, vol. xxx, p. 624. Compare also the +following: "Suivant les régions de la France, c'est-à-dire selon la +moyenne de l'opinion locale et les termes de comparaison ou les +traditions propres à chaque province, les mots changent de +signification. Dans le Var un radical passe pour un modéré, dans l'ouest +un républicain est considéré par certains comme un révolutionnaire, +ailleurs les candidats qui ne sont pas au moins radicaux-socialistes ne +sont pas tenus pour de bons républicains." L. Jacques, _Les partis +politiques sous la troisième république_, p. 429. + + +THE END + + + + +APPENDIX + + +PRESIDING OFFICERS OF FRENCH CABINETS + + VICE-PRÉSIDENTS DU CONSEIL + + + _Administration of Thiers_ + + Feb. 19, 1871, Jules Dufaure. + May 18, 1873, Jules Dufaure. + + + _Administration of Mac-Mahon_ + + May 25, 1873, Duc de Broglie. + Nov. 26, 1873, Duc de Broglie. + May 22, 1874, Général de Cissey. + {Louis Buffet. + March 10, 1875,{ + {Jules Dufaure. + + + PRÉSIDENTS DU CONSEIL + + + _Administration of Mac-Mahon (continued)_ + + March 9, 1876, Jules Dufaure. + Dec. 12, 1876, Jules Simon. + May 17, 1877, Duc de Broglie. + Nov. 23, 1877, Général de Rochebouët. + Dec. 13, 1877, Jules Dufaure. + + + _Administration of Jules Grévy_ + + Feb. 4, 1879, William-Henry Waddington. + Dec. 28, 1879, Charles de Freycinet. + Sept. 23, 1880, Jules Ferry. + Nov. 14, 1881, Léon Gambetta. + Jan. 30, 1882, Charles de Freycinet. + Aug. 7, 1882, Eugène Duclerc. + Jan. 29, 1883, Armand Fallières. + Feb. 21, 1883, Jules Ferry. + April 6, 1885, Henri Brisson. + Jan. 7, 1886, Charles de Freycinet. + Dec. 11, 1886, René Goblet. + May 30, 1887. Maurice Rouvier. + + + _Administration of Carnot_ + + Dec. 12, 1887, Pierre-Emmanuel Tirard. + April 3, 1888, Charles Floquet. + Feb. 22, 1889, Pierre-Emmanuel Tirard. + March 17, 1890, Charles de Freycinet. + Feb. 27, 1892, Emile Loubet. + Dec. 6, 1892, Alexandre Ribot. + Jan. 11, 1893, Alexandre Ribot. + April 4, 1893, Charles Dupuy. + Dec. 3, 1893, Jean Casimir-Perier. + May 30, 1894. Charles Dupuy. + + + _Administration of Casimir-Perier_ + + July 1, 1894, Charles Dupuy. + + + _Administration of Félix Faure_ + + Jan. 26, 1895, Alexandre Ribot. + Nov. 1, 1895, Léon Bourgeois. + April 29, 1896, Jules Méline. + June 28, 1898, Henri Brisson. + Nov. 1, 1898, Charles Dupuy. + + + _Administration of Emile Loubet_ + + Feb. 18, 1899, Charles Dupuy. + June 22, 1899, René Waldeck-Rousseau. + June 7, 1902, Emile Combes. + Jan. 24, 1905, Maurice Rouvier. + + + _Administration of Armand Fallières_ + + Feb. 18, 1906, Maurice Rouvier. + March 14, 1906, Ferdinand Sarrien. + Oct. 25, 1906, Georges Clemenceau. + July 23, 1909, Aristide Briand. + March 2, 1911, Ernest Monis. + July 27, 1911, Joseph Caillaux. + Jan. 13, 1912, Raymond Poincaré. + Jan. 21, 1913, Aristide Briand. + + + _Administration of Raymond Poincaré_ + + Feb. 18, 1913, Aristide Briand. + March 21, 1913, Louis Barthou. + Dec. 2, 1913, Gaston Doumergue. + June 9, 1914, Alexandre Ribot. + June 13, 1914, René Viviani. + Aug. 26, 1914, René Viviani. + Oct. 29, 1915, Aristide Briand. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +ALBIN, PIERRE. _D'Agadir à Sarajevo (1911-1914)._ 1915. + +ANDRÉ, GÉNÉRAL L. _Cinq ans de ministère_. 1907. + +_Annual Register_. Yearly volumes. + +BARCLAY, THOMAS. _Thirty Years. Anglo-French Reminiscences (1876-1906)._ +1914. + +BEYENS, BARON. _L'Allemagne avant la guerre. Les causes et les +responsabilités._ 1915. + +BODLEY, J. E. C. _The Church in France._ 1906. + +BODLEY, J. E. C. _France._ 2 vols. 1898. + +BRISSON, H. _Souvenirs._ 1908. + +_Cambridge Modern History._ (Vol. XII, _The Latest Age._ 1910.) + +CHUQUET, A. _La Guerre, 1870-1871._ 1895. + +COUBERTIN, P. DE. _L'Evolution française sous la troisième république._ +1896. + +DANIEL, ANDRÉ (ANDRÉ LEBON). _L'Année politique._ Yearly volumes, +1874-1905. + +DAUDET, E. _Souvenirs de la Présidence du maréchal de Mac-Mahon._ 1879. + +DEBIDOUR, A. _L'Eglise catholique et l'Etat sous la troisième +République._ 2 vols. 1909. + +DENIS, SAMUEL. _Histoire contemporaine._ 4 vols. 1897-1903. + +DESPAGNET, FRANTZ. _La République et le Vatican (1870-1906)._ 1906. + +DIMNET, E. _France Herself Again._ 1914. + +DUTRAIT-CROZON, H. _Précis de l'Affaire Dreyfus._ 1909. + +FIAUX, LOUIS. _Histoire de la guerre civile de 1871._ 1879. + +GEORGE, W. L. _France in the Twentieth Century._ 1908. + +GUÉRARD, A.-L. _French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century._ 1914. + +HANOTAUX, G. _Fachoda._ 1909. + +HANOTAUX, G. _Histoire de la France contemporaine._ 4 vols. 1903-1908. + +HIPPEAU, E. _Histoire diplomatique de la troisième république_ +(1870-1889). 1889. + +JACQUES, LÉON. _Les partis politiques sous la troisième république._ +1912. + +LAVISSE _et_ RAMBAUD, _editors_. _Histoire Générale Du IVe siècle à +nos jours._ (Vol. XII, _Le Monde contemporain_, 1870-1900. 1901.) + +LEPELLETIER, E. _Histoire de la Commune de 1871._ 1911. + +LISSAGARAY, P.-O. _Histoire de la Commune de 1871._ 1896. + +LOWELL, A. L. _Governments and Parties in Continental Europe._ 2 vols. +1897. + +LUCAS, A. _Précis historique de l'Affaire du Panama._ 1893. + +MARÉCHAL, E. _Histoire contemporaine de 1789 à nos jours._ 3 vols. 1900. + +MARGUERITTE, PAUL _et_ VICTOR. _Histoire de la guerre de 1870-1871._ +1903. + +MAURRAS, CHARLES. _Kiel et Tanger_ (1895-1905). 1913. + +MEAUX, VICOMTE DE. _Souvenirs politiques._ 1904. + +MERMEIX. _Les Coulisses du Boulangisme._ 1890. + +MUEL, LÉON. _Histoire politique de la septième législature_ (1898-1902). +1903. + +PINON, RENÉ. _France et Allemagne_ (1870-1913). 1913. + +REINACH, JOSEPH. _Histoire de l'Affaire Dreyfus._ 7 vols. 1901-1911. + +REINACH, JOSEPH. _Le Ministère Gambetta._ 1884. + +R.-L.-M. _Histoire sommaire de l'Affaire Dreyfus._ 1904. + +ROSE, J. H. _The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914. Fifth +edition._ 1916. + +ROUSSET, L. _Histoire générale de la guerre franco-allemande._ 6 vols. +1895. + +SOREL, ALBERT. _Histoire diplomatique de la guerre franco-allemande._ +1875. + +TARDIEU, ANDRÉ. _La Conférence d'Algésiras._ Third Edition. 1909. + +TARDIEU, ANDRÉ. _La France et les alliances._ Third edition. 1909. + +TARDIEU, ANDRÉ. _Le Mystère d'Agadir._ 1912. + +VIALLATE, ACHILLE, _editor_. _La Vie politique dans les Deux Mondes._ +Annual volumes, 1908-1913. + +WALLIER, RENÉ. _Le XXe siècle politique._ Annual volumes, 1901-1907. + +WELSCHINGER, H. _La Guerre de 1870; causes et responsabilités._ 1910. + +ZEVORT, E. _Histoire de la troisième République._ 4 vols. 1896-1901. + + + + +INDEX + + +Abd-el-Aziz, 168. + +Africa, 89, 104, 106,132. + +Agadir, 172, 174, 179, 181, 183. + +Aix, 104. + +Albert of Saxony, 15, 16, 18. + +Alexander III, Czar, 105. + +Algeciras, 158, 159, 162, 168, 172. + +Algeria, 81, 110, 168. + +Algiers, 104. + +Alsace, 11, 13, 34, 35, 43, 157, 162, 183. + +Amiens, 23. + +André, General, 143, 152, 153, 154, 157, 166. + +Annam, 89, 90. + +Antony of Hohenzollern, 8, 9. + +Arques, 54. + +Arton, 109, 111, 118, 134. + +Artenay, 19, 22. + +Asquith, 172. + +Aurelle de Paladines, General d', 22, 23, 39. + +Austria, 3, 4, 52, 89, 155, 182. + +Auteuil, 136. + +Avellan, Admiral, 106. + + +Bac-Le, 90. + +Baïhaut, 111. + +Bapaume, 24. + +Barthou, Louis, 177, 178, 179. + +Basly, 97. + +Bazaine, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21. + +Beaugency, 23. + +Beaumont, 16. + +Beaune-la-Rolande, 22. + +Belfort, 24, 25, 34. + +Belgium, 4, 16, 182, 183. + +Benedetti, 7, 8, 9, 10. + +Berlin, 11, 51, 73, 81. + +Bert, Paul, 80. + +Beulé, 51. + +Béziers, 168. + +Bienvenu-Martin, 156. + +Billot, General, 124, 126. + +Bismarck, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 21, 26, 28, 34, 51, 61, +73, 81, 93, 157. + +Bitche, 24. + +Blanqui, 38. + +Boeschepe, 164. + +Boisdeffre, General de, 106, 125. + +Bordeaux, 22, 31, 35, 36, 40, 43, 45, 46. + +Borny, 14. + +Boulanger, General, 93, 94, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103. + +Bourbaki, General, 23, 24, 25. + +Bourgeois, Léon, 121, 122, 180. + +Briand, Aristide, 151, 153, 156, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169, 170, +176, 177, 178. + +Brière de l'Isle, 90. + +Brisson, Henri, 84, 92, 97, 109, 120, 129, 130, 131, 138. + +Broglie, due de, 48, 51, 55, 56, 57, 67, 69, 71, 72, 83. + +Brussels, 35, 102. + +Buffet, André, 141. + +Buffet, Louis, 48, 60, 61. + +Buisson, Ferdinand, 151. + +Burdeau, 116, 120. + +Busch, Moritz, 11. + +Buzenval, 27. + + +Caffarel, General, 94. + +Cahors, 20. + +Caillaux, Joseph, 171, 173, 174, 178, 179. + +Caillaux, Madame, 179, 181, 183. + +Calmette, Gaston, 179. + +Cameroons, 173. + +Canrobert, Marshal, 21. + +Carcassonne, 168. + +Carnot, President, 96-114. + +Casablanca, 168, 169. + +Caserio Santo, 114. + +Casimir-Perier, President, 115-120. + +Cavaignac, Godefroy, 129, 130. + +Châlons, 14. + +Chambord, comte de, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 88. + +Champigny, 23, 26. + +Chanoine, General, 130. + +Chanzy, General, 20, 23, 24. + +Châteaudun, 19. + +Châtillon, 18. + +Chesnelong, 53, 54. + +China, 90, 91, 143. + +Christiani, Baron de, 136. + +Cissey, General de, 57, 60. + +Clemenceau, Georges, 78, 83, 97, 98, 109, 160, 161, 163, +164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 178. + +Clermont-Ferrand, 94. + +Clinchant, 25. + +Cluseret, 40. + +Combes, Emile, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150, 151, 153, 154, 155, 178. + +Congo, 132, 171, 173. + +Cottu, Henri, 108, 110, 111. + +Coulmiers, 22. + +Courbet, Gustave, 42. + +Crémieux, 19. + +Cronstadt, 105, 106. + +Crown Prince of Prussia, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18. + + +Decazes, duc, 56. + +Delahaye, 108. + +Delcassé, 158, 166, 169. + +Delegorgue, 127. + +Delescluze, Charles, 37. + +Demange, Maître, 119. + +Denfert-Rochereau, 24. + +Déroulède, Paul, 101, 135, 140, 141. + +Devil's Isle, 119. + +Dijon, 151. + +Dillon, 102. + +Dombrowski, 41. + +Dordogne, 99. + +Douay, Abel, 13. + +Doumer, Paul, 160. + +Doumergue, Gaston, 178, 180. + +Dreyfus, Alfred, 105, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, +127, 128, 130, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 145, 154, 162. + +Dreyfus, Madame, 131. + +Dreyfus, Mathieu, 123, 124, 125, 126. + +Drumont, Edouard, 118. + +Duclerc, 86. + +Ducrot, 16, 22. + +Dufaure, Jules, 66, 72. + +Du Lac, Père, 125. + +Dumas fils, Alexandre, 42. + +Dupuy, Charles, 112, 114, 116, 120, 131, 135, 136. + + +Edward VII, 154. + +Egypt, 86, 132, 155. + +Eiffel, G., 108, 110. + +Ems, 8, 9. + +England, 17, 61, 86, 106, 111, 128, 132, 133, 154, 155, 157, 158, 174, 181. + +Ernoul, 49. + +Esterhazy, 117, 123, 124, 126, 127. + +Eugénie, Empress, 1, 3, 6, 12, 15, 17, 20. + +Evans, Dr., 17. + + +Faidherbe, General, 23, 24. + +Failly, General de, 16. + +Fallières, Armand, 86, 159-175, 176. + +Fashoda, 132, 133, 155, 157. + +Faure, Félix, 115-133, 134. + +Favre, General, 23. + +Favre, Jules, 17, 18, 25, 27, 28, 29. + +Ferrières, 18. + +Ferry, Jules, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 96. + +Fez, 171. + +Fiaux, 42. + +Floquet, Charles, 84, 97, 100, 101, 102, 103, 109. + +Flourens, Gustave, 37, 40. + +Fontane, Marius, 108, 110. + +Foo-chow, 90. + +Forbach, 13. + +Formosa, 90. + +Fourichon, Admiral, 19. + +Francis I, 45. + +Frankfort, 35, 43. + +Frederick, Empress, 105. + +Frederick the Great, 3. + +Frederick Charles, 12, 13, 15, 21. + +Freycinet, Charles de, 20, 24, 30, 77, 79, 85, 86, 93, 109. + +Frohsdorf, 52. + +Fröschwiller, 13. + +Frossard, 13. + + +Gabès, 82. + +Galliffet, General de, 137, 139, 143. + +Gambetta, Léon, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 31, 33, 44, 47, 66, 67, 68, +70, 76, 77, 78, 79, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 97, 136. + +Garibaldi, 24, 25. + +Geay, Monseigneur, 151. + +Gérault-Richard, 120. + +Germany, 31, 34, 48, 60, 81, 89, 94, 119, 128, 132, 154, 155,157, 158, 159, +162, 166, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 174, 179, 182, 183, 184. + +Gervais, Admiral, 105. + +Glais-Bizoin, 19. + +Goblet, 93. + +Gouthe-Soulard, 104. + +Gramont, duc de, 6, 7, 9. + +Gravelotte, 15. + +Grévy, Albert, 110, 111. + +Grévy, Jules, 32, 75-95, 96, 110. + +Grey, Sir Edward, 158. + +Guérard, A.-L., 178. + +Guérin, Jules, 140, 141. + + +Habert, Marcel, 135, 141. + +Henry IV, 45. + +Henry, Colonel, 116, 117, 123, 124, 126, 130. + +Henry, Emile, 114. + +Héricourt, 25. + +Hervé, Gustave, 166. + +Herz, Cornelius, 109, 111, 118. + +Hugues, Clovis, 97. + + +Italy, 81, 89, 106, 107, 150, 154. + +Ivry, 54. + + +Jacques, L., 178. + +Japan, 158. + +Jaurès, Jean, 166. + +Jeanne d'Arc, 45, 185. + +Jerome Napoleon, 86. + +Josnes, 23. + + +Kairouan, 82. + +Kiel Canal, 121. + +Kitchener, 132. + +Königgrätz, 4. + +Kroumirs, 81, 82. + + +Labori, 128. + +La Cecilia, 41. + +La Motterouge, 19. + +Lang-son, 90. + +Laval, 24, 151. + +Lavigerie, Cardinal, 104. + +La Villette, 141. + +Lazare, Bernard, 124, 125. + +Leblois, Maître, 125. + +Le Boeuf, Marshal, 12, 21. + +Le Bourget, 26. + +Lecomte, General, 39. + +Le Mans, 24. + +Le Nordez, Monseigneur, 151. + +Leo XIII, 87, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 113, 144, 150. + +Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 5, 7, 8, 9. + +Lesseps, Charles de, 108, 110. + +Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 86, 107, 108. + +Lille, 70. + +Lisaine, 25. + +Lloyd George, 172. + +Loigny, 22. + +Loir, 24. + +Loire, 19, 22, 23. + +Loisy, Abbé, 150. + +London, 26. + +Longchamps, 136. + +Lorraine, 11, 13, 34, 35, 43, 157, 162, 183, 185. + +Loubet, Emile, 109, 134-158, 160. + +Louis XIV, 26, 36. + +Louis XVI, 45. + +Louis-Philippe, 115. + +Lunéville, 13. + +Lur-Saluces, comte de, 141. + +Luxembourg, Duchy of, 4. + +Lyautey, General, 174. + +Lyons, 114. + + +McKinley, 114. + +Mac-Mahon, maréchal de, 13, 14, 15, 16, 40, 49, 50-74, 75, 77. + +Madagascar, 89, 122. + +Madrid, 21. + +Mainz, 13. + +Marchand, Captain, 132, 133. + +Marne, 22. + +Marrakesh, 168. + +Mars-la-Tour, 14. + +Mauchamp, Dr., 168. + +Mayer, Captain, 118. + +Mediterranean, 81. + +Méline, Jules, 107, 122, 129, 134. + +Mercier, General, 118, 139. + +Merry del Val, Cardinal, 150. + +Metz, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 34. + +Meuse, 16. + +Mexican expedition, 1. + +Millerand, Alexandre, 97, 137, 178. + +Miribel, General de, 85. + +Moltke, 18, 26. + +Monis, Ernest, 171, 179. + +Montbéliard, 25. + +Montmartre, 39, 52. + +Montmédy, 16. + +Montretout, 27. + +Morel, E. D., 158. + +Morès, marquis de, 118. + +Morocco, 155, 157, 158, 159, 168, 171, 172, 174, 181, 183. + +Muley-Hafid, 168, 174. + +Muley-Yussef, 174. + +Mun, comte de, 105. + + +Nancy, 13. + +Napoleon I, 1, 87. + +Napoleon III, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 35. + +Narbonne, 168. + +Négrier, General de, 90. + +New Caledonia, 42. + +Newfoundland, 155. + +Nicholas II, Czar, 123, 145. + +Nile, 132. + +Nord, 99. + +North Germany, 4, 12. + +Nuremberg, 182. + + +Offenbach, 3. + +Ollivier, Emile, 6, 8, 9. + +Omdurman, 132. + +Orléans, 19, 22, 26. + +Orléans, Duke of, 141. + + +Palikao, comte de, 14, 15, 17. + +Pams, Jules, 176. + +Panama, 97, 107, 111, 134, 161. + +Paray-le-Monial, 52. + +Paris, 2, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, +34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 46, 64, 84, 101, 105, 106, 120, 128, 134, 140, 154, +181. + +Paris, comte de, 44, 52, 53, 55, 100. + +Patay, 22. + +Pau, 178, 179. + +Pelletan, Camille, 97, 166. + +Pellieux, General de, 135. + +Père-Lachaise, 41. + +Péronne, 24. + +Perpignan, 168. + +Picquart, General, 123, 124, 125, 126, 162, 163. + +Pie, Monseigneur, 52. + +Piou, Jacques, 105. + +Pius IX, 54, 68, 87. + +Pius X, 150, 164. + +Poincaré, Raymond, 175, 176-185. + +Poitiers, 52. + +Pont-Noyelles, 24. + +Portsmouth, 105, 106. + +Prince Imperial, 13, 86. + +Prussia, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12. + + +Rampolla, Cardinal, 150. + +Ravachol, 114. + +Raynal, 85. + +Regnier, 21. + +Reichsoffen, 13. + +Reims, 16. + +Reinach, Jacques de, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 134. + +Rémusat, Charles de, 48. + +Rennes, 135, 138, 140, 143, 162. + +Rezonville, 14, 15. + +Rhenish provinces, 2. + +Rhine, 2, 4. + +Ribot, Alexandre, 109, 121, 180. + +Rigault, Raoul, 37. + +Rivière, 89. + +Rochebouët, General de, 71. + +Rochefort, Henri, 102. + +Rochette, 179, 180. + +Roget, General, 134, 135, 138. + +Rome, 150. + +Rossel, 40. + +Rouvier, 85, 93, 94, 109, 111, 155, 158, 160, 164, 169. + +Russia, 61, 105, 121, 123, 145, 154, 155, 158, 181, 182. + + +Saarbrücken, 12, 13. + +Sadowa, 4, 6. + +Saint-Cloud, 2. + +Saint-Mandé, 137. + +Saint-Privat, 15. + +Saint-Quentin, 24, 27. + +St. Petersburg, 106. + +Salisbury, Lord, 81, 106. + +Salzburg, 53. + +Sans-Leroy, 110. + +Sarrien, Ferdinand, 160. + +Say, Léon, 85. + +Scandinavia, 181. + +Scheurer-Kestner, 125. + +Schnaebele, 94. + +Schoen, Baron von, 181. + +Schwartzkoppen, Colonel, 117, 128, 130. + +Sedan, 16, 17, 49. + +Selves, M. de, 173. + +Serbia, 182. + +Sfax, 82. + +Sicily, 81. + +Simon, Jules, 28, 67, 68, 69, 84. + +South Germany, 4, 7, 12. + +Spain, 5, 8, 155, 158, 159, 171, 174. + +Spicheren, 13. + +Spuller, Eugène, 113. + +Steinheil, Madame, 132. + +Steinmetz, 12, 13, 15. + +Strassburg, 11, 18. + +Sudan, 89. + +Suez, 86, 107, 132. + +Switzerland, 26. + +Syveton, 152. + + +Tangier, 158. + +Thiers, Adolphe, 17, 18, 31-49, 50, 51, 58, 61, 70, 76, 86. + +Thomas, General Clément, 39. + +Tien-tsin, 90. + +Tirard, 102. + +Tonkin, 89, 90, 93. + +Toulon, 106, 167. + +Tours, 19, 22. + +Trochu, General, 17, 19, 22, 27, 29, 52. + +Tuileries, 2, 17. + +Tunis, 81, 93. + + +Ujda, 168. + +United States, 62, 159. + +Uzès, duchesse d', 100. + + +Vaillant, 114. + +Var, 178. + +Vendôme, 24. + +Verdun, 14. + +Versailles, 18, 27, 34, 36, 40, 41, 56, 64, 120, 128, 134. + +Victor-Emmanuel II, 68, 104. + +Victor-Emmanuel III, 150. + +Victoria, 106. + +Villepion, 22. + +Villers-Bretonneux, 23. + +Villersexel, 25. + +Villiers, 23. + +Villorceau, 23. + +Vinoy, General, 27. + +Vionville, 14. + +Viviani, René, 161, 180, 181. + +Von der Thann, 22. + +Vosges, 12, 25. + + +Waddington, 77, 78, 79, 81. + +Waldeck-Rousseau, 85, 120, 136, 137, 138, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, +153. + +Wallon, 59. + +Weiss, J.-J., 85. + +Welschinger, 30. + +William I, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 18, 26, 35. + +William II, 157, 158, 173. + +Wilson, Daniel, 88, 94, 98. + +Wimpffen, General de, 16. + +Wissembourg, 12, 13. + +Wörth, 13. + +Wrobleski, 41. + + +Zola, Emile, 127, 128, 130, 135, 163. + +Zurlinden, General, 130. + +The Riverside Press + +CAMBRIDGE. 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H. C. Wright. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .tocnum {position: absolute; top: auto; right: 10%;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i15 {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of the Third French Republic, by +C. H. C. Wright + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of the Third French Republic + +Author: C. H. C. Wright + +Release Date: June 6, 2010 [EBook #32715] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY--THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><a name="front" id="front"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 466px;"> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="466" height="650" alt="Raymond Poincaré" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Raymond Poincaré</span> +</div> + + +<h1>A HISTORY OF THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>C. H. C. WRIGHT</h2> + +<h4><i>Professor of the French Language and Literature in Harvard University</i></h4> + + +<h3>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 135px;"> +<img src="images/deco.jpg" width="135" height="175" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> +HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY CHARLES H. C. WRIGHT<br /> +<br /> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED<br /> +<br /> +<i>Published May 1916</i><br /> +</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h4>TO</h4> + +<h2>MY WIFE</h2> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<p> +<br /> +I. <span class="smcap">The Antecedents of the Franco-Prussian War.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></span><br /> +<br /> +II. <span class="smcap">The Franco-Prussian War—The Government Of +National Defence (September, 1870, to February, +1871).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></span><br /> +<br /> +III. <span class="smcap">The Administration of Adolphe Thiers (February, +1871, to May, 1873).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_31'>31</a></span><br /> +<br /> +IV. <span class="smcap">The Administration of the Maréchal de Mac-Mahon +(May, 1873, To January, 1879).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_50'>50</a></span><br /> +<br /> +V. <span class="smcap">The Administration of Jules Grévy (January, +1879, to December, 1887).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_75'>75</a></span><br /> +<br /> +VI. <span class="smcap">The Administration of Sadi Carnot (December, +1887, To June, 1894).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></span><br /> +<br /> +VII. <span class="smcap">The Administrations of Jean Casimir-Perier (June, +1894, To January, 1895) and of Félix Faure<br /> +(January, 1895, to February, 1899).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_115'>115</a></span><br /> +<br /> +VIII. <span class="smcap">The Administration of Emile Loubet (February, +1899, to February, 1906).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_134'>134</a></span><br /> +<br /> +IX. <span class="smcap">The Administration of Armand Fallières (February, +1906, to February, 1913).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_159'>159</a></span><br /> +<br /> +X. <span class="smcap">The Administration of Raymond Poincaré (February, +1913-).</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Appendix: Presiding Officers of French Cabinets.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_187'>187</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Bibliography.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_193'>193</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Index.</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_199'>199</a></span><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Raymond Poincaré</span> <span class="tocnum"><i><a href="#front">Frontispiece</a></i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Adolphe Thiers</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_32'>32</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Edme-Patrice-Maurice de Mac-Mahon</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_50'>50</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Léon Gambetta</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_70'>70</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jules Ferry</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_78'>78</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sadi Carnot</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Marie-Georges Picquart</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_124'>124</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">René Waldeck-Rousseau</span> <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_136'>136</a></span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>A HISTORY OF THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR</h3> + + +<p>Two men were largely responsible, each in his own way, for the third +French Republic, Napoleon III and Bismarck. The one, endeavoring partly +at his wife's instigation to renew the prestige of a weakening Empire, +and the other, furthering the ambitions of the Prussian Kingdom, set in +motion the forces which culminated in the Fourth of September.</p> + +<p>The causes of the downfall of the Empire can be traced back several +years. Napoleon III was, at heart, a man of peace and had, in all +sincerity, soon after his accession, uttered the famous saying: +"L'empire, c'est la paix." But the military glamour of the Napoleonic +name led the nephew, like the uncle, into repeated wars. These had, in +most cases, been successful, exceptions, such as the unfortunate Mexican +expedition, seeming negligible. They had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> sometimes even resulted in +territorial aggrandizement. Napoleon III was, therefore, desirous of +establishing once for all the so-called "natural" frontiers of France +along the Rhine by the annexation of those Rhenish provinces which, +during the First Empire and before, had for a score of years been part +of the French nation.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, though France was still considered the leading +continental power, and though its military superiority seemed +unassailable, the imperial régime was unquestionably growing "stale." +The Emperor himself, always a mystical fatalist rather than the hewer of +his own fortune, felt the growing inertia of his final malady. A +lavishly luxurious court had been imitated by a pleasure-loving capital. +This had brought in its train relaxed standards of governmental morals +and had seriously weakened the fibre of many military commanders. +Outwardly the Empire seemed as glorious as ever, and in 1867 France +invited the world to a gorgeous exposition in the "Ville-lumière." But +Paris was more emotional year by year, and the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud +were dominated by a narrow-minded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> and spoiled Empress. Court intrigues +were rife and drawing-room generals were to be found in real life, as +well as in Offenbach's "Grande Duchesse." But nobody, except perhaps +Napoleon himself, realized how the Empire had declined. The Empress +merely felt that it was time to do something stirring, and, without +necessarily waging war, to assert again the pre-eminence in Europe of +France, weakened in 1866 by the unexpected outcome of the rivalry +between Austria and Prussia for preponderance among the German States.</p> + +<p>Beyond the eastern frontier of France a nation was growing in ambition +and power. Prussia still remembered the warlike achievements of +Frederick the Great, although since those days its military efficiency +had at times undergone a decline. But now, under the reign of King +William, guided by a vigorous minister, Bismarck, an example, whatever +his admirers may say, of the brutal and unscrupulous <i>Junker</i>, the +Prussian Government had for some time tried to impose its leadership on +the other German States. Some of these were far from anxious to accept +it. In the furtherance of Prussian schemes, Bismarck had been able to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +inflict a diplomatic rebuff on Napoleon, as well as a severe military +defeat on Austria.</p> + +<p>In 1866, Prussia won from Austria the important victory of Königgrätz or +Sadowa, and thereby asserted its leadership. The outcome was a check to +Napoleon, who had expected a different result. Moreover, by it Bismarck +was encouraged to pursue his plans for the consolidation of Germany +under a still more openly acknowledged Prussian supremacy. A crafty and +utterly unscrupulous diplomat, he was able to mislead Napoleon and his +unskilful ministers.</p> + +<p>Soon after Sadowa the Emperor tried to obtain territorial compensation +from Prussia. He wished, in return for recognition of Prussia's new +position and of the projected union of North and South Germany minus +Austria, to obtain the cession of territories on the left bank of the +Rhine, or an alliance for the conquest and annexation of Belgium to +France. Such schemes having failed, Napoleon tried next to satisfy +French jingoism by the acquisition of the Duchy of Luxembourg. This move +resulted only in securing the evacuation by its Prussian garrison of the +Luxembourg fortress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> and the neutralization of the duchy. From that time +on, tension increased between France and Prussia. Bismarck was, indeed, +more anxious for war than Napoleon. He suspected the weakness of the +French Empire, he despised its leaders, he realized the advance in +military efficiency of his own country, and his aim was unswerving to +establish a Prussianized German Empire at the cost, if possible, of the +downfall of France. As a matter of fact, France, as now, was far from +being permeated with militarism and, a few months before the war in +1870, the military budget was actually reduced.</p> + +<p>The occasion for a dispute arrived with the suggested candidacy of +Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a German prince related to the King +of Prussia, to the crown of Spain. As early as 1868, intrigues had begun +to put a Prussian on the Spanish throne, but Napoleon had not as yet +been disturbed. It was not until 1870 that he took the matter seriously. +In July, Prince Leopold accepted the crown, egged on by Bismarck, and +with the fiction of the approval of King William as head of the +Hohenzollerns, as distinguished from his position as King of Prussia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>At that time the French Emperor was in precarious health and scarcely in +full control of his powers. The French people at large were pacifically +inclined and would have asked for nothing better than to remain at home +instead of fighting about a foreigner's candidacy to an alien throne. +But, unfortunately, the Empress Eugénie was for war. The Government, +too, was in the hands of second-rate and hesitating diplomats. Emile +Ollivier, the chief of the Cabinet, was an orator more than a statesman, +and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the duc de Gramont, was a conceited +mediocrity more and more involved in his own mistakes. In consequence, +the attitude of the Government was not so much deliberate desire for war +as provocative bluster, of which Bismarck was quick to take advantage. +The Cabinet was egged on by Eugénie's adherents, the militants, who had +been looking for an insult since Sadowa, and by obstreperous journalists +and noisy boulevard mobs, whose manifestations were unfortunately taken, +even by the Corps législatif, for the voice of France.</p> + +<p>In consequence, blunder after blunder was made. The ministers worked at +cross-purposes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> without due consultation and without consideration of +the effect of their actions on an inflamed public opinion or on +prospective European alliances. Stated in terms of diplomatic procedure, +the aim of the French Cabinet was to humiliate Prussia by forcing its +Government to acknowledge a retreat. King William was not seeking war +and was probably willing to make honorable concessions. Bismarck, on the +contrary, desired war, if it could be under favorable diplomatic +auspices, and the Hohenzollern candidacy was a direct provocation. He +wanted France to seem the aggressor, in view of the effect both on +neutral Europe, and particularly on the South German States, which he +wished to draw into alliance under the menace of French attack.</p> + +<p>The French Ambassador to the King of Prussia, Benedetti, was instructed +to demand the withdrawal of Prince Leopold's candidacy. This demand +followed a very arrogant statement to the Corps législatif, on July 6, +by the duc de Gramont. The assumption was that Prince Leopold's presence +on the Spanish throne would be dangerous to the honor and interests of +France, by exposing the country<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> on two sides to Prussian influence. +King William was, on the whole, willing to make a concession to avoid +international complications, but he obviously wished not to appear to +act under pressure. M. Benedetti went to Ems and, on July 9, he laid the +French demands before the King. After long-drawn-out discussion the +French Government asked for a categorical reply by July 12. On that day +the father of Prince Leopold, Prince Antony of Hohenzollern, in a +telegram to Spain, formally withdrew his son's name. The King had +planned to give his consent to this apparently <i>spontaneous</i> action on +the part of the candidate's family, when officially informed. Thus +France would obtain its ends and the King himself would not be involved.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the thoughtlessness of the head of the French Ministry +spoiled everything. Instead of waiting a day for the King's +ratification, Emile Ollivier, desirous also of peace, hastened to make +public the telegram from the Prince of Hohenzollern. Thereupon the +leaders of the war party in the Corps législatif at once pointed out +that the telegram was not accompanied by the signature of the Prussian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +monarch, declared that the Cabinet had been outwitted, and clamored for +definite guarantees. Stung by the charge of inefficiency, the would-be +statesman Gramont immediately accentuated his stipulations and demanded +that the King of Prussia guarantee not to support in future the +candidacy of a Hohenzollern to the Spanish throne.</p> + +<p>Matters were rapidly reaching an <i>impasse</i>, and Bismarck was +correspondingly elated, because France was appearing to Europe a +trouble-maker. The duc de Gramont and Emile Ollivier committed the error +of dictating a letter to the Prussian Ambassador for him to transmit to +the King, to be in turn sent back as his reply. King William was +offended by this high-handed procedure. He had already told comte +Benedetti at Ems that a satisfactory letter was on its way from Prince +Antony and had promised him another interview upon its arrival. After +receiving the dispatch from his ambassador at Paris communicating +Gramont's formulas, he sent word to Benedetti that Prince Leopold was no +longer a candidate and that the incident was closed. Nor was the King +willing to grant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> Benedetti's urgent requests for an interview (July +13).</p> + +<p>The King and the French Ambassador had remained perfectly courteous, and +the next day, at the railway station, they took leave of each other with +marks of respect. Things were not yet hopeless, until Bismarck, by a +trick of which he afterwards bragged, caused a dispatch to be published +implying that Benedetti had been so persistent in pushing his demands +that King William had been obliged to snub him. The French were led to +believe that their representative had been insulted, and neutrals sided +with Prussia as the aggrieved party. After deliberation the French +Ministry decided on war and the decision was blindly ratified by the +Corps législatif on July 15. At this meeting Emile Ollivier made his +famous remark that the Ministry accepted responsibility for the war with +a "clear conscience." His actual words, "le cœur léger," seemed, +however, to imply "with a light heart", and thereafter weighed heavily +against him in the minds of Frenchmen.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR—THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE</h3> + +<h4>September, 1870, to February, 1871</h4> + + +<p>On July 19 the French Embassy at Berlin declared a state of war. Paris +was wild with enthusiasm and eager for an advance on Berlin. The +provinces were for the most part cool, but accepted the war calmly +because they were assured of an easy victory. The leaders of the two +nations had for each other equal contempt. "Ce n'est pas un homme +sérieux," Napoleon had once said of Bismarck, and Bismarck thought +Napoleon "stupid and sentimental." Meanwhile each nation had eyes on the +territory of the other: France was ready to claim the Rhine frontier; +Prussia wanted all it could get, and certainly Alsace and Lorraine. The +idea, so often repeated by the Germans since the war, that these +provinces were annexed because they had once been German, was not in +Bismarck's mind,—"that is a Professor's reason," he said.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> He wanted +Strassburg because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> its commanding position and the wedge of Wissembourg +could cut off northern from southern Germany. The frontier of the Vosges +was as desirable to the Germans as the Rhine to the French.</p> + +<p>From the beginning all went wrong in France. The Government found itself +left in the lurch by the European states whose alliance it had expected. +Moreover, mobilization proceeded slowly and in utter confusion. In spite +of Marshal Le Bœuf's famous exclamation ("Il ne manquera pas un +bouton de guêtre"), never did a nation enter on a war less prepared than +the French. On the other hand, all Germany, well trained and ready, +sprang to the side of Prussia. The whole military force was grouped in +three armies—under Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, and the Crown +Prince. But, meanwhile, it seemed necessary to the French to give a +semblance of military achievement. The Emperor had started from Paris on +July 28 leaving the Empress as regent. On August 2, a vain military +display with largely superior forces was made across the frontier at +Saarbrücken, a practically unprotected place was taken, and the Emperor +was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> able to send home word that the Prince Imperial had received his +"baptism of fire" and that the soldiers wept at seeing him calmly pick +up a bullet. The same day King William took command of the German forces +at Mainz, and on August 4 the army of the Crown Prince entered Alsace +and defeated at Wissembourg the division of about twelve thousand men of +General Abel Douay, who was killed. On the 6th Mac-Mahon, with a larger +force, met the still more numerous Germans somewhat farther back at +Wörth, Fröschwiller, and Reichsoffen, and was utterly routed with a loss +of over ten thousand in killed, wounded, and taken. Alsace was thus +completely exposed to the enemy, and the road was open to Lunéville and +Nancy. On the same day, German armies under Steinmetz and Prince +Frederick Charles crossed into Lorraine at Saarbrücken and engaged the +troops of the French general Frossard at Forbach and Spicheren, +inflicting on them a severe repulse. Meanwhile Frossard's superior, +Bazaine, though not far away, did not move a finger to help him. "If +Frossard wanted the baton of marshal of France he could win it alone."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<p>The news of these disasters was a terrible shock to Paris. The "liberal" +Ollivier Cabinet was overthrown and replaced by a reactionary one led by +General Cousin-Montauban, comte de Palikao. The Emperor withdrew from +military leadership and Marshal Bazaine received supreme command. +Bazaine was a brave soldier, but a poor general-in-chief, and withal a +self-seeking man, incompetent to deal with the difficulties in which +France found itself. He was perhaps not a conscious traitor in the great +disaster which soon came to pass, but he thought more of himself than of +his country. At the time we are concerned with he was considered the +coming man. Meanwhile Mac-Mahon, cut off from Bazaine's main army, fell +back, between August 6 and August 17, to Châlons. Bazaine was apparently +without intelligent strategic plans. He professed to be desirous of +concentrating at Verdun, but was afraid to get out of reach of Metz. He +won first an indecisive battle at Borny (August 14), which was +unproductive of any concrete advantage. On August 16, he let himself be +turned back, by an enemy only half as numerous, at Rezonville +(Vionville, Mars-la-Tour).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> On the 18th, he encountered, on the +contrary, a much larger force at Saint-Privat (Gravelotte) and let +himself be cooped up in Metz. Critics of Bazaine say that he could have +turned both Rezonville and Gravelotte to the advantage of the French.</p> + +<p>The familiar military uncertainties now began to show themselves in the +movements of Mac-Mahon and his troops. The armies of Steinmetz and of +Frederick Charles were united under command of the latter to beleaguer +Metz, and a smaller force under Prince Albert of Saxony was thrown off +to coöperate with the army of the Crown Prince in its advance on Paris. +Mac-Mahon had collected about one hundred and twenty thousand men, and +Napoleon, without real authority except as a meddler, was with him. The +plan was originally to fall back for the protection of Paris, but the +Empress-Regent was afraid to have a defeated Emperor return to the +capital lest revolution ensue, and Palikao urged a swift advance to +rescue Metz, crushing Prince Albert of Saxony on the way, taking +Frederick Charles between the two fires of rescuers and besieged, with +the Crown Prince still too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> far away to be dangerous. Meanwhile +Mac-Mahon moved to Reims, which was neither on the direct road to Paris +nor to Metz, and at last started to the rescue of Bazaine by the +roundabout route of Montmédy, continually hesitating and retracing his +steps. On receiving news of his progress, the armies of the Crown Prince +and of Prince Albert converged northward. Mac-Mahon's right wing, under +General de Failly, was surprised at Beaumont, and finally the French +army in disorder drew up in most unfavorable positions between the Meuse +and the Belgian frontier, to face a foe twice as numerous and already +nearly completely surrounding it. The battle of Sedan broke out on +September 1. Mac-Mahon was wounded early in the fight and gave over the +command to Ducrot, in turn superseded by Wimpffen, already designated by +the Ministry to replace Mac-Mahon in case of accident. After a fierce +battle it fell to General de Wimpffen to capitulate on September 2. By +the disaster of Sedan the Germans captured the Emperor, a marshal of +France, and the whole of one of its two armies.</p> + +<p>The news of the overwhelming defeat of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Sedan struck Paris like a +thunderbolt. Jules Favre proposed to the Corps législatif the overthrow +of Napoleon and of his dynasty; Thiers, who favored the restoration of +the Orléans family, wished the convocation of a Constituent Assembly; +the comte de Palikao asked for a provisional governing commission of +which he should be the lieutenant-general. But, before anything was +done, the Paris mob invaded the legislative chamber. Gambetta, with the +majority of the Paris Deputies, went to the Hôtel de Ville, and to +prevent a more radical set from seizing the Government, proclaimed the +Republic (September 4). A Government of National Defence was constituted +of which General Trochu became President, Jules Favre Minister of +Foreign Affairs, and Gambetta Minister of the Interior. Thiers was not a +member, but gave his support. Eugénie escaped from the Tuileries to the +home of her American dentist, Dr. Evans, and then fled to England.</p> + +<p>Jules Favre was innocent enough to think that the Germans would be +satisfied with the overthrow of Napoleon, and he was rash enough to +declare that France would not yield<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> "an inch of its territory or a +stone of its fortresses." But, in an interview with Bismarck at +Ferrières, on September 19, he realized the oppressiveness of the German +demands. The rhetorical and emotional, even tearful, Jules Favre was +faced by a harsh and unrelenting conqueror, and the meeting ended +without an agreement. Meanwhile Paris was invested by the German forces +of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Saxony after a defeat of some +French troops at Châtillon. William, Bismarck, and Moltke took up their +station at Versailles. Europe, made suspicious by the numerous changes +of government in France in the nineteenth century, and moved also by +selfish reasons, refused its aid and looked on with indifference. Thiers +made a fruitless quest through Europe for practical aid, bringing home +only meaningless expressions of sympathy.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately even a number of people in the provinces, relaxed by the +factitious prosperity of the imperial régime, were too willing to yield +to the invaders. Where resistance was brave it appeared fruitless: +Strassburg capitulated on September 28, after the Germans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> had burned +its library and bombarded the cathedral. A scratch army on the Loire, +under La Motterouge, was beaten at Artenay (October 10) and had to +evacuate Orléans. On October 18, the Germans captured Châteaudun after +heroic resistance by National Guards and sharpshooters.</p> + +<p>Though one of the two great French armies was in captivity and the other +besieged in Metz, the idea of submission never for a moment entered +Gambetta's head. Paris was under the command of Trochu, patriotic and +brave, but military critic rather than leader, discouraged from the +beginning, and unable to take advantage of opportunities. A delegation +of the Government of National Defence had established itself at Tours to +avoid the German besiegers, but two of its members, Crémieux and +Glais-Bizoin, were elderly and weak. Admiral Fourichon was the most +competent. Gambetta escaped from Paris by balloon on October 7, and, +reaching Tours in safety, made himself by his energy and patriotic +inspiration, practically dictator and organizer of resistance to the +invaders.</p> + +<p>Léon Gambetta, a young lawyer politician<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> of thirty-two, of +inexhaustible energy and impassioned eloquence, was the son of an +Italian grocer settled at Cahors. With the help of his assistant Charles +de Freycinet, he levied and armed in four months six hundred thousand +men, an average of five thousand a day. Everything was done in haste and +unsatisfactorily,—the army of General Chanzy was equipped with guns of +fifteen different patterns. But Gambetta did the task of a giant, in +spite of another crushing blow to France, the surrender of Metz.</p> + +<p>Bazaine had let himself be cooped up in Metz. Instead of being moved by +patriotism, he thought only of his own interests and ambitions. In the +midst of the cataclysm which had fallen on France he aspired to hold the +position of power. The Emperor gone and the Republic destined, Bazaine +thought, to fall, he would be left at the head of the only army. His +would be the task of treating for peace with Germany, and then he would +perhaps become in France regent instead of the Empress, or +Marshal-Lieutenant of the Empire, like the Spanish marshals. So he +neglected favorable military opportunities, and dallied over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> plans of +peace, while Bismarck misled him with fruitless propositions or false +emissaries like the adventurer Regnier. Finally, on October 27, Bazaine +had to surrender Metz, with three marshals (himself, Canrobert, and Le +Bœuf), sixty generals, six thousand officers, and one hundred and +seventy-three thousand men. France was deprived of her last trained +forces, and the besieging army of Frederick Charles was set free to help +in the conquest of France. After the war Bazaine was condemned to death, +by court-martial, for treason. His sentence was commuted to life +imprisonment, but he afterwards escaped from the fortress in which he +was confined and died in obscurity and disgrace at Madrid.</p> + +<p>No sooner did the news of the capitulation of Metz reach Paris than a +regrettable affair took place. There was much dissatisfaction with the +indecision of the Provisional Government, and, on October 31, a mob +invaded the Hôtel de Ville and arrested the chief members of the +commission. Fortunately they were released later the same day and a +plebiscite of November 3 confirmed the powers of the Government of +National Defence. Fortunately,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> too, within a few days came news of the +first real success of the French during the war, the battle of Coulmiers +(November 9).</p> + +<p>Gambetta had succeeded during October in organizing the Army of the +Loire which, under General d'Aurelle de Paladines, defeated the Bavarian +forces of von der Thann at Coulmiers and recaptured Orléans. The plan +was to push on to Paris and the objections of d'Aurelle were overcome by +Gambetta. But the fall of Metz had released German reinforcements. After +an unsuccessful contest by the right wing at Beaune-la-Rolande (November +28), and a partial victory at Villepion, the French were defeated in +turn on December 2 at Loigny or Patay (left wing), on December 3 at +Artenay. The Germans reoccupied Orléans and the first Army of the Loire +was dispersed. The Government moved from Tours to Bordeaux.</p> + +<p>After Coulmiers General Trochu had planned a sortie from Paris to meet +the Army of the Loire. This advance was under command of General Ducrot, +but was delayed by trouble with pontoon bridges. The various battles of +the Marne (November 30-December 2)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> culminated in the terrible fight and +repulse of Villiers and Champigny. In the north, a small army hastily +brought together under temporary command of General Favre was defeated +at Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens (November 27).</p> + +<p>The last phase of the Franco-Prussian War begins with the crushing of +the Army of the Loire and the check of the advance to Champigny. With +unwearied tenacity Gambetta tried to reorganize the Army of the Loire. A +portion became the second Army of the Loire or of the West, under +Chanzy. The rest, under Bourbaki, became the Army of the East. Faidherbe +tried to revive the Army of the North.</p> + +<p>To Chanzy, on the whole the most capable French general of the war, was +assigned the task of trying, with a smaller force, what d'Aurelle had +already failed in accomplishing, a drive on Paris. In this task Bourbaki +and Faidherbe were expected by Gambetta to coöperate. Instead of +succeeding, Chanzy, bravely fighting, was driven back, first down the +Loire, in the long-contested battle of Josnes (Villorceau or Beaugency) +(December 7-10),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> then up the valley of the tributary Loir to Vendôme +and Le Mans. There the army, reduced almost to a mob, made a new stand. +In a battle between January 10 and 12, this army was again routed and +what was left thrown back to Laval.</p> + +<p>Faidherbe, taking the offensive in the north, fought an indecisive +contest at Pont-Noyelles (December 23) and took Bapaume (January 3). But +his endeavor to proceed to the assistance of Paris was frustrated, he +was unable to relieve Péronne, which fell on January 9, and was defeated +at Saint-Quentin on January 19.</p> + +<p>Bourbaki, in spite of his reputation, showed himself inferior to Chanzy +and Faidherbe. He let his army lose morale by his hesitation, and then +accepted with satisfaction Freycinet's plan to move east upon Germany +instead of to the rescue of Paris. On the eastern frontier Colonel +Denfert-Rochereau was tenaciously holding Belfort, which was never +captured by the Germans during the whole war.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Bourbaki's +dishearteningly slow progress received no effective assistance from +Garibaldi. This<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> Italian soldier of fortune, now somewhat in his +decline, had offered his services to France and was in command of a +small body of guerillas and sharpshooters, the Army of the Vosges. With +alternate periods of inactivity, failure, and success, Garibaldi perhaps +did more harm than good to France. He monopolized the services of +several thousand men, and yet, through his prestige as a distinguished +foreign volunteer, he could not be brought under control. Bourbaki won +the battle of Villersexel on January 9. Pushing on to Belfort he was +defeated only a few miles from the town in the battle of Héricourt, or +Montbéliard, along the river Lisaine. The army, now transformed into +panic-stricken fugitives, made its way painfully through bitter cold and +snow, and Bourbaki tried to commit suicide. He was succeeded by General +Clinchant. When Paris capitulated, on January 28, and an armistice was +signed, this Army of the East was omitted. Jules Favre at Paris failed +to notify Gambetta in the provinces of this exception, and the army, +hearing of the armistice, ceased its flight, only to be relentlessly +followed by the Germans. Finally, on February 1, the remnants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> of the +army fled across the Swiss frontier and found safety on neutral soil.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, in Paris the tightening of the Prussian lines had made the +food problem more and more difficult, and the population were reduced to +small rations and unpalatable diet. After Champigny the German general +von Moltke communicated with the besieged, informing them of the defeat +of Orléans, and the means seemed opened for negotiations. But the +opportunity was rejected, and the Government even refused to be +represented at an international conference, then opening in London, +because of its unwillingness to apply to Bismarck for a safe-conduct for +its representative. A chance to bring the condition of France before the +Powers was neglected. Between December 21 and 26, a sally to Le Bourget +was driven back, and, on the next day, the bombardment of the forts +began. On January 5, the Prussian batteries opened fire on the city +itself. On January 18, the Germans took a spectacular revenge for the +conquests of Louis XIV by the coronation of King William of Prussia as +Emperor of the united German people. The ceremony took place in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> the +great Galerie des Glaces of Louis's magnificent palace of Versailles. +The very next day the triumph of the Germans received its consecration, +not only by the battle of Saint-Quentin (already mentioned), but by the +repulse of the last offensive movement from Paris. To placate the Paris +population an advance was made on Versailles with battalions largely +composed of National Guards. At Montretout and Buzenval they were routed +and driven back in a panic to Paris. General Trochu was forced to resign +the military governorship of Paris, though by a strange contradiction he +kept the presidency of the Government of National Defence, and was +replaced by General Vinoy. On January 22, a riot broke out in the +capital in which blood was shed in civil strife. Finally, on January 28, +Jules Favre had to submit to the conqueror's terms. Paris capitulated +and the garrison was disarmed, with the exception of a few thousand +regulars to preserve order, and the National Guard; a war tribute was +imposed on the city and an armistice of twenty-one days was signed to +permit the election and gathering of a National Assembly to pass on +terms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> of peace. With inexcusable carelessness Jules Favre neglected to +warn Gambetta in the provinces that this armistice began for the rest of +France only on the thirty-first and that, as already stated, the Army of +the East was excepted from its provisions.</p> + +<p>Gambetta was furious at the surrender and at the presumption of Paris to +decide for the provinces. He preached a continuation of the war, and the +intervention of Bismarck was necessary to prevent him from excluding +from the National Assembly all who had had any connection with the +imperial régime. Jules Simon was sent from Paris to counteract +Gambetta's efforts. The latter yielded before the prospect of civil war, +withdrew from power, and, on February 8, elections were held for the +National Assembly.</p> + +<p>The downfall of what had been considered the chief military nation of +Europe was due to many involved causes. The Empire was responsible for +the <i>débâcle</i> and the Government of National Defence was unable to +create everything out of nothing. Many people were ready to be +discouraged after a first defeat, and few realized what Germany's +demands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> were going to be. The imperial army was insufficiently equipped +and the majority of its generals were inefficient and lacking in +initiative: there was no preparation, no system, little discipline.</p> + +<p>During the period of National Defence the members of the Government +themselves were usually wanting in experience and in diplomacy, and the +badly trained armies made up of raw recruits were liable to panics or +unable to follow up an advantage. There was jealousy, mistrust, and +frequent unwillingness to subordinate politics to patriotism, or, at any +rate, to make allowances for other forms of patriotism than one's own. +Gambetta and Jules Favre were primarily orators and tribunes and +indulged in too many wordy proclamations, in which habit they were +followed by General Trochu. The patriotism and enthusiasm of Gambetta +were undeniable, but he was imbued with the principles and memories of +the French Revolution, including the efficacy of national volunteers, +the ability of France to resist all Europe, and the subordination of +military to civil authority. Consequently, in a time of stress he nagged +the generals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> and interfered, and gave free rein to Freycinet to do the +same. They upset plans made by experienced generals, and sent civilians +to spy over them, with power to retire them from command. They were, +moreover, trying to thrust a republic down the throats of a hostile +majority of the population, for a large proportion of those not +Bonapartists were in favor of a monarchy. The wonder is, therefore, that +France was able to do so much. M. de Freycinet was not boasting when he +wrote later, "Alone, without allies, without leaders, without an army, +deprived for the first time of communication with its capital, it +resisted for five months, with improvised resources, a formidable enemy +that the regular armies of the Empire, though made up of heroic +soldiers, had not been able to hold back five weeks."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Moritz Busch, <i>Bismarck</i>, vol. 1, chap. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> He surrendered by order of the Government. The isolated +incident of the resistance of the town of Bitche through all the war is +no less noteworthy.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>La guerre en province</i>, quoted by Welschinger, <i>La guerre +de 1870</i>, vol. II, p. 295.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADOLPHE THIERS</h3> + +<h4>February, 1871, to May, 1873</h4> + + +<p>The elections were held in hot haste. The short time allowed before the +convening of the Assembly made the usual campaign impossible. It met at +Bordeaux on February 13, 1871. The peace party was in very considerable +majority, and though Gambetta received the distinction of a multiple +election in nine separate districts, Thiers was chosen in twenty-six. +The radicals and advocates of guerilla warfare and of a "guerre à +outrance" found themselves few in numbers. Many of the representatives +had only local or rural reputation. They were new to parliamentary life, +and in the majority of cases were averse to a permanent republican form +of government. They would have preferred a monarchy, but they were ready +to accept a provisional republic which would incur the task of settling +the war with Germany and bear the onus of defeat. They were especially +suspicious of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> Paris, and hostile to it as the home of fickleness, of +irresponsibility, and of mob rule. They were largely provincial lawyers +and rural landed gentry, conservative and clerical, who felt that too +much importance had been usurped by the Parisian Government of National +Defence.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="464" height="650" alt="ADOLPHE THIERS" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ADOLPHE THIERS</span> +</div> + +<p>The new Assembly, therefore, gradually fell into several groups. On the +conservative side came the Extreme Right, made up of out-and-out +Legitimists, believing in absolutism and the divine right of kings; the +Right, composed of monarchists desirous of conciliating the old régime +with the demands of modern times and of making it a practical form of +government; the Right Centre, consisting of constitutional monarchists +and followers of the Orléans branch of the house of Bourbon. Among the +anti-republicans the Bonapartists were almost negligible. Next came the +Left Centre of conservative Republicans, the republican Left, and the +radical Union républicaine, partisans of Gambetta and advanced +"reformers."</p> + +<p>At the first public session of the Assembly Jules Grévy was chosen +presiding officer. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> former leader of the opposition to the Empire, he +had not participated in affairs since the Fourth of September, and, +therefore, had not yet identified himself with any set. Among the +Republicans he was averse to Gambetta and remained so even when the +latter became moderate. On February 17, Adolphe Thiers, the +"peace-maker," was by an almost unanimous vote elected "Chief of the +Executive Power of the French Republic." It was he who, thirty years +before, had fortified Paris that had now fallen only by famine, who had +opposed the war when it might yet have been averted, who had travelled +over Europe to defend the interests of France, who had been elected +representative by the choice of twenty-six departments.</p> + +<p>M. Thiers formed a coalition cabinet representing different shades of +political feeling, and in one of his early speeches, on March 10, he +formulated a plan of party truce for the purpose of national +reorganization. This plan was acquiesced in by the Assembly and bears in +history the name of the Compact of Bordeaux (<i>pacte de Bordeaux</i>). +France was to continue under a republican government, without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> injury to +the later claims of any party. Thiers, himself, as a former Orléanist, +advocated, at least in his relations with the monarchists, a +Restoration, with the <i>sine qua non</i> that an attempt should be made at a +fusion of the Legitimists and the Orléanists. Meanwhile he was the chief +executive official of a republic.</p> + +<p>But, even before the formulation of the truce of parties, Thiers was in +eager haste to settle the terms of peace with Germany before the +expiration of the armistice. The preliminaries were discussed between +Thiers and Bismarck at Versailles. The Germans were almost as anxious as +the French to see the end of the war, and the objections and delays of +Bismarck were partly tactical. Brief successive prolongations of the +armistice were obtained, and finally the preliminaries were signed on +February 26. Thiers made herculean efforts to keep for France Belfort, +which Bismark claimed, and finally succeeded on condition that the +German army should occupy Paris from March 1 to the ratification of the +preliminaries by the Assembly. France was to give up Alsace and a part +of Lorraine, including Metz, and pay an indemnity of five<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> billion +francs. German troops were to occupy the conquered districts and +evacuate them progressively as the indemnity was paid. The peace +discussions afterwards continued at Brussels, and the final treaty was +signed at Frankfort on May 10, 1871.</p> + +<p>No sooner were the preliminaries signed than Thiers returned post-haste +to Bordeaux, and obtained an almost immediate assent (March 1), so that +the Germans were obliged to forego a large part of their plans for a +triumphal entry into Paris and a review by the Emperor. Only one body of +thirty thousand men marched in through one section and, two days later, +evacuated the city.</p> + +<p>The same meeting which ratified the preliminaries of peace officially +proclaimed the expulsion of the imperial dynasty and declared Napoleon +III responsible for the invasion, the ruin and dismemberment of France. +The same day also beheld the pathetic withdrawal of the representatives +of Alsace and of Lorraine, turned over to the conqueror.</p> + +<p>The misfortunes of France were far from ended. Paris was soon to break +out into rebellion under the eyes of the Germans still in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> possession of +many of the suburbs. The enemy looked on and saw Frenchman killing +Frenchman in civil war.</p> + +<p>It had become obvious that the division of administration between +Bordeaux and Paris was making government difficult. The Assembly, still +suspicious of Paris, decided to transfer its place of meeting to +Versailles. But Paris itself was in a state of nervous hysteria as a +result of the long and exhausting siege (<i>fièvre obsidionale</i>). The +Paris proletariat were as jealous and suspicious of the Assembly as the +Assembly of them. The suggestion of a transfer to Versailles instead of +to Paris seemed a direct challenge. Versailles recalled too easily Louis +XIV and the Bourbons. The monarchical sympathies of the Assembly were, +moreover, well known, and the Parisians dreaded the restoration of +royalty. The people were hungry and penniless, and industry and commerce +had almost completely ceased. The city was full, besides, of soldiers +disarmed through the armistice and ready for riot. On the other hand, +the National Guards, a large body of semi-disciplined militia made up, +at least in part, of the dregs of the populace, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> been allowed to +retain their weapons, and many of them gave their time to drunkenness, +loafing, and listening to agitators. Some rather injudicious +condemnations of leaders in the October riots merely aggravated the +dissatisfaction. All this led to the Commune.</p> + +<p>The leaders of the Commune were, some of them, sincere though visionary +reformers, whose hearts rankled at the sufferings of the poor and the +inequalities of wealth and privilege. The majority were mischief-makers +and café orators, loquacious but incompetent or inexperienced, without +definite plans and unfit to be leaders, some vicious and some dishonest. +The rank and file soon became a lawless mob, ready to burn and murder, +imitating, in their ignorant cult of "liberty," the worst phases of the +French Revolution and its Reign of Terror. Still, the Communards have +their admirers to-day, and, as the world advances in radicalism, it is +not unlikely that the Jacobin Charles Delescluze, the bloodthirsty Raoul +Rigault, and the brilliant and scholarly Gustave Flourens will be +considered heroic precursors.</p> + +<p>The idea of the Commune was decentralization.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> It was an experiment +aiming at a free and autonomous Paris serving as model for the other +self-governing communes of France, united merely for their common needs. +It amounted almost to the quasi-independence of each separate town. But +mixed up with the theorists of the Commune were countless anarchist +revolutionaries, followers of the teachings of Blanqui, as well as +admirers of the great Revolution which overthrew the old régime, and +socialists of various types.</p> + +<p>The germs of the movement which was to culminate in the Commune were +visible at an early hour. The dissatisfaction of the Radicals with the +moderation of the Government of National Defence, the riots of October +31 and January 22 were all symptoms of the discontent of the +proletariat. Indeed, the proclamation of the Republic, on September 4, +was itself an object lesson in illegality to the malcontents. Organized +dissatisfaction began to centre about the obstreperous and disorderly, +but armed and now "federated" National Guards. Manifestoes signed by +self-appointed committees of plebeian patriots appeared on the walls of +Paris. These committees<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> finally merged into the "Comité central," or +were replaced by it. This committee advocated the trial and imprisonment +of the members of the Government of National Defence, and protested +against the disarmament of the National Guards and the entrance of the +Germans into Paris.</p> + +<p>The Government was almost helpless. The few regulars left under arms in +Paris were of doubtful reliance, and General d'Aurelle de Paladines, now +in command of the National Guards, was not obeyed. A certain number of +artillery guns in Paris had been paid for by popular subscription, and +the rumor spread at one time that these were to be turned over to the +Germans. The populace seized them and dragged them to different parts of +the city.</p> + +<p>The Government decided at last to act boldly and, on March 18, +dispatched General Lecomte with some troops to seize the guns at +Montmartre. But the mob surrounded the soldiers, and these mutinied and +refused to obey orders to fire, and arrested their own commander. Later +in the day General Lecomte was shot with General Clément Thomas, a +former commander of the National Guard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> who rather thoughtlessly and +out of curiosity had mingled with the crowd and was recognized.</p> + +<p>Thus armed forces in Paris were in direct rebellion. Other outlying +quarters had also sprung into insurrection. M. Thiers, who had recently +arrived from Bordeaux, and the chief government officials quartered in +Paris, withdrew to Versailles. Paris had to be besieged again and +conquered by force of arms.</p> + +<p>In Paris the first elections of the Commune were held on March 26. On +April 3 an armed sally of the Communards towards Versailles was repulsed +with the loss of some of their chief leaders, including Flourens. +Meanwhile, the Army of Versailles had been organized and put under the +command of Mac-Mahon. Discipline was restored and the advance on Paris +began.</p> + +<p>As time passed in the besieged city the saner men were swept into the +background and reckless counsels prevailed. Some of the military leaders +were competent men, such as Cluseret, who had been a general in the +American army during the Civil War, or Rossel, a trained officer of +engineers. But many were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> foreign adventurers and soldiers of fortune: +Dombrowski, Wrobleski, La Cecilia. The civil administration grew into a +reproduction of the worst phases of the Reign of Terror. Frenzied women +egged on destruction and slaughter, and when at last the national troops +fought their way into the conquered city, it was amid the flaming ruins +of many of its proudest buildings and monuments.</p> + +<p>The siege lasted two months. On May 21, the Army of Versailles crossed +the fortifications and there followed the "Seven Days' Battle," a +street-by-street advance marked by desperate resistance by the +Communards and bloodthirsty reprisals by the Versaillais. Civil war is +often the most cruel and the Versailles troops, made up in large part of +men recently defeated by the Germans, were glad to conquer somebody. +Over seventeen thousand were shot down by the victors in this last week. +The French to-day are horrified and ashamed at the cruel massacres of +both sides and try to forget the Commune. Suffice it here to say that +the last serious resistance was made in the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, +where those <i>fédérés</i> taken arms in hand were lined up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> against a wall +and shot. Countless others, men, women, and children, herded together in +bands, were tried summarily and either executed, imprisoned, or deported +thousands of miles away to New Caledonia, until, years after, in 1879 +and 1880, the pacification of resentments brought amnesty to the +survivors.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>Fortunately, M. Thiers had more inspiring tasks to deal with than the +repression of the Commune. One was the liberation of French soil from +German occupation, another the reorganization of the army. With +wonderful speed and energy the enormous indemnity was raised and +progressively paid, the Germans simultaneously evacuating sections of +French territory. By March, 1873, France was in a position to agree to +pay the last portion of the war tribute the following September (after +the fall of Thiers, as it proved), thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> ridding its soil of the last +German many months earlier than had been provided for by the Treaty of +Frankfort. The recovery of France aroused the admiration of the +civilized world, and the anger of Bismarck, sorry not to have bled the +country more. He viewed also with suspicion the organization of the army +and the law of July, 1872, establishing practically universal military +service. He affected to see in it France's desire for early revenge for +the loss of Alsace and Lorraine.</p> + +<p>M. Thiers, the great leader, did not find his rule uncontested. Brought +into power as the indispensable man to guide the nation out of war, his +conceit was somewhat tickled and he wanted to remain necessary. Though +over seventy he had shown the energy and endurance of a man in his prime +joined to the wisdom and experience of a life spent in public service +and the study of history. Elected by an anti-Republican Assembly and +himself originally a Royalist, the formulator also of the Bordeaux +Compact, he began to feel, nevertheless, in all sincerity that a +conservative republic would be the best government, and his vanity made +him think himself its best<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> leader. This conviction was intensified for +a while by his successful tactics in threatening to resign, when +thwarted, and thus bringing the Assembly to terms. But he tried the +scheme once too often.</p> + +<p>The majority in the Assembly was not, in fact, anxious to give free rein +to Thiers, and it had wanted to avoid committing itself definitely to a +republic. It wanted also to insure its own continuation as long as +possible, contrary to the wishes of advanced Republicans like Gambetta, +who declared that the National Assembly no longer stood for the +expression of the popular will and should give way to a real constituent +assembly to organize a permanent republic.</p> + +<p>The first endeavor of the Royalists was to bring about a restoration of +the monarchy. The princes of the Orléanist branch were readmitted to +France and restored to their privileges. A fusion between the two +branches of the house of Bourbon was absolutely necessary to accomplish +anything. The members of the younger or constitutionalist Orléans line, +and notably its leader, the comte de Paris, were disposed to yield to +the representative<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> of the legitimist branch, the comte de Chambord. He +was an honorable and upright man, yet one who in statesmanship and +religion was unable to understand anything since the Revolution. He had +not been in France for over forty years, he was permeated with a +religious mystical belief not only in the divinity of royalty, but in +his own position as God-given (<i>Dieudonné</i> was one of his names) and the +only saviour of France. Moreover, he could not forgive his cousins the +fact that their great-grandfather had voted for the execution of Louis +XVI. So he treated their advances haughtily, declined to receive the +comte de Paris, and issued a manifesto to the country proclaiming his +unwillingness to give up the white flag for the tricolor. Henry V could +not let anybody tear from his hand the white standard of Henry IV, of +Francis I, and of Jeanne d'Arc.</p> + +<p>Such mediævalism dealt the monarchical cause a crushing blow. The +Royalists had already begun to look askance at M. Thiers and hinted that +his readiness to go on with the Republic was a tacit violation of the +Bordeaux Compact. Under the circumstances, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> his sincerity need +not be doubted in believing a republic the only outcome, and his +ambition or vanity may be excused for wishing to continue its leader. By +the Rivet-Vitet measure of August 31, 1871, M. Thiers, hitherto "chief +of executive power," was called "President of the French Republic." He +was to exercise his functions so long as the Assembly had not completed +its work and was to be responsible to the Assembly. Thus the legislative +body elected for an emergency was taking upon itself constituent +authority and was tending to perpetuate the Republic which the majority +disliked.</p> + +<p>From this time the tension grew greater between Thiers and the Assembly, +which begrudged him the credit for the negotiations still proceeding, +and already mentioned above, for the evacuation of France by the +Germans. It thwarted the wish of the Republicans to transfer the seat of +the executive and legislature to Paris. Thiers was, indeed, working away +from the Bordeaux Compact and was advocating a republic, though a +conservative one. This "treachery" the monarchists could not forgive, +though bye-elections were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> constantly increasing the Republican +membership. Thiers did not, on the other hand, welcome the advanced +republicanism of Gambetta declaring war on clericalism, and proclaiming +the advent of a new "social stratum" (<i>une couche sociale nouvelle</i>) for +the government of the nation.</p> + +<p>By the middle of 1872, Thiers was the open advocate of "la République +conservatrice," and this gradual transformation of a transitional +republic into a permanent one was what the monarchists could not accept. +So they declared open war on M. Thiers. On November 29, 1872, a +committee of thirty was appointed at Thiers's instigation to regulate +the functions of public authority and the conditions of ministerial +responsibility. This was inevitably another step toward the affirmation +of a permanent republic by the clearer specification of governmental +attributes. The majority of the committee were hostile to M. Thiers and +were determined to overthrow him. The Left was also growing dissatisfied +with his opposition to a dissolution. He found it increasingly difficult +to ride two horses. The committee of thirty wished to prevent Thiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +from exercising pressure on the Assembly by intervention in debates and +threats to resign. In February and March, 1873, it proposed that the +President should notify the Assembly by message of his intention to +speak, and the ensuing discussion was not to take place in his presence. +M. Thiers protested in vain against this red tape (<i>chinoiseries</i>). The +effect was to drive him more and more from the Assembly, where his +personal influence might be felt.</p> + +<p>The crisis became acute when Jules Grévy, President of the Assembly, a +partisan of Thiers, resigned his office after a disagreement on a +parliamentary matter. His successor, M. Buffet, at once rigorously +supported the hostile Right. In April an election in Paris brought into +opposition Charles de Rémusat, Minister of Foreign Affairs and personal +friend of Thiers, and Barodet, candidate of the advanced and disaffected +Republicans. The governmental candidate was defeated. Encouraged by this +the duc de Broglie, leader of the Right, followed up the attack, +declaring the Government unable to withstand radicalism. In May he made +an interpellation on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> the governmental policy. Thiers invoked his right +of reply and, on May 24, gave a brilliant defence of his past actions, +formulating his plans for the future organization of the Republic. A +resolution was introduced by M. Ernoul, censuring the Government and +calling for a rigidly conservative policy. The government was put in the +minority by a close vote and M. Thiers forthwith resigned. The victors +at once chose as his successor the candidate of the Rights, the maréchal +de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta, the defeated general of Sedan, a brave and +upright man, but a novice in politics and statecraft. He declared his +intention of pursuing a conservative policy and of re-establishing and +maintaining "l'ordre moral."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The fierceness of hatreds engendered by the Commune may be +illustrated by the following untranslatable comment by Alexandre Dumas +fils on Gustave Courbet, a famous writer and a famous painter: "De quel +accouplement fabuleux d'une limace et d'un paon, de quelles antithèses +génésiaques, de quel suintement sébacé peut avoir été générée cette +chose qu'on appelle M. Gustave Courbet? Sous quelle cloche, à l'aide de +quel fumier, par suite de quelle mixture de vin, de bière, de mucus +corrosif et d'œdème flatulent a pu pousser cette courge sonore et +poilue, ce ventre esthétique, incarnation du moi imbécile et +impuissant?" (Quoted in Fiaux's history of the Commune, pp. 582-83.)</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARÉCHAL DE MAC-MAHON</h3> + +<h4>May, 1873, to January, 1879</h4> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 463px;"> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="463" height="650" alt="EDME-PATRICE-MAURICE DE MAC-MAHON" title="" /> +<span class="caption">EDME-PATRICE-MAURICE DE MAC-MAHON</span> +</div> + +<p>"L'ordre moral," such was the political catchword of the new +administration. Just what it meant was not very clear. In general, +however, it was obviously intended to imply resistance to radicalism +(republicanism) and the maintenance of a strictly conservative policy, +strongly tinged with clericalism.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The victors over M. Thiers had +revived their desire of a monarchical restoration and many of them hoped +that the maréchal de Mac-Mahon would shortly make way for the comte de +Chambord. But though an anti-republican he was never willing to lend +himself to any really illegal or dishonest manœuvres, and his sense +of honor was of great help to him in his want of political competence. +So he did not prove the pliant tool of his creators, and his term<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> of +office saw the definite establishment of the Republic.</p> + +<p>The first Cabinet was led by the duc de Broglie who took the portfolio +of Foreign Affairs. The new Government was viewed askance by the +conquerors at Berlin, who disliked such an orderly transmission of +powers as an indication of national recovery and stability. Bismarck +even exacted new credentials from the French Ambassador. Meanwhile, the +Minister of the Interior, Beulé, proceeded to consolidate the authority +of the new Cabinet by numerous changes in the prefects of the +departments, turning out the "rascals" of Thiers's administration to +make room for appointees more amenable to new orders.</p> + +<p>The time now seemed ripe for another effort to establish the monarchy +under the comte de Chambord. It culminated in the "monarchical campaign" +of October, 1873. The monarchical sympathizers were hand-in-glove with +the Clericals and for the most part coincided with them. The Royalists +were inevitably clerical if for no other reason than that monarchy and +religion both seemed to involve continuity, and the legitimacy of the +monarchy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> had always been blessed by the Church. The revolutionary +Rights of Man were held to be inconsistent with the traditional Rights +of God and the monarchy. Moreover, the founders of the third republic +had, with noteworthy exceptions like the devout Trochu, been mildly +anti-clerical. They were for the most part religious liberals and +deists, rarely atheists, but that was enough to array the bishops, like +monseigneur Pie of Poitiers, against them. Indeed, a quick religious +revival swept over the land, as was shown by numerous pilgrimages, +including one to Paray-le-Monial, home of the cult of the Sacred Heart. +France herself should be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, and the idea +was evolved, afterwards carried out, of the erection of the great votive +basilica of the Sacré Cœur on the heights of Montmartre.</p> + +<p>The first step toward the restoration of "Henry V" was to persuade the +comte de Paris to make new efforts for a fusion of the two branches. +Swallowing his pride, the comte de Paris generously went to the home of +the comte de Chambord at Frohsdorf, in Austria, in August, and paid his +respects to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> him as head of the family. As the comte de Chambord had no +children, it was expected that the comte de Paris would be his +successor. But the old difficulty about the white flag cropped up, and +the comte de Chambord stubbornly refused to rule over a country above +which waved the revolutionary tricolor.</p> + +<p>Matters dragged on through the summer, during the parliamentary recess, +and the conservative leaders were outspoken as to their plans to +overthrow the Republic. It was hoped that some compromise might be +reached by which could be reconciled, as to the flag, the desires of the +Assembly which was expected to recall the pretender and those of the +comte de Chambord who considered his divinely inspired will superior to +that of the representatives of the people. It was suggested that the +question of the flag might be settled <i>after</i> his accession to the +throne. The embassy to Salzburg, in October, of M. Chesnelong, an +emissary of a committee of nine of the Royalist leaders, achieved only a +half-success, but left matters sufficiently indeterminate to encourage +them in continuing their plans. Matters seemed progressing swimmingly +when,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> on October 27, an unexpected letter from the pretender to M. +Chesnelong categorically declared that <i>nothing</i> would induce him to +sacrifice the white banner.</p> + +<p>The effect of this letter was to make all hopes of a restoration +impossible. Everybody knew that the majority of Frenchmen would never +give up their flag for the white one, whether this were dignified by the +name of "standard of Arques and Ivry," or whether one called it +irreverently a "towel," as did Pope Pius IX, impatient at the obstinacy +of the comte de Chambord. In the midst of the general confusion only one +thing seemed feasible if governmental anarchy were to be avoided, +namely, the prorogation of Mac-Mahon's authority, as a rampart against +rising democracy and a permanent republic. This condition the Orléanist +Right Centre turned to their advantage. By a vote of November 20, the +executive power was conferred for a definite period of seven years on +the maréchal de Mac-Mahon. Thus a head of the nation was provided who +might perhaps outlast the Assembly. The vote might be interpreted either +as the beginning of a permanent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> republican régime, as it proved to be, +or as the establishment of a definite interlude in anticipation of a new +attempt to set up a monarchy, this time to the advantage of the younger +branch. Many hoped that the comte de Chambord would soon be dead, his +white flag forgotten, and the way open to the comte de Paris. The +Orléanists were pleased by this latter idea, the Republicans were glad +to have the republican régime recognized for, at any rate, seven years +to come, accompanied by the promise of a constitutional commission of +thirty members. The Legitimists alone were disappointed, and, oblivious +of the fact that the comte de Chambord had lost through his folly, they +were before long ready to vent their wrath on Mac-Mahon and his adviser, +the duc de Broglie, who was responsible for the presidential +prorogation.</p> + +<p>The pretender had been completely taken aback at the impression produced +by his letter. Convinced of his divinely inspired omniscience, and +certain that he was the foreordained ruler of France, he had thought +that the Assembly would give way on the question of the flag, or that +the army would follow him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> or that Mac-Mahon would yield. His state +coach had been made ready and a military uniform awaited him at a +tailor's. He hastened in secret to Versailles, where he remained for a +while in retirement to watch events, and where Mac-Mahon refused to see +him. Then, after the vote on the presidency, he sadly returned into +exile forever.</p> + +<p>Never was a greater service done to France than when the comte de +Chambord refused to give up his flag. Completely out of touch with the +country through a life spent in exile, inspired with the feeling of his +divine rights and their superiority to the will of democracy, he would +scarcely have ascended the throne before some conflict would have broken +out and the history of France would have registered one revolution more.</p> + +<p>The duc de Broglie had considered it good form to resign after the vote +of November 20, but Mac-Mahon immediately entrusted to him the selection +of a second Cabinet. In this Cabinet the portfolio of Foreign Affairs +was given to the duc Decazes, a skilled diplomat, but the Legitimists +were offended by some of the cabinet changes and their dislike of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +duc de Broglie gradually became more acute. Finally, after several +months of parliamentary skirmishing the second Broglie Cabinet fell +before a coalition vote of Republicans and extreme Royalists with a few +Bonapartists, on May 16, 1874. The Right Centre and Left Centre had +unsuccessfully joined in support of the Cabinet. The nation was taking +another step toward republican control and the overthrow of the +conservatives.</p> + +<p>From now on, Mac-Mahon's task became increasingly difficult. After the +split in the conservative majority it was necessary to rely on +combination ministries, representing different sets and harder to +reconcile or to propitiate. The result of Mac-Mahon's first efforts was +a Cabinet led by a soldier, General de Cissey, and having no pronounced +political tendencies.</p> + +<p>Party differences were becoming accentuated. The downfall of the Broglie +Cabinet had been largely due to the extreme Royalists and the Orléanists +could not forgive them. The situation was made worse by differences in +interpretation of the law of November 20, establishing the "septennat" +of the maréchal de Mac-Mahon. Some of the Monarchists<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> maintained the +"septennat personnel," namely, the election of one specific person to +hold office for seven years, with the idea that he could withdraw at any +time in favor of a king. Others interpreted the law as establishing a +"septennat impersonnel," a definite truce of seven years, which should +still hold even if Mac-Mahon had to be replaced before the expiration of +the time by another President. Then, they hoped, their enemy Thiers +would be dead. The Republicans were, of course, desirous of making the +impersonal "septennat" lead to a permanent republic, and declared that +Mac-Mahon was not the President of a seven years' republic, but +President, for seven years, of the Republic.</p> + +<p>In this state of affairs the Bonapartists now became somewhat active +again. Strangely enough, the disasters of 1870 were already growing +sufficiently remote for some of the anti-Republicans to turn again to +the prospect of empire. This menace frightened the moderate Royalists +into what they had kept hesitating to do; that is to say, into spurring +to activity the purposely inactive and dilatory constitutional +commission.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>The stumbling-block was the recognition of the Republic itself and the +admission that the form of government existing in France was to be +permanent. There was much parliamentary skirmishing over various plans, +rejected one after the other, inclining in turn toward the Republic and +a monarchy. Finally, some of the Monarchists, discouraged by the rising +tide of "radicalism," and frightened lest unwillingness to accept a +conservative republic now might result still worse for them in the +future, rallied in support of the motion of M. Wallon, known as the +"amendement Wallon," which was adopted by a vote of 353 to 352 (January, +1875): "The President of the Republic is elected by absolute majority of +votes by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies united as a National +Assembly. He is chosen for seven years and is re-eligible."</p> + +<p>In this vote the fateful statement was made concerning the election of a +President other than Mac-Mahon and the transmission of power in a +republic. The third Republic received its definite consecration by a +majority of <i>one vote</i>.</p> + +<p>The vote on the Wallon amendment dealt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> with only one article of a +project not yet voted as a whole, but it was the crossing of the +Rubicon. The other articles were adopted by increased majorities.</p> + +<p>The Ministry of General de Cissey had already resigned upon a minor +question, but had held over at the President's request. Mac-Mahon now +asked the Monarchist M. Buffet to form a conservative conciliation +Cabinet, which was made up almost entirely from the Right Centre +(Orléanists) and the Left Centre (moderate Republicans) and accepted at +first by the Republican Left. By this Cabinet still one more step was +taken toward Republican preponderance.</p> + +<p>During the Buffet Ministry three important matters occupied public +attention. One was the completion of the new constitution. A second was +the creation of "free" universities, not under control of the State. +This step was advocated in the name of intellectual freedom, but the +whole scheme was backed by the Catholics and merely resulted in the +creation of Catholic faculties in several great cities. A third matter +was the intense anxiety over the prospect of a rupture with Germany.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +Bismarck was renewing his policy of pin-pricks. The French army had been +strengthened by a battalion to every regiment, and so Bismarck +complained of the strictures of French and Belgian bishops on his +anti-papal policy. Whether he only meant to humiliate France still more, +or whether he actually desired a new rupture so as to crush the country +finally, is not clear. At any rate, with the aid of England and +especially of Russia, France showed that she was not helpless, and +Bismarck protested that he was absolutely friendly.</p> + +<p>By the close of 1875, the measures constituting the new Government had +been voted and, on December 31, the Assembly, which had governed France +since the Franco-Prussian War, was dissolved to make way for the new +legislature. During the succeeding elections M. Buffet's Cabinet, +antagonized by the Republicans and rent by internal dissensions, went to +pieces, M. Buffet personally suffered disastrously at the polls. The +slate was clear for a totally new organization. The Assembly had done +many a good service, but its dilatoriness in establishing a permanent +government, its ingratitude to M. Thiers, its clericalism,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> and its +stubbornness in trying to foist a king on the people made it pass away +unregretted by a country which had far outstripped it in republicanism.</p> + +<p>The "Constitution of 1875," under which, with some modifications, France +is still governed, is not a single document constructed <i>a priori</i>, like +the Constitution of the United States. It was partly the result of the +evolution of the National Assembly itself, partly the result of +compromises and dickerings between hostile groups. Particularly, it +expressed the jealousy of a monarchical assembly for a President of a +republic, and the desire, therefore, to keep power in the hands of its +own legislative successor. The Assembly took it for granted that the +Chamber of Deputies would have the same opinions as itself. As a matter +of fact, the political complexion of the legislature has been +consistently toward radicalism, and the result has hindered a strong +executive and promoted legislative demagogy.</p> + +<p>The Constitution of 1875 may be considered as consisting of the +Constitutional Law of February 25, relating to the organization of the +public powers (President, Senate, Chamber<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> of Deputies, Ministers, +etc.); the Constitutional Law of the previous day, February 24, relating +to the organization of the Senate; the Constitutional Law of July 16, on +the relations of the public powers. Subsidiary "organic laws" voted +later determined the procedure for the election of Senators and +Deputies. The vote of February 25 was the crucial one in the definite +establishment of the Republican régime. The Constitution has undergone +certain slight modifications since its adoption.</p> + +<p>By the Constitution of 1875 the government of the French Republic was +vested in a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Senate consisted of +300 members, of whom 75 were chosen for life by the expiring Assembly, +their successors to be elected by co-optation in the Senate itself. The +other 225, chosen for nine years and renewable by thirds, were to be +elected by a method of indirect selection. In 1884, the choice of life +Senators ceased and the seats, as they fell vacant, have been +distributed among the Departments of the country. The Deputies were +elected by universal suffrage for a period of four years. Unless a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +candidate obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, the election +was void, and a new one was necessary. Except during the period from +1885 to 1889, the Deputies have represented districts determined, unless +for densely populated ones, by the administrative <i>arrondissements</i>. +From 1885 to 1889, the <i>scrutin de liste</i> was in operation: the <i>whole</i> +Department voted on a ticket containing as many names as there were +<i>arrondissements</i>. The prerogatives of the two houses were identical +except that financial measures were to originate in the Chamber of +Deputies. As a matter of fact, the Senate has fallen into the +background, and the habit of considering the vote of the Chamber rather +than that of the Senate as important in a change of Ministry has made it +the true source of government in France. The two houses met at +Versailles until 1879; since then Paris has been the capital, except for +the election of a President. After separate decision by each house to do +so, or the request of the President, they could meet in joint assembly +as a Constitutional Convention to revise the constitution.</p> + +<p>The Senate and Chamber, united in joint<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> session as a National Assembly, +were to choose a President for a definite term of seven years, not to +fill out an incomplete term vacated by another President. The President +could be re-elected. With the consent of the Senate he could dissolve +the Chamber, but this restriction made the privilege almost inoperative +in practice. He was irresponsible, the nominal executive and figurehead +of the State, but all his acts had to be countersigned by a responsible +Minister, by which his initiative was greatly reduced. In fact the +President had really less power than a constitutional king.</p> + +<p>The real executive authority was in the hands of the Cabinet, headed by +a Premier or <i>Président du conseil</i>.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The Ministry was responsible to +the Senate and Chamber (in practice, as we have seen, to the Chamber), +and was expected to resign as a whole if put by a vote in the minority. +By custom the President selects the Premier from the majority and the +latter selects his colleagues in the Cabinet, trying to make them +representatives<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> of the wishes of the Parliament. The French Republic is +therefore managed by a parliamentary government.</p> + +<p>The first elections under the new constitution resulted very much as +might be expected: the Senate became in personnel the true successor of +the Assembly, the Chamber of Deputies contained most of the new men. The +Senate was conservative and monarchical, the Chamber was republican. +Therefore, the President of the Republic entrusted the formation of a +Ministry to M. Jules Dufaure, of the Left Centre, the views of which +group differed hardly at all from those of the Right Centre, except in a +full acceptance of the new conditions. Unfortunately, M. Dufaure found +it impossible to ride two horses at once and to satisfy both the +conservative Senate and the majority in the Chamber of more advanced +Republicans than himself. He mistrusted the Republican leader Gambetta, +though the latter was now far more moderate, and he sympathized too much +with the Clericals to suit the new order of things. So his Cabinet +resigned (December 2, 1876), less than nine months after its +appointment, and the maréchal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> de Mac-Mahon felt it necessary, very much +against his will, to call to power Jules Simon. He had previously tried +unsuccessfully to form a Cabinet from the Right Centre under the duc de +Broglie.</p> + +<p>The duc de Broglie remained, however, the power behind the throne. The +President was under the political advice of the conservative set, whose +firm conviction he shared, that the new Republic was advancing headlong +into irreligion. The course of political events now took on a strong +religious flavor. Jules Simon was a liberal, which was considered a +misfortune, though he announced himself now as "deeply republican and +deeply conservative." But people knew his unfriendly relations with +Gambetta, which dated from 1871, when he checkmated the dictator at +Bordeaux. It was hoped that open dissension might break out in the +Republican party which would justify measures tending to a conservative +reaction, and help tide over the time until 1880. Then the constitution +might be revised at the expiration of Mac-Mahon's term and the monarchy +perhaps restored.</p> + +<p>Gambetta was, however, now a very different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> man. Discarding his former +unbending radicalism, he was now the advocate of the "political policy +of results," or <i>opportunism</i>, a method of conciliation, of compromise, +and of waiting for the favorable opportunity. This was to be, +henceforth, the policy closely connected with his name and fame. So +Jules Simon soon was sacrificed.</p> + +<p>The efforts of the Clerical party bore chiefly in two directions: +control of education and advocacy of increased papal authority, +particularly of the temporal power of the Pope, dispossessed of his +states a few years before by the Government of Victor Emmanuel. This +latter course could only tend to embroil France with Italy. So convinced +was Gambetta of the unwise and disloyal activities of the Ultramontanes +that on May 4, in a speech to the Chamber, he uttered his famous cry: +"Le cléricalisme, voilà l'ennemi!"</p> + +<p>Jules Simon found himself in a very difficult position. Desirous of +conciliating Mac-Mahon and his clique, he adopted a policy somewhat at +variance with his former liberal religious views. On the other hand, he +could not satisfy the President, who had always disliked him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> or those +who had determined upon his overthrow. The crisis came on May 16, 1877, +when Mac-Mahon, taking advantage of some very minor measures, wrote a +haughty and indignant letter to Jules Simon, to say that the Minister no +longer had his confidence. Jules Simon, backed up by a majority in the +Chamber, could very well have engaged in a constitutional struggle with +Mac-Mahon, but he rather weakly resigned the next day.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Thus was +opened the famous conflict known in French history, from its date, as +the "Seize-Mai."</p> + +<p>No sooner was Jules Simon out of the way than Mac-Mahon appointed a +reactionary coalition Ministry of Orléanists and Imperialists headed by +the duc de Broglie, and held apparently ready in waiting. The Ministers +were at variance on many political questions, but united as to +clericalism. The plan was to dissolve the Republican Chamber with the +co-operation of the anti-Republican Senate, in the hope that a new +election, under official<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> pressure, would result in a monarchical lower +house also. The Chamber of Deputies was therefore prorogued until June +16 and then dissolved. At the meeting of May 18, the Republicans +presented a solid front of 363 in their protest against the high-handed +action of the maréchal de Mac-Mahon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 459px;"> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="459" height="650" alt="LÉON GAMBETTA" title="" /> +<span class="caption">LÉON GAMBETTA</span> +</div> + +<p>The new Cabinet began by a wholesale revocation of administrative +officials throughout the country, and spent the summer in unblushing +advocacy of its candidates. Those favored by the Government were so +indicated and their campaign manifestoes were printed on official white +paper.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> The Republicans united their forces to support the re-election +of the 363 and gave charge of their campaign to a committee of eighteen +under the inspiring leadership of Gambetta. In a great speech at Lille, +Gambetta declared that the President would have to "give in or give up" +(<i>se soumettre ou se démettre</i>), for which crime of <i>lèse-majesté</i> he +was condemned by default to fine and imprisonment. In September, Thiers, +the great leader of the early Republic, died, and his funeral was made +the occasion of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> a great manifestation of Republican unity. Finally, in +spite of governmental pressure and the pulpit exhortations of the +clergy, the elections in October resulted in a new Republican Chamber. +The reactionary Cabinet was face to face with as firm an opposition as +before.</p> + +<p>The duc de Broglie, in view of this crushing defeat, was ready to +withdraw, and Mac-Mahon, after some hesitation, accepted his +resignation. Mac-Mahon's own fighting blood was up, however, and he +tried the experiment of an extra-parliamentary Ministry led by General +de Rochebouët, the members of which were conservatives without seats in +Parliament. But the Chamber refused to enter into relations with it, and +as the budget was pressing and the Senate was not disposed to support a +second dissolution, Mac-Mahon had to submit and the Rochebouët Cabinet +withdrew.</p> + +<p>Thus ended Mac-Mahon's unsuccessful attempt to exert his personal power. +The Seize-Mai has sometimes been likened to an abortive <i>coup d'état</i>. +The parallel is hardly justifiable. Mac-Mahon would have welcomed a +return of the monarchy at the end of his term<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> of office, but he +intended to remain faithful to the constitution, however much he might +strain it or interpret it under the advice of his Clerical managers, and +though he might have been willing to use troops to enforce his wishes. +One unfortunate result ensued: the crisis left the Presidency still more +weak. Any repetition of Mac-Mahon's experiment of dissolving the Chamber +would revive accusations against one of his successors of attempting a +<i>coup d'état</i>. There have been times when the country would have +welcomed the dissolution by a strong President of an incompetent +Chamber. Unfortunately, Mac-Mahon stood for the reactionaries against +the Republic. His course of action would be a dangerous precedent.</p> + +<p>The new order of things was marked by the advent of another Dufaure +Ministry, very moderate in tendency, but acceptable to the majority. +Most of the high-handed doings of the Broglie Cabinet were revoked, much +to the disgust of Mac-Mahon, who frequently lost his temper when obliged +to sign documents of which he disapproved. Finally, in January, 1879, in +a controversy with his Cabinet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> over some military transfers, Mac-Mahon +resigned, over a year before the expiration of his term of office. +Moreover, at the recent elections to the Senate the Republicans had +obtained control of even that body. Thus he was alone, with both houses +and the Ministry against him.</p> + +<p>In spite of the unfortunate endless internal dissensions, France made +great strides in national recovery during the Presidency of Mac-Mahon. +His rank and military title gave prestige to the Republic in presence of +the diplomats of European monarchies, the German crisis of 1875 showed +that Bismarck was not to have a free hand in crushing France, the +participation of France in the Congress of Berlin enabled the country to +take a place again among the European Powers. Finally, the International +Exhibition of 1878 was an invitation to the world to witness the +recovery of France from her disasters and to testify to her right to +lead again in art and industry.</p> + +<p>The Presidency of Mac-Mahon shows the desperate efforts of the +Monarchists to overthrow the Republic, and then to control it in view of +an ultimate Restoration, either<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> by obstructing the vote of a +constitution or by hindering its operation. Throughout, the Monarchists +and the Clericals work together or are identical. The end of his term of +office found the whole Government in the hands of the Republicans.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Clericalism does not imply political activity on the part +of the clergy alone, but quite as much of laymen strongly in favor of +the Church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Before the Constitution of 1875, the Premier was only +<i>vice-président du conseil</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The Chamber, on May 12, had expressed itself in favor of +the publicity of meetings of municipal councils, during the absence of +the Minister of the Interior. On May 15, it had passed the second +reading of a law, opposed by Jules Simon, on the freedom of the press.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> In France only official posters may be printed on white +paper.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF JULES GRÉVY</h3> + +<h4>January, 1879, to December, 1887</h4> + + +<p>The resignation of the maréchal de Mac-Mahon was followed by the +immediate gathering, in accordance with the constitution, of the +National Assembly, which chose as President for seven years Jules Grévy. +The new chief magistrate, elected without a competitor, was already +seventy-two, and had in his long career won the reputation of a +dignified and sound statesman, in whose hands public affairs might be +entrusted with absolute safety. He represented a step beyond the +military and aristocratic régime which had preceded him. The embodiment +of the old <i>bourgeoisie</i>, he had, along with its qualities, some of its +defects. Eminently cautious, his statesmanship had been at times a +non-committal reserve more than constructive genius. His parsimony soon +caused people to accuse him of unduly saving his salary and state +allowances, while his personal dislikes led him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> to err grievously in +his choice of advisers, or rather in his elimination of Gambetta, to +whom circumstances now pointed.</p> + +<p>Jules Grévy hated Gambetta, undeniably the leading figure in the +Republican party since the death of Thiers, and neglected to entrust to +him the formation of a Cabinet. Thiers himself had shown greater wisdom. +He, too, had disliked the raging and apparently futile volubility of the +young tribune during the Franco-Prussian War, but Thiers got over +calling Gambetta a "fou furieux." On the contrary, just after the +Seize-Mai and before his own death, when Thiers was expecting to return +to the Presidency as successor to a discredited Mac-Mahon, he had +intended to make Gambetta the head of his Cabinet. For Gambetta with +maturity had become more moderate. Instead of drastic political remedies +he was gradually evolving, as already stated, the policy of +"Opportunism" so closely linked with his name, the method of gradual +advance by concessions and compromises, by taking advantage of occasions +and making one's general policy conform with opportunity.</p> + +<p>If Gambetta, as leader of the majority group<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> in the Republican party, +which had evicted Mac-Mahon, had become Prime Minister, it is conceded +that the precedent would have been set by the new administration for +parliamentary government with a true party leadership, as in Great +Britain. Instead, Grévy entrusted the task of forming a Ministry to an +upright but colorless leader named Waddington, at the head of a +composite Cabinet, more moderate in policy than Gambetta, who became +presiding officer of the Chamber of Deputies. The consequence was that, +after lasting less than a year, it gave way to another Cabinet led by +the great political trimmer Freycinet,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> until in due time it was in +turn succeeded by the Ministry of Jules Ferry in September, 1880.</p> + +<p>It must not be inferred that nothing was accomplished by the Waddington +and Freycinet Ministries. Indeed, Jules Ferry, the chief Republican next +to Gambetta, was himself a member of these two Cabinets before leading +his own.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> +<p>The lining-up of Republican groups, as opposed to the Monarchists, under +the new administration was: the Left Centre, composed as in the past of +ultra-conservative Republicans, constantly diminishing numerically; the +Republican Left, which followed Jules Ferry; the Republican Union of +Gambetta; and, finally, the radical Extreme Left, which had taken for +itself many of the advanced measures advocated by Gambetta when he had +been a radical. One of its leaders was Georges Clemenceau. Between the +two large groups of Ferry and Gambetta there was little difference in +ideals, but Gambetta was now the Opportunist and Ferry made his own +Gambetta's old battle-cry against clericalism.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="464" height="650" alt="JULES FERRY" title="" /> +<span class="caption">JULES FERRY</span> +</div> + +<p>The Chamber elected after the Seize-Mai was by reaction markedly +anti-Clerical, and the Waddington Cabinet, to begin with, contained +three Protestants and a freethinker. Obviously steps would soon be taken +to defeat the "enemy." In this movement Jules Ferry was from the +beginning a leader, by direct action as well as by the educational +reforms which he carried out as Minister of Public Instruction. Jules +Ferry became, more than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> Gambetta, the great bugbear of the Clericals +and the author of the "lois scélérates."</p> + +<p>During the Waddington Ministry Jules Ferry began his efforts for the +reorganization of superior instruction, and among his measures carried +through the Chamber of Deputies the notorious "Article 7" indirectly +aimed at Jesuit influence in <i>secondary</i> teaching as well: "No person +can direct any public or private establishment whatsoever or teach +therein if he belongs to an unauthorized order." The Jesuits had at that +time no legal footing in France, but were openly tolerated. The Senate +rejected this article under the Freycinet Ministry and the law was +finally adopted thus apparently weakened. But Jules Ferry, nothing +daunted, immediately put into operation the no less notorious decrees of +March, 1880, reviving older laws going back even to 1762, which had long +since fallen into disuse. By these decrees the Jesuit establishments +were to be closed and the members dispersed within three months. +Moreover, every unauthorized order was, under penalty of expulsion, to +apply for authorization within a like limit of time. The expulsion of +the Jesuits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> was carried out with a certain spectacular display of +passive resistance on the part of those evicted. Later in the year +similar steps were taken against many other organizations.</p> + +<p>It is evident from the above that the promotion of educational reform +under Republican control was definitely connected with measures directed +against clerical domination. The French Catholic Church, on its part, +treated every attempt toward laicization as a form of persecution. But +Jules Ferry unhesitatingly extended his policy when he became Prime +Minister. His measures were genuinely neutral, but his reputation as a +Voltairian freethinker and a freemason inevitably afforded his opponents +an excuse for their charges.</p> + +<p>Jules Ferry's reforms in education, extending over several Cabinet +periods as late as 1882, included secondary education for girls, and +free, obligatory, lay, primary instruction. To Americans accustomed to +such methods of education it is difficult to conceive the struggles of +Jules Ferry and his assistant on the floor of the House, Paul Bert, in +carrying through these measures for the training of the democracy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>In foreign affairs Jules Ferry inaugurated a more active policy +symptomatic of the return of France to participation in international +matters. At the Congress of Berlin, France had avoided entanglements, +but, even at that early period, Lord Salisbury had hinted to M. +Waddington, present as French delegate, that no interference would be +made by England, were France to advance claims in Tunis. This suggestion +came, perhaps, originally from Bismarck, who was not averse to +embroiling France with Italy. That country longed for Tunis so +conveniently situated near Sicily. England, moreover, was probably not +desirous of seeing the Italians thus strategically ensconced in the +Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>In 1881, financial manœuvres and the plundering expeditions into +Algeria of border tribes called Kroumirs afforded a pretext for +intervention, to the indignation of Italy, which was thus more than ever +inclined to seek alliances against France, even with Germany. Here, +indeed, was the germ of the Triple Alliance. An easy advance to Tunis +forced the Bey to accept a French protectorate by the Treaty of the +Bardo on May 12, 1881. Later in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> the year the situation became rather +serious, and new and rather costly military operations became necessary, +including the occupation of Sfax, Gabès, and Kairouan.</p> + +<p>Thus France came into possession of valuable territories, but at the +cost of Italian indignation. Moreover, Jules Ferry, who was always one +of the most hated of party leaders in his own country, reaped no +advantage to himself. His enemies affected to believe that the whole +Tunisian war was a game of capitalists, or was planned for effect upon +elections to the new Chamber. The boulevards refused to take the +Kroumirs seriously and joked about "Cherchez le Kroumir." Finally, on +November 9, 1881, the personal intervention of Gambetta before the newly +elected Chamber of Deputies saved the Cabinet on a vote of confidence. +Jules Ferry none the less determined to resign, and Gambetta, in spite +of Grévy's aversion, was the inevitable man for the formation of a new +Cabinet.</p> + +<p>Gambetta's great opportunity had come too late to be effective. The +undoubted leader of the Republic, he had grown in statesmanship since +his early days, but was still hated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> by men like Grévy who could not get +over their old prejudices. Then the advanced radicals, or +<i>intransigeants</i>, thought him a traitor to his old platforms or +<i>programmes</i>.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> They blamed his Opportunism and said that he wanted +power without responsibility. Gambetta's enemies, whether the duc de +Broglie or Clemenceau, talked of his secret influence (<i>pouvoir +occulte</i>), and accused him of aspiring to a dictatorship, in fact if not +in name. Their suspicions were somewhat deepened by Gambetta's ardent +advocacy of the <i>scrutin de liste</i> instead of the existing <i>scrutin +d'arrondissement</i>.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>It was asserted that Gambetta wanted to diminish the independence of +local representation and marshal behind himself a subservient majority. +To Gambetta the <i>scrutin de liste</i> was the truly republican form of +representation, the one existing under the National<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> Assembly and +abolished by the reactionaries under the new constitution.</p> + +<p>Thus, Gambetta had against him, during the campaign for renewal of the +Chamber of Deputies in the summer of 1881, not only the anti-Republicans +but also timid liberals like Jules Simon, the influence of President +Grévy, and the <i>intransigeants</i>. The Senate was averse to the <i>scrutin +de liste</i> and rejected, in the spring of 1881, the measure which +Gambetta carried through the Chamber. Gambetta, formerly the idol of the +working classes of Paris, met with opposition, was hooted in one of his +own political rallies, and was re-elected on the first ballot in one +only of the two districts in which he was a candidate.</p> + +<p>The elections of the Chamber of 1881 resulted in a strongly Republican +body, in which, however, the majority subdivided into groups. Gambetta's +"Union républicaine" was the most numerous, followed by Ferry's "Gauche +républicaine," and the extremists. A certain fraction of Gambetta's +group, including Henri Brisson and Charles Floquet, also tended to stick +together. They were the germ of what became in time the great Radical +party.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>It had been hoped that Gambetta would bring into his Cabinet all the +other leaders of his party, and at last form a great governing ministry. +But men like Léon Say and Freycinet refused their collaboration because +of divergence of views or personal pride. Gambetta then decided to pick +his collaborators from his immediate friends and partisans, some of whom +had yet a reputation to make. The anticipated "Great Ministry" turned +out to be, its opponents said, a "ministère de commis," a cabinet of +clerks. The fact that it contained men like Waldeck-Rousseau, Raynal, +and Rouvier showed, however, that Gambetta could discover ability in +others. But it was declared that the "dictator" was marshalling his +henchmen. The extremists, especially, were furious because Gambetta also +magnanimously gave important posts to non-Republicans like General de +Miribel and the journalist J.-J. Weiss.</p> + +<p>The "Great Ministry" remained in office two months and a half and came +to grief on the proposed revision of the constitution, in which Gambetta +wished to incorporate the <i>scrutin de liste</i>. In January, 1882, it had +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> resign and Gambetta died on the last day of the same year. Thus, the +third Republic lost its leading statesman since the death of Thiers.</p> + +<p>The year 1882 was filled by the two ineffective Cabinets of Freycinet +(second time) and of Duclerc. Under the former, France made the mistake, +injurious to her interests and prestige, of withdrawing from the +Egyptian condominium with Great Britain and allowing the latter country +free play for the conquest and occupation of Egypt. Thus the fruits of +De Lesseps' piercing of the Isthmus of Suez went definitely to England. +The death of Gambetta under the Duclerc-Fallières Ministry<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> seemed to +reawaken the hopes of the anti-Republicans, and Jerome Napoleon, chief +Bonapartist pretender since the decease of the Prince Imperial, issued a +manifesto against the Republic. Parliament fell into a ludicrous panic, +various contradictory measures were proposed, and in the general +confusion the Cabinet fell after an adverse vote.</p> + +<p>In this contingency President Grévy did what he should have done before, +and called to office the leading statesman. This was now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> Jules Ferry. +At last France had an administration which lasted a little over two +years. But Ferry was still intensely unpopular. He had become the +successor of Gambetta and the exponent of the policy of Opportunism, +which he tried to carry out with even more constructive statesmanship. +But he was totally wanting in Gambetta's magnetism, and his domineering +ways made him hated the more. The Clericals opposed him as the +"persecutor" of the Catholic religion, and the Radicals thought he did +not go far enough in his hostility to the Church. For Jules Ferry saw +that the times were not ripe for disestablishment, and that the system +of the <i>Concordat</i>, in vogue since Napoleon I, really gave the State +more control over the Clergy than it would have in case of separation. +The State would lose its power in appointments and salaries. Jules Ferry +knew that the Church could be useful to him, and the politic Leo XIII, +very different from Pius IX, was ready to meet him part way, though the +Pope himself had to humor to a certain extent the hostility to the +Republic of the French Monarchists and Clericals. Jules Ferry, like +Gambetta, also had to put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> up with the veiled hostility of President +Grévy, working in Parliament through the intrigues of his son-in-law +Wilson. Moreover, Ferry was made to bear the odium for a long period of +financial depression, which had lasted since 1882, starting with the +sensational failure (<i>krach</i>) of a large bank, the Union générale. So +his career was made a torture and he was vilified perhaps more than any +man of the third Republic.</p> + +<p>The extremists had in time another grievance against Jules Ferry in his +opposition to a radical revision of the constitution. The enemies of the +Republic still feigned to believe, especially when the death of the +comte de Chambord in 1883 had fused the Legitimists and Orléanists, that +an integral revision would pave the way for a monarchical restoration. +The Radicals demanded the suppression of the power of the Senate, whose +consent was necessary to summon a constitutional convention. A Congress +was summoned in 1884 at which the very limited programme of the Ministry +was put through. The changes merely eliminated from the constitution the +prescriptions for senatorial elections. After<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> this, by an ordinary +statute, life-senatorships were abolished for the future, and some +changes were made in the choice of senatorial electors.</p> + +<p>Jules Ferry was what would to-day be called an imperialist. In this he +may have been unwise, for the French, though intrepid explorers, do not +care to settle permanently far from the motherland. The north coast of +Africa might have been a sufficient field for enterprise. But Jules +Ferry thought that the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, +formed in 1882, was going to isolate France permanently in Europe. So +she was to regain her prestige by territorial annexations in the Sudan, +the Congo, Madagascar, Annam, and Tonkin.</p> + +<p>The French had some nominal rights on Tonkin since 1874, and +disturbances there had caused a revival of activities. When the French +officer Rivière was killed in an ambuscade in May, 1883, Jules Ferry +sent heavy reinforcements and forced the King of Annam to acknowledge a +French protectorate. This stirred up the Chinese, who also claimed +Annam, and who caused the invasion of Tonkin by guerillas supported by +their own troops.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> After various operations in Tonkin the Treaty of +Tien-tsin was signed with China in May, 1884, by which China made the +concessions called for by the French. Within a month Chinese troops +ambuscaded a French column at Bac-Le and the Government decided on a +punitive expedition. Thus France was engaged in troublesome warfare with +China, without direct parliamentary authorization. The bombardment of +Foo-chow, the attack on the island of Formosa, and the blockade of the +coast dragged along unsatisfactorily through 1884 and 1885.</p> + +<p>While Jules Ferry in the spring of 1885 was actually negotiating a final +peace with China on terms satisfactory to the French, the cession of +Annam and Tonkin with a commercial treaty, and while he was +categorically affirming in the Chamber of Deputies the success of +military operations in Tonkin, a sudden dispatch from the East threw +everything into a turmoil. General Brière de l'Isle telegraphed from +Tonkin that the French had been disastrously defeated at Lang-son and +General de Négrier severely wounded. The news proved to be a grievous +exaggeration which was contradicted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> by a later dispatch some hours +after, but the damage was done. On March 30, in the Chamber of Deputies, +Jules Ferry was insulted and abused by the leaders of a coalition of +anti-Republicans and Radicals. The "Tonkinois," as his vilifiers called +him, disgusted and discouraged, made little attempt to defend himself, +and his Cabinet fell by a vote of 306 to 149. On April 4, the +preliminaries of a victorious treaty of peace were signed with China.</p> + +<p>The fall of Jules Ferry was a severe blow to efficient government. It +marked the end, for a long time, of any effort to construct satisfactory +united Cabinets led by a strong man. It set a precedent for innumerable +short-lived Ministries built on the treacherous sands of shifting +groups. It paved the way for a deterioration in parliamentary +management. It accentuated the bitter hatred now existing between the +Union des gauches, as the united Gambetta and Ferry Opportunist groups +called themselves, on the one hand, and the Radicals and the Extreme +Left on the other. The Radicals, in particular, were influential, and +one of their more moderate members,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> Henri Brisson, became the head of +the next Cabinet. Brisson's name testified to an advance toward +radicalism, but the Cabinet contained all sorts of moderate and +nondescript elements, dubbed a "concentration" Cabinet. Its chief +function was to tide over the elections of 1885, for a new Chamber of +Deputies. In anticipation of this election Gambetta's long-desired +<i>scrutin de liste</i> had been rather unexpectedly voted.</p> + +<p>The workings of the new method of voting were less satisfactory than had +been anticipated. Republican dissensions and a greater union of the +opposition caused a tremendous reactionary landslide on the first +ballot. This was greatly reduced on the second ballot, so that the +Republicans emerged with a large though diminished majority. But the old +Left Centre had practically disappeared and the Radicals were vastly +more numerous. The great divisions were now the Right, the moderate +Union des gauches, the Radicals, and the revolutionary Extreme Left. The +Brisson Cabinet was blamed for not "working" the elections more +successfully and it resigned at the time of President Grévy's +re-election. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> had reached the end of his seven years' term and was +chosen again on December 28, 1885. He was to have troublesome +experiences during the short time he remained in the Presidency.</p> + +<p>The Freycinet, Goblet, and Rouvier Cabinets, which fill the rest of +Grévy's Presidency, were largely engrossed with a new danger in the +person of General Boulanger. He first appeared in a prominent position +as Minister of War in the Freycinet Cabinet. A young, brilliant, and +popular though unprincipled officer, he soon devoted himself to demagogy +and put himself at the head of the jingoes who called Ferry the slave of +Bismarck. The expeditions of Tunis and Tonkin had, moreover, thrown a +glamour over the flag and the army.</p> + +<p>Boulanger began at once to play politics and catered to the advanced +parties, who adopted him as their own. He backed up the spectacular +expulsion of the princes, which, as an answer to the monarchical +progress, drove from France the heads of formerly reigning families and +their direct heirs in line of primogeniture, and carried out their +radiation from the army. The populace cheered the gallant general on his +black horse, and when Bismarck complained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> that he was a menace to the +peace of Europe Boulanger's fortune seemed made. At a certain moment +France and Germany were on the brink of war in the so-called Schnaebele +affair.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> So, when Boulanger was left out of the Rouvier Cabinet +combination in May, 1887, as dangerous, he played more than ever to the +gallery as the persecuted saviour of France and, on being sent to take +command of an army corps in the provinces at Clermont-Ferrand, he was +escorted to the train by thousands of enthusiastic manifestants.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, President Grévy was nearing a disaster. In October, 1887, +General Caffarel, an important member of the General Staff, was arrested +for participating in the sale of decorations. When Boulanger declared +that the arrest of Caffarel was an indirect assault on himself, +originally responsible for Caffarel's appointment to the General Staff, +the affair got greater notoriety. The scandal assumed national +proportions when it was found to involve the President's own son-in-law +Daniel Wilson, well known to be a shady and tricky<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> politician, who had +the octogenarian President under his thumb. The matter reached the scale +of a Cabinet crisis, since it was by an overthrow of the Ministry that +the President could best be reached. Unfortunately, Grévy could not see +that the most dignified thing for him to do was to resign, even though +he was in no way involved in Wilson's misdemeanors. For days he tried to +persuade prominent men to form a Cabinet; he tried to argue his right +and duty to remain. But finally the Chamber and Senate brought actual +pressure upon him by voting to adjourn to specific hours in the +expectation of a presidential communication. He bowed to the inevitable +and retired from the Presidency with the reputation of a discredited old +miser, instead of the great statesman he had appeared on beginning his +term of office.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Gambetta's former assistant during the national defence +after the first disasters; a brilliant organizer, but in general policy +a <i>nolonté</i>, to use the term Gambetta coined about him on the basis of +the word <i>volonté</i>. As Minister of Public Works he initiated at this +period great improvements in the internal development of France, +especially in the railways.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Especially as to the unlimited revision of the +constitution and the <i>immediate</i> separation of Church and State.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Gambetta's contempt for the parochialism of the elections +by district was great. He felt that departmental tickets would favor the +choice of better men. One must remember how large a proportion of the +French Deputies are physicians to appreciate the scorn of Gambetta's +saying that the <i>scrutin d'arrondissement</i> produced a lot of +<i>sous-vétérinaires</i>, that is, men who were not even decent +"horse-doctors."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> M. Fallières took the place of Duclerc as President of the +Council during the last days.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The French claimed that a government official had been +lured over the frontier and illegally arrested.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF SADI CARNOT</h3> + +<h4>December, 1887, to June, 1894</h4> + + +<p>The successor of Jules Grévy was Sadi Carnot, in many ways the best +choice. As has been seen, the transition was less easy than the two +ballots of the National Assembly seemed to indicate (December 3, 1887). +The intrigues of the so-called "nuits historiques" (November 28-30) had +been an endeavor of the Radicals to keep Grévy, in order to ward off +Jules Ferry as his successor. Finally, Carnot was a compromise +candidate, or "dark horse," a Moderate acceptable to the Radicals still +unwilling to endure the leading candidate Ferry.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 455px;"> +<img src="images/illus5.jpg" width="455" height="650" alt="SADI CARNOT" title="" /> +<span class="caption">SADI CARNOT</span> +</div> + +<p>President Carnot, hitherto known chiefly as a capable civil engineer and +a successful Cabinet officer, was the heir to the name and traditions of +a great republican family. His integrity was a guarantee of honesty in +office, and his personal dignity was bound to heighten the prestige of +the chief magistracy, somewhat weakened by his predecessor Grévy. On +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> other hand, Carnot's conception of the constitutional +irresponsibility or neutrality of his office was an insufficient bulwark +to the State against the intrigues of petty politicians and the +inefficiencies of the parliamentary régime. Consequently his term of +office saw the Republic exposed to two of the worst crises in its +history, the Boulanger campaign and the Panama scandals, while the +legislative history records the overthrow of successive cabinets. These +followed each other without definite constructive policy, and aimed +chiefly at keeping power by constant dickerings and playing off group +against group.</p> + +<p>The demoralization of parliamentary life had reached a climax. The +Republicans were divided into the Moderates, former followers of +Gambetta, the Radicals with Floquet and Brisson, the Extreme Left with +Clemenceau and Pelletan, the Socialists with Millerand, Basly, and +Clovis Hugues. The Royalists and Bonapartists worked against the +Government and the Boulangists took advantage of the chaos to push their +cause. The Socialists, in particular, were a new group in the Chamber, +destined in later years to hold the centre of the stage. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> their +manifesto of December, 1887, signed by seventeen Deputies, they +advocated, in addition to innumerable specific reforms or practical +innovations, schemes for the reorganization of society: state +monopolies, nationalization of property, progressive taxation, and the +like.</p> + +<p>The year 1888, characterized by intense political and social unrest, was +critical. The trial and conviction of Grévy's son-in-law Wilson involved +washing dirty linen in public. The steady growth of Boulangism testified +to dissatisfaction, even though, as it proved, the enemies of the +established order had united on a worthless adventurer as their leader.</p> + +<p>General Boulanger had been first "invented" as a leader by the extreme +Radicals, and especially by Clemenceau, the <i>démolisseur</i> or destroyer +of ministries. Then, being gradually abandoned by them, he went over to +the anti-Republicans and took heavy subsidies from the Monarchists, +while continuing to advocate, at least openly, an anti-parliamentary, +plebiscitary Republic.</p> + +<p>Early in 1888, in February, the candidacy of Boulanger to the Chamber +was started in several departments. The electioneering activities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> of a +general in regular service and sundry deeds of insubordination on his +part finally caused the Government, as a disciplinary measure, to retire +him. The result was that his partisans raised a cry of persecution, and +his actual retirement gave him the liberty to engage in politics which +his service on the active list had prevented. In April Boulanger was +elected Deputy in the southern department of la Dordogne and the +northern le Nord. His plan of campaign was to be candidate for Deputy in +each department successively in which a vacancy occurred, thus +indirectly and gradually obtaining a plebiscite of approval from the +country. At the same time he raised the cry in favor of militarism, not +for the sake of war, he said, but for defence. He attacked the impotence +of Parliament and, as a remedy, called for the dissolution of the +Chamber and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly to revise the +constitution. His opponents raised the answering cry of dictatorship and +Cæsarism. The election in the Nord was particularly alarming because of +Boulanger's majority.</p> + +<p>Boulanger now had both Moderates and many Radicals against him, +including the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Prime Minister Floquet, and was, on the other hand, +supported openly or secretly by the Imperialists and Monarchists, +advocates for varying purposes of the plebiscite. The Royalists, who +thought their chances of success the most hopeful, wanted to use +Boulanger as a tool to further their designs for the overthrow of the +Republic. Not only did he receive funds from the pretender, the comte de +Paris, but an ardent Royalist lady of rank, the duchesse d'Uzès, +squandered millions of francs in furthering Boulanger's political +schemes as leader of the Boulangists: the "National Party" or +"Revisionists."</p> + +<p>In June, 1888, Boulanger brought forward in the Chamber a project for a +revision of the constitution. He advocated a single Chamber, or, if a +Senate were conceded, demanded that it be chosen by popular vote. The +power of the Chamber was to be diminished, that of the President +increased, and laws were to be subject to ratification by plebiscite or +referendum. The measure was naturally rejected, but Boulanger renewed +the attack in July by demanding the dissolution of the Chamber. In the +excitement of the debate the lie was passed between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> Boulanger and the +President of the Council of Ministers, Floquet. Boulanger resigned his +seat and in a duel, a few days later, between Floquet and Boulanger, the +dashing general, the warrior of the black horse, and the hero of the +popular song "En rev'nant d'la revue," was ignominiously wounded by the +civilian politician.</p> + +<p>But Boulanger's star was not yet on the wane. He continued to be elected +Deputy in different departments, and the efforts of the Ministry to cut +the ground from under his feet by bringing in a separate revisionary +project did not undermine his popularity with the rabble, the jingo +Ligue des Patriotes of Paul Déroulède, and the anti-Republican +malcontents. In January, 1889, after a fiercely contested and +spectacular campaign, he was elected Deputy for the department of the +Seine, containing the city of Paris, nerve-centre of France. It is +generally conceded that if Boulanger had gone to the Elysée, the +presidential mansion, on the evening of his election, and turned out +Carnot, he would have had the Parisian populace and the police with him +in carrying out a <i>coup d'état</i>. Luckily for the country his judgment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +or his nerve failed him at the crucial moment, and from that time his +influence diminished. The panic-stricken Government was able to thwart +his plebiscitary appeals by re-establishing the <i>scrutin +d'arrondissement</i>, or election by small districts instead of by whole +departments. Moreover, when the Floquet Cabinet fell soon after on its +own revisionary project, the succeeding Tirard Ministry was able to pass +a law preventing simultaneous multiple candidacies, and impeached +Boulanger, with some of his followers, before the Senate as High Court +of Justice. Instead of facing trial, Boulanger and his satellites Dillon +and Henri Rochefort fled from France. In August they were condemned in +absence to imprisonment. Boulanger never returned to France, and with +diminishing subsidies his following waned. The elections of 1889 +resulted in the return of only thirty-eight Boulangists and, when in +September, 1891, Boulanger committed suicide in Brussels at the grave of +his mistress, most Frenchmen merely gave a sigh of relief at the memory +of the dangers they had experienced not so long before.</p> + +<p>The International Exposition of 1889 afforded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> a breathing spell in the +midst of political anxieties, and helped, by its evidence of the +Republic's prosperity, to weaken Boulanger's cause. But unsettled social +and religious problems remained troublesome. The successive cabinets +after the Floquet Ministry, and following the general election of 1889, +pursued a policy of "Republican concentration," combining Moderate and +Radical elements, disappearing often without important motives, and +replaced by cabinets of approximately the same coloring. The Clerical +Party was hand-in-glove with the Royalists and the Boulangists. It took +advantage of governmental instability to try to undermine the Republic, +but its own harmony of purpose was in due time diminished by the new +policy of Leo XIII. That astute Italian diplomat was himself +temperamentally an Opportunist. He conceived the idea of controlling +France by advances to the Republic and by feigning to accept it in order +to get hold of its policies, especially the educational and military +laws. He realized, too, the harm done to the Vatican by the stubbornness +of many French Catholics. He felt the necessity of making amends for the +behavior of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> Catholic Royalists in the Boulanger affair. Certain +prelates, including the Archbishop of Aix, Monseigneur Gouthe-Soulard, +attacked the Government violently at the end of 1891 in connection with +disturbances by French pilgrims to Rome who had manifested in favor of +the Pope and written "Vive le Pape-Roi!" at the tomb of Victor Emmanuel. +The French Catholics tended to resent the interference of the Pope, but +the latter, who had for some months received the support of Cardinal +Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers and Primate of Africa, tried to bring +pressure on the leaders of the French clergy. In February, 1892, as a +rejoinder to a manifesto by five French cardinals, came his famous +encyclical letter advocating the established order of things. "The civil +power considered as such is from God and always from God.... +Consequently, when new governments representing this new power are +constituted, to accept them is not only permitted but demanded, or even +imposed, by the needs of the social good." This encyclical was followed +by a letter to the French cardinals in May and by other manifestations +of his wishes. Thus a certain number of Catholics,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> among whom the comte +de Mun and Jacques Piou were leaders, cut adrift from the Right and +adhered to the Republic, forming the small group of "Ralliés." They were +never very numerous or powerful, and the Dreyfus affair, a few years +later, showed how the Pope's desire to rally the Catholics to the +Republic was thwarted by the French clergy and the reactionaries.</p> + +<p>The procedure of Leo XIII was thus a proof that the Vatican wanted to be +on good terms with the Republic. The <i>rapprochement</i> with Russia was +another proof that France, in spite of its troubles, was to be reckoned +with in Europe. France and Russia felt it necessary to draw together in +answer to the noisy renewal of the Triple Alliance. There had been +tension in the spring of 1891, in which the French were not wholly +blameless, as a result of the private visit to Paris of the dowager +empress of Germany, the Empress Frederick. In the summer of 1891 a +French fleet under Admiral Gervais was invited to Russian waters. It +visited Cronstadt, and the Czar and the President exchanged telegrams of +sympathy. On the return to France the same fleet visited Portsmouth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> by +invitation, and was welcomed by the Queen and the authorities. The visit +to England did not, however, have the same meaning as the Russian one. +"Portsmouth" meant an expression of England's freedom of action +face-to-face with the Triple Alliance, and an endeavor to smooth French +susceptibilities recently ruffled by Lord Salisbury. After an +Anglo-French compact, in August, 1890, for the partition of +protectorates and zones of influence in Africa, the British Prime +Minister alluded rather scoffingly in the House of Lords to the lack of +value of the Sahara assigned to the French. "Cronstadt," as opposed to +"Portsmouth," meant an active understanding, to be followed in 1892 by a +military defensive compact negotiated in St. Petersburg by General de +Boisdeffre, head of the French General Staff.</p> + +<p>The return visit of the Russians took place at Toulon in 1893, and +Admiral Avellan with his staff visited Paris, which went wild with +enthusiasm. At that moment French relations with Italy were strained, +partly because the Italian Government was jealous of the cordiality +between the Pope and the Republic.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> The Franco-Russian manifestation was +a new veiled warning.</p> + +<p>In 1892, under the leadership of Jules Méline, the Chamber adopted a +protective tariff policy. This resulted in several tariff disputes and +engendered bad feeling with various countries, including Italy.</p> + +<p>The desperate attack of the Royalists, engineered mainly against the +Republic in the Panama scandals, helped to bring the Pope and the State +still closer together, so that at certain times the Ralliés or +Republican Catholics and the Royalists fought each other violently. The +Panama scandal was planned in view of the elections of 1893. During the +decade following 1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the successful builder of +the Suez Canal, had organized and tried to finance a company to +construct a canal at Panama. The prestige of Lesseps's name and the +memory of his previous achievement made countless Frenchmen invest huge +sums in the company. But the expenses were enormous and the financial +maladministration apparently extraordinary, for the directors of the +company were led into illegal steps in order to influence legislation, +or pay hush<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> money to the press to hide the condition of affairs, and +then were blackmailed into further outlays. The company failed in 1888, +and efforts to put it on its feet proved abortive. Hints of the scandals +leaked out, and the Government played into the hands of its opponents by +trying to conceal matters.</p> + +<p>In November, 1892, some Royalist members of the Chamber brought matters +to a head and the Government was obliged to do something. It was decided +to proceed against Ferdinand de Lesseps, his son Charles de Lesseps, +Henri Cottu, Marius Fontane, members of the board of directors, and G. +Eiffel, an engineer and contractor and the builder of the famous Eiffel +Tower. At this juncture a well-known Jewish banker of Paris, Baron +Jacques de Reinach, died suddenly and most mysteriously on November 20. +He was openly charged with being the bribery agent of the company, and +his sudden death was by some called suicide, while others hinted that he +had been put out of the way because of his dangerous knowledge.</p> + +<p>Under these exciting conditions a Boulangist Deputy named Delahaye made +an interpellation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> in the Chamber hinting at the campaign of corruption +carried on by the company through the agency of Reinach and two other +Jews of German origin, Arton and Cornelius Herz, the latter a +naturalized American citizen. By this campaign it was charged that three +million francs had been used to corrupt more than a hundred and fifty +Deputies, and much more had been spent in other ways.</p> + +<p>A commission of thirty-three was appointed under the chairmanship of +Henri Brisson. The Royalists and Radicals were having their innings +against the Government, and their newspapers continued to publish rumors +and "revelations." The commission called for the autopsy of Reinach. The +Loubet Cabinet, refusing to grant it, was voted down and resigned. The +Ribot Ministry was then constituted, but at intervals lost successively +two of its most prominent members, Rouvier and Freycinet, accused of +complicity in the scandals. Even the leaders of the Radicals, Clemenceau +and Floquet, in time found themselves involved. The former was charged +with tricky dealings with Cornelius Herz, the latter was shown to have +demanded money from the company,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> when Minister, in order to use it for +political subsidies.</p> + +<p>In December the Cabinet decided to arrest Charles de Lesseps, Marius +Fontane, Henri Cottu, and a former Deputy, Sans-Leroy, accused of having +accepted a bribe of two hundred thousand francs. At the same time, on +the basis of the seizure of twenty-six cheque stubs at the bank used by +the baron de Reinach, the Minister of Justice proceeded against ten +prominent Deputies and Senators, among whom was Albert Grévy, former +Governor-General of Algeria, and brother of Jules Grévy. The Government +seemed panic-stricken in its readiness to sacrifice, on mere suspicion, +prominent members of its party. All the parliamentaries accused were, in +due time, exonerated.</p> + +<p>The directors of the company came up for trial twice. The first time, +with M. Eiffel, in January-February, 1893, and the second time, with +other defendants, in March, before different jurisdictions on varying +charges, they were condemned to fine and imprisonment. On appeal, in +April, these condemnations were revised or annulled. One person became +the scapegoat, a former Minister of Public Works<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> named Baïhaut, +condemned to civil degradation, five years' imprisonment, and a heavy +fine.</p> + +<p>Scandal was, however, not satisfied with these names. There was also +talk of a mysterious list of one hundred and four Deputies charged with +accepting bribes from Arton. Moreover, it was felt that quashing the +indictments against prominent men like Rouvier and Albert Grévy was poor +policy. If they were innocent they could prove their innocence. Under +the circumstances suspicion would still be rife. The state of general +anarchy was also revealed by the evidence of the wife of Henri Cottu, +who testified that agents of the Government had offered her husband +immunity if he would implicate a member of the Opposition.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>The Panama scandal was largely the work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> of the Monarchists angry at the +failure of the Boulanger campaign. It did them no good, as the elections +to the new Chamber proved. On the other hand, it worked havoc among the +leaders of the Moderates, who, innocent or blameworthy, fell under +popular suspicion, and were in many cases relegated to the background in +favor of new leaders. Moreover, it helped the Socialists, and even, by +throwing discredit on parliamentarism, it encouraged lawless outbreaks +of anarchists.</p> + +<p>New men in party leaderships came in the composite Cabinet of Moderate +leanings led by Charles Dupuy in April, 1893. He seemed at first to +incline toward the Conservatives and treated with considerable severity +some street disturbances. A prank of art students at their annual ball +(<i>Bal des quat'-z-arts</i>) was magnified into a street riot and was not +quelled until after the loss of a life. The <i>Bourse du travail</i> +(Workmen's Exchange) was closed by the Government after other +disturbances.</p> + +<p>The elections in August and September resulted in a large Republican +majority and a corresponding decline in the anti-Republican Right. On +the other hand, the Radicals rose to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> about a hundred and fifty, and the +Socialists were about fifty, forming for the first time a large party +able to make its influence felt. The "Socialistic-Radicals" represented +an effort toward a compromise between the advanced groups.</p> + +<p>The desire of the Moderate leaders of the Republic to meet the Pope +halfway in his policy of conciliation was expressed in a noteworthy +speech made in the Chamber in March, 1894, by the then Minister of +Public Worship, Eugène Spuller. Answering the query of a Royalist +Deputy, the Minister declared that the time had come to put an end to +fanaticism and sectarianism, and that the country could count on the +vigilance of the Government to maintain its rights, and on the new frame +of mind (<i>esprit nouveau</i>) which inspired it, which tended to reconcile +all French citizens and bring about a revival of common sense, justice, +and charity.</p> + +<p>But the anarchists were not moved by any spirit of conciliation. +Borrowing methods of violence from the Russian nihilists, they used +bomb-throwing to draw attention to the vices of social organization and +to themselves. During<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> 1892, 1893, and 1894 they tried to terrorize +Paris. The deeds of various criminals, including Ravachol, Vaillant (who +threw a bomb in the Chamber of Deputies),<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Emile Henry, among others, +culminated at last in the cruel murder of President Carnot. On June 24, +1894, while at Lyons, whither he had gone to pay a state visit to an +international exhibition, President Carnot was fatally stabbed by an +underwitted Italian anarchist named Caserio Santo, and died within a few +hours. Never were more futile and abominable crimes committed than those +which sacrificed Carnot and McKinley.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The Panama affair was a violent shock to the Republic. +People were amazed at the charges of widespread corruption and the +tendency on the part of the Government to smooth things over. Suspicions +aroused were not fully satisfied because Reinach was dead and Herz and +Arton in flight. Cornelius Herz successfully fought extradition from +England on the plea of illness. Arton was arrested in 1895 and +extradited. His arrest caused a renewal of talk about Panama and the +newspaper <i>la France</i> undertook to print the famous list of one hundred +and four Deputies. This publication was recognized to be a case of +blackmail and its promoters were punished. Arton was also condemned to a +term of hard labor, but his trial did not bring out the longed-for +revelations.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> M. Dupuy, then President of the Chamber, got much credit +for his calmness and his remark, as the smoke of the bomb cleared away, +"La séance continue."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JEAN CASIMIR-PERIER</h3> + +<h4>June, 1894, to January, 1895</h4> + +<h3>AND OF FÉLIX FAURE</h3> + +<h4>January, 1895, to February, 1899</h4> + + +<p>The customary promptness in the choice of a President, so unfamiliar to +American campaigns, was observed in the election of Carnot's successor. +The historic name and the social and financial position of the new chief +magistrate, Jean Casimir-Perier, seemed to the monarchical +sister-nations a guarantee of national stability and dignity. In reality +the election brought about a more definite cleavage between rival +political tendencies. Casimir-Perier, grandson of Louis-Philippe's great +minister, obviously represented the Moderates, most of whom tried in all +sincerity to carry out the <i>esprit nouveau</i> and a policy of good-will +toward the Catholic Church. The Radicals said that this was playing into +the hands of the Clericals, and to the Socialists Casimir-Perier was +merely a hated capitalist. He was, moreover,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> unfortunately unfit for +the acrimonies of political life. High-strung and emotional, he writhed +under misinterpretation and abuse, and rebelled against the +constitutional powerlessness of his office. He had never really wanted +the Presidency and had accepted it chiefly through the personal +persuasion of his friend the statesman Burdeau, who unfortunately died +soon after his election. The brief Presidency of Casimir-Perier, lasting +less than a year, was destined to see the beginning of the worst trial +the French Republic had yet experienced, the famous Dreyfus case.</p> + +<p>The Administration, in which Dupuy remained Prime Minister, began by +repressive measures, laws directed against the anarchists and the trial +<i>en masse</i> of thirty defendants ranging from utopian theorists to actual +criminals. Most of them were acquitted, but the procedure did not +ingratiate the Government with the advanced parties. Toward the end of +1894 the Dreyfus case began to be talked of, an affair which was +destined to develop into a tremendous struggle of the leaders of the +army and the Church to obtain control of the nation.</p> + +<p>In September, 1894, an officer named Henry,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> of the spy service of the +French army, came into possession of a document pieced together from +fragments stolen from a waste-paper basket in the German Embassy. This +document, containing a <i>bordereau</i> or memorandum of information largely +about the French artillery offered to the German military attaché, +Schwartzkoppen, was anonymous, but Henry undoubtedly recognized, sooner +or later, the handwriting of a friend, Major Esterhazy, a soldier of +fortune in the French army, of bad reputation and shady character. +Unable to destroy the document, which had been seen by others, Henry +tried to fasten it on somebody else. Indeed, many people believe that +Henry was an accomplice of Esterhazy in German pay. By a strange +coincidence it happened that the handwriting of the <i>bordereau</i> somewhat +resembled that of a brilliant young Jewish officer of the General Staff +named Alfred Dreyfus. He belonged to a wealthy Alsatian family, and from +antecedent probability would not seem to need to play a traitor's part, +but he was intensely unpopular among his fellows because of many +disagreeable traits of character. Moreover, anti-Semitism, formerly +non-existent in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> France, was now rife. It had been largely fomented by +the anti-Jewish agitator Edouard Drumont, with his book <i>la France +juive</i> (1886) and his newspaper the <i>Libre Parole</i> (1892). Prejudice +against the Jews as tricky financiers had been prepared and encouraged +by the sensational failure of the great bank, the Union générale, a +Catholic rival of the Rothschilds, in 1882, and by the Panama scandals +with the doings of Jacques de Reinach, Cornelius Herz, and Arton. The +<i>Libre Parole</i> had worked against Jewish officers in the army, an +activity which culminated in some sensational duels, particularly one +between Captain Mayer and the marquis de Morès (1892), in which the Jew +was killed.</p> + +<p>So, in the present instance, the Minister of War, General Mercier, who +had recently committed some much-criticized administrative blunders, and +who now wished to show his efficiency, caused the arrest of Dreyfus. +Then, egged on by anti-Semitic newspapers which had got hold of +Dreyfus's name, Mercier brought him before a court-martial. The trial +was held in secret, and the War Department sent to the officers +constituting the tribunal,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> without the knowledge of the prisoner or his +counsel Maître Demange, a secret <i>dossier</i>, a collection of trumped-up +incriminating documents. Demange devoted himself to proving that Dreyfus +was not the author of the <i>bordereau</i>, but the members of the +court-martial, believing in the genuineness of the additional documents, +unhesitatingly convicted him of treason. Consequently, in spite of his +protestations of innocence, Dreyfus was publicly degraded on January 5, +1895, and hustled off to solitary confinement on the unhealthy Devil's +Isle, off the coast of French Guiana. Meanwhile the whole French people +sincerely believed that a vile traitor had been justly condemned and +that the secrecy of the case was due to the advisability of avoiding +diplomatic complications with Germany. With dramatic unexpectedness, +only ten days later (January 15), Casimir-Perier resigned the +Presidency.</p> + +<p>During the whole Dreyfus affair Casimir-Perier had chafed because his +ministers had constantly acted without keeping him informed, +particularly when he was called upon by the German Government to +acknowledge that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> had had nothing to do with Dreyfus. He had lost by +death the support of his friend Burdeau; he was discouraged by the +campaign of abuse against him, especially the election as Deputy in +Paris of Gérault-Richard, one of his most active vilifiers. In +particular he felt that his own Cabinet, and above all its leader Dupuy, +were false to him. A discussion in the Chamber concerning the duration +of the state guarantees to certain of the great railway companies ended +in a vote unfavorable to the Cabinet, which resigned, whereupon +Casimir-Perier seized the opportunity to go too. The Socialists declared +that Dupuy had provoked his own defeat in order to embarrass the +President by the difficulty of forming a new Cabinet, and make him +resign as well.</p> + +<p>Two days later the electoral Congress met at Versailles. The Radicals +supported Henri Brisson. The Moderates and the Conservatives were +divided between Waldeck-Rousseau and Félix Faure, but Waldeck-Rousseau +having thrown his strength on the second ballot to Faure, the latter was +elected.</p> + +<p>The new President, recently Minister of the Navy, was a well-meaning +man, but full of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> vanity and naïvely delighted with his own rise in the +world from a humble position to that of chief magistrate. The extent to +which his judgment was warped by his temperament is shown by the later +developments of the Dreyfus case.</p> + +<p>Félix Faure's first Cabinet was led by the Republican Moderate Alexandre +Ribot. It lasted less than a year and its history was chiefly +noteworthy, at least in foreign affairs, by the increasing openness of +the Franco-Russian <i>rapprochement</i> at the ceremonies of the inauguration +of the Kiel Canal. In internal affairs there were some violent +industrial disturbances and strikes.</p> + +<p>In October, 1895, the Moderates gave way to the Radical Cabinet of Léon +Bourgeois. It was viewed with suspicion by the moneyed interests, who +accused it of gravitating toward the Socialists. The cleavage between +the two tendencies of the Republican Party became more marked. The +Moderates joined forces with the Conservatives to oppose the schemes for +social and financial reforms of the Radicals and of the representatives +of the working classes. Prominent among these was the proposal for a +progressive income tax. The Senate, naturally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> a more conservative body, +was opposed to the Bourgeois Cabinet, which had a majority, though not a +very steadfast one, in the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, usually a +nonentity in determining the fall of a cabinet, for once successfully +asserted its power and, by refusing to vote the credits asked for by the +Ministry for the Madagascar campaign, caused it to resign in April, +1896. The enemies of the Senate maintained that the Chamber of Deputies, +elected by direct suffrage, was the only judge of the fate of a cabinet. +But Bourgeois's hold was at best precarious and he seized the +opportunity to withdraw.</p> + +<p>The Méline Cabinet which followed was a return to the Moderates +supported by the Conservatives. Its opponents accused it of following +what in American political parlance is called a "stand-pat" policy, but +it remained in office longer than any ministry up to its time, a little +over two years. It afforded, at any rate, an opportunity for the +adversaries of the Republic to strengthen their positions and encouraged +the transformation of the Dreyfus case into a political instead of a +purely judicial matter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>In foreign affairs the most spectacular events were the visit of the +Czar and Czarina to France in 1896 and the return visit of the French +President to Russia in 1897. At the banquet of leave-taking on the +French warship <i>Pothuau</i>, in their prepared speeches, the Czar and the +President made use of the same expression "friendly and <i>allied</i> +nations," thus publicly proclaiming to Europe the alliance suspected +since 1891.</p> + +<p>In spite of the unanimous feeling of Dreyfus's guilt, his family did not +lose faith in him, and his brother Mathieu set about the apparently +impossible task of rehabilitation. But it chanced that one other person +began to have doubts of the justice of Dreyfus's condemnation. This was +Lieutenant-Colonel Picquart, who had been present at the court-martial +as representative of the War Department, and who had since become chief +of the espionage service, and Henry's superior. Another document stolen +from a waste-paper basket at the German Embassy, an unforwarded +pneumatic despatch (<i>petit bleu</i>), was brought to him, and directed his +suspicions to Esterhazy, to whom it was addressed. At first he did not +connect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> Esterhazy and Dreyfus, but on obtaining specimens of +Esterhazy's handwriting he was struck by the likeness with that of the +<i>bordereau</i>. Then, examining the secret <i>dossier</i>, to which he now had +access, he was stupefied to see its insignificance.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;"> +<img src="images/illus6.jpg" width="465" height="650" alt="MARIE-GEORGES PICQUART" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MARIE-GEORGES PICQUART</span> +</div> + +<p>From this time on, Picquart worked, with extraordinary tenacity of +purpose and against all obstacles, for the rehabilitation of a stranger. +Everybody was against him. His chief subordinate Henry dreaded +revelations above all things, and set his colleagues against him. His +superiors disliked any suggestion that an army court could have made a +mistake, the remedying of which would help a Jew.</p> + +<p>Gradually, however, the agitation started by Mathieu Dreyfus was +becoming stronger. He had won the help of a skilled writer Bernard +Lazare; a daily paper succeeded in obtaining and publishing a facsimile +of the <i>bordereau</i>. But Picquart was sent away from Paris on a tour of +inspection, and when the matter came up in the Chamber, through an +interpellation, the Minister of War, General Billot, declared that the +judgment of 1894 was absolutely legal and just. Matters thus seemed +settled again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>But a prominent Alsatian member of Parliament, Scheurer-Kestner, one of +the Vice-Presidents of the Senate, was half-persuaded by Mathieu and +Bernard Lazare. When Picquart's friend and legal adviser, Leblois, +rather injudiciously, from a professional point of view, confided to him +his client's suspicions, he was thoroughly convinced and the two +separate currents of activity now coalesced. Yet the greater the +agitation in favor of Dreyfus, the greater grew the opposition. The +anti-Semites shrieked with rage against Judas, the "traitor." The upper +ranks of the army were honeycombed by Clerical influences. An enormous +proportion of the officers belonged to reactionary families and the +Chief of Staff himself, General de Boisdeffre, was under the thumb of +the Père Du Lac, one of the most prominent Jesuits in France. The +Clericals and anti-Semites, therefore, joined forces, and, by calling +the Dreyfus agitation an attack on the honor of the army and a play into +the hands of Germany, they won over all the jingoes and former +Boulangists, who formed the new party of Nationalists. This was the +so-called alliance of "the sword and the holy-water sprinkler"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> (<i>le +sabre et le goupillon</i>). Above all, certain religious associations, +particularly the Assumptionists, under the name of religion, organized a +campaign of slander and abuse against all who ventured to speak for +Dreyfus. By a ludicrous counter-play the scoundrel Esterhazy had +defenders as an injured innocent, the more so that Henry and the clique +at the War Office found it to their interest to support him.</p> + +<p>Matters reached a crisis when, on November 15, 1897, Mathieu Dreyfus +denounced Esterhazy to the Minister of War as author of the <i>bordereau</i> +and as guilty of the treason for which his brother had been condemned. +This was partly a tactical mistake, because, even if Esterhazy were +proved to have written the <i>bordereau</i>, it would still be necessary to +show him guilty of actual treason. It made it possible to swerve the +discussion from the conviction of Dreyfus as a <i>res adjudicata</i> (<i>chose +jugée</i>) to vague charges against Esterhazy. The later called for a +vindication, he was triumphantly acquitted by a court-martial early in +January, 1898, and Picquart was put under arrest on various charges of +indiscipline in connection with the whole affair.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>Few and far between as they now seemed, the lovers of justice were still +to be counted with. They consisted at first of a small number of +much-derided <i>intellectuels</i>, scholars and trained thinkers, who used +their judgment and not their prejudices. One of these was the famous +novelist Emile Zola, who, to keep the case under discussion, published +in the <i>Aurore</i> on January 13, a few days after Esterhazy's acquittal, +his famous letter, <i>J'accuse</i>. In this article Zola denounced the guilty +machinations of Dreyfus's adversaries <i>seriatim</i>, blamed the Dreyfus +court-martial for convicting on secret evidence and the Esterhazy court +for acquitting a guilty man in obedience to orders. Zola was not in +possession of all the facts, since his precise aim was to have them +brought out, and in his charges against the Esterhazy court he was +technically and legally at fault. But he courted prosecution and got it.</p> + +<p>On February 7 Zola was brought to trial. The crafty authorities +eliminated all references to the trial of 1894 as a <i>chose jugée</i> and +prosecuted Zola for having declared that Esterhazy was acquitted by +order. Their tool, the presiding magistrate Delegorgue, seconded their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +efforts by ruling out every question which might throw light on the +Dreyfus case, in spite of the attempts of Zola's chief lawyer Labori. +Party passion was at its height, hired gangs of men were posted about +the court-house to hoot and attack the Dreyfusites, members of the +General Staff appeared in full uniform to interrupt the trial and +bulldoze the jury by mysterious hints of war with Germany. Finally Zola +was condemned to fine and imprisonment. At this trial for the first time +mention was mysteriously but openly made of a new document, understood +to be a communication alluding to Dreyfus between the Italian and the +German military <i>attachés</i> at Paris. Zola appealed, the higher court +broke the verdict on the ground that the prosecution should have been +instigated by the offended court-martial and not by the Government, he +was brought to trial again on a change of venue at Versailles, was +unsuccessful in interposing obstacles to an inevitable condemnation, and +so fled to England (July).</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, public opinion was becoming yet more violently excited. +France was divided into two great camps, the line of cleavage often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +estranging the closest friends and relatives. On the one side was a vast +majority consisting of the Clericals, the jingoes or Nationalists, the +anti-Semites, and the unreflecting mass of the population. On the other +were ranged the "intellectuals," the Socialists who were now rallying to +the cause of tolerance, the Jews, and the few French Protestants. The +League of the Rights of Man stood opposed to the association of the +<i>Patrie Française</i>. In the midst of this turmoil were held the elections +of May, 1898, for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies. The political +coloring of the new body was not sensibly changed, but the open +Dreyfusites were all excluded. The Moderates now generally dubbed +themselves "Progressists." None the less at the first session the now +long-lived Méline Cabinet resigned after a vote requesting it to govern +with fewer concessions to the Right.</p> + +<p>The next Cabinet was Radical, headed by Henri Brisson. His mind was not +yet definitely made up on the matter of revision, and he gave +concessions to the Nationalists by appointing as Minister of War +Godefroy Cavaignac. This headstrong personage, proud of an historic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +name, undertook to manage the Cabinet and to prove once for all to the +Chamber the guilt of Dreyfus. In his speech he relied mainly on the +letter mentioned at the Zola trial as written by the Italian to the +German <i>attaché</i>.</p> + +<p>Once more the Dreyfus affair seemed permanently settled, and once more +the contrary proved to be the case. In August Cavaignac discovered, to +his dismay, that the document he had sent to the Chamber, with such +emphasis on its importance, was an out-and-out forgery of Henry. The +latter was put under arrest and committed suicide. Discussion followed +between Brisson, now converted to revision, and Cavaignac, still too +stubborn to change his mind with regard to Dreyfus, in spite of his +recent discovery. Cavaignac resigned as Minister of War, was replaced by +General Zurlinden, who withdrew in a few days and was in turn succeeded +by another general, Chanoine, thought to be in sympathy with the +Cabinet. He in turn played his colleagues false and resigned +unexpectedly during a meeting of the Chamber. Weakened by these +successive blows the Brisson Cabinet itself had to resign, but its +leader had now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> forwarded to the supreme court of the land, the Cour de +Cassation, the petition of Dreyfus's wife for a revision of his +sentence. The first step had at last been taken. The Criminal Chamber +accepted the request and proceeded to a further detailed investigation.</p> + +<p>The Brisson Ministry was followed by a third Cabinet of the unabashed +Dupuy. It became evident that the Criminal Chamber of the Court of +Cassation was inclining to decide on revision. Wishing to play to both +sides and, yielding in this case to the anti-revisionists, early in 1899 +Dupuy brought in a bill to take the Dreyfus affair away from the +Criminal Chamber in the very midst of its deliberations and submit it to +the Court as a whole, where it was hoped a majority of judges would +reject revision. Between the dates of the passage of this bill by the +Chamber and by the Senate, President Faure died suddenly and under +mysterious circumstances on February 16, 1899. He had opposed revision +and his death, attributed to apoplexy, was a gain to the revisionists +who were accused by his friends of having caused his murder. On the +other hand, stories, which it is unnecessary to repeat here,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> found an +echo some years later in the scandals repeated at the sensational trial +of Madame Steinheil.</p> + +<p>During the turmoil over the Dreyfus affair, France underwent a +humiliating experience with England. The colonial rivalry of the two +countries had of late gone on unchecked, embittered as it had been by +the ousting of France from the Suez Canal and Egypt. To many Frenchmen +"Perfidious Albion" was, far more than Germany, the secular foe. In 1896 +a French expedition under Captain Marchand was sent from the Congo in +the direction of the Nile. The English afterwards argued that its +purpose was to cut their sphere of influence and hinder the +Cape-to-Cairo project; the French declared they merely wished to occupy +a post which should afford a basis for general diplomatic negotiations +for the partition of Africa. The mission was numerically insufficient; +it struggled painfully for two years through the heart of the continent, +and at last the small handful of intrepid Frenchmen established +themselves at Fashoda on the upper waters of the Nile in July, 1898. At +once General Kitchener arriving from the victory of Omdurman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> appeared +on the scene to occupy Fashoda for the Egyptian Government. England +assumed a viciously aggressive attitude and, under veiled threats of +war, France was obliged to recall Marchand (November 4). The outburst of +fury in France against England at this humiliation was tremendous. No +sane man would have then ventured to predict that in a few years the +hands of the two countries would be joined in the clasp of the <i>Entente +cordiale</i>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF EMILE LOUBET</h3> + +<h4>February, 1899, to February, 1906</h4> + + +<p>The successor of Félix Faure, Emile Loubet, was elected on February 18, +1899, by a good majority over Jules Méline, the candidate of the larger +number of the Moderates or "Progressists" and of the Conservatives. +Loubet was himself a man of Moderate views, but he was thought to favor +a revision of the Dreyfus case. Among the charges of his enemies was +that, as Minister of the Interior in 1892, he had held, but had kept +secret, the famous list of the "Hundred and Four" and had prevented the +seizure of the papers of Baron de Reinach and the arrest of Arton. So +Loubet's return to Paris from Versailles was amid hostile cries of +"Loubet-Panama" and "Vive l'armée!"</p> + +<p>On February 23, after the state funeral of President Faure, a detachment +of troops led by General Roget was returning to its barracks in an +outlying quarter of Paris. Suddenly the Nationalist and quondam +Boulangist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> Paul Déroulède, now chief of the Ligue des Patriotes and +vigorous opponent of parliamentary government, though a Deputy himself, +rushed to General Roget, and, grasping the bridle of his horse, tried to +persuade him to lead his troops to the Elysée, the presidential +residence, and overthrow the Government. Déroulède had expected to +encounter General de Pellieux, a more amenable leader, and one of the +noisy generals at the Zola trial. General Roget, who had been +substituted at the last moment, refused to accede and caused the arrest +of Déroulède, with his fellow Deputy and conspirator Marcel Habert.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Dreyfus case had been taken out of the hands of the +Criminal Chamber and given to the whole Court. To the dismay of the +anti-Dreyfusites the Court, as a body, annulled, on June 3, the verdict +of the court-martial of 1894, and decided that Dreyfus should appear +before a second military court at Rennes for another trial.</p> + +<p>Thus party antagonisms were becoming more and more acute. In addition +Dupuy, the head of the Cabinet, seemed to be spiting the new President. +On the day after the verdict<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> of the Cour de Cassation, at the Auteuil +races, President Loubet was roughly jostled by a band of fashionable +young Royalists and struck with a cane by Baron de Christiani. A week +later, at the Grand Prize races at Longchamps, on June 11, Dupuy, as +though to atone for his previous carelessness, brought out a large array +of troops, so obviously over-numerous as to cause new disturbances among +the crowd desirous of manifesting its sympathy with the chief +magistrate. More arrests were made and, at the meeting of the Chamber of +Deputies the next day, the Cabinet was overthrown by an adverse vote.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 468px;"> +<img src="images/illus7.jpg" width="468" height="650" alt="RENÉ WALDECK-ROUSSEAU" title="" /> +<span class="caption">RENÉ WALDECK-ROUSSEAU</span> +</div> + +<p>The ministerial crisis brought about by the fall of Dupuy was as +important as any under the Third Republic because of its consequences in +the redistribution of parties. For about ten days President Loubet was +unable to find a leader who could in turn form a cabinet. At last public +opinion was astounded by the masterly combination made by +Waldeck-Rousseau, Gambetta's former lieutenant, who of recent years had +kept somewhat aloof from active participation in politics. He brought +together a ministry of "défense républicaine," which its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> opponents, +however, called a cabinet for the "liquidation" of the Dreyfus case. The +old policy of "Republican concentration" of Opportunists and Radicals +was given up in favor of a mass formation of the various advanced groups +of the Left, including the Socialists.</p> + +<p>Waldeck-Rousseau was a Moderate Republican, whose legal practice of +recent years had been mainly that of a corporation lawyer, but he was a +cool-headed Opportunist. He realized the ill-success of the policy of +the "esprit nouveau," and saw the necessity of making advances to the +Socialists, who more and more held the balance of power. He succeeded in +uniting in his Cabinet Moderates like himself, Radicals, and, for the +first time in French parliamentary history, an out-and-out Socialist, +Alexandre Millerand, author of the famous "Programme of Saint-Mandé" of +1896, or declaration of faith of Socialism. Still more astounding was +the presence as Minister of War, in the same Cabinet with Millerand, of +General de Galliffet, a bluff, outspoken, and dashing aristocratic +officer, a favorite with the whole army, but fiercely hated by the +proletariat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> because of his part in the repression of the Commune.</p> + +<p>The first days of the new Cabinet were stormy and its outlook was +dubious. The task of reconciling such divergent elements, even against a +common foe, seemed an impossibility, until at last the Radicals under +Brisson swung into line. Such was the beginning of a Republican grouping +which later, during the anti-Clerical campaign, was known as <i>le Bloc</i>, +the united band of Republicans.</p> + +<p>The Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry took up the Dreyfus case with a queer +combination of courage and weakness. Insubordinate army officers were +summarily punished for injudicious remarks, but in order to appear +neutral and to avoid criticism, the Cabinet held so much aloof that the +anti-Dreyfusites were able to bring their full forces to bear on the +court-martial. For a month at Rennes, beginning August 7, an +extraordinary trial was carried on before the eyes of an impassioned +France and angry onlooking nations. Witnesses had full latitude to +indulge in rhetorical addresses and air their prejudices; military +officers like Roget, who had had nothing to do with the original<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> trial, +were allowed to take up the time of the court. Galliffet, though +convinced of the innocence of Dreyfus, was unwilling to exert as much +pressure as his colleagues in the Cabinet desired. It soon became +evident that, regardless of the question involved, the issue was one +between an insignificant Jewish officer on the one hand and General +Mercier, ex-Minister of War, on the other. The judges were army officers +full of caste-feeling and timorous of offending their superiors. Thus, +on September 9, Dreyfus was a second time convicted, though with +extenuating circumstances, by a vote of 5 to 2, and condemned to ten +years' detention. This verdict was a travesty of justice, and a +punishment fitting no crime of Dreyfus, since he was either innocent or +guilty of treason beyond extenuation. The Ministry, perhaps regretting +too late its excessive inertia, immediately caused the President to +pardon Dreyfus, partly on the ostensible grounds that Dreyfus by his +previous harsher condemnation had already purged his new one. This act +of clemency was, however, not a legal clearing of the victim's honor, +which was achieved only some years later.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the turmoil of the Dreyfus affair the Cabinet was, it seemed to +many, unduly anxious over certain conspirators against the Republic. The +symptoms of insubordination in high ranks in the army, linked with the +Clerical manœuvres, had encouraged the other foes of the Republic +(spurred on by the Royalists), whether sincere opponents of the +parliamentary régime like Paul Déroulède, or venal agitators such as the +anti-Semitic Jules Guérin. But, certainly, above all objectionable were +the proceedings of the Assumptionists, a religious order which had +amassed enormous wealth, and which, by the various local editions of its +paper <i>la Croix</i>, had organized a campaign of venomous slander and abuse +of the Republic and its leaders.</p> + +<p>The Government, having got wind of a project of the conspirators to +seize the reins of power during the Rennes court-martial, anticipated +the act by wholesale arrests on August 12. Jules Guérin barricaded +himself with some friends in a house in the rue de Chabrol in Paris, and +defied the Government to arrest him without perpetrating murder. The +grotesque incident of the "Fort Chabrol" came to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> an end after +thirty-seven days when the authorities had surrounded the house with +troops to starve Guérin out and stopped the drains.</p> + +<p>In November a motley array of conspirators, ranging from André Buffet, +representative of the pretender the Duke of Orléans, to butchers from +the slaughter-houses of La Villette, were brought to trial before the +Senate acting as a High Court of Justice, on the charge of conspiracy +against the State. After a long trial lasting nearly two months, during +which the prisoners outdid each other in declamatory insults to their +enemies, the majority were acquitted. Paul Déroulède and André Buffet +were condemned to banishment for ten years and Jules Guérin to +imprisonment for the same term. Two others, Marcel Habert and the comte +de Lur-Saluces, who had taken flight, gave themselves up later and were +condemned in 1900 and 1901, respectively, amid a public indifference +which was far from their liking.</p> + +<p>Thus the year 1899 had proved itself one of the most dramatically +eventful in the history of the Republic. It was also to be one of the +most significant in its consequences. For the new grouping of mutually +jealous factions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> against a common danger had, in spite of the fiasco of +the second Dreyfus case, shown a way to victory. And exasperation +against the intrigues of the Clericals and the army officers was going +to turn the former toleration of the "esprit nouveau" into active +persecution, especially as the Socialists and Radicals formed the +majority of the new combination.</p> + +<p>In November, 1899, Waldeck-Rousseau laid before Parliament an +Associations bill to regulate the organization of societies, which was +intended indirectly to control religious bodies. The leniency of the +Government hitherto and the commercial energy of many religious orders, +manufacturers of articles varying from chartreuse to hair-restorers and +dentifrice, had enabled them to amass enormous sums held in mortmain. +The power of this money was great in politics and the anti-Clericals +cast envious eyes on these vague and mysterious fortunes. There were in +France at the time almost seven hundred unauthorized "congregations." +Against the Assumptionists in particular the Government took direct +measures early in 1900, such as legal perquisitions, arrests, and +prosecution as an illegal association.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>The campaign went on through the year 1900, the Exposition of that year +helping to act as a partial truce. The expedition of the Allies to China +to put down the Boxer rebellion also diverted attention. +Waldeck-Rousseau was sincerely desirous of bringing about a pacification +of feeling in the country, and he felt bitter practically only against +the Jesuits and the Assumptionists. He even succeeded in carrying +through Parliament an amnesty bill dealing with the Dreyfus case and +destined to quash all criminal actions in process, whether of +Dreyfusites or anti-Dreyfusites. The former fought the project +vigorously on the ground that it opposed a new obstacle to ultimate +discovery of the truth, but they were unsuccessful. Waldeck-Rousseau +remained at heart, none the less, a believer in Dreyfus's innocence and +in spite of his amnesty project, he could not always hide his true +feelings. In consequence he offended his Minister of War, General de +Galliffet, Dreyfusite as well, but tired of the struggle now that the +Rennes trial had made the task of rehabilitation apparently hopeless. +Galliffet resigned his office and was succeeded by General André, a +politician soldier,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> who started out at once to purge the army +drastically of its Clericalism.</p> + +<p>Waldeck-Rousseau's Associations project was fairly mild. He had no +desire for a violent break with the Vatican, and the wily and diplomatic +Leo XIII probably so understood well enough in spite of his protests. +But, as debate and discussion went on, the measure became more severe. +Waldeck-Rousseau had originally planned a bill dealing with +authorization and incorporation of associations in general, in which he +refrained from any specific allusion to religious bodies of monks and +nuns, thereby assimilating them with other groups. As finally voted and +promulgated in July, 1901, the law made provisions for the privilege of +association in general, but made the important additional stipulations +that no religious order or "congregation" could be formed without +specific authorization by law, that a religious order could be dissolved +by ministerial decree, and that no one belonging to an unauthorized +order could direct personally, or by proxy, an educational +establishment, or even teach in one. Thus the enemies of the lay +Republic who, under cover of the "esprit nouveau," and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> by years of +manipulation of the feeding sources of army and navy officers, had hoped +to grasp power, and had made a supreme effort at the time of the Dreyfus +agitation, now saw themselves thwarted, and faced the prospect of +severer treatment.</p> + +<p>Matters had progressed even further than Waldeck-Rousseau himself +perhaps desired. In the spring of 1902, new legislative elections took +place for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies. The policy of the +Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry was endorsed by a sound majority, and yet at +this moment of triumph, after the longest rule as Prime Minister of any +hitherto in the history of the Republic, Waldeck-Rousseau resigned his +post without an adverse vote. Undoubtedly the state of his personal +health was partly responsible for his departure from office and he was +destined not to live beyond 1904. The last important events of his +administration were a visit of the Czar to France and a return visit of +President Loubet to Russia.</p> + +<p>Waldeck-Rousseau's successor as Prime Minister was Emile Combes, a +strong foe of the Church. Combes had himself been a former<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> theological +student and had, in his youth, written a thesis on the philosophy of St. +Thomas Aquinas. He now had all the vindictiveness of one who burns what +he formerly worshipped. Encouraged by the recent elections, he turned +more and more against the Vatican and impelled by the more violent +members of the <i>Bloc</i>, he drifted toward the rupture which his +predecessor had tried to avoid. A committee of the different groups +supporting the Cabinet, called the "délégation des gauches," had in time +been instituted to formulate policies with the Prime Minister, who often +had to obey it instead of guiding. Waldeck-Rousseau had intended not to +apply his law retroactively. He had planned to spare educational +establishments already in existence before July, 1901, when his measure +went into operation, and had winked at lack of compliance on the part of +many others. Combes applied the letter of the law ruthlessly. Amid +public protestations and disturbances he closed a large number of these +unauthorized schools; firstly, those which had actually been opened +without permission since the promulgation of the law, then the many +schools which were older than the law.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> In so doing he was called a +persecutor, because the directors of the schools declared that they had +allowed the time limit of application for authorization to go by, only +through the understanding with the previous Administration that they +were not to be interfered with. Now they could not help themselves.</p> + +<p>Emboldened by success Combes next took up the applications of the +congregations which had duly followed the law and were seeking +authorization. By decree, as was his right, he first promptly closed +unlicensed schools of recognized orders. Then came the applications of +orders seeking authorization. Legal procedure demanded laws to reject as +well as laws to accept applications. A recommendation <i>favored</i> by the +Government but <i>rejected</i> by the Chamber of Deputies would not go before +the Senate. On the other hand, an <i>unfavorable</i> opinion of the +Government <i>ratified</i> by the House would still have to go before the +Senate. A way would thus be open for prolonged chicanery.</p> + +<p>Combes cut matters short. He lumped fifty-four individual applications +into three batches, teaching orders, preaching orders, and the +commercial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> order of the Chartreux, manufacturers of the liqueur called +"chartreuse." Then, presenting these batches of applications +collectively instead of individually to the Chamber, he caused their +rejection and proceeded to dissolve the orders and close their fifteen +hundred establishments. Through the spring of 1903 there were turbulent +scenes in consequence in various parts of France, the monks trying +sometimes passive resistance, sometimes actual violence. In the +reactionary districts the population attempted to stir up riots. +Occasionally, even, a military officer whose duty it was to evict the +monks refused to obey orders. But, nothing daunted, Combes went on, with +the support of the Chambers, to reject a large mass of applications from +teaching orders of women. Even Waldeck-Rousseau was led in time publicly +to declare that he had never contemplated the transformation of his +Associations law of 1901 from a measure of regulation to one of +exclusion, nor the assumption by the State of expensive educational +charges hitherto carried on by religious orders. At last the law of +July, 1904, put a complete end to all kinds of instruction by religious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +bodies, thereby insuring, after a lapse of time for liquidation, the +disappearance of all teaching orders.</p> + +<p>These measures against the religious groups were, in spite of outcries +of persecution, after all matters of internal administration. But, +meanwhile, causes for direct dissension with the Vatican had arisen over +questions involving the <i>Concordat</i> regulating the relations of Church +and State.</p> + +<p>The first dispute was about the method of appointing bishops. The +Concordat gave to the Government the right of appointing bishops, +subject to the papal ratification of the appointee's moral and +theological qualifications. During the Third Republic the habit had +grown up of mutual consultation before appointments were made, a +practice which led the Vatican to assume that its initial influence was +as great as that of the Government, and finally to make use of the +formula <i>nobis nominavit</i>, or <i>nominaverit</i>, as though the Government +merely proposed a candidate subject to the Vatican's free right to +accept or to reject. The keen-scented Combes took an early opportunity +to raise this issue by making certain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> appointments to bishoprics +without previously consulting the Vatican. In the midst of the +discussions Leo XIII died in July, 1903, and was succeeded by Pius X, +whose character was utterly different from that of his predecessor. His +primitive faith saw in France the home of heretics like the Modernist, +the Abbé Loisy; and his Secretary of State, the ultramontane Cardinal +Merry del Val, was as hostile to France, as his predecessor Cardinal +Rampolla had, on the whole, been well disposed to the "eldest daughter +of the Church." Between Merry del Val and Combes no agreement was +possible. So matters went from bad to worse.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of 1903 the King of Italy made a visit to France, and in +1904 it was deemed advisable to have President Loubet return this visit +to emphasize the new cordiality between France and Italy, the settlement +of long-standing difficulties, and to cultivate as much as possible one +member of the Triple Alliance. The Pope protested violently against this +visit to his enemy in Rome and made it clear that he would refuse to see +Loubet. The diplomatic crisis became acute and the French Ambassador to +the Vatican was recalled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon came a complete rupture over the treatment by the pontifical +authorities of two French bishops, Geay of Laval and Le Nordez of Dijon. +They had shown themselves loyal Republicans and had become the object of +attack in their own dioceses until personal scandals were imagined or +raked up against them. Combes took the part of the bishops and, to +punish the Vatican for interfering with the French prelates, definitely +broke off diplomatic relations in July, 1904, withdrawing even the +chargé d'affaires who had been left after the departure of the +ambassador.</p> + +<p>For some time, plans for the separation of Church and State had been +under discussion in a somewhat academic way by a committee or +<i>Commission</i> of the Chamber, under the general guidance of Ferdinand +Buisson and Aristide Briand. The latter had even drawn up a preliminary +project. But Combes, in spite of his vehemence in words against the +Church, hesitated to involve the Ministry. He knew that the country at +large was fully satisfied with the maintenance of the Concordat and that +some of his own colleagues in the Cabinet, as well as Loubet, preferred +not to disturb it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<p>Suddenly a great scandal broke out. The enemies of the Ministry got hold +of the fact that General André, through some of his subordinates in the +War Office, was carrying on a regular system of espionage upon army +officers suspected of luke-warm republicanism or of Clerical sympathies, +and was using as spies members of Masonic lodges or even subordinate +Masonic army officers throughout France.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> These spies had filed +innumerable notes or memoranda known as <i>fiches</i>, containing +information, rumor, or scandal concerning the persons involved, their +families and intimacies. The discovery that leading members of the +Cabinet had been countenancing methods as reprehensible as those of the +worst of their opponents, caused an uproar. The Cabinet seemed on the +point of being overthrown when one of its enemies did it a great +service. A wild and blatant anti-Ministerialist named Syveton rushed up +to the Minister of War and struck him two blows in the face during a +meeting of the Chamber. The effect of this deed was to cause a temporary +reaction in favor of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> Ministry, but also to draw Combes more to the +Radicals, and he promptly brought forward his own governmental +separation plan, which was considerably at variance with the Briand +project. The respite was, however, only momentary, and, after +sacrificing General André, Combes gave up the struggle and resigned in +January, 1905, without being actually put in the minority.</p> + +<p>It cannot be denied that there was a considerable deterioration in +government during the régime of Combes. In attempting to thwart the +Clerical Party he let himself lapse into methods as objectionable as +theirs. His anti-clericalism breathed the spirit of persecution, as much +as did the intrigues of the clergy during the early days of the +Republic. He transformed Waldeck-Rousseau's plans for the regulation of +religious orders into a measure of proscription. He countenanced +underhanded intrigues, and allowed his Minister of War to undermine army +discipline by his methods of political espionage almost as much as it +had been undermined in the days of the supremacy of the Clericals. The +concessions of the Ministers of War and of Marine to the Socialists<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> and +pacifists considerably weakened the efficiency of both army and navy. +Combes's administration was pre-eminently one of self-seeking +politicians.</p> + +<p>Yet, on the other hand, certain very praiseworthy achievements may be +registered to its credit. One of these was the act of General André, in +1903, instituting a new private investigation of the Dreyfus case. It +resulted in the discovery of material sufficient to justify a new demand +for revision, which the Cour de Cassation admitted in March, 1904. +Another achievement was the <i>rapprochement</i> with England known as the +<i>Entente cordiale</i> or friendly understanding, which following the new +amity with Italy greatly strengthened France face-to-face with Germany. +The Russian alliance had given France one definite European ally, and +the cordiality with Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, cleared the +situation in the Mediterranean and on the frontier of the Alps. The +<i>Entente cordiale</i> was engineered by Edward VII as a result of his visit +to Paris in 1903. The accord of April, 1904, was really due to English +as well as French fear of German aggression. It liquidated all the old +contentions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> between England and France, one of which, the French Shore +Dispute over Newfoundland fishing rights, dated back to the Treaty of +Utrecht in the early eighteenth century. But, above all, France +definitely gave up her Egyptian claims in return for freedom of action +in Morocco guaranteed by England. For France was anxious to add Morocco +to her African sphere of influence. A secret arrangement with Spain gave +that country reversionary claims to certain parts of Morocco. By the +agreement with England the bad blood caused by the Fashoda incident was +wiped away, a new intimacy sprang up between "Perfidious Albion" and +"Froggy," and through the natural drawing together of England and +France's ally Russia, the Triple Entente came into being some years +later, which was destined to face Germany and Austria in the Great +European War.</p> + +<p>Combes's successor as Prime Minister was a member of his own Cabinet, +Maurice Rouvier. More moderate in views than Combes, he would have been +content to let the Separation bill rest, but the Radicals were in the +saddle and he let things take their course. The discussions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> over the +project went on through most of the year 1905, under the guidance of the +Minister of Worship, Bienvenu-Martin, and particularly of Aristide +Briand, the <i>rapporteur</i> or spokesman for the <i>Commission</i> in the +Chamber. The bill, again and again modified in a spirit of conciliation +and leniency under the guidance of Briand, finally resulted, as +promulgated on December 9, in a sincere effort for a compromise between +different views on religion. It showed a desire, since Church and State +were to be divorced, to treat the former fairly. Provision was made, +when the budget for religious purposes should be suppressed, for the +legal inventory of ecclesiastical property, the pension of superannuated +clergy, and the formation of legal corporations to insure public worship +(<i>associations cultuelles</i>). It must be remembered that the new measure +applied quite as much to the Protestants and to the Jews as to the +Catholics. Before the separation the Protestant pastors and the Jewish +rabbis were maintained by the State no less than the Catholic clergy. +Their numerical insignificance made them of little importance in the +general combat over the Clerical question. Nor could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> they fairly be +accused of intrigue against the Republic.</p> + +<p>The year 1905 is noteworthy for two other important events. One was the +reduction of the term of compulsory military service from three to two +years. This measure was carried through largely under the auspices of +General André and proved an over-dangerous concession to the +anti-militarists and pacifists, since it was destined so soon to be +repealed. The other was the sensational diplomatic dispute with Germany +over Morocco, which resulted at first for France in a worse humiliation +than Fashoda.</p> + +<p>Germany under Bismarck had encouraged the numerous French colonial +schemes, as a way of keeping her busy abroad and of diverting her +thoughts from Alsace-Lorraine. But as the Empire began to develop its +Pan-Germanism and its aspirations to world-power under William II, it +grew jealous of England and France and of their arrangement of 1904 to +settle the interests of Morocco. Forthwith Germany began to intrigue +with the Sultan of Morocco against the French, and declared that, as it +had not been officially informed of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> the agreements between England, +France, and Spain, it intended to disregard them. The defeat of Russia +by Japan, in particular, encouraged Germany to feel that France, +deprived of its ally, could be bullied with impunity. On March 31, +Emperor William landed at Tangier and proclaimed that his visit was to +the Sultan as an "independent sovereign." Germany also called for the +convocation of an international meeting to regulate the Moroccan +question. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Delcassé, objected to +the thwarting of his plans, but because of the deterioration of the army +and navy and the lack of hoped-for Russian support, Rouvier was obliged +under German threats to drop him from his Cabinet and to agree to the +convocation of the Conference of Algeciras.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> It should be remembered that, in France, the Freemasons +are an anti-religious political quite as much as a benevolent order.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The pro-German position, expressed in such works as E. D. +Morel's <i>Morocco in Diplomacy</i> (1912), is that Sir Edward Grey and M. +Delcassé were engaged in tricky schemes to dispose of Morocco without +regard for German interests; that Germany was not officially notified by +France of the public agreements with England (April, 1904) and with +Spain (October, 1904); that these two agreements were both accompanied +by secret ones which nullified their effect; that M. Delcassé resigned, +not under German pressure, but at M. Rouvier's wish, for having unduly +involved and compromised France.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARMAND FALLIÈRES</h3> + +<h4>February, 1906, to February, 1918</h4> + + +<p>The international conference for the regulation of the Moroccan question +met at Algeciras in southern Spain, in January, 1906. Twelve powers +participated, including the United States. The negotiations were +prolonged until the end of March owing to the unconciliatory German +attitude, and resulted in an arrangement which the Germans looked upon +as totally unsatisfactory to themselves. In the shaping of the general +results the United States had considerable influence. The agreement put +out of discussion the sovereignty of the Sultan, the integrity of the +empire, and the principle of commercial freedom, and was largely devoted +to the question of the establishment of a state bank and the +organization of the police in international ports of entry. In the bank +France was to have special privileges, and the police was to be under +the supervision of France and Spain. Germany was eliminated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the midst of the uncertainty over the outcome of the Conference two +important events took place in France, the second of which came near +seriously weakening the French position. These were the election of a +successor to President Loubet and the downfall of the Rouvier Ministry.</p> + +<p>M. Loubet's term expired in February and he did not desire re-election. +The two chief candidates were Armand Fallières and Paul Doumer. M. +Fallières was an easy-going, good-natured, and well-meaning but +second-rate statesman. Doumer was far more brilliant and vigorous, but +was accused of self-seeking and was thought a less safe person to elect. +Unfortunately, M. Fallières, when chosen, had his master, and was +largely under the control of Clemenceau.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the almost unprincipled vacillation of M. Rouvier and his +spineless policy caused increased dissatisfaction to the Chamber. During +the discussion of a riotous episode connected with the enforcement of +the Separation law, which had resulted in the death of a man, Rouvier +was overthrown. He was succeeded by a colorless person, Sarrien, who +included<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Clemenceau in his Cabinet as Minister of the Interior. The +latter gradually pushed his chief aside and finally replaced him before +the end of the year as Prime Minister.</p> + +<p>Clemenceau showed himself during his lengthy control of power an astute +politician. In the public eye ever since the days of the Commune, he had +had success during the eighties as a destroyer of cabinets. Driven into +the background by the Panama scandals, he now came forward again to try +his fortune in holding the power from which he had often driven others. +With a Cabinet thoroughly under his dictatorial control, he announced a +programme which was to depend for success on the Radicals, rather than +on the Moderates or the Socialists. It was a departure from the policy +of the <i>Bloc</i>, though to conciliate the advanced parties he created the +new Ministry of Labor and put M. Viviani, a Socialist, in charge of it. +In practice, Clemenceau's policy was that of one determined to stay in +office, showing alternately conciliation and severity, explaining his +actions to the Chamber often with a flippancy which seemed out of place +and did not help the prestige of parliamentary government.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<p>Apart from the diplomatic tension with Germany, which was not settled by +the Act of Algeciras, the history of the Fallières Administration is +largely taken up with the final disposition of the religious controversy +and with labor questions. The constant advance toward radicalism and +socialism, the lack of great statesmen in Parliament and the presence of +professional politicians, the progress of anti-militarism and the +relegation of the question of Alsace-Lorraine to the background, left a +free field for the growth of social unrest. The tendency was encouraged +by the elections for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies in May, +1906. To the religious disturbances and the efforts of the Conservatives +to prove themselves persecuted, the country answered at the polls by an +increased anti-Clerical majority.</p> + +<p>In 1906 the Dreyfus case was at last settled. The Cour de Cassation +finally annulled the verdict of the Rennes court-martial. In consequence +Dreyfus was restored to the army with the rank of Major which he would +normally have reached had it not been for his great ordeal. Colonel +Picquart, to whom more than to any one he owed his rehabilitation, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +had been driven from the army in 1898, was now made Brigadier-General. +Promoted a few weeks later to Major-General, he became Minister of War +in Clemenceau's Cabinet. The remains of Emile Zola were also transferred +to the Pantheon. Such were the dramatic changes wrought in half a dozen +years.</p> + +<p>The troubles over the application of the law for the disestablishment of +the Church lasted more than two years. The Vatican was determined to +make itself a martyr. It would undoubtedly have been glad to see a +forcible closing of the churches in order to cause a reaction in its +favor. Moreover, it objected to the diminution of priestly power and the +participation of the laity as prescribed in the formation of the new +<i>associations cultuelles</i>. The Ministry, and particularly Briand, were +just as determined not to give it an opportunity to raise the cry of +persecution.</p> + +<p>The first opportunity for a conflict came when the Government tried to +make inventories of religious property, including valuables. This +measure was for the protection of the Church, but the Clericals chose to +call it inquisitorial and a first step to confiscation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> In some parts +of France armed resistance, often systematically prepared, was made to +the authorities, army officers again occasionally refused to carry out +orders, and on March 6, at Bœschepe, a man was killed. It was this +incident which caused the downfall of the Rouvier Cabinet.</p> + +<p>It was the policy of M. Briand, entrusted with the application of the +new law, to employ the most conciliatory means face to face with the +Vatican, determined to be persecuted. As a matter of fact the French +bishops, after plenary consultation, had decided by a considerable +majority, to accept the law in a good spirit, with reservations as to +its justice, and to organize the <i>associations cultuelles</i>. Suddenly the +Pope intervened by an encyclical directed against any such acceptance, +and prescribed a continuation of the contest. These orders the bishops +felt constrained to obey.</p> + +<p>Therefore, at the advent of the Clemenceau Cabinet in October, 1906, M. +Briand had achieved nothing but compulsory inventories. He got +Parliament to allow the legality of the proposed religious organizations +under the Associations Law of 1901 or under the general<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> law of 1881 on +public meetings, as well as under the special legislation of 1905. Again +the Holy See refused to obey, and ordered the clergy to continue their +occupancy of the churches, but to refrain from any legal declaration or +registration whatsoever. Then M. Briand did away with the declaration. +So the contest went on without agreement until it finally lapsed. The +clergy continued to occupy the churches, but without legal claim to +them, under the law of 1881 on public meetings, amended by the law of +March 28, 1907, suppressing the formality of a declaration. The Catholic +Church was stripped, by its own unwillingness to help organize holding +bodies, of all its possessions. By the good-will of the Government it +continued to occupy the religious edifices, but the maintenance and +repair of these was dependent on the good-will of the <i>commune</i> or +administrative division in which the churches were situated. On the +other hand, nothing has materialized of the prophesied religious +persecutions, civil war, and martyrdoms.</p> + +<p>Apart from the annoyances caused by the separation of Church and State, +the history of the Clemenceau Ministry deals largely with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> labor +disturbances and social unrest. This was partly due to parliamentary +demagogy. A succession of weak and ineffective ministries had been +followed by Clemenceau's incoherencies and alterations of policy, though +it remained consistently <i>Radical</i> and not socialistic. The Ministers +were often at loggerheads (even Clemenceau and Briand over the +Separation bill), and the Deputies were often mediocre politicians, +quick to vote themselves an increase of salary, but dilatory in other +achievements. The growth of socialism, with its theories of pacifism and +international brotherhood, encouraged the anti-militarists. The +brilliant leader Jaurès openly advocated the abolition of the army and +the creation of a national militia. Some anti-militarists, like Hervé, +carried their theories beyond all bounds and rhetorically talked of +dragging the national flag in the mire. Meanwhile the political methods +in the past of men like André in the War Department and Camille Pelletan +in the Navy had weakened those services, as Delcassé had found to his +cost in the controversy with Germany. The battleship <i>Iéna</i> blew up in +March, 1907, there was a suspicious fire at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> the Toulon Arsenal, and +many other things disquieted people.</p> + +<p>The Government tried to cater to the labor parties, brought forward +plans for an income tax and for old-age pensions, and carried through a +law making compulsory one day of rest out of seven for workingmen. +Especially active were the efforts of the syndicalists and the +organizers of the anarchistic <i>Confédération générale du travail</i>, or +"C.G.T.," to promote every contest between capital and labor and to +bring about, if possible, a general strike of all labor. There were +strikes of miners, longshoremen, sailors, electricians among others. +Even more alarming was the formation of unions, affiliated with the +C.G.T., among state employees such as school teachers and postmen, and +efforts to disorganize the public service. These different movements +Clemenceau met with his customary seesaw of friendliness and harshness, +and the Government was usually victorious. Not less troublesome but +somewhat more picturesque was the quasi-revolutionary movement, in 1907, +of the wine-makers of the South, driven to desperation by overproduction +and low prices, attributed to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> competition of adulterated wines. The +municipalities where these disturbances occurred were often in sympathy +with the creators of disturbance, not only in small towns, but in large +places like Béziers, Perpignan, Narbonne, and Carcassonne. Municipal +officials resigned or refused to carry out their duties, and some +regiments, made up of men recruited from one of the districts, mutinied. +The troubles at last quieted down.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of 1909 an important agreement was signed with Germany +which seemed to promise an end to the long disputes over Morocco. The +Moroccan question had continued to dominate French foreign policy even +after Algeciras and that conference had not ended the commercial +rivalries of the two countries. In March, 1907, a Frenchman, Dr. +Mauchamp, was murdered by natives at Marrakesh and the French in reply +occupied Ujda near the Algerian frontier. In July, after the murder of +some European workmen at Casablanca, the French sent a landing corps. In +1908 the Sultan Abd-el-Aziz, a friend of the French, was overthrown by a +rival, Muley-Hafid, egged on by the Germans. These also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> raised a +dispute over some deserters from the French Foreign Legion at +Casablanca, who had taken refuge at the German Consulate and whom the +Germans claimed as their subjects. For a moment war clouds seemed to +appear on the horizon until dissipated by mutual expressions of regret +and after a reference to the Hague Tribunal, which, on the whole, +justified the French. It was, therefore, good news for Europe to hear of +the agreement of February, 1909, which acknowledged the predominance of +French political claims, and tried to facilitate economic co-operation +instead of rivalry between France and Germany. Unfortunately, this +agreement was destined to prove ineffective.</p> + +<p>The Clemenceau Cabinet lasted until July, 1909. During a discussion on +the Navy, Clemenceau and Delcassé had an altercation as to their +relative responsibilities for the French surrender to Germany in 1905 +when Delcassé was driven from the Rouvier Ministry. The Chamber sided +with Delcassé and Clemenceau discovered that his sarcasm had overreached +itself. The new Premier was Briand, the Socialist and former bugbear of +the moneyed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> classes, who had shown by his management of the Separation +bill the abilities of a true statesman and who became more and more +moderate in his views under the increasing responsibilities of power.</p> + +<p>The history of the Briand Ministry was largely taken up by internal +questions and the elections of May, 1910, for the renewal of the Chamber +of Deputies. To propitiate the electorate the expiring Parliament passed +a law providing old-age pensions for workingmen. The elections left the +Radicals and the Socialistic Radicals (as opposed to the Socialists) on +the whole masters of the situation, but the general parliamentary +instability continued to prevail. The country felt the reaction. In the +autumn of 1910 far-reaching railway strikes broke out, resulting in +violence and injury to railway property or <i>sabotage</i>. Briand met the +difficulty energetically by mobilizing the employees still subject to +military duty, and making them perform their work under military orders. +The act of "dictatorship" was approved by the Chamber, but Briand went +through the ceremony of resigning and accepting the mission to form a +new Cabinet. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> proved not very homogeneous and withdrew in February, +1911. The Monis Cabinet, of more advanced Socialistic-Radical +principles, lasted only a few months and faced new disturbances with +wine-producers. This time the trouble was in the East, where many were +dissatisfied with the artificial limitation of districts entitled to +produce wines labelled "champagne." The Socialistic-Radical Ministry of +Joseph Caillaux (June, 1911) encountered a new and dangerous crisis in +the relations with Germany.</p> + +<p>The mutual agreement between the two countries for the economic +development of Morocco had, through financial rivalries, not worked +well. There was also friction over similar attempts for the development +of the French Congo. In this state of affairs, the French sent a +military expedition to Fez in the early summer of 1911 for the +ostensible purpose of protecting the Sultan from attack by rebels and of +relieving the French military mission. The Germans, backed up, indeed, +by the French anti-militarist press, declared that this was a mere +pretext for encroachment. Spain also took the opportunity of asserting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +its rights to parts of the North in accordance with its reversionary +claims by the Treaty of 1904. Thereupon Germany declared that the +agreements of Algeciras and of 1909 had been nullified by France and +demanded compensations. The gunboat <i>Panther</i> suddenly appeared in the +port of Agadir (July 1) and the Germans began to call for their share in +the partition of Morocco.</p> + +<p>Difficult negotiations were carried on between France and Germany +through the summer of 1911, and at moments the two countries were on the +very brink of war. The English Government backed up France. Lloyd George +and Premier Asquith made public declarations to that effect. French +capitalists also began calling in their funds invested in Germany and a +financial crisis threatened that country.</p> + +<p>Thus brought to terms the Germans became more moderate in their demands, +and it was finally possible to reach a compromise, unsatisfactory to +both parties. Germany definitely gave up all political claim to Morocco +and acknowledged France as paramount there. On the other hand, a +territorial readjustment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> was made in the Congo by which Germany added +to the Cameroons about two hundred and thirty thousand square kilometres +of land with a million people, and the new frontiers made annoying +salients into the French Congo. The treaty was signed in November, 1911, +but the Pan-Germanists were angry at any concessions to France, the +Colonial Minister resigned, and the Emperor, who had thrown his +influence on the side of peace, lost much prestige for a while. On the +other hand, the French were correspondingly dissatisfied at the losses +in the Congo. The opponents of the Prime Minister, Caillaux, had often +taunted him with too close a relation between his official acts and his +private financial interests. They now accused him of tricky concessions +to Germany in connection with the Congo adjustments. M. Caillaux denied +in the Chamber that he had ever entered into any private dealings apart +from the negotiations of the ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, +Clemenceau asked the Foreign Minister, M. de Selves, point-blank if the +French Ambassador at Berlin had not complained of interference in the +diplomatic negotiations. M. de Selves refused to answer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> thus +implicitly giving the lie to M. Caillaux. The consequence was a cabinet +crisis and the resignation of the Ministry (January, 1912).</p> + +<p>The upshot of the Agadir crisis was increased irritation between France +and Germany and the feeling in each country that the other was seeking +trouble. The French were now convinced that, some day or other, war +would inevitably result and the nation dropped its strong pacifist +tendencies and rallied to the army. The Germans were, above all, furious +against the English, whom they considered responsible for their +humiliation.</p> + +<p>So far as Morocco was immediately concerned, the French took steps to +develop their new privileges. In March, 1912, they imposed a definite +protectorate on the Sultan Muley-Hafid and soon replaced him by his +brother Muley-Yussef. They came to an agreement with Spain as to the +latter's claims in the North and entrusted to General Lyautey the +administrative and military reorganization of the country. The +pacification of the hostile tribes was not an easy task and went on +laboriously through 1912 and 1913.</p> + +<p>After the downfall of M. Caillaux, Raymond<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> Poincaré became head of a +Cabinet more moderate than its predecessor, the Socialistic Radicals +seeming somewhat discredited in public opinion. M. Poincaré was a strong +partisan of proportional representation, and a measure for the +modification of the method of voting was, under his auspices, passed by +the Chamber, though it failed the following year in the Senate.</p> + +<p>In foreign affairs, Morocco having dropped into the background, the +Eastern question became acute. Fear lest the conflict in the Orient +should involve the rest of Europe led France to draw again closer to +Russia and England.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE ADMINISTRATION OF RAYMOND POINCARÉ</h3> + +<h4>February, 1913</h4> + + +<p>M. Fallières' term expired on February 18, 1913. The two leading +candidates were Raymond Poincaré, head of the Ministry, and Jules Pams, +who was supported by the advanced Radicals. M. Poincaré's election was +looked upon, because of his personal vigor, as a triumph of sound +conservative republicanism, and it was predicted that he would prove a +strong leader, able to give prestige to the Presidency and to bring +order out of chaos. The early months of his Administration were less +productive of results than had been hoped, but the European War came too +soon to make definitive judgment safe.</p> + +<p>After M. Poincaré's election, M. Fallières made M. Briand President of +the Council during the last weeks of his term, and M. Poincaré kept the +same Cabinet. M. Briand, like M. Poincaré, advocated proportional +representation. As the Chamber failed to take a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> vigorous position in +support of the measure, and defeated the Ministry on a vote of +confidence, the latter withdrew (March, 1913).</p> + +<p>Louis Barthou next became Prime Minister, and the important legislative +measure of the year was the new military law. The Germans having largely +increased their army, it was deemed necessary, in spite of the violent +opposition of the Socialistic Radicals and the Socialists and the +attempts of the syndicalists of the <i>Confédération générale du travail</i> +to work up a general strike, to abrogate the Law of 1905 and to return +to three years of military service without exemption. M. Barthou pushed +the three-years bill already supported by the Briand Cabinet. France +took upon herself an enormous financial burden, coupled with a +corresponding loss of productive labor, yet events soon proved the +wisdom of the step.</p> + +<p>The opposition to the Cabinet was virulent. There were now two great +groupings of the chief political parties.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> The Radicals and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +Socialistic Radicals, under the name of "Unified Radicals" waged war +against the President and the Ministry. They were under the inspiration +of men like Clemenceau and the active leadership of Joseph Caillaux and +tried to revive the methods of the old <i>Bloc</i> of Combes. They +declared their intention of repealing the three-years law and +proclaimed the tenets of their faith at the Congress of Pau. The +Briand-Barthou-Millerand group, supporters of Poincaré, soon formed a +Moderate Party with a programme of conciliation and reform known as the +"Federation of the Lefts."</p> + +<p>The Barthou Cabinet had been overthrown early in December, 1913, after a +vote on a government loan. President Poincaré had to call in a Radical +Cabinet led by Gaston Doumergue, the programme of which Ministry was,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +after all, less "advanced" than the Pau programme, especially as to the +three-years bill. M. Caillaux, the master-spirit of the Radicals, was +the Minister of Finance and the object of the hostility of the +Moderates. They claimed that he used his position to cause speculation +at the Stock Exchange, and accused him of "selling out" to Germany in +the settlement after Agadir. The <i>Figaro</i>, edited by Gaston Calmette, +began a violent campaign. Among the charges was that during the +prosecution in 1911 of Rochette, a swindling promoter, the then Prime +Minister Monis, now Minister of Marine, had, at Caillaux's instigation, +held up the prosecution for fraud, during which delay Rochette had been +able to put through other swindles.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the public turmoil over these charges Caillaux's wife +went to Calmette's editorial offices and killed him with a revolver. +Caillaux resigned and, the Rochette case having come up for discussion +in the Chamber, when Monis denied that he had ever influenced the law, +Barthou produced a most damaging letter. A parliamentary commission +later decided that the Monis Cabinet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> <i>had</i> interfered to save Rochette +from prosecution.</p> + +<p>It was under such circumstances that the Deputies separated for the +general elections. Three chief questions came before the voters, the +three-years law, the income tax, and proportional representation. The +results of the elections were inconclusive and the new Chamber promised +to be as ineffective as its predecessor. On the second ballots the +Socialists made a good many gains.</p> + +<p>The Doumergue Ministry resigned soon after the elections which it had +carried through. President Poincaré offered the leadership to the +veteran statesman Ribot, who with the co-operation of Léon Bourgeois, +formed a Moderate Cabinet with an inclination toward the Left. This +Ministry was above the average, but its leaders were insulted and +brow-beaten and overthrown on the very first day they met the Chamber of +Deputies. So then a Cabinet was formed, led by the Socialist René +Viviani, who was willing, however, to accept the three-years law, though +he had previously opposed it. But this victory for national defence was +weakened by parliamentary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> revelations of military unpreparedness.</p> + +<p>In mid-July President Poincaré and M. Viviani left France for a round of +state visits to Russia and Scandinavia. Paris was engrossed by the +sensational trial of Madame Caillaux, which resulted in her acquittal, +but this excitement was suddenly replaced by the European crisis, and +President Poincaré cut short his foreign trip and hastened home. France +loyally supported her ally Russia, and, on August 3, Baron von Schoen, +the German Ambassador, notified M. Viviani of a state of war between +Germany and France.</p> + +<p>Indeed, no sooner had the Moroccan question been settled than danger had +loomed in the Orient, in which France was likely to be involved through +her alliance with Russia. Moreover, Germany had not got over the Agadir +fiasco and was furious with England as well as France. Thus the European +balance of power had long been in danger through the hostility of the +Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. It is beyond the scope of the +present volume to analyze in detail the Balkan question. The rôle of +France was consistent in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> interest of peace by helping to maintain +the balance of power, but obviously she was loyal toward her partners of +the Triple Entente and acted in solidarity with them.</p> + +<p>So far as the outbreak of the war in 1914 is concerned, France stands +with a clear conscience. She had nothing to do with the disputes between +Austria and Serbia, or between Austria, Germany, and Russia. Once war +proved inevitable France faithfully accepted the responsibilities of the +Russian alliance. Against France, Germany was an open aggressor. +Germany's strategic plans for the quick annihilation of France, before +attacking Russia, are well known to the world. Everybody is aware how +scrupulously France avoided every hostile measure, and, during the +critical days preceding the war, withdrew all troops ten kilometres from +the frontier to prevent a clash. The Germans were obliged, in order to +justify their advance, to invent preposterous tales of bombs dropped by +aeroplanes near Nuremberg or of the violation of Belgium neutrality by +French officers in automobiles. France had no idea of invading Belgium. +All the French strategic plans aimed at the protection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> of the direct +frontier, and they were dislocated by the dishonest move of Germany +through Belgium.</p> + +<p>In 1914 France was not even prepared for war. The pacification of +Morocco immobilized thousands of her troops. Revelations in Parliament +as late as July 13 showed, as mentioned above, great deficiencies in +equipment. Public attention was taken up by the Caillaux trial and by +political strife apparently reaching the proportions of national +weakness.</p> + +<p>Since Agadir it is true that France, conscious of the constantly +provocative attitude of Germany, had seen the folly of plans for +disarmament. Love for the army had grown again, through realization of +its necessity. But no nation ever looked forward with more horror and +dread to military conflict than the French. They had been the last +victims of a great European war, of which the memories were still alive. +However much the loss of Alsace-Lorraine rankled in their hearts, they +knew too well the madness of war to seek it again. A new generation had +grown up reconciled to fate and willing to let bygones be bygones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Germany would not. The new Empire, a <i>Bourgeois gentilhomme</i> among +nations, but without even the breeding of the <i>parvenu</i>, dreamed of +world-supremacy. As the boor in society makes himself conspicuous, so it +was one of the tenets of Pan-Germanism to let no international agreement +take place without German interference.</p> + +<p>Some people, reading the annals of forty-four years since the +Franco-Prussian War, have been disposed to sneer at France. Some have +called the country degenerate because of its small birth-rate, its +fiction sometimes brutal, sometimes neurotic, its inefficient +Parliament, its vindictive political and religious contests. Such +critics should remember that the French Government is the result of +tactical compromise in presence of the Monarchical Party. Nobody denies +that it might be improved. As to religious persecution, Americans might +remember their own righteous feelings toward fellow citizens with +"hyphenated" allegiance, when they rebuke the French for fighting vast +organizations working against their Government under foreign orders.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>In 1914 France, bearing on her shoulders proportionably the greatest +burden of all the Allies, presented to the world a spirit of firmness, +unity, and national resolve that won the admiration of neutral nations. +Religious persecution and clerical manœuvre were alike put aside. +France forgot all lassitude and discouragement. Atheist, Protestant, and +Catholic felt a great wave of spiritual as well as of patriotic fervor, +and took as symbol of love of country the heroic peasant girl of +Lorraine, Jeanne d'Arc, who, coming from the people and leading the +nation's army, sought to drive from the soil its foes and invaders.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> It must be obvious to the reader, after following all the +changes in nomenclature recorded in this volume, that in France +party-names give little hint of party-views: "In French political +parlance 'Progressivs' ar retrograde, 'Liberals' ar conservativ, +'Conservativs' ar revolutionary in aim and methods, 'Radicals' ar +trimmers and time-servers, whilst one of the most reactionary +administrations of recent years was heded by three 'Socialists.'" A.-L. +Guérard in <i>Pub. Mod. Lang. Assoc. of America</i>, vol. xxx, p. 624. +Compare also the following: "Suivant les régions de la France, +c'est-à-dire selon la moyenne de l'opinion locale et les termes de +comparaison ou les traditions propres à chaque province, les mots +changent de signification. Dans le Var un radical passe pour un modéré, +dans l'ouest un républicain est considéré par certains comme un +révolutionnaire, ailleurs les candidats qui ne sont pas au moins +radicaux-socialistes ne sont pas tenus pour de bons républicains." L. +Jacques, <i>Les partis politiques sous la troisième république</i>, p. 429.</p></div> + +</div> + + +<h4>THE END</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX</h2> + + +<h3>PRESIDING OFFICERS OF FRENCH CABINETS</h3><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">VICE-PRÉSIDENTS DU CONSEIL<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Thiers</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Feb. 19, 1871, Jules Dufaure.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May 18, 1873, Jules Dufaure.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Mac-Mahon</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">May 25, 1873, Duc de Broglie.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nov. 26, 1873, Duc de Broglie.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May 22, 1874, Général de Cissey.<br /></span> +<span class="i15">{Louis Buffet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">March 10, 1875, {<br /></span> +<span class="i15">{Jules Dufaure.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">PRÉSIDENTS DU CONSEIL<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Mac-Mahon (continued)</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">March 9, 1876, Jules Dufaure.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 12, 1876, Jules Simon.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May 17, 1877, Duc de Broglie.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nov. 23, 1877, Général de Rochebouët.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 13, 1877, Jules Dufaure.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Jules Grévy</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Feb. 4, 1879, William-Henry Waddington.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 28, 1879, Charles de Freycinet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sept. 23, 1880, Jules Ferry.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nov. 14, 1881, Léon Gambetta.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 30, 1882, Charles de Freycinet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Aug. 7, 1882, Eugène Duclerc.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 29, 1883, Armand Fallières.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Feb. 21, 1883, Jules Ferry.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">April 6, 1885, Henri Brisson.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 7, 1886, Charles de Freycinet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 11, 1886, René Goblet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May 30, 1887. Maurice Rouvier.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Carnot</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dec. 12, 1887, Pierre-Emmanuel Tirard.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">April 3, 1888, Charles Floquet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Feb. 22, 1889, Pierre-Emmanuel Tirard.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">March 17, 1890, Charles de Freycinet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Feb. 27, 1892, Emile Loubet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 6, 1892, Alexandre Ribot.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 11, 1893, Alexandre Ribot.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">April 4, 1893, Charles Dupuy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 3, 1893, Jean Casimir-Perier.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May 30, 1894. Charles Dupuy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Casimir-Perier</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">July 1, 1894, Charles Dupuy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Félix Faure</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Jan. 26, 1895, Alexandre Ribot.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nov. 1, 1895, Léon Bourgeois.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">April 29, 1896, Jules Méline.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">June 28, 1898, Henri Brisson.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nov. 1, 1898, Charles Dupuy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Emile Loubet</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Feb. 18, 1899, Charles Dupuy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">June 22, 1899, René Waldeck-Rousseau.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">June 7, 1902, Emile Combes.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 24, 1905, Maurice Rouvier.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Armand Fallières</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Feb. 18, 1906, Maurice Rouvier.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">March 14, 1906, Ferdinand Sarrien.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oct. 25, 1906, Georges Clemenceau.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">July 23, 1909, Aristide Briand.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">March 2, 1911, Ernest Monis.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">July 27, 1911, Joseph Caillaux.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 13, 1912, Raymond Poincaré.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jan. 21, 1913, Aristide Briand.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Administration of Raymond Poincaré</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Feb. 18, 1913, Aristide Briand.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">March 21, 1913, Louis Barthou.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dec. 2, 1913, Gaston Doumergue.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">June 9, 1914, Alexandre Ribot.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">June 13, 1914, René Viviani.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Aug. 26, 1914, René Viviani.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oct. 29, 1915, Aristide Briand.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> +<h2>BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> +<p><span class="smcap">Albin, Pierre.</span> <i>D'Agadir à Sarajevo (1911-1914).</i> 1915.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">André, Général L.</span> <i>Cinq ans de ministère</i>. 1907.</p> + +<p><i>Annual Register</i>. Yearly volumes.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Barclay, Thomas.</span> <i>Thirty Years. Anglo-French Reminiscences (1876-1906).</i> +1914.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Beyens, Baron.</span> <i>L'Allemagne avant la guerre. Les causes et les +responsabilités.</i> 1915.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bodley, J. E. C.</span> <i>The Church in France.</i> 1906.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bodley, J. E. C.</span> <i>France.</i> 2 vols. 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Brisson, H.</span> <i>Souvenirs.</i> 1908.</p> + +<p><i>Cambridge Modern History.</i> (Vol. XII, <i>The Latest Age.</i> 1910.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Chuquet, A.</span> <i>La Guerre, 1870-1871.</i> 1895.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Coubertin, P. de.</span> <i>L'Evolution française sous la troisième république.</i> +1896.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daniel, André</span> (<span class="smcap">André Lebon</span>). <i>L'Année politique.</i> Yearly volumes, +1874-1905.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daudet, E.</span> <i>Souvenirs de la Présidence du maréchal de Mac-Mahon.</i> 1879.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Debidour, A.</span> <i>L'Eglise catholique et l'Etat sous la troisième +République.</i> 2 vols. 1909.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Denis, Samuel.</span> <i>Histoire contemporaine.</i> 4 vols. 1897-1903.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Despagnet, Frantz.</span> <i>La République et le Vatican (1870-1906).</i> 1906.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dimnet, E.</span> <i>France Herself Again.</i> 1914.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dutrait-Crozon, H.</span> <i>Précis de l'Affaire Dreyfus.</i> 1909.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Fiaux, Louis.</span> <i>Histoire de la guerre civile de 1871.</i> 1879.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">George, W. L.</span> <i>France in the Twentieth Century.</i> 1908.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Guérard, A.-L.</span> <i>French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century.</i> 1914.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hanotaux, G.</span> <i>Fachoda.</i> 1909.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hanotaux, G.</span> <i>Histoire de la France contemporaine.</i> 4 vols. 1903-1908.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hippeau, E.</span> <i>Histoire diplomatique de la troisième république</i> +(1870-1889). 1889.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Jacques, Léon.</span> <i>Les partis politiques sous la troisième république.</i> +1912.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lavisse</span> <i>et</i> <span class="smcap">Rambaud</span>, <i>editors</i>. <i>Histoire Générale Du IV<sup>e</sup> siècle à +nos jours.</i> (Vol. XII, <i>Le Monde contemporain</i>, 1870-1900. 1901.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lepelletier, E.</span> <i>Histoire de la Commune de 1871.</i> 1911.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lissagaray, P.-O.</span> <i>Histoire de la Commune de 1871.</i> 1896.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lowell, A. L.</span> <i>Governments and Parties in Continental Europe.</i> 2 vols. +1897.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lucas, A.</span> <i>Précis historique de l'Affaire du Panama.</i> 1893.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Maréchal, E.</span> <i>Histoire contemporaine de 1789 à nos jours.</i> 3 vols. 1900.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Margueritte, Paul</span> <i>et</i> <span class="smcap">Victor</span>. <i>Histoire de la guerre de 1870-1871.</i> +1903.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Maurras, Charles.</span> <i>Kiel et Tanger</i> (1895-1905). 1913.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Meaux, Vicomte de.</span> <i>Souvenirs politiques.</i> 1904.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mermeix.</span> <i>Les Coulisses du Boulangisme.</i> 1890.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Muel, Léon.</span> <i>Histoire politique de la septième législature</i> (1898-1902). +1903.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pinon, René.</span> <i>France et Allemagne</i> (1870-1913). 1913.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Reinach, Joseph.</span> <i>Histoire de l'Affaire Dreyfus.</i> 7 vols. 1901-1911.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Reinach, Joseph.</span> <i>Le Ministère Gambetta.</i> 1884.</p> + +<p>R.-L.-M. <i>Histoire sommaire de l'Affaire Dreyfus.</i> 1904.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Rose, J. H.</span> <i>The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914. Fifth +edition.</i> 1916.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Rousset, L.</span> <i>Histoire générale de la guerre franco-allemande.</i> 6 vols. +1895.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sorel, Albert.</span> <i>Histoire diplomatique de la guerre franco-allemande.</i> +1875.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tardieu, André.</span> <i>La Conférence d'Algésiras.</i> Third Edition. 1909.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tardieu, André.</span> <i>La France et les alliances.</i> Third edition. 1909.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tardieu, André.</span> <i>Le Mystère d'Agadir.</i> 1912.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Viallate, Achille</span>, <i>editor</i>. <i>La Vie politique dans les Deux Mondes.</i> +Annual volumes, 1908-1913.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Wallier, René.</span> <i>Le XX<sup>e</sup> siècle politique.</i> Annual volumes, 1901-1907.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Welschinger, H.</span> <i>La Guerre de 1870; causes et responsabilités.</i> 1910.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Zevort, E.</span> <i>Histoire de la troisième République.</i> 4 vols. 1896-1901.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> +<p>Abd-el-Aziz, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Africa, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Agadir, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Aix, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Albert of Saxony, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alexander III, Czar, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Algeciras, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Algeria, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Algiers, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Alsace, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Amiens, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +André, General, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Annam, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Antony of Hohenzollern, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Arques, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Arton, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Artenay, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Asquith, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Aurelle de Paladines, General d', <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Austria, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Auteuil, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Avellan, Admiral, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bac-Le, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Baïhaut, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bapaume, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Barthou, Louis, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Basly, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bazaine, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Beaugency, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Beaumont, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Beaune-la-Rolande, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Belfort, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Belgium, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Benedetti, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Berlin, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bert, Paul, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Beulé, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Béziers, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bienvenu-Martin, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Billot, General, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bismarck, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, +<a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bitche, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Blanqui, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bœschepe, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Boisdeffre, General de, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bordeaux, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Borny, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Boulanger, General, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bourbaki, General, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bourgeois, Léon, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Briand, Aristide, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, +<a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brière de l'Isle, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brisson, Henri, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Broglie, due de, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Brussels, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Buffet, André, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Buffet, Louis, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Buisson, Ferdinand, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Burdeau, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Busch, Moritz, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Buzenval, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Caffarel, General, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cahors, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Caillaux, Joseph, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Caillaux, Madame, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Calmette, Gaston, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cameroons, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>Canrobert, Marshal, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Carcassonne, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Carnot, President, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>-114.<br /> +<br /> +Casablanca, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Caserio Santo, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Casimir-Perier, President, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>-120.<br /> +<br /> +Cavaignac, Godefroy, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Châlons, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Chambord, comte de, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Champigny, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Chanoine, General, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Chanzy, General, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Châteaudun, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Châtillon, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Chesnelong, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.<br /> +<br /> +China, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Christiani, Baron de, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cissey, General de, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Clemenceau, Georges, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, +<a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Clermont-Ferrand, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Clinchant, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cluseret, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Combes, Emile, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Congo, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cottu, Henri, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Coulmiers, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Courbet, Gustave, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Crémieux, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cronstadt, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Crown Prince of Prussia, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Decazes, duc, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Delahaye, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Delcassé, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Delegorgue, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Delescluze, Charles, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Demange, Maître, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Denfert-Rochereau, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Déroulède, Paul, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Devil's Isle, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dijon, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dillon, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dombrowski, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dordogne, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Douay, Abel, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Doumer, Paul, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Doumergue, Gaston, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dreyfus, Alfred, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, +<a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dreyfus, Madame, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dreyfus, Mathieu, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Drumont, Edouard, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Duclerc, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ducrot, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dufaure, Jules, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Du Lac, Père, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dumas fils, Alexandre, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dupuy, Charles, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Edward VII, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Egypt, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Eiffel, G., <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ems, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.<br /> +<br /> +England, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ernoul, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Esterhazy, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Eugénie, Empress, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Evans, Dr., <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Faidherbe, General, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Failly, General de, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fallières, Armand, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>-175, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fashoda, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Faure, Félix, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>-133, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Favre, General, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Favre, Jules, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ferrières, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ferry, Jules, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fez, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>Fiaux, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Floquet, Charles, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Flourens, Gustave, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fontane, Marius, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Foo-chow, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Forbach, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Formosa, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fourichon, Admiral, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Francis I, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frankfort, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frederick, Empress, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frederick the Great, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frederick Charles, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Freycinet, Charles de, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frohsdorf, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fröschwiller, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Frossard, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Gabès, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Galliffet, General de, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gambetta, Léon, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, +<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Garibaldi, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Geay, Monseigneur, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gérault-Richard, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Germany, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>,157, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, +<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gervais, Admiral, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Glais-Bizoin, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Goblet, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gouthe-Soulard, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gramont, duc de, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gravelotte, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Grévy, Albert, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Grévy, Jules, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>-95, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Grey, Sir Edward, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Guérard, A.-L., <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Guérin, Jules, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Habert, Marcel, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Henry IV, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Henry, Colonel, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Henry, Emile, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Héricourt, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hervé, Gustave, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Herz, Cornelius, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hugues, Clovis, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Italy, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ivry, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Jacques, L., <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Japan, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Jaurès, Jean, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Jeanne d'Arc, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Jerome Napoleon, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Josnes, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kairouan, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Kiel Canal, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Kitchener, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Königgrätz, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Kroumirs, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Labori, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.<br /> +<br /> +La Cecilia, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +La Motterouge, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lang-son, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Laval, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lavigerie, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br /> +<br /> +La Villette, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lazare, Bernard, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leblois, Maître, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Le Bœuf, Marshal, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Le Bourget, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lecomte, General, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Le Mans, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Le Nordez, Monseigneur, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leo XIII, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lesseps, Charles de, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lesseps, Ferdinand de, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lille, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lisaine, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lloyd George, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Loigny, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>Loir, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Loire, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Loisy, Abbé, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.<br /> +<br /> +London, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Longchamps, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lorraine, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Loubet, Emile, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>-158, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Louis XIV, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Louis XVI, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Louis-Philippe, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lunéville, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lur-Saluces, comte de, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Luxembourg, Duchy of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lyautey, General, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lyons, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +McKinley, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mac-Mahon, maréchal de, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>-74, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Madagascar, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Madrid, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mainz, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Marchand, Captain, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Marne, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Marrakesh, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mars-la-Tour, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mauchamp, Dr., <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mayer, Captain, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mediterranean, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Méline, Jules, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mercier, General, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Merry del Val, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Metz, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Meuse, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mexican expedition, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Millerand, Alexandre, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Miribel, General de, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Moltke, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Monis, Ernest, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Montbéliard, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Montmartre, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Montmédy, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Montretout, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Morel, E. D., <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Morès, marquis de, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Morocco, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Muley-Hafid, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Muley-Yussef, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Mun, comte de, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Nancy, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Napoleon I, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Napoleon III, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Narbonne, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Négrier, General de, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +New Caledonia, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Newfoundland, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Nicholas II, Czar, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Nile, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Nord, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.<br /> +<br /> +North Germany, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Nuremberg, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Offenbach, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ollivier, Emile, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Omdurman, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Orléans, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Orléans, Duke of, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Palikao, comte de, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pams, Jules, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Panama, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Paray-le-Monial, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Paris, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, +<a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, +<a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Paris, comte de, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Patay, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pau, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pelletan, Camille, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pellieux, General de, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Père-Lachaise, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Péronne, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Perpignan, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Picquart, General, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pie, Monseigneur, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Piou, Jacques, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pius IX, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>Pius X, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Poincaré, Raymond, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>-185.<br /> +<br /> +Poitiers, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pont-Noyelles, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Portsmouth, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Prince Imperial, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Prussia, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Rampolla, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ravachol, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Raynal, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Regnier, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Reichsoffen, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Reims, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Reinach, Jacques de, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rémusat, Charles de, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rennes, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rezonville, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rhenish provinces, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rhine, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Ribot, Alexandre, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rigault, Raoul, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rivière, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rochebouët, General de, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rochefort, Henri, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rochette, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Roget, General, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rome, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rossel, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rouvier, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Russia, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Saarbrücken, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sadowa, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Saint-Cloud, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Saint-Mandé, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Saint-Privat, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Saint-Quentin, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.<br /> +<br /> +St. Petersburg, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Salisbury, Lord, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Salzburg, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sans-Leroy, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sarrien, Ferdinand, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Say, Léon, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Scandinavia, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Scheurer-Kestner, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Schnaebele, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Schoen, Baron von, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Schwartzkoppen, Colonel, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sedan, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Selves, M. de, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Serbia, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sfax, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sicily, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Simon, Jules, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>.<br /> +<br /> +South Germany, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Spain, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Spicheren, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Spuller, Eugène, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Steinheil, Madame, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Steinmetz, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Strassburg, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sudan, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Suez, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Switzerland, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Syveton, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Tangier, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Thiers, Adolphe, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>-49, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Thomas, General Clément, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tien-tsin, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tirard, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tonkin, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Toulon, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tours, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Trochu, General, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tuileries, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tunis, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ujda, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.<br /> +<br /> +United States, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Uzès, duchesse d', <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Vaillant, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Var, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Vendôme, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Verdun, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Versailles, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Victor-Emmanuel II, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Victor-Emmanuel III, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>Victoria, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Villepion, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Villers-Bretonneux, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Villersexel, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Villiers, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Villorceau, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Vinoy, General, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Vionville, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Viviani, René, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Von der Thann, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Vosges, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Waddington, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Waldeck-Rousseau, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, +<a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wallon, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Weiss, J.-J., <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Welschinger, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>.<br /> +<br /> +William I, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>.<br /> +<br /> +William II, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wilson, Daniel, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wimpffen, General de, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wissembourg, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wörth, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wrobleski, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Zola, Emile, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Zurlinden, General, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.<br /> +</p> + +<h4>The Riverside Press</h4> + +<h4>CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS</h4> + +<h4>U. S. A</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BOOKS ON THE GREAT WAR</h2> + +<h4><i>Published by</i></h4> + +<h3>Houghton Mifflin Company</h3> + +<p>Thrilling stories of real adventure; graphic pictures of the fighting by +men who actually fought; notable volumes dealing with the larger aspects +of the struggle; in short, books for every taste and on every phase of +the war may be found in these pages.</p> + + +<h4><i>Two Books of Extraordinary Interest</i></h4> + + +<h2>GETTING TOGETHER</h2> + +<h3>IAN HAY</h3> + +<h4>(Captain Ian Hay Beith)</h4> + +<p>In this book, the author of "The First Hundred Thousand" discusses in an +honest, straightforward way the outstanding issues between America and +England. As a result of his prolonged visit to this country as a +lecturer, he knows, as few Englishmen do, how the average American +feels, and has written a book that will have a profound effect on both +sides of the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>Published under the joint imprint of Doubleday, Page & Co. and Houghton +Mifflin Co. 50 cents, net.</p> + + +<h2>OBSTACLES TO PEACE</h2> + +<h3>SAMUEL S. McCLURE</h3> + +<p>The author of this notable book recently spent several months in Europe. +Recognizing his standing as an American publicist, the leading statesmen +of the warring countries talked to him with extraordinary frankness, +regarding both the war and the terms of peace, and put him in possession +of hitherto unpublished documents of the utmost importance. As the +result of this first-hand information gained from responsible sources, +Mr. McClure has been able to write one of the most incisive and +illuminating books that have yet been called forth by the Great War. +$2.00 net.</p> + + +<h4>In Belgium</h4> + +<h2>BELGIUM'S AGONY</h2> + +<h3>EMILE VERHAEREN</h3> + +<p>The story of what Belgium has endured and how she has endured it, told +by her greatest poet. $1.25 net.</p> + + +<h2>THE LOG OF A NON-COMBATANT</h2> + +<h3>HORACE GREEN</h3> + +<p>"A lively, readable narrative of personal experiences, thrilling, +painful, humorous."—<i>Churchman.</i> Illustrated. $1.25 net.</p> + + +<h4>In Germany</h4> + +<h2>TO RUHLEBEN AND BACK</h2> + +<h3>GEOFFREY PYKE</h3> + +<p>The story of a young Englishman's escape from a detention camp and +flight across Germany. One of the most picturesque and thrilling +narratives of the war. Illustrated. $1.50 net.</p> + + +<h4>In Italy</h4> + +<h2>THE WORLD DECISION</h2> + +<h3>ROBERT HERRICK</h3> + +<p>Contains a graphic, first-hand account of Italy's entrance into the war, +as well as a remarkable analysis of the larger aspects of the struggle. +$1.25 net.</p> + + +<h4>With the Austrians</h4> + +<h2>FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES</h2> + +<h3>FRITZ KREISLER</h3> + +<p>"Filled with memorable scenes and striking descriptions. It will stand +as a picture of war."—<i>New York Globe.</i> Illustrated. $1.00 net.</p> + + +<h4>With the Russians</h4> + +<h2>DAY BY DAY WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY</h2> + +<h3>BERNARD PARÈS</h3> + +<p>"A wonderful narrative. When the history of this great war comes to be +written it will be an invaluable document."—<i>London Morning Post.</i> +Illustrated. $2.50 net.</p> + + +<h4>With the Japanese</h4> + +<h2>THE FALL OF TSINGTAU</h2> + +<h3>JEFFERSON JONES</h3> + +<p>A remarkable study of war and diplomacy in the Orient that "should be +read by every American who is interested in the future of our status in +the Far East."—<i>New York Tribune.</i> Illustrated. $1.75 net.</p> + + +<h4>On the Ocean</h4> + +<h2>THE LUSITANIA'S LAST VOYAGE</h2> + +<h3>C. E. LAURIAT, JR.</h3> + +<p>"Not only a document of historic interest, but a thrilling narrative of +the greatest disaster of its kind."—<i>The Dial.</i> Illustrated. $1.00 +net.</p> + + +<h4>Causes and Results of the War</h4> + + +<h4>Diplomatic</h4> + +<h2>THE DIPLOMACY OF THE WAR OF 1914: The Beginnings of the War</h2> + +<h3>ELLERY C. STOWELL</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The most complete statement that has been given."—<span class="smcap">Lord +Bryce</span>. "The whole tangled web of diplomacy is made crystal +clear in this really statesmanlike book."—<i>New York Times</i>, +$5.00 net.</p></div> + + +<h2>PAN-GERMANISM</h2> + +<h3>ROLAND G. USHER</h3> + +<p>The war has borne out in a remarkable way the accuracy of this analysis +of the game of world politics that preceded the resort to arms. $1.75 +net.</p> + + +<h2>THIRTY YEARS</h2> + +<h3>SIR THOMAS BARCLAY</h3> + +<p>The story of the forming of the Entente between France and England told +by the man largely responsible for its existence. $3.50 net.</p> + + +<h4>Financial</h4> + +<h2>THE RULING CASTE AND FRENZIED TRADE IN GERMANY</h2> + +<h3>MAURICE MILLIOUD</h3> + +<p>Shows the part played by the over-extension of German trade in bringing +on the war. $1.00 net.</p> + + +<h2>THE AUDACIOUS WAR</h2> + +<h3>C. W. BARRON</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>An analysis of the commercial and financial aspects of the +war by one of America's keenest business men. "Not only of +prime importance but of breathless interest."—<i>Philadelphia +Public Ledger.</i> $1.00 net.</p></div> + + +<h4><i>America and the War</i></h4> + + +<h4>The Diplomatic Aspects</h4> + +<h2>THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE</h2> + +<h3>ROLAND G. USHER</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The most cogent analysis of national prospects and +possibilities any student of world politics has yet +written."—<i>Boston Herald.</i> $1.75 net.</p></div> + + +<h4>The Military Aspects</h4> + +<h2>ARE WE READY?</h2> + +<h3>H. D. WHEELER</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A sane constructive study of our unpreparedness for war. +"You have performed a real service to the American +people."—<span class="smcap">Henry T. Stimson</span>, Former Secretary of War. $1.50 +net.</p></div> + + +<h4>The Moral Aspects</h4> + + +<h2>THE ROAD TOWARD PEACE</h2> + +<h3>CHARLES W. ELIOT</h3> + +<p>"Few writers have discussed the way and means of establishing peace and +friendly relations among nations with more sanity and far-reaching +estimate of values."—<i>Detroit Free Press.</i> $1.00 net.</p> + + +<h2>GERMANY VERSUS CIVILIZATION</h2> + +<h3>WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER</h3> + +<p>A biting indictment of Prussianism and an analysis of the meaning of the +war to America. $1.00 net.</p> + +<h2>COUNTER-CURRENTS</h2> + +<h3>AGNES REPPLIER</h3> + +<p>Dealing mainly with issues arising from the war, these essays will take +their place among the most brilliant of contemporary comment. $1.25 net.</p> + + +<h4><i>Miscellaneous</i></h4> + + +<h4>Fiction</h4> + +<h2>THE FIELD OF HONOUR</h2> + +<h3>H. FIELDING-HALL</h3> + +<p>Short stories dealing with the spirit of England at war. "Admirably +written without one superfluous word to mar the directness of their +appeal."—<i>New York Times.</i> $1.50 net.</p> + + +<h4>Poetry</h4> + +<h2>A SONG OF THE GUNS</h2> + +<h3>GILBERT FRANKAU</h3> + +<p>Vivid, powerful verse written to the roar of guns on the western front, +by a son of Frank Danby, the novelist.</p> + + +<h4>Biography</h4> + +<h2>KITCHENER, ORGANIZER OF VICTORY</h2> + +<h3>HAROLD BEGBIE</h3> + +<p>The first full and satisfactory account of the life and deeds of +England's great War Minister. <i>Suppressed in England for its frankness.</i> +Illustrated. $1.25.</p> + + +<h4>History</h4> + +<h2>IS WAR DIMINISHING?</h2> + +<h3>FREDERICK ADAMS WOOD, M.D., AND ALEXANDER BALTZLEY</h3> + +<p>The first complete and authoritative study of the question of whether +warfare has increased or diminished in the last five centuries. $1.00 +net.</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of the Third French Republic, by +C. H. C. 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H. C. Wright + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of the Third French Republic + +Author: C. H. C. Wright + +Release Date: June 6, 2010 [EBook #32715] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY--THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + +A HISTORY OF THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC + +BY + +C. H. C. WRIGHT + +_Professor of the French Language and Literature in Harvard University_ + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS + +[Illustration] + +BOSTON AND NEW YORK +HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + +COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY CHARLES H. C. WRIGHT + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + +_Published May 1916_ + + +TO + +MY WIFE + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +I. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 1 + +II. THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR--THE GOVERNMENT OF +NATIONAL DEFENCE (SEPTEMBER, 1870, TO FEBRUARY, +1871). 11 + +III. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADOLPHE THIERS (FEBRUARY, +1871, TO MAY, 1873). 31 + +IV. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARECHAL DE MAC-MAHON +(MAY, 1873, TO JANUARY, 1879). 50 + +V. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JULES GREVY (JANUARY, +1879, TO DECEMBER, 1887). 75 + +VI. THE ADMINISTRATION OF SADI CARNOT (DECEMBER, +1887, TO JUNE, 1894). 96 + +VII. THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JEAN CASIMIR-PERIER (JUNE, +1894, TO JANUARY, 1895) AND OF FELIX FAURE +(JANUARY, 1895, TO FEBRUARY, 1899). 115 + +VIII. THE ADMINISTRATION OF EMILE LOUBET (FEBRUARY, +1899, TO FEBRUARY, 1906). 134 + +IX. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARMAND FALLIERES (FEBRUARY, +1906, TO FEBRUARY, 1913). 159 + +X. THE ADMINISTRATION OF RAYMOND POINCARE (FEBRUARY, +1913-). 176 + +APPENDIX: PRESIDING OFFICERS OF FRENCH CABINETS. 187 + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. 193 + +INDEX. 199 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +RAYMOND POINCARE _Frontispiece_ + +ADOLPHE THIERS 32 + +EDME-PATRICE-MAURICE DE MAC-MAHON 50 + +LEON GAMBETTA 70 + +JULES FERRY 78 + +SADI CARNOT 96 + +MARIE-GEORGES PICQUART 124 + +RENE WALDECK-ROUSSEAU 136 + + + +[Illustration: Raymond Poincare] + + + + +A HISTORY OF THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR + + +Two men were largely responsible, each in his own way, for the third +French Republic, Napoleon III and Bismarck. The one, endeavoring partly +at his wife's instigation to renew the prestige of a weakening Empire, +and the other, furthering the ambitions of the Prussian Kingdom, set in +motion the forces which culminated in the Fourth of September. + +The causes of the downfall of the Empire can be traced back several +years. Napoleon III was, at heart, a man of peace and had, in all +sincerity, soon after his accession, uttered the famous saying: +"L'empire, c'est la paix." But the military glamour of the Napoleonic +name led the nephew, like the uncle, into repeated wars. These had, in +most cases, been successful, exceptions, such as the unfortunate Mexican +expedition, seeming negligible. They had sometimes even resulted in +territorial aggrandizement. Napoleon III was, therefore, desirous of +establishing once for all the so-called "natural" frontiers of France +along the Rhine by the annexation of those Rhenish provinces which, +during the First Empire and before, had for a score of years been part +of the French nation. + +On the other hand, though France was still considered the leading +continental power, and though its military superiority seemed +unassailable, the imperial regime was unquestionably growing "stale." +The Emperor himself, always a mystical fatalist rather than the hewer of +his own fortune, felt the growing inertia of his final malady. A +lavishly luxurious court had been imitated by a pleasure-loving capital. +This had brought in its train relaxed standards of governmental morals +and had seriously weakened the fibre of many military commanders. +Outwardly the Empire seemed as glorious as ever, and in 1867 France +invited the world to a gorgeous exposition in the "Ville-lumiere." But +Paris was more emotional year by year, and the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud +were dominated by a narrow-minded and spoiled Empress. Court intrigues +were rife and drawing-room generals were to be found in real life, as +well as in Offenbach's "Grande Duchesse." But nobody, except perhaps +Napoleon himself, realized how the Empire had declined. The Empress +merely felt that it was time to do something stirring, and, without +necessarily waging war, to assert again the pre-eminence in Europe of +France, weakened in 1866 by the unexpected outcome of the rivalry +between Austria and Prussia for preponderance among the German States. + +Beyond the eastern frontier of France a nation was growing in ambition +and power. Prussia still remembered the warlike achievements of +Frederick the Great, although since those days its military efficiency +had at times undergone a decline. But now, under the reign of King +William, guided by a vigorous minister, Bismarck, an example, whatever +his admirers may say, of the brutal and unscrupulous _Junker_, the +Prussian Government had for some time tried to impose its leadership on +the other German States. Some of these were far from anxious to accept +it. In the furtherance of Prussian schemes, Bismarck had been able to +inflict a diplomatic rebuff on Napoleon, as well as a severe military +defeat on Austria. + +In 1866, Prussia won from Austria the important victory of Koeniggraetz or +Sadowa, and thereby asserted its leadership. The outcome was a check to +Napoleon, who had expected a different result. Moreover, by it Bismarck +was encouraged to pursue his plans for the consolidation of Germany +under a still more openly acknowledged Prussian supremacy. A crafty and +utterly unscrupulous diplomat, he was able to mislead Napoleon and his +unskilful ministers. + +Soon after Sadowa the Emperor tried to obtain territorial compensation +from Prussia. He wished, in return for recognition of Prussia's new +position and of the projected union of North and South Germany minus +Austria, to obtain the cession of territories on the left bank of the +Rhine, or an alliance for the conquest and annexation of Belgium to +France. Such schemes having failed, Napoleon tried next to satisfy +French jingoism by the acquisition of the Duchy of Luxembourg. This move +resulted only in securing the evacuation by its Prussian garrison of the +Luxembourg fortress and the neutralization of the duchy. From that time +on, tension increased between France and Prussia. Bismarck was, indeed, +more anxious for war than Napoleon. He suspected the weakness of the +French Empire, he despised its leaders, he realized the advance in +military efficiency of his own country, and his aim was unswerving to +establish a Prussianized German Empire at the cost, if possible, of the +downfall of France. As a matter of fact, France, as now, was far from +being permeated with militarism and, a few months before the war in +1870, the military budget was actually reduced. + +The occasion for a dispute arrived with the suggested candidacy of +Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a German prince related to the King +of Prussia, to the crown of Spain. As early as 1868, intrigues had begun +to put a Prussian on the Spanish throne, but Napoleon had not as yet +been disturbed. It was not until 1870 that he took the matter seriously. +In July, Prince Leopold accepted the crown, egged on by Bismarck, and +with the fiction of the approval of King William as head of the +Hohenzollerns, as distinguished from his position as King of Prussia. + +At that time the French Emperor was in precarious health and scarcely in +full control of his powers. The French people at large were pacifically +inclined and would have asked for nothing better than to remain at home +instead of fighting about a foreigner's candidacy to an alien throne. +But, unfortunately, the Empress Eugenie was for war. The Government, +too, was in the hands of second-rate and hesitating diplomats. Emile +Ollivier, the chief of the Cabinet, was an orator more than a statesman, +and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the duc de Gramont, was a conceited +mediocrity more and more involved in his own mistakes. In consequence, +the attitude of the Government was not so much deliberate desire for war +as provocative bluster, of which Bismarck was quick to take advantage. +The Cabinet was egged on by Eugenie's adherents, the militants, who had +been looking for an insult since Sadowa, and by obstreperous journalists +and noisy boulevard mobs, whose manifestations were unfortunately taken, +even by the Corps legislatif, for the voice of France. + +In consequence, blunder after blunder was made. The ministers worked at +cross-purposes, without due consultation and without consideration of +the effect of their actions on an inflamed public opinion or on +prospective European alliances. Stated in terms of diplomatic procedure, +the aim of the French Cabinet was to humiliate Prussia by forcing its +Government to acknowledge a retreat. King William was not seeking war +and was probably willing to make honorable concessions. Bismarck, on the +contrary, desired war, if it could be under favorable diplomatic +auspices, and the Hohenzollern candidacy was a direct provocation. He +wanted France to seem the aggressor, in view of the effect both on +neutral Europe, and particularly on the South German States, which he +wished to draw into alliance under the menace of French attack. + +The French Ambassador to the King of Prussia, Benedetti, was instructed +to demand the withdrawal of Prince Leopold's candidacy. This demand +followed a very arrogant statement to the Corps legislatif, on July 6, +by the duc de Gramont. The assumption was that Prince Leopold's presence +on the Spanish throne would be dangerous to the honor and interests of +France, by exposing the country on two sides to Prussian influence. +King William was, on the whole, willing to make a concession to avoid +international complications, but he obviously wished not to appear to +act under pressure. M. Benedetti went to Ems and, on July 9, he laid the +French demands before the King. After long-drawn-out discussion the +French Government asked for a categorical reply by July 12. On that day +the father of Prince Leopold, Prince Antony of Hohenzollern, in a +telegram to Spain, formally withdrew his son's name. The King had +planned to give his consent to this apparently _spontaneous_ action on +the part of the candidate's family, when officially informed. Thus +France would obtain its ends and the King himself would not be involved. + +Unfortunately the thoughtlessness of the head of the French Ministry +spoiled everything. Instead of waiting a day for the King's +ratification, Emile Ollivier, desirous also of peace, hastened to make +public the telegram from the Prince of Hohenzollern. Thereupon the +leaders of the war party in the Corps legislatif at once pointed out +that the telegram was not accompanied by the signature of the Prussian +monarch, declared that the Cabinet had been outwitted, and clamored for +definite guarantees. Stung by the charge of inefficiency, the would-be +statesman Gramont immediately accentuated his stipulations and demanded +that the King of Prussia guarantee not to support in future the +candidacy of a Hohenzollern to the Spanish throne. + +Matters were rapidly reaching an _impasse_, and Bismarck was +correspondingly elated, because France was appearing to Europe a +trouble-maker. The duc de Gramont and Emile Ollivier committed the error +of dictating a letter to the Prussian Ambassador for him to transmit to +the King, to be in turn sent back as his reply. King William was +offended by this high-handed procedure. He had already told comte +Benedetti at Ems that a satisfactory letter was on its way from Prince +Antony and had promised him another interview upon its arrival. After +receiving the dispatch from his ambassador at Paris communicating +Gramont's formulas, he sent word to Benedetti that Prince Leopold was no +longer a candidate and that the incident was closed. Nor was the King +willing to grant Benedetti's urgent requests for an interview (July +13). + +The King and the French Ambassador had remained perfectly courteous, and +the next day, at the railway station, they took leave of each other with +marks of respect. Things were not yet hopeless, until Bismarck, by a +trick of which he afterwards bragged, caused a dispatch to be published +implying that Benedetti had been so persistent in pushing his demands +that King William had been obliged to snub him. The French were led to +believe that their representative had been insulted, and neutrals sided +with Prussia as the aggrieved party. After deliberation the French +Ministry decided on war and the decision was blindly ratified by the +Corps legislatif on July 15. At this meeting Emile Ollivier made his +famous remark that the Ministry accepted responsibility for the war with +a "clear conscience." His actual words, "le coeur leger," seemed, +however, to imply "with a light heart", and thereafter weighed heavily +against him in the minds of Frenchmen. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR--THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE + +September, 1870, to February, 1871 + + +On July 19 the French Embassy at Berlin declared a state of war. Paris +was wild with enthusiasm and eager for an advance on Berlin. The +provinces were for the most part cool, but accepted the war calmly +because they were assured of an easy victory. The leaders of the two +nations had for each other equal contempt. "Ce n'est pas un homme +serieux," Napoleon had once said of Bismarck, and Bismarck thought +Napoleon "stupid and sentimental." Meanwhile each nation had eyes on the +territory of the other: France was ready to claim the Rhine frontier; +Prussia wanted all it could get, and certainly Alsace and Lorraine. The +idea, so often repeated by the Germans since the war, that these +provinces were annexed because they had once been German, was not in +Bismarck's mind,--"that is a Professor's reason," he said.[1] He wanted +Strassburg because its commanding position and the wedge of Wissembourg +could cut off northern from southern Germany. The frontier of the Vosges +was as desirable to the Germans as the Rhine to the French. + +From the beginning all went wrong in France. The Government found itself +left in the lurch by the European states whose alliance it had expected. +Moreover, mobilization proceeded slowly and in utter confusion. In spite +of Marshal Le Boeuf's famous exclamation ("Il ne manquera pas un +bouton de guetre"), never did a nation enter on a war less prepared than +the French. On the other hand, all Germany, well trained and ready, +sprang to the side of Prussia. The whole military force was grouped in +three armies--under Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, and the Crown +Prince. But, meanwhile, it seemed necessary to the French to give a +semblance of military achievement. The Emperor had started from Paris on +July 28 leaving the Empress as regent. On August 2, a vain military +display with largely superior forces was made across the frontier at +Saarbruecken, a practically unprotected place was taken, and the Emperor +was able to send home word that the Prince Imperial had received his +"baptism of fire" and that the soldiers wept at seeing him calmly pick +up a bullet. The same day King William took command of the German forces +at Mainz, and on August 4 the army of the Crown Prince entered Alsace +and defeated at Wissembourg the division of about twelve thousand men of +General Abel Douay, who was killed. On the 6th Mac-Mahon, with a larger +force, met the still more numerous Germans somewhat farther back at +Woerth, Froeschwiller, and Reichsoffen, and was utterly routed with a loss +of over ten thousand in killed, wounded, and taken. Alsace was thus +completely exposed to the enemy, and the road was open to Luneville and +Nancy. On the same day, German armies under Steinmetz and Prince +Frederick Charles crossed into Lorraine at Saarbruecken and engaged the +troops of the French general Frossard at Forbach and Spicheren, +inflicting on them a severe repulse. Meanwhile Frossard's superior, +Bazaine, though not far away, did not move a finger to help him. "If +Frossard wanted the baton of marshal of France he could win it alone." + +The news of these disasters was a terrible shock to Paris. The "liberal" +Ollivier Cabinet was overthrown and replaced by a reactionary one led by +General Cousin-Montauban, comte de Palikao. The Emperor withdrew from +military leadership and Marshal Bazaine received supreme command. +Bazaine was a brave soldier, but a poor general-in-chief, and withal a +self-seeking man, incompetent to deal with the difficulties in which +France found itself. He was perhaps not a conscious traitor in the great +disaster which soon came to pass, but he thought more of himself than of +his country. At the time we are concerned with he was considered the +coming man. Meanwhile Mac-Mahon, cut off from Bazaine's main army, fell +back, between August 6 and August 17, to Chalons. Bazaine was apparently +without intelligent strategic plans. He professed to be desirous of +concentrating at Verdun, but was afraid to get out of reach of Metz. He +won first an indecisive battle at Borny (August 14), which was +unproductive of any concrete advantage. On August 16, he let himself be +turned back, by an enemy only half as numerous, at Rezonville +(Vionville, Mars-la-Tour). On the 18th, he encountered, on the +contrary, a much larger force at Saint-Privat (Gravelotte) and let +himself be cooped up in Metz. Critics of Bazaine say that he could have +turned both Rezonville and Gravelotte to the advantage of the French. + +The familiar military uncertainties now began to show themselves in the +movements of Mac-Mahon and his troops. The armies of Steinmetz and of +Frederick Charles were united under command of the latter to beleaguer +Metz, and a smaller force under Prince Albert of Saxony was thrown off +to cooperate with the army of the Crown Prince in its advance on Paris. +Mac-Mahon had collected about one hundred and twenty thousand men, and +Napoleon, without real authority except as a meddler, was with him. The +plan was originally to fall back for the protection of Paris, but the +Empress-Regent was afraid to have a defeated Emperor return to the +capital lest revolution ensue, and Palikao urged a swift advance to +rescue Metz, crushing Prince Albert of Saxony on the way, taking +Frederick Charles between the two fires of rescuers and besieged, with +the Crown Prince still too far away to be dangerous. Meanwhile +Mac-Mahon moved to Reims, which was neither on the direct road to Paris +nor to Metz, and at last started to the rescue of Bazaine by the +roundabout route of Montmedy, continually hesitating and retracing his +steps. On receiving news of his progress, the armies of the Crown Prince +and of Prince Albert converged northward. Mac-Mahon's right wing, under +General de Failly, was surprised at Beaumont, and finally the French +army in disorder drew up in most unfavorable positions between the Meuse +and the Belgian frontier, to face a foe twice as numerous and already +nearly completely surrounding it. The battle of Sedan broke out on +September 1. Mac-Mahon was wounded early in the fight and gave over the +command to Ducrot, in turn superseded by Wimpffen, already designated by +the Ministry to replace Mac-Mahon in case of accident. After a fierce +battle it fell to General de Wimpffen to capitulate on September 2. By +the disaster of Sedan the Germans captured the Emperor, a marshal of +France, and the whole of one of its two armies. + +The news of the overwhelming defeat of Sedan struck Paris like a +thunderbolt. Jules Favre proposed to the Corps legislatif the overthrow +of Napoleon and of his dynasty; Thiers, who favored the restoration of +the Orleans family, wished the convocation of a Constituent Assembly; +the comte de Palikao asked for a provisional governing commission of +which he should be the lieutenant-general. But, before anything was +done, the Paris mob invaded the legislative chamber. Gambetta, with the +majority of the Paris Deputies, went to the Hotel de Ville, and to +prevent a more radical set from seizing the Government, proclaimed the +Republic (September 4). A Government of National Defence was constituted +of which General Trochu became President, Jules Favre Minister of +Foreign Affairs, and Gambetta Minister of the Interior. Thiers was not a +member, but gave his support. Eugenie escaped from the Tuileries to the +home of her American dentist, Dr. Evans, and then fled to England. + +Jules Favre was innocent enough to think that the Germans would be +satisfied with the overthrow of Napoleon, and he was rash enough to +declare that France would not yield "an inch of its territory or a +stone of its fortresses." But, in an interview with Bismarck at +Ferrieres, on September 19, he realized the oppressiveness of the German +demands. The rhetorical and emotional, even tearful, Jules Favre was +faced by a harsh and unrelenting conqueror, and the meeting ended +without an agreement. Meanwhile Paris was invested by the German forces +of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Saxony after a defeat of some +French troops at Chatillon. William, Bismarck, and Moltke took up their +station at Versailles. Europe, made suspicious by the numerous changes +of government in France in the nineteenth century, and moved also by +selfish reasons, refused its aid and looked on with indifference. Thiers +made a fruitless quest through Europe for practical aid, bringing home +only meaningless expressions of sympathy. + +Unfortunately even a number of people in the provinces, relaxed by the +factitious prosperity of the imperial regime, were too willing to yield +to the invaders. Where resistance was brave it appeared fruitless: +Strassburg capitulated on September 28, after the Germans had burned +its library and bombarded the cathedral. A scratch army on the Loire, +under La Motterouge, was beaten at Artenay (October 10) and had to +evacuate Orleans. On October 18, the Germans captured Chateaudun after +heroic resistance by National Guards and sharpshooters. + +Though one of the two great French armies was in captivity and the other +besieged in Metz, the idea of submission never for a moment entered +Gambetta's head. Paris was under the command of Trochu, patriotic and +brave, but military critic rather than leader, discouraged from the +beginning, and unable to take advantage of opportunities. A delegation +of the Government of National Defence had established itself at Tours to +avoid the German besiegers, but two of its members, Cremieux and +Glais-Bizoin, were elderly and weak. Admiral Fourichon was the most +competent. Gambetta escaped from Paris by balloon on October 7, and, +reaching Tours in safety, made himself by his energy and patriotic +inspiration, practically dictator and organizer of resistance to the +invaders. + +Leon Gambetta, a young lawyer politician of thirty-two, of +inexhaustible energy and impassioned eloquence, was the son of an +Italian grocer settled at Cahors. With the help of his assistant Charles +de Freycinet, he levied and armed in four months six hundred thousand +men, an average of five thousand a day. Everything was done in haste and +unsatisfactorily,--the army of General Chanzy was equipped with guns of +fifteen different patterns. But Gambetta did the task of a giant, in +spite of another crushing blow to France, the surrender of Metz. + +Bazaine had let himself be cooped up in Metz. Instead of being moved by +patriotism, he thought only of his own interests and ambitions. In the +midst of the cataclysm which had fallen on France he aspired to hold the +position of power. The Emperor gone and the Republic destined, Bazaine +thought, to fall, he would be left at the head of the only army. His +would be the task of treating for peace with Germany, and then he would +perhaps become in France regent instead of the Empress, or +Marshal-Lieutenant of the Empire, like the Spanish marshals. So he +neglected favorable military opportunities, and dallied over plans of +peace, while Bismarck misled him with fruitless propositions or false +emissaries like the adventurer Regnier. Finally, on October 27, Bazaine +had to surrender Metz, with three marshals (himself, Canrobert, and Le +Boeuf), sixty generals, six thousand officers, and one hundred and +seventy-three thousand men. France was deprived of her last trained +forces, and the besieging army of Frederick Charles was set free to help +in the conquest of France. After the war Bazaine was condemned to death, +by court-martial, for treason. His sentence was commuted to life +imprisonment, but he afterwards escaped from the fortress in which he +was confined and died in obscurity and disgrace at Madrid. + +No sooner did the news of the capitulation of Metz reach Paris than a +regrettable affair took place. There was much dissatisfaction with the +indecision of the Provisional Government, and, on October 31, a mob +invaded the Hotel de Ville and arrested the chief members of the +commission. Fortunately they were released later the same day and a +plebiscite of November 3 confirmed the powers of the Government of +National Defence. Fortunately, too, within a few days came news of the +first real success of the French during the war, the battle of Coulmiers +(November 9). + +Gambetta had succeeded during October in organizing the Army of the +Loire which, under General d'Aurelle de Paladines, defeated the Bavarian +forces of von der Thann at Coulmiers and recaptured Orleans. The plan +was to push on to Paris and the objections of d'Aurelle were overcome by +Gambetta. But the fall of Metz had released German reinforcements. After +an unsuccessful contest by the right wing at Beaune-la-Rolande (November +28), and a partial victory at Villepion, the French were defeated in +turn on December 2 at Loigny or Patay (left wing), on December 3 at +Artenay. The Germans reoccupied Orleans and the first Army of the Loire +was dispersed. The Government moved from Tours to Bordeaux. + +After Coulmiers General Trochu had planned a sortie from Paris to meet +the Army of the Loire. This advance was under command of General Ducrot, +but was delayed by trouble with pontoon bridges. The various battles of +the Marne (November 30-December 2) culminated in the terrible fight and +repulse of Villiers and Champigny. In the north, a small army hastily +brought together under temporary command of General Favre was defeated +at Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens (November 27). + +The last phase of the Franco-Prussian War begins with the crushing of +the Army of the Loire and the check of the advance to Champigny. With +unwearied tenacity Gambetta tried to reorganize the Army of the Loire. A +portion became the second Army of the Loire or of the West, under +Chanzy. The rest, under Bourbaki, became the Army of the East. Faidherbe +tried to revive the Army of the North. + +To Chanzy, on the whole the most capable French general of the war, was +assigned the task of trying, with a smaller force, what d'Aurelle had +already failed in accomplishing, a drive on Paris. In this task Bourbaki +and Faidherbe were expected by Gambetta to cooperate. Instead of +succeeding, Chanzy, bravely fighting, was driven back, first down the +Loire, in the long-contested battle of Josnes (Villorceau or Beaugency) +(December 7-10), then up the valley of the tributary Loir to Vendome +and Le Mans. There the army, reduced almost to a mob, made a new stand. +In a battle between January 10 and 12, this army was again routed and +what was left thrown back to Laval. + +Faidherbe, taking the offensive in the north, fought an indecisive +contest at Pont-Noyelles (December 23) and took Bapaume (January 3). But +his endeavor to proceed to the assistance of Paris was frustrated, he +was unable to relieve Peronne, which fell on January 9, and was defeated +at Saint-Quentin on January 19. + +Bourbaki, in spite of his reputation, showed himself inferior to Chanzy +and Faidherbe. He let his army lose morale by his hesitation, and then +accepted with satisfaction Freycinet's plan to move east upon Germany +instead of to the rescue of Paris. On the eastern frontier Colonel +Denfert-Rochereau was tenaciously holding Belfort, which was never +captured by the Germans during the whole war.[2] Bourbaki's +dishearteningly slow progress received no effective assistance from +Garibaldi. This Italian soldier of fortune, now somewhat in his +decline, had offered his services to France and was in command of a +small body of guerillas and sharpshooters, the Army of the Vosges. With +alternate periods of inactivity, failure, and success, Garibaldi perhaps +did more harm than good to France. He monopolized the services of +several thousand men, and yet, through his prestige as a distinguished +foreign volunteer, he could not be brought under control. Bourbaki won +the battle of Villersexel on January 9. Pushing on to Belfort he was +defeated only a few miles from the town in the battle of Hericourt, or +Montbeliard, along the river Lisaine. The army, now transformed into +panic-stricken fugitives, made its way painfully through bitter cold and +snow, and Bourbaki tried to commit suicide. He was succeeded by General +Clinchant. When Paris capitulated, on January 28, and an armistice was +signed, this Army of the East was omitted. Jules Favre at Paris failed +to notify Gambetta in the provinces of this exception, and the army, +hearing of the armistice, ceased its flight, only to be relentlessly +followed by the Germans. Finally, on February 1, the remnants of the +army fled across the Swiss frontier and found safety on neutral soil. + +Meanwhile, in Paris the tightening of the Prussian lines had made the +food problem more and more difficult, and the population were reduced to +small rations and unpalatable diet. After Champigny the German general +von Moltke communicated with the besieged, informing them of the defeat +of Orleans, and the means seemed opened for negotiations. But the +opportunity was rejected, and the Government even refused to be +represented at an international conference, then opening in London, +because of its unwillingness to apply to Bismarck for a safe-conduct for +its representative. A chance to bring the condition of France before the +Powers was neglected. Between December 21 and 26, a sally to Le Bourget +was driven back, and, on the next day, the bombardment of the forts +began. On January 5, the Prussian batteries opened fire on the city +itself. On January 18, the Germans took a spectacular revenge for the +conquests of Louis XIV by the coronation of King William of Prussia as +Emperor of the united German people. The ceremony took place in the +great Galerie des Glaces of Louis's magnificent palace of Versailles. +The very next day the triumph of the Germans received its consecration, +not only by the battle of Saint-Quentin (already mentioned), but by the +repulse of the last offensive movement from Paris. To placate the Paris +population an advance was made on Versailles with battalions largely +composed of National Guards. At Montretout and Buzenval they were routed +and driven back in a panic to Paris. General Trochu was forced to resign +the military governorship of Paris, though by a strange contradiction he +kept the presidency of the Government of National Defence, and was +replaced by General Vinoy. On January 22, a riot broke out in the +capital in which blood was shed in civil strife. Finally, on January 28, +Jules Favre had to submit to the conqueror's terms. Paris capitulated +and the garrison was disarmed, with the exception of a few thousand +regulars to preserve order, and the National Guard; a war tribute was +imposed on the city and an armistice of twenty-one days was signed to +permit the election and gathering of a National Assembly to pass on +terms of peace. With inexcusable carelessness Jules Favre neglected to +warn Gambetta in the provinces that this armistice began for the rest of +France only on the thirty-first and that, as already stated, the Army of +the East was excepted from its provisions. + +Gambetta was furious at the surrender and at the presumption of Paris to +decide for the provinces. He preached a continuation of the war, and the +intervention of Bismarck was necessary to prevent him from excluding +from the National Assembly all who had had any connection with the +imperial regime. Jules Simon was sent from Paris to counteract +Gambetta's efforts. The latter yielded before the prospect of civil war, +withdrew from power, and, on February 8, elections were held for the +National Assembly. + +The downfall of what had been considered the chief military nation of +Europe was due to many involved causes. The Empire was responsible for +the _debacle_ and the Government of National Defence was unable to +create everything out of nothing. Many people were ready to be +discouraged after a first defeat, and few realized what Germany's +demands were going to be. The imperial army was insufficiently equipped +and the majority of its generals were inefficient and lacking in +initiative: there was no preparation, no system, little discipline. + +During the period of National Defence the members of the Government +themselves were usually wanting in experience and in diplomacy, and the +badly trained armies made up of raw recruits were liable to panics or +unable to follow up an advantage. There was jealousy, mistrust, and +frequent unwillingness to subordinate politics to patriotism, or, at any +rate, to make allowances for other forms of patriotism than one's own. +Gambetta and Jules Favre were primarily orators and tribunes and +indulged in too many wordy proclamations, in which habit they were +followed by General Trochu. The patriotism and enthusiasm of Gambetta +were undeniable, but he was imbued with the principles and memories of +the French Revolution, including the efficacy of national volunteers, +the ability of France to resist all Europe, and the subordination of +military to civil authority. Consequently, in a time of stress he nagged +the generals and interfered, and gave free rein to Freycinet to do the +same. They upset plans made by experienced generals, and sent civilians +to spy over them, with power to retire them from command. They were, +moreover, trying to thrust a republic down the throats of a hostile +majority of the population, for a large proportion of those not +Bonapartists were in favor of a monarchy. The wonder is, therefore, that +France was able to do so much. M. de Freycinet was not boasting when he +wrote later, "Alone, without allies, without leaders, without an army, +deprived for the first time of communication with its capital, it +resisted for five months, with improvised resources, a formidable enemy +that the regular armies of the Empire, though made up of heroic +soldiers, had not been able to hold back five weeks."[3] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Moritz Busch, _Bismarck_, vol. 1, chap. 1. + +[2] He surrendered by order of the Government. The isolated incident of +the resistance of the town of Bitche through all the war is no less +noteworthy. + +[3] _La guerre en province_, quoted by Welschinger, _La guerre de 1870_, +vol. II, p. 295. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADOLPHE THIERS + +February, 1871, to May, 1873 + + +The elections were held in hot haste. The short time allowed before the +convening of the Assembly made the usual campaign impossible. It met at +Bordeaux on February 13, 1871. The peace party was in very considerable +majority, and though Gambetta received the distinction of a multiple +election in nine separate districts, Thiers was chosen in twenty-six. +The radicals and advocates of guerilla warfare and of a "guerre a +outrance" found themselves few in numbers. Many of the representatives +had only local or rural reputation. They were new to parliamentary life, +and in the majority of cases were averse to a permanent republican form +of government. They would have preferred a monarchy, but they were ready +to accept a provisional republic which would incur the task of settling +the war with Germany and bear the onus of defeat. They were especially +suspicious of Paris, and hostile to it as the home of fickleness, of +irresponsibility, and of mob rule. They were largely provincial lawyers +and rural landed gentry, conservative and clerical, who felt that too +much importance had been usurped by the Parisian Government of National +Defence. + +[Illustration: ADOLPHE THIERS] + +The new Assembly, therefore, gradually fell into several groups. On the +conservative side came the Extreme Right, made up of out-and-out +Legitimists, believing in absolutism and the divine right of kings; the +Right, composed of monarchists desirous of conciliating the old regime +with the demands of modern times and of making it a practical form of +government; the Right Centre, consisting of constitutional monarchists +and followers of the Orleans branch of the house of Bourbon. Among the +anti-republicans the Bonapartists were almost negligible. Next came the +Left Centre of conservative Republicans, the republican Left, and the +radical Union republicaine, partisans of Gambetta and advanced +"reformers." + +At the first public session of the Assembly Jules Grevy was chosen +presiding officer. A former leader of the opposition to the Empire, he +had not participated in affairs since the Fourth of September, and, +therefore, had not yet identified himself with any set. Among the +Republicans he was averse to Gambetta and remained so even when the +latter became moderate. On February 17, Adolphe Thiers, the +"peace-maker," was by an almost unanimous vote elected "Chief of the +Executive Power of the French Republic." It was he who, thirty years +before, had fortified Paris that had now fallen only by famine, who had +opposed the war when it might yet have been averted, who had travelled +over Europe to defend the interests of France, who had been elected +representative by the choice of twenty-six departments. + +M. Thiers formed a coalition cabinet representing different shades of +political feeling, and in one of his early speeches, on March 10, he +formulated a plan of party truce for the purpose of national +reorganization. This plan was acquiesced in by the Assembly and bears in +history the name of the Compact of Bordeaux (_pacte de Bordeaux_). +France was to continue under a republican government, without injury to +the later claims of any party. Thiers, himself, as a former Orleanist, +advocated, at least in his relations with the monarchists, a +Restoration, with the _sine qua non_ that an attempt should be made at a +fusion of the Legitimists and the Orleanists. Meanwhile he was the chief +executive official of a republic. + +But, even before the formulation of the truce of parties, Thiers was in +eager haste to settle the terms of peace with Germany before the +expiration of the armistice. The preliminaries were discussed between +Thiers and Bismarck at Versailles. The Germans were almost as anxious as +the French to see the end of the war, and the objections and delays of +Bismarck were partly tactical. Brief successive prolongations of the +armistice were obtained, and finally the preliminaries were signed on +February 26. Thiers made herculean efforts to keep for France Belfort, +which Bismark claimed, and finally succeeded on condition that the +German army should occupy Paris from March 1 to the ratification of the +preliminaries by the Assembly. France was to give up Alsace and a part +of Lorraine, including Metz, and pay an indemnity of five billion +francs. German troops were to occupy the conquered districts and +evacuate them progressively as the indemnity was paid. The peace +discussions afterwards continued at Brussels, and the final treaty was +signed at Frankfort on May 10, 1871. + +No sooner were the preliminaries signed than Thiers returned post-haste +to Bordeaux, and obtained an almost immediate assent (March 1), so that +the Germans were obliged to forego a large part of their plans for a +triumphal entry into Paris and a review by the Emperor. Only one body of +thirty thousand men marched in through one section and, two days later, +evacuated the city. + +The same meeting which ratified the preliminaries of peace officially +proclaimed the expulsion of the imperial dynasty and declared Napoleon +III responsible for the invasion, the ruin and dismemberment of France. +The same day also beheld the pathetic withdrawal of the representatives +of Alsace and of Lorraine, turned over to the conqueror. + +The misfortunes of France were far from ended. Paris was soon to break +out into rebellion under the eyes of the Germans still in possession of +many of the suburbs. The enemy looked on and saw Frenchman killing +Frenchman in civil war. + +It had become obvious that the division of administration between +Bordeaux and Paris was making government difficult. The Assembly, still +suspicious of Paris, decided to transfer its place of meeting to +Versailles. But Paris itself was in a state of nervous hysteria as a +result of the long and exhausting siege (_fievre obsidionale_). The +Paris proletariat were as jealous and suspicious of the Assembly as the +Assembly of them. The suggestion of a transfer to Versailles instead of +to Paris seemed a direct challenge. Versailles recalled too easily Louis +XIV and the Bourbons. The monarchical sympathies of the Assembly were, +moreover, well known, and the Parisians dreaded the restoration of +royalty. The people were hungry and penniless, and industry and commerce +had almost completely ceased. The city was full, besides, of soldiers +disarmed through the armistice and ready for riot. On the other hand, +the National Guards, a large body of semi-disciplined militia made up, +at least in part, of the dregs of the populace, had been allowed to +retain their weapons, and many of them gave their time to drunkenness, +loafing, and listening to agitators. Some rather injudicious +condemnations of leaders in the October riots merely aggravated the +dissatisfaction. All this led to the Commune. + +The leaders of the Commune were, some of them, sincere though visionary +reformers, whose hearts rankled at the sufferings of the poor and the +inequalities of wealth and privilege. The majority were mischief-makers +and cafe orators, loquacious but incompetent or inexperienced, without +definite plans and unfit to be leaders, some vicious and some dishonest. +The rank and file soon became a lawless mob, ready to burn and murder, +imitating, in their ignorant cult of "liberty," the worst phases of the +French Revolution and its Reign of Terror. Still, the Communards have +their admirers to-day, and, as the world advances in radicalism, it is +not unlikely that the Jacobin Charles Delescluze, the bloodthirsty Raoul +Rigault, and the brilliant and scholarly Gustave Flourens will be +considered heroic precursors. + +The idea of the Commune was decentralization. It was an experiment +aiming at a free and autonomous Paris serving as model for the other +self-governing communes of France, united merely for their common needs. +It amounted almost to the quasi-independence of each separate town. But +mixed up with the theorists of the Commune were countless anarchist +revolutionaries, followers of the teachings of Blanqui, as well as +admirers of the great Revolution which overthrew the old regime, and +socialists of various types. + +The germs of the movement which was to culminate in the Commune were +visible at an early hour. The dissatisfaction of the Radicals with the +moderation of the Government of National Defence, the riots of October +31 and January 22 were all symptoms of the discontent of the +proletariat. Indeed, the proclamation of the Republic, on September 4, +was itself an object lesson in illegality to the malcontents. Organized +dissatisfaction began to centre about the obstreperous and disorderly, +but armed and now "federated" National Guards. Manifestoes signed by +self-appointed committees of plebeian patriots appeared on the walls of +Paris. These committees finally merged into the "Comite central," or +were replaced by it. This committee advocated the trial and imprisonment +of the members of the Government of National Defence, and protested +against the disarmament of the National Guards and the entrance of the +Germans into Paris. + +The Government was almost helpless. The few regulars left under arms in +Paris were of doubtful reliance, and General d'Aurelle de Paladines, now +in command of the National Guards, was not obeyed. A certain number of +artillery guns in Paris had been paid for by popular subscription, and +the rumor spread at one time that these were to be turned over to the +Germans. The populace seized them and dragged them to different parts of +the city. + +The Government decided at last to act boldly and, on March 18, +dispatched General Lecomte with some troops to seize the guns at +Montmartre. But the mob surrounded the soldiers, and these mutinied and +refused to obey orders to fire, and arrested their own commander. Later +in the day General Lecomte was shot with General Clement Thomas, a +former commander of the National Guard, who rather thoughtlessly and +out of curiosity had mingled with the crowd and was recognized. + +Thus armed forces in Paris were in direct rebellion. Other outlying +quarters had also sprung into insurrection. M. Thiers, who had recently +arrived from Bordeaux, and the chief government officials quartered in +Paris, withdrew to Versailles. Paris had to be besieged again and +conquered by force of arms. + +In Paris the first elections of the Commune were held on March 26. On +April 3 an armed sally of the Communards towards Versailles was repulsed +with the loss of some of their chief leaders, including Flourens. +Meanwhile, the Army of Versailles had been organized and put under the +command of Mac-Mahon. Discipline was restored and the advance on Paris +began. + +As time passed in the besieged city the saner men were swept into the +background and reckless counsels prevailed. Some of the military leaders +were competent men, such as Cluseret, who had been a general in the +American army during the Civil War, or Rossel, a trained officer of +engineers. But many were foreign adventurers and soldiers of fortune: +Dombrowski, Wrobleski, La Cecilia. The civil administration grew into a +reproduction of the worst phases of the Reign of Terror. Frenzied women +egged on destruction and slaughter, and when at last the national troops +fought their way into the conquered city, it was amid the flaming ruins +of many of its proudest buildings and monuments. + +The siege lasted two months. On May 21, the Army of Versailles crossed +the fortifications and there followed the "Seven Days' Battle," a +street-by-street advance marked by desperate resistance by the +Communards and bloodthirsty reprisals by the Versaillais. Civil war is +often the most cruel and the Versailles troops, made up in large part of +men recently defeated by the Germans, were glad to conquer somebody. +Over seventeen thousand were shot down by the victors in this last week. +The French to-day are horrified and ashamed at the cruel massacres of +both sides and try to forget the Commune. Suffice it here to say that +the last serious resistance was made in the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise, +where those _federes_ taken arms in hand were lined up against a wall +and shot. Countless others, men, women, and children, herded together in +bands, were tried summarily and either executed, imprisoned, or deported +thousands of miles away to New Caledonia, until, years after, in 1879 +and 1880, the pacification of resentments brought amnesty to the +survivors.[4] + +Fortunately, M. Thiers had more inspiring tasks to deal with than the +repression of the Commune. One was the liberation of French soil from +German occupation, another the reorganization of the army. With +wonderful speed and energy the enormous indemnity was raised and +progressively paid, the Germans simultaneously evacuating sections of +French territory. By March, 1873, France was in a position to agree to +pay the last portion of the war tribute the following September (after +the fall of Thiers, as it proved), thus ridding its soil of the last +German many months earlier than had been provided for by the Treaty of +Frankfort. The recovery of France aroused the admiration of the +civilized world, and the anger of Bismarck, sorry not to have bled the +country more. He viewed also with suspicion the organization of the army +and the law of July, 1872, establishing practically universal military +service. He affected to see in it France's desire for early revenge for +the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. + +M. Thiers, the great leader, did not find his rule uncontested. Brought +into power as the indispensable man to guide the nation out of war, his +conceit was somewhat tickled and he wanted to remain necessary. Though +over seventy he had shown the energy and endurance of a man in his prime +joined to the wisdom and experience of a life spent in public service +and the study of history. Elected by an anti-Republican Assembly and +himself originally a Royalist, the formulator also of the Bordeaux +Compact, he began to feel, nevertheless, in all sincerity that a +conservative republic would be the best government, and his vanity made +him think himself its best leader. This conviction was intensified for +a while by his successful tactics in threatening to resign, when +thwarted, and thus bringing the Assembly to terms. But he tried the +scheme once too often. + +The majority in the Assembly was not, in fact, anxious to give free rein +to Thiers, and it had wanted to avoid committing itself definitely to a +republic. It wanted also to insure its own continuation as long as +possible, contrary to the wishes of advanced Republicans like Gambetta, +who declared that the National Assembly no longer stood for the +expression of the popular will and should give way to a real constituent +assembly to organize a permanent republic. + +The first endeavor of the Royalists was to bring about a restoration of +the monarchy. The princes of the Orleanist branch were readmitted to +France and restored to their privileges. A fusion between the two +branches of the house of Bourbon was absolutely necessary to accomplish +anything. The members of the younger or constitutionalist Orleans line, +and notably its leader, the comte de Paris, were disposed to yield to +the representative of the legitimist branch, the comte de Chambord. He +was an honorable and upright man, yet one who in statesmanship and +religion was unable to understand anything since the Revolution. He had +not been in France for over forty years, he was permeated with a +religious mystical belief not only in the divinity of royalty, but in +his own position as God-given (_Dieudonne_ was one of his names) and the +only saviour of France. Moreover, he could not forgive his cousins the +fact that their great-grandfather had voted for the execution of Louis +XVI. So he treated their advances haughtily, declined to receive the +comte de Paris, and issued a manifesto to the country proclaiming his +unwillingness to give up the white flag for the tricolor. Henry V could +not let anybody tear from his hand the white standard of Henry IV, of +Francis I, and of Jeanne d'Arc. + +Such mediaevalism dealt the monarchical cause a crushing blow. The +Royalists had already begun to look askance at M. Thiers and hinted that +his readiness to go on with the Republic was a tacit violation of the +Bordeaux Compact. Under the circumstances, however, his sincerity need +not be doubted in believing a republic the only outcome, and his +ambition or vanity may be excused for wishing to continue its leader. By +the Rivet-Vitet measure of August 31, 1871, M. Thiers, hitherto "chief +of executive power," was called "President of the French Republic." He +was to exercise his functions so long as the Assembly had not completed +its work and was to be responsible to the Assembly. Thus the legislative +body elected for an emergency was taking upon itself constituent +authority and was tending to perpetuate the Republic which the majority +disliked. + +From this time the tension grew greater between Thiers and the Assembly, +which begrudged him the credit for the negotiations still proceeding, +and already mentioned above, for the evacuation of France by the +Germans. It thwarted the wish of the Republicans to transfer the seat of +the executive and legislature to Paris. Thiers was, indeed, working away +from the Bordeaux Compact and was advocating a republic, though a +conservative one. This "treachery" the monarchists could not forgive, +though bye-elections were constantly increasing the Republican +membership. Thiers did not, on the other hand, welcome the advanced +republicanism of Gambetta declaring war on clericalism, and proclaiming +the advent of a new "social stratum" (_une couche sociale nouvelle_) for +the government of the nation. + +By the middle of 1872, Thiers was the open advocate of "la Republique +conservatrice," and this gradual transformation of a transitional +republic into a permanent one was what the monarchists could not accept. +So they declared open war on M. Thiers. On November 29, 1872, a +committee of thirty was appointed at Thiers's instigation to regulate +the functions of public authority and the conditions of ministerial +responsibility. This was inevitably another step toward the affirmation +of a permanent republic by the clearer specification of governmental +attributes. The majority of the committee were hostile to M. Thiers and +were determined to overthrow him. The Left was also growing dissatisfied +with his opposition to a dissolution. He found it increasingly difficult +to ride two horses. The committee of thirty wished to prevent Thiers +from exercising pressure on the Assembly by intervention in debates and +threats to resign. In February and March, 1873, it proposed that the +President should notify the Assembly by message of his intention to +speak, and the ensuing discussion was not to take place in his presence. +M. Thiers protested in vain against this red tape (_chinoiseries_). The +effect was to drive him more and more from the Assembly, where his +personal influence might be felt. + +The crisis became acute when Jules Grevy, President of the Assembly, a +partisan of Thiers, resigned his office after a disagreement on a +parliamentary matter. His successor, M. Buffet, at once rigorously +supported the hostile Right. In April an election in Paris brought into +opposition Charles de Remusat, Minister of Foreign Affairs and personal +friend of Thiers, and Barodet, candidate of the advanced and disaffected +Republicans. The governmental candidate was defeated. Encouraged by this +the duc de Broglie, leader of the Right, followed up the attack, +declaring the Government unable to withstand radicalism. In May he made +an interpellation on the governmental policy. Thiers invoked his right +of reply and, on May 24, gave a brilliant defence of his past actions, +formulating his plans for the future organization of the Republic. A +resolution was introduced by M. Ernoul, censuring the Government and +calling for a rigidly conservative policy. The government was put in the +minority by a close vote and M. Thiers forthwith resigned. The victors +at once chose as his successor the candidate of the Rights, the marechal +de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta, the defeated general of Sedan, a brave and +upright man, but a novice in politics and statecraft. He declared his +intention of pursuing a conservative policy and of re-establishing and +maintaining "l'ordre moral." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] The fierceness of hatreds engendered by the Commune may be +illustrated by the following untranslatable comment by Alexandre Dumas +fils on Gustave Courbet, a famous writer and a famous painter: "De quel +accouplement fabuleux d'une limace et d'un paon, de quelles antitheses +genesiaques, de quel suintement sebace peut avoir ete generee cette +chose qu'on appelle M. Gustave Courbet? Sous quelle cloche, a l'aide de +quel fumier, par suite de quelle mixture de vin, de biere, de mucus +corrosif et d'oedeme flatulent a pu pousser cette courge sonore et +poilue, ce ventre esthetique, incarnation du moi imbecile et +impuissant?" (Quoted in Fiaux's history of the Commune, pp. 582-83.) + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARECHAL DE MAC-MAHON + +May, 1873, to January, 1879 + + +[Illustration: EDME-PATRICE-MAURICE DE MAC-MAHON] + +"L'ordre moral," such was the political catchword of the new +administration. Just what it meant was not very clear. In general, +however, it was obviously intended to imply resistance to radicalism +(republicanism) and the maintenance of a strictly conservative policy, +strongly tinged with clericalism.[5] The victors over M. Thiers had +revived their desire of a monarchical restoration and many of them hoped +that the marechal de Mac-Mahon would shortly make way for the comte de +Chambord. But though an anti-republican he was never willing to lend +himself to any really illegal or dishonest manoeuvres, and his sense +of honor was of great help to him in his want of political competence. +So he did not prove the pliant tool of his creators, and his term of +office saw the definite establishment of the Republic. + +The first Cabinet was led by the duc de Broglie who took the portfolio +of Foreign Affairs. The new Government was viewed askance by the +conquerors at Berlin, who disliked such an orderly transmission of +powers as an indication of national recovery and stability. Bismarck +even exacted new credentials from the French Ambassador. Meanwhile, the +Minister of the Interior, Beule, proceeded to consolidate the authority +of the new Cabinet by numerous changes in the prefects of the +departments, turning out the "rascals" of Thiers's administration to +make room for appointees more amenable to new orders. + +The time now seemed ripe for another effort to establish the monarchy +under the comte de Chambord. It culminated in the "monarchical campaign" +of October, 1873. The monarchical sympathizers were hand-in-glove with +the Clericals and for the most part coincided with them. The Royalists +were inevitably clerical if for no other reason than that monarchy and +religion both seemed to involve continuity, and the legitimacy of the +monarchy had always been blessed by the Church. The revolutionary +Rights of Man were held to be inconsistent with the traditional Rights +of God and the monarchy. Moreover, the founders of the third republic +had, with noteworthy exceptions like the devout Trochu, been mildly +anti-clerical. They were for the most part religious liberals and +deists, rarely atheists, but that was enough to array the bishops, like +monseigneur Pie of Poitiers, against them. Indeed, a quick religious +revival swept over the land, as was shown by numerous pilgrimages, +including one to Paray-le-Monial, home of the cult of the Sacred Heart. +France herself should be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, and the idea +was evolved, afterwards carried out, of the erection of the great votive +basilica of the Sacre Coeur on the heights of Montmartre. + +The first step toward the restoration of "Henry V" was to persuade the +comte de Paris to make new efforts for a fusion of the two branches. +Swallowing his pride, the comte de Paris generously went to the home of +the comte de Chambord at Frohsdorf, in Austria, in August, and paid his +respects to him as head of the family. As the comte de Chambord had no +children, it was expected that the comte de Paris would be his +successor. But the old difficulty about the white flag cropped up, and +the comte de Chambord stubbornly refused to rule over a country above +which waved the revolutionary tricolor. + +Matters dragged on through the summer, during the parliamentary recess, +and the conservative leaders were outspoken as to their plans to +overthrow the Republic. It was hoped that some compromise might be +reached by which could be reconciled, as to the flag, the desires of the +Assembly which was expected to recall the pretender and those of the +comte de Chambord who considered his divinely inspired will superior to +that of the representatives of the people. It was suggested that the +question of the flag might be settled _after_ his accession to the +throne. The embassy to Salzburg, in October, of M. Chesnelong, an +emissary of a committee of nine of the Royalist leaders, achieved only a +half-success, but left matters sufficiently indeterminate to encourage +them in continuing their plans. Matters seemed progressing swimmingly +when, on October 27, an unexpected letter from the pretender to M. +Chesnelong categorically declared that _nothing_ would induce him to +sacrifice the white banner. + +The effect of this letter was to make all hopes of a restoration +impossible. Everybody knew that the majority of Frenchmen would never +give up their flag for the white one, whether this were dignified by the +name of "standard of Arques and Ivry," or whether one called it +irreverently a "towel," as did Pope Pius IX, impatient at the obstinacy +of the comte de Chambord. In the midst of the general confusion only one +thing seemed feasible if governmental anarchy were to be avoided, +namely, the prorogation of Mac-Mahon's authority, as a rampart against +rising democracy and a permanent republic. This condition the Orleanist +Right Centre turned to their advantage. By a vote of November 20, the +executive power was conferred for a definite period of seven years on +the marechal de Mac-Mahon. Thus a head of the nation was provided who +might perhaps outlast the Assembly. The vote might be interpreted either +as the beginning of a permanent republican regime, as it proved to be, +or as the establishment of a definite interlude in anticipation of a new +attempt to set up a monarchy, this time to the advantage of the younger +branch. Many hoped that the comte de Chambord would soon be dead, his +white flag forgotten, and the way open to the comte de Paris. The +Orleanists were pleased by this latter idea, the Republicans were glad +to have the republican regime recognized for, at any rate, seven years +to come, accompanied by the promise of a constitutional commission of +thirty members. The Legitimists alone were disappointed, and, oblivious +of the fact that the comte de Chambord had lost through his folly, they +were before long ready to vent their wrath on Mac-Mahon and his adviser, +the duc de Broglie, who was responsible for the presidential +prorogation. + +The pretender had been completely taken aback at the impression produced +by his letter. Convinced of his divinely inspired omniscience, and +certain that he was the foreordained ruler of France, he had thought +that the Assembly would give way on the question of the flag, or that +the army would follow him, or that Mac-Mahon would yield. His state +coach had been made ready and a military uniform awaited him at a +tailor's. He hastened in secret to Versailles, where he remained for a +while in retirement to watch events, and where Mac-Mahon refused to see +him. Then, after the vote on the presidency, he sadly returned into +exile forever. + +Never was a greater service done to France than when the comte de +Chambord refused to give up his flag. Completely out of touch with the +country through a life spent in exile, inspired with the feeling of his +divine rights and their superiority to the will of democracy, he would +scarcely have ascended the throne before some conflict would have broken +out and the history of France would have registered one revolution more. + +The duc de Broglie had considered it good form to resign after the vote +of November 20, but Mac-Mahon immediately entrusted to him the selection +of a second Cabinet. In this Cabinet the portfolio of Foreign Affairs +was given to the duc Decazes, a skilled diplomat, but the Legitimists +were offended by some of the cabinet changes and their dislike of the +duc de Broglie gradually became more acute. Finally, after several +months of parliamentary skirmishing the second Broglie Cabinet fell +before a coalition vote of Republicans and extreme Royalists with a few +Bonapartists, on May 16, 1874. The Right Centre and Left Centre had +unsuccessfully joined in support of the Cabinet. The nation was taking +another step toward republican control and the overthrow of the +conservatives. + +From now on, Mac-Mahon's task became increasingly difficult. After the +split in the conservative majority it was necessary to rely on +combination ministries, representing different sets and harder to +reconcile or to propitiate. The result of Mac-Mahon's first efforts was +a Cabinet led by a soldier, General de Cissey, and having no pronounced +political tendencies. + +Party differences were becoming accentuated. The downfall of the Broglie +Cabinet had been largely due to the extreme Royalists and the Orleanists +could not forgive them. The situation was made worse by differences in +interpretation of the law of November 20, establishing the "septennat" +of the marechal de Mac-Mahon. Some of the Monarchists maintained the +"septennat personnel," namely, the election of one specific person to +hold office for seven years, with the idea that he could withdraw at any +time in favor of a king. Others interpreted the law as establishing a +"septennat impersonnel," a definite truce of seven years, which should +still hold even if Mac-Mahon had to be replaced before the expiration of +the time by another President. Then, they hoped, their enemy Thiers +would be dead. The Republicans were, of course, desirous of making the +impersonal "septennat" lead to a permanent republic, and declared that +Mac-Mahon was not the President of a seven years' republic, but +President, for seven years, of the Republic. + +In this state of affairs the Bonapartists now became somewhat active +again. Strangely enough, the disasters of 1870 were already growing +sufficiently remote for some of the anti-Republicans to turn again to +the prospect of empire. This menace frightened the moderate Royalists +into what they had kept hesitating to do; that is to say, into spurring +to activity the purposely inactive and dilatory constitutional +commission. + +The stumbling-block was the recognition of the Republic itself and the +admission that the form of government existing in France was to be +permanent. There was much parliamentary skirmishing over various plans, +rejected one after the other, inclining in turn toward the Republic and +a monarchy. Finally, some of the Monarchists, discouraged by the rising +tide of "radicalism," and frightened lest unwillingness to accept a +conservative republic now might result still worse for them in the +future, rallied in support of the motion of M. Wallon, known as the +"amendement Wallon," which was adopted by a vote of 353 to 352 (January, +1875): "The President of the Republic is elected by absolute majority of +votes by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies united as a National +Assembly. He is chosen for seven years and is re-eligible." + +In this vote the fateful statement was made concerning the election of a +President other than Mac-Mahon and the transmission of power in a +republic. The third Republic received its definite consecration by a +majority of _one vote_. + +The vote on the Wallon amendment dealt with only one article of a +project not yet voted as a whole, but it was the crossing of the +Rubicon. The other articles were adopted by increased majorities. + +The Ministry of General de Cissey had already resigned upon a minor +question, but had held over at the President's request. Mac-Mahon now +asked the Monarchist M. Buffet to form a conservative conciliation +Cabinet, which was made up almost entirely from the Right Centre +(Orleanists) and the Left Centre (moderate Republicans) and accepted at +first by the Republican Left. By this Cabinet still one more step was +taken toward Republican preponderance. + +During the Buffet Ministry three important matters occupied public +attention. One was the completion of the new constitution. A second was +the creation of "free" universities, not under control of the State. +This step was advocated in the name of intellectual freedom, but the +whole scheme was backed by the Catholics and merely resulted in the +creation of Catholic faculties in several great cities. A third matter +was the intense anxiety over the prospect of a rupture with Germany. +Bismarck was renewing his policy of pin-pricks. The French army had been +strengthened by a battalion to every regiment, and so Bismarck +complained of the strictures of French and Belgian bishops on his +anti-papal policy. Whether he only meant to humiliate France still more, +or whether he actually desired a new rupture so as to crush the country +finally, is not clear. At any rate, with the aid of England and +especially of Russia, France showed that she was not helpless, and +Bismarck protested that he was absolutely friendly. + +By the close of 1875, the measures constituting the new Government had +been voted and, on December 31, the Assembly, which had governed France +since the Franco-Prussian War, was dissolved to make way for the new +legislature. During the succeeding elections M. Buffet's Cabinet, +antagonized by the Republicans and rent by internal dissensions, went to +pieces, M. Buffet personally suffered disastrously at the polls. The +slate was clear for a totally new organization. The Assembly had done +many a good service, but its dilatoriness in establishing a permanent +government, its ingratitude to M. Thiers, its clericalism, and its +stubbornness in trying to foist a king on the people made it pass away +unregretted by a country which had far outstripped it in republicanism. + +The "Constitution of 1875," under which, with some modifications, France +is still governed, is not a single document constructed _a priori_, like +the Constitution of the United States. It was partly the result of the +evolution of the National Assembly itself, partly the result of +compromises and dickerings between hostile groups. Particularly, it +expressed the jealousy of a monarchical assembly for a President of a +republic, and the desire, therefore, to keep power in the hands of its +own legislative successor. The Assembly took it for granted that the +Chamber of Deputies would have the same opinions as itself. As a matter +of fact, the political complexion of the legislature has been +consistently toward radicalism, and the result has hindered a strong +executive and promoted legislative demagogy. + +The Constitution of 1875 may be considered as consisting of the +Constitutional Law of February 25, relating to the organization of the +public powers (President, Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Ministers, +etc.); the Constitutional Law of the previous day, February 24, relating +to the organization of the Senate; the Constitutional Law of July 16, on +the relations of the public powers. Subsidiary "organic laws" voted +later determined the procedure for the election of Senators and +Deputies. The vote of February 25 was the crucial one in the definite +establishment of the Republican regime. The Constitution has undergone +certain slight modifications since its adoption. + +By the Constitution of 1875 the government of the French Republic was +vested in a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Senate consisted of +300 members, of whom 75 were chosen for life by the expiring Assembly, +their successors to be elected by co-optation in the Senate itself. The +other 225, chosen for nine years and renewable by thirds, were to be +elected by a method of indirect selection. In 1884, the choice of life +Senators ceased and the seats, as they fell vacant, have been +distributed among the Departments of the country. The Deputies were +elected by universal suffrage for a period of four years. Unless a +candidate obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, the election +was void, and a new one was necessary. Except during the period from +1885 to 1889, the Deputies have represented districts determined, unless +for densely populated ones, by the administrative _arrondissements_. +From 1885 to 1889, the _scrutin de liste_ was in operation: the _whole_ +Department voted on a ticket containing as many names as there were +_arrondissements_. The prerogatives of the two houses were identical +except that financial measures were to originate in the Chamber of +Deputies. As a matter of fact, the Senate has fallen into the +background, and the habit of considering the vote of the Chamber rather +than that of the Senate as important in a change of Ministry has made it +the true source of government in France. The two houses met at +Versailles until 1879; since then Paris has been the capital, except for +the election of a President. After separate decision by each house to do +so, or the request of the President, they could meet in joint assembly +as a Constitutional Convention to revise the constitution. + +The Senate and Chamber, united in joint session as a National Assembly, +were to choose a President for a definite term of seven years, not to +fill out an incomplete term vacated by another President. The President +could be re-elected. With the consent of the Senate he could dissolve +the Chamber, but this restriction made the privilege almost inoperative +in practice. He was irresponsible, the nominal executive and figurehead +of the State, but all his acts had to be countersigned by a responsible +Minister, by which his initiative was greatly reduced. In fact the +President had really less power than a constitutional king. + +The real executive authority was in the hands of the Cabinet, headed by +a Premier or _President du conseil_.[6] The Ministry was responsible to +the Senate and Chamber (in practice, as we have seen, to the Chamber), +and was expected to resign as a whole if put by a vote in the minority. +By custom the President selects the Premier from the majority and the +latter selects his colleagues in the Cabinet, trying to make them +representatives of the wishes of the Parliament. The French Republic is +therefore managed by a parliamentary government. + +The first elections under the new constitution resulted very much as +might be expected: the Senate became in personnel the true successor of +the Assembly, the Chamber of Deputies contained most of the new men. The +Senate was conservative and monarchical, the Chamber was republican. +Therefore, the President of the Republic entrusted the formation of a +Ministry to M. Jules Dufaure, of the Left Centre, the views of which +group differed hardly at all from those of the Right Centre, except in a +full acceptance of the new conditions. Unfortunately, M. Dufaure found +it impossible to ride two horses at once and to satisfy both the +conservative Senate and the majority in the Chamber of more advanced +Republicans than himself. He mistrusted the Republican leader Gambetta, +though the latter was now far more moderate, and he sympathized too much +with the Clericals to suit the new order of things. So his Cabinet +resigned (December 2, 1876), less than nine months after its +appointment, and the marechal de Mac-Mahon felt it necessary, very much +against his will, to call to power Jules Simon. He had previously tried +unsuccessfully to form a Cabinet from the Right Centre under the duc de +Broglie. + +The duc de Broglie remained, however, the power behind the throne. The +President was under the political advice of the conservative set, whose +firm conviction he shared, that the new Republic was advancing headlong +into irreligion. The course of political events now took on a strong +religious flavor. Jules Simon was a liberal, which was considered a +misfortune, though he announced himself now as "deeply republican and +deeply conservative." But people knew his unfriendly relations with +Gambetta, which dated from 1871, when he checkmated the dictator at +Bordeaux. It was hoped that open dissension might break out in the +Republican party which would justify measures tending to a conservative +reaction, and help tide over the time until 1880. Then the constitution +might be revised at the expiration of Mac-Mahon's term and the monarchy +perhaps restored. + +Gambetta was, however, now a very different man. Discarding his former +unbending radicalism, he was now the advocate of the "political policy +of results," or _opportunism_, a method of conciliation, of compromise, +and of waiting for the favorable opportunity. This was to be, +henceforth, the policy closely connected with his name and fame. So +Jules Simon soon was sacrificed. + +The efforts of the Clerical party bore chiefly in two directions: +control of education and advocacy of increased papal authority, +particularly of the temporal power of the Pope, dispossessed of his +states a few years before by the Government of Victor Emmanuel. This +latter course could only tend to embroil France with Italy. So convinced +was Gambetta of the unwise and disloyal activities of the Ultramontanes +that on May 4, in a speech to the Chamber, he uttered his famous cry: +"Le clericalisme, voila l'ennemi!" + +Jules Simon found himself in a very difficult position. Desirous of +conciliating Mac-Mahon and his clique, he adopted a policy somewhat at +variance with his former liberal religious views. On the other hand, he +could not satisfy the President, who had always disliked him, or those +who had determined upon his overthrow. The crisis came on May 16, 1877, +when Mac-Mahon, taking advantage of some very minor measures, wrote a +haughty and indignant letter to Jules Simon, to say that the Minister no +longer had his confidence. Jules Simon, backed up by a majority in the +Chamber, could very well have engaged in a constitutional struggle with +Mac-Mahon, but he rather weakly resigned the next day.[7] Thus was +opened the famous conflict known in French history, from its date, as +the "Seize-Mai." + +No sooner was Jules Simon out of the way than Mac-Mahon appointed a +reactionary coalition Ministry of Orleanists and Imperialists headed by +the duc de Broglie, and held apparently ready in waiting. The Ministers +were at variance on many political questions, but united as to +clericalism. The plan was to dissolve the Republican Chamber with the +co-operation of the anti-Republican Senate, in the hope that a new +election, under official pressure, would result in a monarchical lower +house also. The Chamber of Deputies was therefore prorogued until June +16 and then dissolved. At the meeting of May 18, the Republicans +presented a solid front of 363 in their protest against the high-handed +action of the marechal de Mac-Mahon. + +[Illustration: LEON GAMBETTA] + +The new Cabinet began by a wholesale revocation of administrative +officials throughout the country, and spent the summer in unblushing +advocacy of its candidates. Those favored by the Government were so +indicated and their campaign manifestoes were printed on official white +paper.[8] The Republicans united their forces to support the re-election +of the 363 and gave charge of their campaign to a committee of eighteen +under the inspiring leadership of Gambetta. In a great speech at Lille, +Gambetta declared that the President would have to "give in or give up" +(_se soumettre ou se demettre_), for which crime of _lese-majeste_ he +was condemned by default to fine and imprisonment. In September, Thiers, +the great leader of the early Republic, died, and his funeral was made +the occasion of a great manifestation of Republican unity. Finally, in +spite of governmental pressure and the pulpit exhortations of the +clergy, the elections in October resulted in a new Republican Chamber. +The reactionary Cabinet was face to face with as firm an opposition as +before. + +The duc de Broglie, in view of this crushing defeat, was ready to +withdraw, and Mac-Mahon, after some hesitation, accepted his +resignation. Mac-Mahon's own fighting blood was up, however, and he +tried the experiment of an extra-parliamentary Ministry led by General +de Rochebouet, the members of which were conservatives without seats in +Parliament. But the Chamber refused to enter into relations with it, and +as the budget was pressing and the Senate was not disposed to support a +second dissolution, Mac-Mahon had to submit and the Rochebouet Cabinet +withdrew. + +Thus ended Mac-Mahon's unsuccessful attempt to exert his personal power. +The Seize-Mai has sometimes been likened to an abortive _coup d'etat_. +The parallel is hardly justifiable. Mac-Mahon would have welcomed a +return of the monarchy at the end of his term of office, but he +intended to remain faithful to the constitution, however much he might +strain it or interpret it under the advice of his Clerical managers, and +though he might have been willing to use troops to enforce his wishes. +One unfortunate result ensued: the crisis left the Presidency still more +weak. Any repetition of Mac-Mahon's experiment of dissolving the Chamber +would revive accusations against one of his successors of attempting a +_coup d'etat_. There have been times when the country would have +welcomed the dissolution by a strong President of an incompetent +Chamber. Unfortunately, Mac-Mahon stood for the reactionaries against +the Republic. His course of action would be a dangerous precedent. + +The new order of things was marked by the advent of another Dufaure +Ministry, very moderate in tendency, but acceptable to the majority. +Most of the high-handed doings of the Broglie Cabinet were revoked, much +to the disgust of Mac-Mahon, who frequently lost his temper when obliged +to sign documents of which he disapproved. Finally, in January, 1879, in +a controversy with his Cabinet over some military transfers, Mac-Mahon +resigned, over a year before the expiration of his term of office. +Moreover, at the recent elections to the Senate the Republicans had +obtained control of even that body. Thus he was alone, with both houses +and the Ministry against him. + +In spite of the unfortunate endless internal dissensions, France made +great strides in national recovery during the Presidency of Mac-Mahon. +His rank and military title gave prestige to the Republic in presence of +the diplomats of European monarchies, the German crisis of 1875 showed +that Bismarck was not to have a free hand in crushing France, the +participation of France in the Congress of Berlin enabled the country to +take a place again among the European Powers. Finally, the International +Exhibition of 1878 was an invitation to the world to witness the +recovery of France from her disasters and to testify to her right to +lead again in art and industry. + +The Presidency of Mac-Mahon shows the desperate efforts of the +Monarchists to overthrow the Republic, and then to control it in view of +an ultimate Restoration, either by obstructing the vote of a +constitution or by hindering its operation. Throughout, the Monarchists +and the Clericals work together or are identical. The end of his term of +office found the whole Government in the hands of the Republicans. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] Clericalism does not imply political activity on the part of the +clergy alone, but quite as much of laymen strongly in favor of the +Church. + +[6] Before the Constitution of 1875, the Premier was only +_vice-president du conseil_. + +[7] The Chamber, on May 12, had expressed itself in favor of the +publicity of meetings of municipal councils, during the absence of the +Minister of the Interior. On May 15, it had passed the second reading of +a law, opposed by Jules Simon, on the freedom of the press. + +[8] In France only official posters may be printed on white paper. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF JULES GREVY + +January, 1879, to December, 1887 + + +The resignation of the marechal de Mac-Mahon was followed by the +immediate gathering, in accordance with the constitution, of the +National Assembly, which chose as President for seven years Jules Grevy. +The new chief magistrate, elected without a competitor, was already +seventy-two, and had in his long career won the reputation of a +dignified and sound statesman, in whose hands public affairs might be +entrusted with absolute safety. He represented a step beyond the +military and aristocratic regime which had preceded him. The embodiment +of the old _bourgeoisie_, he had, along with its qualities, some of its +defects. Eminently cautious, his statesmanship had been at times a +non-committal reserve more than constructive genius. His parsimony soon +caused people to accuse him of unduly saving his salary and state +allowances, while his personal dislikes led him to err grievously in +his choice of advisers, or rather in his elimination of Gambetta, to +whom circumstances now pointed. + +Jules Grevy hated Gambetta, undeniably the leading figure in the +Republican party since the death of Thiers, and neglected to entrust to +him the formation of a Cabinet. Thiers himself had shown greater wisdom. +He, too, had disliked the raging and apparently futile volubility of the +young tribune during the Franco-Prussian War, but Thiers got over +calling Gambetta a "fou furieux." On the contrary, just after the +Seize-Mai and before his own death, when Thiers was expecting to return +to the Presidency as successor to a discredited Mac-Mahon, he had +intended to make Gambetta the head of his Cabinet. For Gambetta with +maturity had become more moderate. Instead of drastic political remedies +he was gradually evolving, as already stated, the policy of +"Opportunism" so closely linked with his name, the method of gradual +advance by concessions and compromises, by taking advantage of occasions +and making one's general policy conform with opportunity. + +If Gambetta, as leader of the majority group in the Republican party, +which had evicted Mac-Mahon, had become Prime Minister, it is conceded +that the precedent would have been set by the new administration for +parliamentary government with a true party leadership, as in Great +Britain. Instead, Grevy entrusted the task of forming a Ministry to an +upright but colorless leader named Waddington, at the head of a +composite Cabinet, more moderate in policy than Gambetta, who became +presiding officer of the Chamber of Deputies. The consequence was that, +after lasting less than a year, it gave way to another Cabinet led by +the great political trimmer Freycinet,[9] until in due time it was in +turn succeeded by the Ministry of Jules Ferry in September, 1880. + +It must not be inferred that nothing was accomplished by the Waddington +and Freycinet Ministries. Indeed, Jules Ferry, the chief Republican next +to Gambetta, was himself a member of these two Cabinets before leading +his own. + +The lining-up of Republican groups, as opposed to the Monarchists, under +the new administration was: the Left Centre, composed as in the past of +ultra-conservative Republicans, constantly diminishing numerically; the +Republican Left, which followed Jules Ferry; the Republican Union of +Gambetta; and, finally, the radical Extreme Left, which had taken for +itself many of the advanced measures advocated by Gambetta when he had +been a radical. One of its leaders was Georges Clemenceau. Between the +two large groups of Ferry and Gambetta there was little difference in +ideals, but Gambetta was now the Opportunist and Ferry made his own +Gambetta's old battle-cry against clericalism. + +[Illustration: JULES FERRY] + +The Chamber elected after the Seize-Mai was by reaction markedly +anti-Clerical, and the Waddington Cabinet, to begin with, contained +three Protestants and a freethinker. Obviously steps would soon be taken +to defeat the "enemy." In this movement Jules Ferry was from the +beginning a leader, by direct action as well as by the educational +reforms which he carried out as Minister of Public Instruction. Jules +Ferry became, more than Gambetta, the great bugbear of the Clericals +and the author of the "lois scelerates." + +During the Waddington Ministry Jules Ferry began his efforts for the +reorganization of superior instruction, and among his measures carried +through the Chamber of Deputies the notorious "Article 7" indirectly +aimed at Jesuit influence in _secondary_ teaching as well: "No person +can direct any public or private establishment whatsoever or teach +therein if he belongs to an unauthorized order." The Jesuits had at that +time no legal footing in France, but were openly tolerated. The Senate +rejected this article under the Freycinet Ministry and the law was +finally adopted thus apparently weakened. But Jules Ferry, nothing +daunted, immediately put into operation the no less notorious decrees of +March, 1880, reviving older laws going back even to 1762, which had long +since fallen into disuse. By these decrees the Jesuit establishments +were to be closed and the members dispersed within three months. +Moreover, every unauthorized order was, under penalty of expulsion, to +apply for authorization within a like limit of time. The expulsion of +the Jesuits was carried out with a certain spectacular display of +passive resistance on the part of those evicted. Later in the year +similar steps were taken against many other organizations. + +It is evident from the above that the promotion of educational reform +under Republican control was definitely connected with measures directed +against clerical domination. The French Catholic Church, on its part, +treated every attempt toward laicization as a form of persecution. But +Jules Ferry unhesitatingly extended his policy when he became Prime +Minister. His measures were genuinely neutral, but his reputation as a +Voltairian freethinker and a freemason inevitably afforded his opponents +an excuse for their charges. + +Jules Ferry's reforms in education, extending over several Cabinet +periods as late as 1882, included secondary education for girls, and +free, obligatory, lay, primary instruction. To Americans accustomed to +such methods of education it is difficult to conceive the struggles of +Jules Ferry and his assistant on the floor of the House, Paul Bert, in +carrying through these measures for the training of the democracy. + +In foreign affairs Jules Ferry inaugurated a more active policy +symptomatic of the return of France to participation in international +matters. At the Congress of Berlin, France had avoided entanglements, +but, even at that early period, Lord Salisbury had hinted to M. +Waddington, present as French delegate, that no interference would be +made by England, were France to advance claims in Tunis. This suggestion +came, perhaps, originally from Bismarck, who was not averse to +embroiling France with Italy. That country longed for Tunis so +conveniently situated near Sicily. England, moreover, was probably not +desirous of seeing the Italians thus strategically ensconced in the +Mediterranean. + +In 1881, financial manoeuvres and the plundering expeditions into +Algeria of border tribes called Kroumirs afforded a pretext for +intervention, to the indignation of Italy, which was thus more than ever +inclined to seek alliances against France, even with Germany. Here, +indeed, was the germ of the Triple Alliance. An easy advance to Tunis +forced the Bey to accept a French protectorate by the Treaty of the +Bardo on May 12, 1881. Later in the year the situation became rather +serious, and new and rather costly military operations became necessary, +including the occupation of Sfax, Gabes, and Kairouan. + +Thus France came into possession of valuable territories, but at the +cost of Italian indignation. Moreover, Jules Ferry, who was always one +of the most hated of party leaders in his own country, reaped no +advantage to himself. His enemies affected to believe that the whole +Tunisian war was a game of capitalists, or was planned for effect upon +elections to the new Chamber. The boulevards refused to take the +Kroumirs seriously and joked about "Cherchez le Kroumir." Finally, on +November 9, 1881, the personal intervention of Gambetta before the newly +elected Chamber of Deputies saved the Cabinet on a vote of confidence. +Jules Ferry none the less determined to resign, and Gambetta, in spite +of Grevy's aversion, was the inevitable man for the formation of a new +Cabinet. + +Gambetta's great opportunity had come too late to be effective. The +undoubted leader of the Republic, he had grown in statesmanship since +his early days, but was still hated by men like Grevy who could not get +over their old prejudices. Then the advanced radicals, or +_intransigeants_, thought him a traitor to his old platforms or +_programmes_.[10] They blamed his Opportunism and said that he wanted +power without responsibility. Gambetta's enemies, whether the duc de +Broglie or Clemenceau, talked of his secret influence (_pouvoir +occulte_), and accused him of aspiring to a dictatorship, in fact if not +in name. Their suspicions were somewhat deepened by Gambetta's ardent +advocacy of the _scrutin de liste_ instead of the existing _scrutin +d'arrondissement_.[11] + +It was asserted that Gambetta wanted to diminish the independence of +local representation and marshal behind himself a subservient majority. +To Gambetta the _scrutin de liste_ was the truly republican form of +representation, the one existing under the National Assembly and +abolished by the reactionaries under the new constitution. + +Thus, Gambetta had against him, during the campaign for renewal of the +Chamber of Deputies in the summer of 1881, not only the anti-Republicans +but also timid liberals like Jules Simon, the influence of President +Grevy, and the _intransigeants_. The Senate was averse to the _scrutin +de liste_ and rejected, in the spring of 1881, the measure which +Gambetta carried through the Chamber. Gambetta, formerly the idol of the +working classes of Paris, met with opposition, was hooted in one of his +own political rallies, and was re-elected on the first ballot in one +only of the two districts in which he was a candidate. + +The elections of the Chamber of 1881 resulted in a strongly Republican +body, in which, however, the majority subdivided into groups. Gambetta's +"Union republicaine" was the most numerous, followed by Ferry's "Gauche +republicaine," and the extremists. A certain fraction of Gambetta's +group, including Henri Brisson and Charles Floquet, also tended to stick +together. They were the germ of what became in time the great Radical +party. + +It had been hoped that Gambetta would bring into his Cabinet all the +other leaders of his party, and at last form a great governing ministry. +But men like Leon Say and Freycinet refused their collaboration because +of divergence of views or personal pride. Gambetta then decided to pick +his collaborators from his immediate friends and partisans, some of whom +had yet a reputation to make. The anticipated "Great Ministry" turned +out to be, its opponents said, a "ministere de commis," a cabinet of +clerks. The fact that it contained men like Waldeck-Rousseau, Raynal, +and Rouvier showed, however, that Gambetta could discover ability in +others. But it was declared that the "dictator" was marshalling his +henchmen. The extremists, especially, were furious because Gambetta also +magnanimously gave important posts to non-Republicans like General de +Miribel and the journalist J.-J. Weiss. + +The "Great Ministry" remained in office two months and a half and came +to grief on the proposed revision of the constitution, in which Gambetta +wished to incorporate the _scrutin de liste_. In January, 1882, it had +to resign and Gambetta died on the last day of the same year. Thus, the +third Republic lost its leading statesman since the death of Thiers. + +The year 1882 was filled by the two ineffective Cabinets of Freycinet +(second time) and of Duclerc. Under the former, France made the mistake, +injurious to her interests and prestige, of withdrawing from the +Egyptian condominium with Great Britain and allowing the latter country +free play for the conquest and occupation of Egypt. Thus the fruits of +De Lesseps' piercing of the Isthmus of Suez went definitely to England. +The death of Gambetta under the Duclerc-Fallieres Ministry[12] seemed to +reawaken the hopes of the anti-Republicans, and Jerome Napoleon, chief +Bonapartist pretender since the decease of the Prince Imperial, issued a +manifesto against the Republic. Parliament fell into a ludicrous panic, +various contradictory measures were proposed, and in the general +confusion the Cabinet fell after an adverse vote. + +In this contingency President Grevy did what he should have done before, +and called to office the leading statesman. This was now Jules Ferry. +At last France had an administration which lasted a little over two +years. But Ferry was still intensely unpopular. He had become the +successor of Gambetta and the exponent of the policy of Opportunism, +which he tried to carry out with even more constructive statesmanship. +But he was totally wanting in Gambetta's magnetism, and his domineering +ways made him hated the more. The Clericals opposed him as the +"persecutor" of the Catholic religion, and the Radicals thought he did +not go far enough in his hostility to the Church. For Jules Ferry saw +that the times were not ripe for disestablishment, and that the system +of the _Concordat_, in vogue since Napoleon I, really gave the State +more control over the Clergy than it would have in case of separation. +The State would lose its power in appointments and salaries. Jules Ferry +knew that the Church could be useful to him, and the politic Leo XIII, +very different from Pius IX, was ready to meet him part way, though the +Pope himself had to humor to a certain extent the hostility to the +Republic of the French Monarchists and Clericals. Jules Ferry, like +Gambetta, also had to put up with the veiled hostility of President +Grevy, working in Parliament through the intrigues of his son-in-law +Wilson. Moreover, Ferry was made to bear the odium for a long period of +financial depression, which had lasted since 1882, starting with the +sensational failure (_krach_) of a large bank, the Union generale. So +his career was made a torture and he was vilified perhaps more than any +man of the third Republic. + +The extremists had in time another grievance against Jules Ferry in his +opposition to a radical revision of the constitution. The enemies of the +Republic still feigned to believe, especially when the death of the +comte de Chambord in 1883 had fused the Legitimists and Orleanists, that +an integral revision would pave the way for a monarchical restoration. +The Radicals demanded the suppression of the power of the Senate, whose +consent was necessary to summon a constitutional convention. A Congress +was summoned in 1884 at which the very limited programme of the Ministry +was put through. The changes merely eliminated from the constitution the +prescriptions for senatorial elections. After this, by an ordinary +statute, life-senatorships were abolished for the future, and some +changes were made in the choice of senatorial electors. + +Jules Ferry was what would to-day be called an imperialist. In this he +may have been unwise, for the French, though intrepid explorers, do not +care to settle permanently far from the motherland. The north coast of +Africa might have been a sufficient field for enterprise. But Jules +Ferry thought that the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, +formed in 1882, was going to isolate France permanently in Europe. So +she was to regain her prestige by territorial annexations in the Sudan, +the Congo, Madagascar, Annam, and Tonkin. + +The French had some nominal rights on Tonkin since 1874, and +disturbances there had caused a revival of activities. When the French +officer Riviere was killed in an ambuscade in May, 1883, Jules Ferry +sent heavy reinforcements and forced the King of Annam to acknowledge a +French protectorate. This stirred up the Chinese, who also claimed +Annam, and who caused the invasion of Tonkin by guerillas supported by +their own troops. After various operations in Tonkin the Treaty of +Tien-tsin was signed with China in May, 1884, by which China made the +concessions called for by the French. Within a month Chinese troops +ambuscaded a French column at Bac-Le and the Government decided on a +punitive expedition. Thus France was engaged in troublesome warfare with +China, without direct parliamentary authorization. The bombardment of +Foo-chow, the attack on the island of Formosa, and the blockade of the +coast dragged along unsatisfactorily through 1884 and 1885. + +While Jules Ferry in the spring of 1885 was actually negotiating a final +peace with China on terms satisfactory to the French, the cession of +Annam and Tonkin with a commercial treaty, and while he was +categorically affirming in the Chamber of Deputies the success of +military operations in Tonkin, a sudden dispatch from the East threw +everything into a turmoil. General Briere de l'Isle telegraphed from +Tonkin that the French had been disastrously defeated at Lang-son and +General de Negrier severely wounded. The news proved to be a grievous +exaggeration which was contradicted by a later dispatch some hours +after, but the damage was done. On March 30, in the Chamber of Deputies, +Jules Ferry was insulted and abused by the leaders of a coalition of +anti-Republicans and Radicals. The "Tonkinois," as his vilifiers called +him, disgusted and discouraged, made little attempt to defend himself, +and his Cabinet fell by a vote of 306 to 149. On April 4, the +preliminaries of a victorious treaty of peace were signed with China. + +The fall of Jules Ferry was a severe blow to efficient government. It +marked the end, for a long time, of any effort to construct satisfactory +united Cabinets led by a strong man. It set a precedent for innumerable +short-lived Ministries built on the treacherous sands of shifting +groups. It paved the way for a deterioration in parliamentary +management. It accentuated the bitter hatred now existing between the +Union des gauches, as the united Gambetta and Ferry Opportunist groups +called themselves, on the one hand, and the Radicals and the Extreme +Left on the other. The Radicals, in particular, were influential, and +one of their more moderate members, Henri Brisson, became the head of +the next Cabinet. Brisson's name testified to an advance toward +radicalism, but the Cabinet contained all sorts of moderate and +nondescript elements, dubbed a "concentration" Cabinet. Its chief +function was to tide over the elections of 1885, for a new Chamber of +Deputies. In anticipation of this election Gambetta's long-desired +_scrutin de liste_ had been rather unexpectedly voted. + +The workings of the new method of voting were less satisfactory than had +been anticipated. Republican dissensions and a greater union of the +opposition caused a tremendous reactionary landslide on the first +ballot. This was greatly reduced on the second ballot, so that the +Republicans emerged with a large though diminished majority. But the old +Left Centre had practically disappeared and the Radicals were vastly +more numerous. The great divisions were now the Right, the moderate +Union des gauches, the Radicals, and the revolutionary Extreme Left. The +Brisson Cabinet was blamed for not "working" the elections more +successfully and it resigned at the time of President Grevy's +re-election. He had reached the end of his seven years' term and was +chosen again on December 28, 1885. He was to have troublesome +experiences during the short time he remained in the Presidency. + +The Freycinet, Goblet, and Rouvier Cabinets, which fill the rest of +Grevy's Presidency, were largely engrossed with a new danger in the +person of General Boulanger. He first appeared in a prominent position +as Minister of War in the Freycinet Cabinet. A young, brilliant, and +popular though unprincipled officer, he soon devoted himself to demagogy +and put himself at the head of the jingoes who called Ferry the slave of +Bismarck. The expeditions of Tunis and Tonkin had, moreover, thrown a +glamour over the flag and the army. + +Boulanger began at once to play politics and catered to the advanced +parties, who adopted him as their own. He backed up the spectacular +expulsion of the princes, which, as an answer to the monarchical +progress, drove from France the heads of formerly reigning families and +their direct heirs in line of primogeniture, and carried out their +radiation from the army. The populace cheered the gallant general on his +black horse, and when Bismarck complained that he was a menace to the +peace of Europe Boulanger's fortune seemed made. At a certain moment +France and Germany were on the brink of war in the so-called Schnaebele +affair.[13] So, when Boulanger was left out of the Rouvier Cabinet +combination in May, 1887, as dangerous, he played more than ever to the +gallery as the persecuted saviour of France and, on being sent to take +command of an army corps in the provinces at Clermont-Ferrand, he was +escorted to the train by thousands of enthusiastic manifestants. + +Meanwhile, President Grevy was nearing a disaster. In October, 1887, +General Caffarel, an important member of the General Staff, was arrested +for participating in the sale of decorations. When Boulanger declared +that the arrest of Caffarel was an indirect assault on himself, +originally responsible for Caffarel's appointment to the General Staff, +the affair got greater notoriety. The scandal assumed national +proportions when it was found to involve the President's own son-in-law +Daniel Wilson, well known to be a shady and tricky politician, who had +the octogenarian President under his thumb. The matter reached the scale +of a Cabinet crisis, since it was by an overthrow of the Ministry that +the President could best be reached. Unfortunately, Grevy could not see +that the most dignified thing for him to do was to resign, even though +he was in no way involved in Wilson's misdemeanors. For days he tried to +persuade prominent men to form a Cabinet; he tried to argue his right +and duty to remain. But finally the Chamber and Senate brought actual +pressure upon him by voting to adjourn to specific hours in the +expectation of a presidential communication. He bowed to the inevitable +and retired from the Presidency with the reputation of a discredited old +miser, instead of the great statesman he had appeared on beginning his +term of office. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] Gambetta's former assistant during the national defence after the +first disasters; a brilliant organizer, but in general policy a +_nolonte_, to use the term Gambetta coined about him on the basis of the +word _volonte_. As Minister of Public Works he initiated at this period +great improvements in the internal development of France, especially in +the railways. + +[10] Especially as to the unlimited revision of the constitution and the +_immediate_ separation of Church and State. + +[11] Gambetta's contempt for the parochialism of the elections by +district was great. He felt that departmental tickets would favor the +choice of better men. One must remember how large a proportion of the +French Deputies are physicians to appreciate the scorn of Gambetta's +saying that the _scrutin d'arrondissement_ produced a lot of +_sous-veterinaires_, that is, men who were not even decent +"horse-doctors." + +[12] M. Fallieres took the place of Duclerc as President of the Council +during the last days. + +[13] The French claimed that a government official had been lured over +the frontier and illegally arrested. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF SADI CARNOT + +December, 1887, to June, 1894 + + +The successor of Jules Grevy was Sadi Carnot, in many ways the best +choice. As has been seen, the transition was less easy than the two +ballots of the National Assembly seemed to indicate (December 3, 1887). +The intrigues of the so-called "nuits historiques" (November 28-30) had +been an endeavor of the Radicals to keep Grevy, in order to ward off +Jules Ferry as his successor. Finally, Carnot was a compromise +candidate, or "dark horse," a Moderate acceptable to the Radicals still +unwilling to endure the leading candidate Ferry. + +[Illustration: SADI CARNOT] + +President Carnot, hitherto known chiefly as a capable civil engineer and +a successful Cabinet officer, was the heir to the name and traditions of +a great republican family. His integrity was a guarantee of honesty in +office, and his personal dignity was bound to heighten the prestige of +the chief magistracy, somewhat weakened by his predecessor Grevy. On +the other hand, Carnot's conception of the constitutional +irresponsibility or neutrality of his office was an insufficient bulwark +to the State against the intrigues of petty politicians and the +inefficiencies of the parliamentary regime. Consequently his term of +office saw the Republic exposed to two of the worst crises in its +history, the Boulanger campaign and the Panama scandals, while the +legislative history records the overthrow of successive cabinets. These +followed each other without definite constructive policy, and aimed +chiefly at keeping power by constant dickerings and playing off group +against group. + +The demoralization of parliamentary life had reached a climax. The +Republicans were divided into the Moderates, former followers of +Gambetta, the Radicals with Floquet and Brisson, the Extreme Left with +Clemenceau and Pelletan, the Socialists with Millerand, Basly, and +Clovis Hugues. The Royalists and Bonapartists worked against the +Government and the Boulangists took advantage of the chaos to push their +cause. The Socialists, in particular, were a new group in the Chamber, +destined in later years to hold the centre of the stage. In their +manifesto of December, 1887, signed by seventeen Deputies, they +advocated, in addition to innumerable specific reforms or practical +innovations, schemes for the reorganization of society: state +monopolies, nationalization of property, progressive taxation, and the +like. + +The year 1888, characterized by intense political and social unrest, was +critical. The trial and conviction of Grevy's son-in-law Wilson involved +washing dirty linen in public. The steady growth of Boulangism testified +to dissatisfaction, even though, as it proved, the enemies of the +established order had united on a worthless adventurer as their leader. + +General Boulanger had been first "invented" as a leader by the extreme +Radicals, and especially by Clemenceau, the _demolisseur_ or destroyer +of ministries. Then, being gradually abandoned by them, he went over to +the anti-Republicans and took heavy subsidies from the Monarchists, +while continuing to advocate, at least openly, an anti-parliamentary, +plebiscitary Republic. + +Early in 1888, in February, the candidacy of Boulanger to the Chamber +was started in several departments. The electioneering activities of a +general in regular service and sundry deeds of insubordination on his +part finally caused the Government, as a disciplinary measure, to retire +him. The result was that his partisans raised a cry of persecution, and +his actual retirement gave him the liberty to engage in politics which +his service on the active list had prevented. In April Boulanger was +elected Deputy in the southern department of la Dordogne and the +northern le Nord. His plan of campaign was to be candidate for Deputy in +each department successively in which a vacancy occurred, thus +indirectly and gradually obtaining a plebiscite of approval from the +country. At the same time he raised the cry in favor of militarism, not +for the sake of war, he said, but for defence. He attacked the impotence +of Parliament and, as a remedy, called for the dissolution of the +Chamber and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly to revise the +constitution. His opponents raised the answering cry of dictatorship and +Caesarism. The election in the Nord was particularly alarming because of +Boulanger's majority. + +Boulanger now had both Moderates and many Radicals against him, +including the Prime Minister Floquet, and was, on the other hand, +supported openly or secretly by the Imperialists and Monarchists, +advocates for varying purposes of the plebiscite. The Royalists, who +thought their chances of success the most hopeful, wanted to use +Boulanger as a tool to further their designs for the overthrow of the +Republic. Not only did he receive funds from the pretender, the comte de +Paris, but an ardent Royalist lady of rank, the duchesse d'Uzes, +squandered millions of francs in furthering Boulanger's political +schemes as leader of the Boulangists: the "National Party" or +"Revisionists." + +In June, 1888, Boulanger brought forward in the Chamber a project for a +revision of the constitution. He advocated a single Chamber, or, if a +Senate were conceded, demanded that it be chosen by popular vote. The +power of the Chamber was to be diminished, that of the President +increased, and laws were to be subject to ratification by plebiscite or +referendum. The measure was naturally rejected, but Boulanger renewed +the attack in July by demanding the dissolution of the Chamber. In the +excitement of the debate the lie was passed between Boulanger and the +President of the Council of Ministers, Floquet. Boulanger resigned his +seat and in a duel, a few days later, between Floquet and Boulanger, the +dashing general, the warrior of the black horse, and the hero of the +popular song "En rev'nant d'la revue," was ignominiously wounded by the +civilian politician. + +But Boulanger's star was not yet on the wane. He continued to be elected +Deputy in different departments, and the efforts of the Ministry to cut +the ground from under his feet by bringing in a separate revisionary +project did not undermine his popularity with the rabble, the jingo +Ligue des Patriotes of Paul Deroulede, and the anti-Republican +malcontents. In January, 1889, after a fiercely contested and +spectacular campaign, he was elected Deputy for the department of the +Seine, containing the city of Paris, nerve-centre of France. It is +generally conceded that if Boulanger had gone to the Elysee, the +presidential mansion, on the evening of his election, and turned out +Carnot, he would have had the Parisian populace and the police with him +in carrying out a _coup d'etat_. Luckily for the country his judgment +or his nerve failed him at the crucial moment, and from that time his +influence diminished. The panic-stricken Government was able to thwart +his plebiscitary appeals by re-establishing the _scrutin +d'arrondissement_, or election by small districts instead of by whole +departments. Moreover, when the Floquet Cabinet fell soon after on its +own revisionary project, the succeeding Tirard Ministry was able to pass +a law preventing simultaneous multiple candidacies, and impeached +Boulanger, with some of his followers, before the Senate as High Court +of Justice. Instead of facing trial, Boulanger and his satellites Dillon +and Henri Rochefort fled from France. In August they were condemned in +absence to imprisonment. Boulanger never returned to France, and with +diminishing subsidies his following waned. The elections of 1889 +resulted in the return of only thirty-eight Boulangists and, when in +September, 1891, Boulanger committed suicide in Brussels at the grave of +his mistress, most Frenchmen merely gave a sigh of relief at the memory +of the dangers they had experienced not so long before. + +The International Exposition of 1889 afforded a breathing spell in the +midst of political anxieties, and helped, by its evidence of the +Republic's prosperity, to weaken Boulanger's cause. But unsettled social +and religious problems remained troublesome. The successive cabinets +after the Floquet Ministry, and following the general election of 1889, +pursued a policy of "Republican concentration," combining Moderate and +Radical elements, disappearing often without important motives, and +replaced by cabinets of approximately the same coloring. The Clerical +Party was hand-in-glove with the Royalists and the Boulangists. It took +advantage of governmental instability to try to undermine the Republic, +but its own harmony of purpose was in due time diminished by the new +policy of Leo XIII. That astute Italian diplomat was himself +temperamentally an Opportunist. He conceived the idea of controlling +France by advances to the Republic and by feigning to accept it in order +to get hold of its policies, especially the educational and military +laws. He realized, too, the harm done to the Vatican by the stubbornness +of many French Catholics. He felt the necessity of making amends for the +behavior of the Catholic Royalists in the Boulanger affair. Certain +prelates, including the Archbishop of Aix, Monseigneur Gouthe-Soulard, +attacked the Government violently at the end of 1891 in connection with +disturbances by French pilgrims to Rome who had manifested in favor of +the Pope and written "Vive le Pape-Roi!" at the tomb of Victor Emmanuel. +The French Catholics tended to resent the interference of the Pope, but +the latter, who had for some months received the support of Cardinal +Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers and Primate of Africa, tried to bring +pressure on the leaders of the French clergy. In February, 1892, as a +rejoinder to a manifesto by five French cardinals, came his famous +encyclical letter advocating the established order of things. "The civil +power considered as such is from God and always from God.... +Consequently, when new governments representing this new power are +constituted, to accept them is not only permitted but demanded, or even +imposed, by the needs of the social good." This encyclical was followed +by a letter to the French cardinals in May and by other manifestations +of his wishes. Thus a certain number of Catholics, among whom the comte +de Mun and Jacques Piou were leaders, cut adrift from the Right and +adhered to the Republic, forming the small group of "Rallies." They were +never very numerous or powerful, and the Dreyfus affair, a few years +later, showed how the Pope's desire to rally the Catholics to the +Republic was thwarted by the French clergy and the reactionaries. + +The procedure of Leo XIII was thus a proof that the Vatican wanted to be +on good terms with the Republic. The _rapprochement_ with Russia was +another proof that France, in spite of its troubles, was to be reckoned +with in Europe. France and Russia felt it necessary to draw together in +answer to the noisy renewal of the Triple Alliance. There had been +tension in the spring of 1891, in which the French were not wholly +blameless, as a result of the private visit to Paris of the dowager +empress of Germany, the Empress Frederick. In the summer of 1891 a +French fleet under Admiral Gervais was invited to Russian waters. It +visited Cronstadt, and the Czar and the President exchanged telegrams of +sympathy. On the return to France the same fleet visited Portsmouth by +invitation, and was welcomed by the Queen and the authorities. The visit +to England did not, however, have the same meaning as the Russian one. +"Portsmouth" meant an expression of England's freedom of action +face-to-face with the Triple Alliance, and an endeavor to smooth French +susceptibilities recently ruffled by Lord Salisbury. After an +Anglo-French compact, in August, 1890, for the partition of +protectorates and zones of influence in Africa, the British Prime +Minister alluded rather scoffingly in the House of Lords to the lack of +value of the Sahara assigned to the French. "Cronstadt," as opposed to +"Portsmouth," meant an active understanding, to be followed in 1892 by a +military defensive compact negotiated in St. Petersburg by General de +Boisdeffre, head of the French General Staff. + +The return visit of the Russians took place at Toulon in 1893, and +Admiral Avellan with his staff visited Paris, which went wild with +enthusiasm. At that moment French relations with Italy were strained, +partly because the Italian Government was jealous of the cordiality +between the Pope and the Republic. The Franco-Russian manifestation was +a new veiled warning. + +In 1892, under the leadership of Jules Meline, the Chamber adopted a +protective tariff policy. This resulted in several tariff disputes and +engendered bad feeling with various countries, including Italy. + +The desperate attack of the Royalists, engineered mainly against the +Republic in the Panama scandals, helped to bring the Pope and the State +still closer together, so that at certain times the Rallies or +Republican Catholics and the Royalists fought each other violently. The +Panama scandal was planned in view of the elections of 1893. During the +decade following 1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the successful builder of +the Suez Canal, had organized and tried to finance a company to +construct a canal at Panama. The prestige of Lesseps's name and the +memory of his previous achievement made countless Frenchmen invest huge +sums in the company. But the expenses were enormous and the financial +maladministration apparently extraordinary, for the directors of the +company were led into illegal steps in order to influence legislation, +or pay hush money to the press to hide the condition of affairs, and +then were blackmailed into further outlays. The company failed in 1888, +and efforts to put it on its feet proved abortive. Hints of the scandals +leaked out, and the Government played into the hands of its opponents by +trying to conceal matters. + +In November, 1892, some Royalist members of the Chamber brought matters +to a head and the Government was obliged to do something. It was decided +to proceed against Ferdinand de Lesseps, his son Charles de Lesseps, +Henri Cottu, Marius Fontane, members of the board of directors, and G. +Eiffel, an engineer and contractor and the builder of the famous Eiffel +Tower. At this juncture a well-known Jewish banker of Paris, Baron +Jacques de Reinach, died suddenly and most mysteriously on November 20. +He was openly charged with being the bribery agent of the company, and +his sudden death was by some called suicide, while others hinted that he +had been put out of the way because of his dangerous knowledge. + +Under these exciting conditions a Boulangist Deputy named Delahaye made +an interpellation in the Chamber hinting at the campaign of corruption +carried on by the company through the agency of Reinach and two other +Jews of German origin, Arton and Cornelius Herz, the latter a +naturalized American citizen. By this campaign it was charged that three +million francs had been used to corrupt more than a hundred and fifty +Deputies, and much more had been spent in other ways. + +A commission of thirty-three was appointed under the chairmanship of +Henri Brisson. The Royalists and Radicals were having their innings +against the Government, and their newspapers continued to publish rumors +and "revelations." The commission called for the autopsy of Reinach. The +Loubet Cabinet, refusing to grant it, was voted down and resigned. The +Ribot Ministry was then constituted, but at intervals lost successively +two of its most prominent members, Rouvier and Freycinet, accused of +complicity in the scandals. Even the leaders of the Radicals, Clemenceau +and Floquet, in time found themselves involved. The former was charged +with tricky dealings with Cornelius Herz, the latter was shown to have +demanded money from the company, when Minister, in order to use it for +political subsidies. + +In December the Cabinet decided to arrest Charles de Lesseps, Marius +Fontane, Henri Cottu, and a former Deputy, Sans-Leroy, accused of having +accepted a bribe of two hundred thousand francs. At the same time, on +the basis of the seizure of twenty-six cheque stubs at the bank used by +the baron de Reinach, the Minister of Justice proceeded against ten +prominent Deputies and Senators, among whom was Albert Grevy, former +Governor-General of Algeria, and brother of Jules Grevy. The Government +seemed panic-stricken in its readiness to sacrifice, on mere suspicion, +prominent members of its party. All the parliamentaries accused were, in +due time, exonerated. + +The directors of the company came up for trial twice. The first time, +with M. Eiffel, in January-February, 1893, and the second time, with +other defendants, in March, before different jurisdictions on varying +charges, they were condemned to fine and imprisonment. On appeal, in +April, these condemnations were revised or annulled. One person became +the scapegoat, a former Minister of Public Works named Baihaut, +condemned to civil degradation, five years' imprisonment, and a heavy +fine. + +Scandal was, however, not satisfied with these names. There was also +talk of a mysterious list of one hundred and four Deputies charged with +accepting bribes from Arton. Moreover, it was felt that quashing the +indictments against prominent men like Rouvier and Albert Grevy was poor +policy. If they were innocent they could prove their innocence. Under +the circumstances suspicion would still be rife. The state of general +anarchy was also revealed by the evidence of the wife of Henri Cottu, +who testified that agents of the Government had offered her husband +immunity if he would implicate a member of the Opposition.[14] + +The Panama scandal was largely the work of the Monarchists angry at the +failure of the Boulanger campaign. It did them no good, as the elections +to the new Chamber proved. On the other hand, it worked havoc among the +leaders of the Moderates, who, innocent or blameworthy, fell under +popular suspicion, and were in many cases relegated to the background in +favor of new leaders. Moreover, it helped the Socialists, and even, by +throwing discredit on parliamentarism, it encouraged lawless outbreaks +of anarchists. + +New men in party leaderships came in the composite Cabinet of Moderate +leanings led by Charles Dupuy in April, 1893. He seemed at first to +incline toward the Conservatives and treated with considerable severity +some street disturbances. A prank of art students at their annual ball +(_Bal des quat'-z-arts_) was magnified into a street riot and was not +quelled until after the loss of a life. The _Bourse du travail_ +(Workmen's Exchange) was closed by the Government after other +disturbances. + +The elections in August and September resulted in a large Republican +majority and a corresponding decline in the anti-Republican Right. On +the other hand, the Radicals rose to about a hundred and fifty, and the +Socialists were about fifty, forming for the first time a large party +able to make its influence felt. The "Socialistic-Radicals" represented +an effort toward a compromise between the advanced groups. + +The desire of the Moderate leaders of the Republic to meet the Pope +halfway in his policy of conciliation was expressed in a noteworthy +speech made in the Chamber in March, 1894, by the then Minister of +Public Worship, Eugene Spuller. Answering the query of a Royalist +Deputy, the Minister declared that the time had come to put an end to +fanaticism and sectarianism, and that the country could count on the +vigilance of the Government to maintain its rights, and on the new frame +of mind (_esprit nouveau_) which inspired it, which tended to reconcile +all French citizens and bring about a revival of common sense, justice, +and charity. + +But the anarchists were not moved by any spirit of conciliation. +Borrowing methods of violence from the Russian nihilists, they used +bomb-throwing to draw attention to the vices of social organization and +to themselves. During 1892, 1893, and 1894 they tried to terrorize +Paris. The deeds of various criminals, including Ravachol, Vaillant (who +threw a bomb in the Chamber of Deputies),[15] Emile Henry, among others, +culminated at last in the cruel murder of President Carnot. On June 24, +1894, while at Lyons, whither he had gone to pay a state visit to an +international exhibition, President Carnot was fatally stabbed by an +underwitted Italian anarchist named Caserio Santo, and died within a few +hours. Never were more futile and abominable crimes committed than those +which sacrificed Carnot and McKinley. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] The Panama affair was a violent shock to the Republic. People were +amazed at the charges of widespread corruption and the tendency on the +part of the Government to smooth things over. Suspicions aroused were +not fully satisfied because Reinach was dead and Herz and Arton in +flight. Cornelius Herz successfully fought extradition from England on +the plea of illness. Arton was arrested in 1895 and extradited. His +arrest caused a renewal of talk about Panama and the newspaper _la +France_ undertook to print the famous list of one hundred and four +Deputies. This publication was recognized to be a case of blackmail and +its promoters were punished. Arton was also condemned to a term of hard +labor, but his trial did not bring out the longed-for revelations. + +[15] M. Dupuy, then President of the Chamber, got much credit for his +calmness and his remark, as the smoke of the bomb cleared away, "La +seance continue." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JEAN CASIMIR-PERIER + +June, 1894, to January, 1895 + +AND OF FELIX FAURE + +January, 1895, to February, 1899 + + +The customary promptness in the choice of a President, so unfamiliar to +American campaigns, was observed in the election of Carnot's successor. +The historic name and the social and financial position of the new chief +magistrate, Jean Casimir-Perier, seemed to the monarchical +sister-nations a guarantee of national stability and dignity. In reality +the election brought about a more definite cleavage between rival +political tendencies. Casimir-Perier, grandson of Louis-Philippe's great +minister, obviously represented the Moderates, most of whom tried in all +sincerity to carry out the _esprit nouveau_ and a policy of good-will +toward the Catholic Church. The Radicals said that this was playing into +the hands of the Clericals, and to the Socialists Casimir-Perier was +merely a hated capitalist. He was, moreover, unfortunately unfit for +the acrimonies of political life. High-strung and emotional, he writhed +under misinterpretation and abuse, and rebelled against the +constitutional powerlessness of his office. He had never really wanted +the Presidency and had accepted it chiefly through the personal +persuasion of his friend the statesman Burdeau, who unfortunately died +soon after his election. The brief Presidency of Casimir-Perier, lasting +less than a year, was destined to see the beginning of the worst trial +the French Republic had yet experienced, the famous Dreyfus case. + +The Administration, in which Dupuy remained Prime Minister, began by +repressive measures, laws directed against the anarchists and the trial +_en masse_ of thirty defendants ranging from utopian theorists to actual +criminals. Most of them were acquitted, but the procedure did not +ingratiate the Government with the advanced parties. Toward the end of +1894 the Dreyfus case began to be talked of, an affair which was +destined to develop into a tremendous struggle of the leaders of the +army and the Church to obtain control of the nation. + +In September, 1894, an officer named Henry, of the spy service of the +French army, came into possession of a document pieced together from +fragments stolen from a waste-paper basket in the German Embassy. This +document, containing a _bordereau_ or memorandum of information largely +about the French artillery offered to the German military attache, +Schwartzkoppen, was anonymous, but Henry undoubtedly recognized, sooner +or later, the handwriting of a friend, Major Esterhazy, a soldier of +fortune in the French army, of bad reputation and shady character. +Unable to destroy the document, which had been seen by others, Henry +tried to fasten it on somebody else. Indeed, many people believe that +Henry was an accomplice of Esterhazy in German pay. By a strange +coincidence it happened that the handwriting of the _bordereau_ somewhat +resembled that of a brilliant young Jewish officer of the General Staff +named Alfred Dreyfus. He belonged to a wealthy Alsatian family, and from +antecedent probability would not seem to need to play a traitor's part, +but he was intensely unpopular among his fellows because of many +disagreeable traits of character. Moreover, anti-Semitism, formerly +non-existent in France, was now rife. It had been largely fomented by +the anti-Jewish agitator Edouard Drumont, with his book _la France +juive_ (1886) and his newspaper the _Libre Parole_ (1892). Prejudice +against the Jews as tricky financiers had been prepared and encouraged +by the sensational failure of the great bank, the Union generale, a +Catholic rival of the Rothschilds, in 1882, and by the Panama scandals +with the doings of Jacques de Reinach, Cornelius Herz, and Arton. The +_Libre Parole_ had worked against Jewish officers in the army, an +activity which culminated in some sensational duels, particularly one +between Captain Mayer and the marquis de Mores (1892), in which the Jew +was killed. + +So, in the present instance, the Minister of War, General Mercier, who +had recently committed some much-criticized administrative blunders, and +who now wished to show his efficiency, caused the arrest of Dreyfus. +Then, egged on by anti-Semitic newspapers which had got hold of +Dreyfus's name, Mercier brought him before a court-martial. The trial +was held in secret, and the War Department sent to the officers +constituting the tribunal, without the knowledge of the prisoner or his +counsel Maitre Demange, a secret _dossier_, a collection of trumped-up +incriminating documents. Demange devoted himself to proving that Dreyfus +was not the author of the _bordereau_, but the members of the +court-martial, believing in the genuineness of the additional documents, +unhesitatingly convicted him of treason. Consequently, in spite of his +protestations of innocence, Dreyfus was publicly degraded on January 5, +1895, and hustled off to solitary confinement on the unhealthy Devil's +Isle, off the coast of French Guiana. Meanwhile the whole French people +sincerely believed that a vile traitor had been justly condemned and +that the secrecy of the case was due to the advisability of avoiding +diplomatic complications with Germany. With dramatic unexpectedness, +only ten days later (January 15), Casimir-Perier resigned the +Presidency. + +During the whole Dreyfus affair Casimir-Perier had chafed because his +ministers had constantly acted without keeping him informed, +particularly when he was called upon by the German Government to +acknowledge that it had had nothing to do with Dreyfus. He had lost by +death the support of his friend Burdeau; he was discouraged by the +campaign of abuse against him, especially the election as Deputy in +Paris of Gerault-Richard, one of his most active vilifiers. In +particular he felt that his own Cabinet, and above all its leader Dupuy, +were false to him. A discussion in the Chamber concerning the duration +of the state guarantees to certain of the great railway companies ended +in a vote unfavorable to the Cabinet, which resigned, whereupon +Casimir-Perier seized the opportunity to go too. The Socialists declared +that Dupuy had provoked his own defeat in order to embarrass the +President by the difficulty of forming a new Cabinet, and make him +resign as well. + +Two days later the electoral Congress met at Versailles. The Radicals +supported Henri Brisson. The Moderates and the Conservatives were +divided between Waldeck-Rousseau and Felix Faure, but Waldeck-Rousseau +having thrown his strength on the second ballot to Faure, the latter was +elected. + +The new President, recently Minister of the Navy, was a well-meaning +man, but full of vanity and naively delighted with his own rise in the +world from a humble position to that of chief magistrate. The extent to +which his judgment was warped by his temperament is shown by the later +developments of the Dreyfus case. + +Felix Faure's first Cabinet was led by the Republican Moderate Alexandre +Ribot. It lasted less than a year and its history was chiefly +noteworthy, at least in foreign affairs, by the increasing openness of +the Franco-Russian _rapprochement_ at the ceremonies of the inauguration +of the Kiel Canal. In internal affairs there were some violent +industrial disturbances and strikes. + +In October, 1895, the Moderates gave way to the Radical Cabinet of Leon +Bourgeois. It was viewed with suspicion by the moneyed interests, who +accused it of gravitating toward the Socialists. The cleavage between +the two tendencies of the Republican Party became more marked. The +Moderates joined forces with the Conservatives to oppose the schemes for +social and financial reforms of the Radicals and of the representatives +of the working classes. Prominent among these was the proposal for a +progressive income tax. The Senate, naturally a more conservative body, +was opposed to the Bourgeois Cabinet, which had a majority, though not a +very steadfast one, in the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, usually a +nonentity in determining the fall of a cabinet, for once successfully +asserted its power and, by refusing to vote the credits asked for by the +Ministry for the Madagascar campaign, caused it to resign in April, +1896. The enemies of the Senate maintained that the Chamber of Deputies, +elected by direct suffrage, was the only judge of the fate of a cabinet. +But Bourgeois's hold was at best precarious and he seized the +opportunity to withdraw. + +The Meline Cabinet which followed was a return to the Moderates +supported by the Conservatives. Its opponents accused it of following +what in American political parlance is called a "stand-pat" policy, but +it remained in office longer than any ministry up to its time, a little +over two years. It afforded, at any rate, an opportunity for the +adversaries of the Republic to strengthen their positions and encouraged +the transformation of the Dreyfus case into a political instead of a +purely judicial matter. + +In foreign affairs the most spectacular events were the visit of the +Czar and Czarina to France in 1896 and the return visit of the French +President to Russia in 1897. At the banquet of leave-taking on the +French warship _Pothuau_, in their prepared speeches, the Czar and the +President made use of the same expression "friendly and _allied_ +nations," thus publicly proclaiming to Europe the alliance suspected +since 1891. + +In spite of the unanimous feeling of Dreyfus's guilt, his family did not +lose faith in him, and his brother Mathieu set about the apparently +impossible task of rehabilitation. But it chanced that one other person +began to have doubts of the justice of Dreyfus's condemnation. This was +Lieutenant-Colonel Picquart, who had been present at the court-martial +as representative of the War Department, and who had since become chief +of the espionage service, and Henry's superior. Another document stolen +from a waste-paper basket at the German Embassy, an unforwarded +pneumatic despatch (_petit bleu_), was brought to him, and directed his +suspicions to Esterhazy, to whom it was addressed. At first he did not +connect Esterhazy and Dreyfus, but on obtaining specimens of +Esterhazy's handwriting he was struck by the likeness with that of the +_bordereau_. Then, examining the secret _dossier_, to which he now had +access, he was stupefied to see its insignificance. + +[Illustration: MARIE-GEORGES PICQUART] + +From this time on, Picquart worked, with extraordinary tenacity of +purpose and against all obstacles, for the rehabilitation of a stranger. +Everybody was against him. His chief subordinate Henry dreaded +revelations above all things, and set his colleagues against him. His +superiors disliked any suggestion that an army court could have made a +mistake, the remedying of which would help a Jew. + +Gradually, however, the agitation started by Mathieu Dreyfus was +becoming stronger. He had won the help of a skilled writer Bernard +Lazare; a daily paper succeeded in obtaining and publishing a facsimile +of the _bordereau_. But Picquart was sent away from Paris on a tour of +inspection, and when the matter came up in the Chamber, through an +interpellation, the Minister of War, General Billot, declared that the +judgment of 1894 was absolutely legal and just. Matters thus seemed +settled again. + +But a prominent Alsatian member of Parliament, Scheurer-Kestner, one of +the Vice-Presidents of the Senate, was half-persuaded by Mathieu and +Bernard Lazare. When Picquart's friend and legal adviser, Leblois, +rather injudiciously, from a professional point of view, confided to him +his client's suspicions, he was thoroughly convinced and the two +separate currents of activity now coalesced. Yet the greater the +agitation in favor of Dreyfus, the greater grew the opposition. The +anti-Semites shrieked with rage against Judas, the "traitor." The upper +ranks of the army were honeycombed by Clerical influences. An enormous +proportion of the officers belonged to reactionary families and the +Chief of Staff himself, General de Boisdeffre, was under the thumb of +the Pere Du Lac, one of the most prominent Jesuits in France. The +Clericals and anti-Semites, therefore, joined forces, and, by calling +the Dreyfus agitation an attack on the honor of the army and a play into +the hands of Germany, they won over all the jingoes and former +Boulangists, who formed the new party of Nationalists. This was the +so-called alliance of "the sword and the holy-water sprinkler" (_le +sabre et le goupillon_). Above all, certain religious associations, +particularly the Assumptionists, under the name of religion, organized a +campaign of slander and abuse against all who ventured to speak for +Dreyfus. By a ludicrous counter-play the scoundrel Esterhazy had +defenders as an injured innocent, the more so that Henry and the clique +at the War Office found it to their interest to support him. + +Matters reached a crisis when, on November 15, 1897, Mathieu Dreyfus +denounced Esterhazy to the Minister of War as author of the _bordereau_ +and as guilty of the treason for which his brother had been condemned. +This was partly a tactical mistake, because, even if Esterhazy were +proved to have written the _bordereau_, it would still be necessary to +show him guilty of actual treason. It made it possible to swerve the +discussion from the conviction of Dreyfus as a _res adjudicata_ (_chose +jugee_) to vague charges against Esterhazy. The later called for a +vindication, he was triumphantly acquitted by a court-martial early in +January, 1898, and Picquart was put under arrest on various charges of +indiscipline in connection with the whole affair. + +Few and far between as they now seemed, the lovers of justice were still +to be counted with. They consisted at first of a small number of +much-derided _intellectuels_, scholars and trained thinkers, who used +their judgment and not their prejudices. One of these was the famous +novelist Emile Zola, who, to keep the case under discussion, published +in the _Aurore_ on January 13, a few days after Esterhazy's acquittal, +his famous letter, _J'accuse_. In this article Zola denounced the guilty +machinations of Dreyfus's adversaries _seriatim_, blamed the Dreyfus +court-martial for convicting on secret evidence and the Esterhazy court +for acquitting a guilty man in obedience to orders. Zola was not in +possession of all the facts, since his precise aim was to have them +brought out, and in his charges against the Esterhazy court he was +technically and legally at fault. But he courted prosecution and got it. + +On February 7 Zola was brought to trial. The crafty authorities +eliminated all references to the trial of 1894 as a _chose jugee_ and +prosecuted Zola for having declared that Esterhazy was acquitted by +order. Their tool, the presiding magistrate Delegorgue, seconded their +efforts by ruling out every question which might throw light on the +Dreyfus case, in spite of the attempts of Zola's chief lawyer Labori. +Party passion was at its height, hired gangs of men were posted about +the court-house to hoot and attack the Dreyfusites, members of the +General Staff appeared in full uniform to interrupt the trial and +bulldoze the jury by mysterious hints of war with Germany. Finally Zola +was condemned to fine and imprisonment. At this trial for the first time +mention was mysteriously but openly made of a new document, understood +to be a communication alluding to Dreyfus between the Italian and the +German military _attaches_ at Paris. Zola appealed, the higher court +broke the verdict on the ground that the prosecution should have been +instigated by the offended court-martial and not by the Government, he +was brought to trial again on a change of venue at Versailles, was +unsuccessful in interposing obstacles to an inevitable condemnation, and +so fled to England (July). + +Meanwhile, public opinion was becoming yet more violently excited. +France was divided into two great camps, the line of cleavage often +estranging the closest friends and relatives. On the one side was a vast +majority consisting of the Clericals, the jingoes or Nationalists, the +anti-Semites, and the unreflecting mass of the population. On the other +were ranged the "intellectuals," the Socialists who were now rallying to +the cause of tolerance, the Jews, and the few French Protestants. The +League of the Rights of Man stood opposed to the association of the +_Patrie Francaise_. In the midst of this turmoil were held the elections +of May, 1898, for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies. The political +coloring of the new body was not sensibly changed, but the open +Dreyfusites were all excluded. The Moderates now generally dubbed +themselves "Progressists." None the less at the first session the now +long-lived Meline Cabinet resigned after a vote requesting it to govern +with fewer concessions to the Right. + +The next Cabinet was Radical, headed by Henri Brisson. His mind was not +yet definitely made up on the matter of revision, and he gave +concessions to the Nationalists by appointing as Minister of War +Godefroy Cavaignac. This headstrong personage, proud of an historic +name, undertook to manage the Cabinet and to prove once for all to the +Chamber the guilt of Dreyfus. In his speech he relied mainly on the +letter mentioned at the Zola trial as written by the Italian to the +German _attache_. + +Once more the Dreyfus affair seemed permanently settled, and once more +the contrary proved to be the case. In August Cavaignac discovered, to +his dismay, that the document he had sent to the Chamber, with such +emphasis on its importance, was an out-and-out forgery of Henry. The +latter was put under arrest and committed suicide. Discussion followed +between Brisson, now converted to revision, and Cavaignac, still too +stubborn to change his mind with regard to Dreyfus, in spite of his +recent discovery. Cavaignac resigned as Minister of War, was replaced by +General Zurlinden, who withdrew in a few days and was in turn succeeded +by another general, Chanoine, thought to be in sympathy with the +Cabinet. He in turn played his colleagues false and resigned +unexpectedly during a meeting of the Chamber. Weakened by these +successive blows the Brisson Cabinet itself had to resign, but its +leader had now forwarded to the supreme court of the land, the Cour de +Cassation, the petition of Dreyfus's wife for a revision of his +sentence. The first step had at last been taken. The Criminal Chamber +accepted the request and proceeded to a further detailed investigation. + +The Brisson Ministry was followed by a third Cabinet of the unabashed +Dupuy. It became evident that the Criminal Chamber of the Court of +Cassation was inclining to decide on revision. Wishing to play to both +sides and, yielding in this case to the anti-revisionists, early in 1899 +Dupuy brought in a bill to take the Dreyfus affair away from the +Criminal Chamber in the very midst of its deliberations and submit it to +the Court as a whole, where it was hoped a majority of judges would +reject revision. Between the dates of the passage of this bill by the +Chamber and by the Senate, President Faure died suddenly and under +mysterious circumstances on February 16, 1899. He had opposed revision +and his death, attributed to apoplexy, was a gain to the revisionists +who were accused by his friends of having caused his murder. On the +other hand, stories, which it is unnecessary to repeat here, found an +echo some years later in the scandals repeated at the sensational trial +of Madame Steinheil. + +During the turmoil over the Dreyfus affair, France underwent a +humiliating experience with England. The colonial rivalry of the two +countries had of late gone on unchecked, embittered as it had been by +the ousting of France from the Suez Canal and Egypt. To many Frenchmen +"Perfidious Albion" was, far more than Germany, the secular foe. In 1896 +a French expedition under Captain Marchand was sent from the Congo in +the direction of the Nile. The English afterwards argued that its +purpose was to cut their sphere of influence and hinder the +Cape-to-Cairo project; the French declared they merely wished to occupy +a post which should afford a basis for general diplomatic negotiations +for the partition of Africa. The mission was numerically insufficient; +it struggled painfully for two years through the heart of the continent, +and at last the small handful of intrepid Frenchmen established +themselves at Fashoda on the upper waters of the Nile in July, 1898. At +once General Kitchener arriving from the victory of Omdurman appeared +on the scene to occupy Fashoda for the Egyptian Government. England +assumed a viciously aggressive attitude and, under veiled threats of +war, France was obliged to recall Marchand (November 4). The outburst of +fury in France against England at this humiliation was tremendous. No +sane man would have then ventured to predict that in a few years the +hands of the two countries would be joined in the clasp of the _Entente +cordiale_. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF EMILE LOUBET + +February, 1899, to February, 1906 + + +The successor of Felix Faure, Emile Loubet, was elected on February 18, +1899, by a good majority over Jules Meline, the candidate of the larger +number of the Moderates or "Progressists" and of the Conservatives. +Loubet was himself a man of Moderate views, but he was thought to favor +a revision of the Dreyfus case. Among the charges of his enemies was +that, as Minister of the Interior in 1892, he had held, but had kept +secret, the famous list of the "Hundred and Four" and had prevented the +seizure of the papers of Baron de Reinach and the arrest of Arton. So +Loubet's return to Paris from Versailles was amid hostile cries of +"Loubet-Panama" and "Vive l'armee!" + +On February 23, after the state funeral of President Faure, a detachment +of troops led by General Roget was returning to its barracks in an +outlying quarter of Paris. Suddenly the Nationalist and quondam +Boulangist Paul Deroulede, now chief of the Ligue des Patriotes and +vigorous opponent of parliamentary government, though a Deputy himself, +rushed to General Roget, and, grasping the bridle of his horse, tried to +persuade him to lead his troops to the Elysee, the presidential +residence, and overthrow the Government. Deroulede had expected to +encounter General de Pellieux, a more amenable leader, and one of the +noisy generals at the Zola trial. General Roget, who had been +substituted at the last moment, refused to accede and caused the arrest +of Deroulede, with his fellow Deputy and conspirator Marcel Habert. + +Meanwhile the Dreyfus case had been taken out of the hands of the +Criminal Chamber and given to the whole Court. To the dismay of the +anti-Dreyfusites the Court, as a body, annulled, on June 3, the verdict +of the court-martial of 1894, and decided that Dreyfus should appear +before a second military court at Rennes for another trial. + +Thus party antagonisms were becoming more and more acute. In addition +Dupuy, the head of the Cabinet, seemed to be spiting the new President. +On the day after the verdict of the Cour de Cassation, at the Auteuil +races, President Loubet was roughly jostled by a band of fashionable +young Royalists and struck with a cane by Baron de Christiani. A week +later, at the Grand Prize races at Longchamps, on June 11, Dupuy, as +though to atone for his previous carelessness, brought out a large array +of troops, so obviously over-numerous as to cause new disturbances among +the crowd desirous of manifesting its sympathy with the chief +magistrate. More arrests were made and, at the meeting of the Chamber of +Deputies the next day, the Cabinet was overthrown by an adverse vote. + +[Illustration: RENE WALDECK-ROUSSEAU] + +The ministerial crisis brought about by the fall of Dupuy was as +important as any under the Third Republic because of its consequences in +the redistribution of parties. For about ten days President Loubet was +unable to find a leader who could in turn form a cabinet. At last public +opinion was astounded by the masterly combination made by +Waldeck-Rousseau, Gambetta's former lieutenant, who of recent years had +kept somewhat aloof from active participation in politics. He brought +together a ministry of "defense republicaine," which its opponents, +however, called a cabinet for the "liquidation" of the Dreyfus case. The +old policy of "Republican concentration" of Opportunists and Radicals +was given up in favor of a mass formation of the various advanced groups +of the Left, including the Socialists. + +Waldeck-Rousseau was a Moderate Republican, whose legal practice of +recent years had been mainly that of a corporation lawyer, but he was a +cool-headed Opportunist. He realized the ill-success of the policy of +the "esprit nouveau," and saw the necessity of making advances to the +Socialists, who more and more held the balance of power. He succeeded in +uniting in his Cabinet Moderates like himself, Radicals, and, for the +first time in French parliamentary history, an out-and-out Socialist, +Alexandre Millerand, author of the famous "Programme of Saint-Mande" of +1896, or declaration of faith of Socialism. Still more astounding was +the presence as Minister of War, in the same Cabinet with Millerand, of +General de Galliffet, a bluff, outspoken, and dashing aristocratic +officer, a favorite with the whole army, but fiercely hated by the +proletariat because of his part in the repression of the Commune. + +The first days of the new Cabinet were stormy and its outlook was +dubious. The task of reconciling such divergent elements, even against a +common foe, seemed an impossibility, until at last the Radicals under +Brisson swung into line. Such was the beginning of a Republican grouping +which later, during the anti-Clerical campaign, was known as _le Bloc_, +the united band of Republicans. + +The Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry took up the Dreyfus case with a queer +combination of courage and weakness. Insubordinate army officers were +summarily punished for injudicious remarks, but in order to appear +neutral and to avoid criticism, the Cabinet held so much aloof that the +anti-Dreyfusites were able to bring their full forces to bear on the +court-martial. For a month at Rennes, beginning August 7, an +extraordinary trial was carried on before the eyes of an impassioned +France and angry onlooking nations. Witnesses had full latitude to +indulge in rhetorical addresses and air their prejudices; military +officers like Roget, who had had nothing to do with the original trial, +were allowed to take up the time of the court. Galliffet, though +convinced of the innocence of Dreyfus, was unwilling to exert as much +pressure as his colleagues in the Cabinet desired. It soon became +evident that, regardless of the question involved, the issue was one +between an insignificant Jewish officer on the one hand and General +Mercier, ex-Minister of War, on the other. The judges were army officers +full of caste-feeling and timorous of offending their superiors. Thus, +on September 9, Dreyfus was a second time convicted, though with +extenuating circumstances, by a vote of 5 to 2, and condemned to ten +years' detention. This verdict was a travesty of justice, and a +punishment fitting no crime of Dreyfus, since he was either innocent or +guilty of treason beyond extenuation. The Ministry, perhaps regretting +too late its excessive inertia, immediately caused the President to +pardon Dreyfus, partly on the ostensible grounds that Dreyfus by his +previous harsher condemnation had already purged his new one. This act +of clemency was, however, not a legal clearing of the victim's honor, +which was achieved only some years later. + +During the turmoil of the Dreyfus affair the Cabinet was, it seemed to +many, unduly anxious over certain conspirators against the Republic. The +symptoms of insubordination in high ranks in the army, linked with the +Clerical manoeuvres, had encouraged the other foes of the Republic +(spurred on by the Royalists), whether sincere opponents of the +parliamentary regime like Paul Deroulede, or venal agitators such as the +anti-Semitic Jules Guerin. But, certainly, above all objectionable were +the proceedings of the Assumptionists, a religious order which had +amassed enormous wealth, and which, by the various local editions of its +paper _la Croix_, had organized a campaign of venomous slander and abuse +of the Republic and its leaders. + +The Government, having got wind of a project of the conspirators to +seize the reins of power during the Rennes court-martial, anticipated +the act by wholesale arrests on August 12. Jules Guerin barricaded +himself with some friends in a house in the rue de Chabrol in Paris, and +defied the Government to arrest him without perpetrating murder. The +grotesque incident of the "Fort Chabrol" came to an end after +thirty-seven days when the authorities had surrounded the house with +troops to starve Guerin out and stopped the drains. + +In November a motley array of conspirators, ranging from Andre Buffet, +representative of the pretender the Duke of Orleans, to butchers from +the slaughter-houses of La Villette, were brought to trial before the +Senate acting as a High Court of Justice, on the charge of conspiracy +against the State. After a long trial lasting nearly two months, during +which the prisoners outdid each other in declamatory insults to their +enemies, the majority were acquitted. Paul Deroulede and Andre Buffet +were condemned to banishment for ten years and Jules Guerin to +imprisonment for the same term. Two others, Marcel Habert and the comte +de Lur-Saluces, who had taken flight, gave themselves up later and were +condemned in 1900 and 1901, respectively, amid a public indifference +which was far from their liking. + +Thus the year 1899 had proved itself one of the most dramatically +eventful in the history of the Republic. It was also to be one of the +most significant in its consequences. For the new grouping of mutually +jealous factions against a common danger had, in spite of the fiasco of +the second Dreyfus case, shown a way to victory. And exasperation +against the intrigues of the Clericals and the army officers was going +to turn the former toleration of the "esprit nouveau" into active +persecution, especially as the Socialists and Radicals formed the +majority of the new combination. + +In November, 1899, Waldeck-Rousseau laid before Parliament an +Associations bill to regulate the organization of societies, which was +intended indirectly to control religious bodies. The leniency of the +Government hitherto and the commercial energy of many religious orders, +manufacturers of articles varying from chartreuse to hair-restorers and +dentifrice, had enabled them to amass enormous sums held in mortmain. +The power of this money was great in politics and the anti-Clericals +cast envious eyes on these vague and mysterious fortunes. There were in +France at the time almost seven hundred unauthorized "congregations." +Against the Assumptionists in particular the Government took direct +measures early in 1900, such as legal perquisitions, arrests, and +prosecution as an illegal association. + +The campaign went on through the year 1900, the Exposition of that year +helping to act as a partial truce. The expedition of the Allies to China +to put down the Boxer rebellion also diverted attention. +Waldeck-Rousseau was sincerely desirous of bringing about a pacification +of feeling in the country, and he felt bitter practically only against +the Jesuits and the Assumptionists. He even succeeded in carrying +through Parliament an amnesty bill dealing with the Dreyfus case and +destined to quash all criminal actions in process, whether of +Dreyfusites or anti-Dreyfusites. The former fought the project +vigorously on the ground that it opposed a new obstacle to ultimate +discovery of the truth, but they were unsuccessful. Waldeck-Rousseau +remained at heart, none the less, a believer in Dreyfus's innocence and +in spite of his amnesty project, he could not always hide his true +feelings. In consequence he offended his Minister of War, General de +Galliffet, Dreyfusite as well, but tired of the struggle now that the +Rennes trial had made the task of rehabilitation apparently hopeless. +Galliffet resigned his office and was succeeded by General Andre, a +politician soldier, who started out at once to purge the army +drastically of its Clericalism. + +Waldeck-Rousseau's Associations project was fairly mild. He had no +desire for a violent break with the Vatican, and the wily and diplomatic +Leo XIII probably so understood well enough in spite of his protests. +But, as debate and discussion went on, the measure became more severe. +Waldeck-Rousseau had originally planned a bill dealing with +authorization and incorporation of associations in general, in which he +refrained from any specific allusion to religious bodies of monks and +nuns, thereby assimilating them with other groups. As finally voted and +promulgated in July, 1901, the law made provisions for the privilege of +association in general, but made the important additional stipulations +that no religious order or "congregation" could be formed without +specific authorization by law, that a religious order could be dissolved +by ministerial decree, and that no one belonging to an unauthorized +order could direct personally, or by proxy, an educational +establishment, or even teach in one. Thus the enemies of the lay +Republic who, under cover of the "esprit nouveau," and by years of +manipulation of the feeding sources of army and navy officers, had hoped +to grasp power, and had made a supreme effort at the time of the Dreyfus +agitation, now saw themselves thwarted, and faced the prospect of +severer treatment. + +Matters had progressed even further than Waldeck-Rousseau himself +perhaps desired. In the spring of 1902, new legislative elections took +place for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies. The policy of the +Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry was endorsed by a sound majority, and yet at +this moment of triumph, after the longest rule as Prime Minister of any +hitherto in the history of the Republic, Waldeck-Rousseau resigned his +post without an adverse vote. Undoubtedly the state of his personal +health was partly responsible for his departure from office and he was +destined not to live beyond 1904. The last important events of his +administration were a visit of the Czar to France and a return visit of +President Loubet to Russia. + +Waldeck-Rousseau's successor as Prime Minister was Emile Combes, a +strong foe of the Church. Combes had himself been a former theological +student and had, in his youth, written a thesis on the philosophy of St. +Thomas Aquinas. He now had all the vindictiveness of one who burns what +he formerly worshipped. Encouraged by the recent elections, he turned +more and more against the Vatican and impelled by the more violent +members of the _Bloc_, he drifted toward the rupture which his +predecessor had tried to avoid. A committee of the different groups +supporting the Cabinet, called the "delegation des gauches," had in time +been instituted to formulate policies with the Prime Minister, who often +had to obey it instead of guiding. Waldeck-Rousseau had intended not to +apply his law retroactively. He had planned to spare educational +establishments already in existence before July, 1901, when his measure +went into operation, and had winked at lack of compliance on the part of +many others. Combes applied the letter of the law ruthlessly. Amid +public protestations and disturbances he closed a large number of these +unauthorized schools; firstly, those which had actually been opened +without permission since the promulgation of the law, then the many +schools which were older than the law. In so doing he was called a +persecutor, because the directors of the schools declared that they had +allowed the time limit of application for authorization to go by, only +through the understanding with the previous Administration that they +were not to be interfered with. Now they could not help themselves. + +Emboldened by success Combes next took up the applications of the +congregations which had duly followed the law and were seeking +authorization. By decree, as was his right, he first promptly closed +unlicensed schools of recognized orders. Then came the applications of +orders seeking authorization. Legal procedure demanded laws to reject as +well as laws to accept applications. A recommendation _favored_ by the +Government but _rejected_ by the Chamber of Deputies would not go before +the Senate. On the other hand, an _unfavorable_ opinion of the +Government _ratified_ by the House would still have to go before the +Senate. A way would thus be open for prolonged chicanery. + +Combes cut matters short. He lumped fifty-four individual applications +into three batches, teaching orders, preaching orders, and the +commercial order of the Chartreux, manufacturers of the liqueur called +"chartreuse." Then, presenting these batches of applications +collectively instead of individually to the Chamber, he caused their +rejection and proceeded to dissolve the orders and close their fifteen +hundred establishments. Through the spring of 1903 there were turbulent +scenes in consequence in various parts of France, the monks trying +sometimes passive resistance, sometimes actual violence. In the +reactionary districts the population attempted to stir up riots. +Occasionally, even, a military officer whose duty it was to evict the +monks refused to obey orders. But, nothing daunted, Combes went on, with +the support of the Chambers, to reject a large mass of applications from +teaching orders of women. Even Waldeck-Rousseau was led in time publicly +to declare that he had never contemplated the transformation of his +Associations law of 1901 from a measure of regulation to one of +exclusion, nor the assumption by the State of expensive educational +charges hitherto carried on by religious orders. At last the law of +July, 1904, put a complete end to all kinds of instruction by religious +bodies, thereby insuring, after a lapse of time for liquidation, the +disappearance of all teaching orders. + +These measures against the religious groups were, in spite of outcries +of persecution, after all matters of internal administration. But, +meanwhile, causes for direct dissension with the Vatican had arisen over +questions involving the _Concordat_ regulating the relations of Church +and State. + +The first dispute was about the method of appointing bishops. The +Concordat gave to the Government the right of appointing bishops, +subject to the papal ratification of the appointee's moral and +theological qualifications. During the Third Republic the habit had +grown up of mutual consultation before appointments were made, a +practice which led the Vatican to assume that its initial influence was +as great as that of the Government, and finally to make use of the +formula _nobis nominavit_, or _nominaverit_, as though the Government +merely proposed a candidate subject to the Vatican's free right to +accept or to reject. The keen-scented Combes took an early opportunity +to raise this issue by making certain appointments to bishoprics +without previously consulting the Vatican. In the midst of the +discussions Leo XIII died in July, 1903, and was succeeded by Pius X, +whose character was utterly different from that of his predecessor. His +primitive faith saw in France the home of heretics like the Modernist, +the Abbe Loisy; and his Secretary of State, the ultramontane Cardinal +Merry del Val, was as hostile to France, as his predecessor Cardinal +Rampolla had, on the whole, been well disposed to the "eldest daughter +of the Church." Between Merry del Val and Combes no agreement was +possible. So matters went from bad to worse. + +In the autumn of 1903 the King of Italy made a visit to France, and in +1904 it was deemed advisable to have President Loubet return this visit +to emphasize the new cordiality between France and Italy, the settlement +of long-standing difficulties, and to cultivate as much as possible one +member of the Triple Alliance. The Pope protested violently against this +visit to his enemy in Rome and made it clear that he would refuse to see +Loubet. The diplomatic crisis became acute and the French Ambassador to +the Vatican was recalled. + +Soon came a complete rupture over the treatment by the pontifical +authorities of two French bishops, Geay of Laval and Le Nordez of Dijon. +They had shown themselves loyal Republicans and had become the object of +attack in their own dioceses until personal scandals were imagined or +raked up against them. Combes took the part of the bishops and, to +punish the Vatican for interfering with the French prelates, definitely +broke off diplomatic relations in July, 1904, withdrawing even the +charge d'affaires who had been left after the departure of the +ambassador. + +For some time, plans for the separation of Church and State had been +under discussion in a somewhat academic way by a committee or +_Commission_ of the Chamber, under the general guidance of Ferdinand +Buisson and Aristide Briand. The latter had even drawn up a preliminary +project. But Combes, in spite of his vehemence in words against the +Church, hesitated to involve the Ministry. He knew that the country at +large was fully satisfied with the maintenance of the Concordat and that +some of his own colleagues in the Cabinet, as well as Loubet, preferred +not to disturb it. + +Suddenly a great scandal broke out. The enemies of the Ministry got hold +of the fact that General Andre, through some of his subordinates in the +War Office, was carrying on a regular system of espionage upon army +officers suspected of luke-warm republicanism or of Clerical sympathies, +and was using as spies members of Masonic lodges or even subordinate +Masonic army officers throughout France.[16] These spies had filed +innumerable notes or memoranda known as _fiches_, containing +information, rumor, or scandal concerning the persons involved, their +families and intimacies. The discovery that leading members of the +Cabinet had been countenancing methods as reprehensible as those of the +worst of their opponents, caused an uproar. The Cabinet seemed on the +point of being overthrown when one of its enemies did it a great +service. A wild and blatant anti-Ministerialist named Syveton rushed up +to the Minister of War and struck him two blows in the face during a +meeting of the Chamber. The effect of this deed was to cause a temporary +reaction in favor of the Ministry, but also to draw Combes more to the +Radicals, and he promptly brought forward his own governmental +separation plan, which was considerably at variance with the Briand +project. The respite was, however, only momentary, and, after +sacrificing General Andre, Combes gave up the struggle and resigned in +January, 1905, without being actually put in the minority. + +It cannot be denied that there was a considerable deterioration in +government during the regime of Combes. In attempting to thwart the +Clerical Party he let himself lapse into methods as objectionable as +theirs. His anti-clericalism breathed the spirit of persecution, as much +as did the intrigues of the clergy during the early days of the +Republic. He transformed Waldeck-Rousseau's plans for the regulation of +religious orders into a measure of proscription. He countenanced +underhanded intrigues, and allowed his Minister of War to undermine army +discipline by his methods of political espionage almost as much as it +had been undermined in the days of the supremacy of the Clericals. The +concessions of the Ministers of War and of Marine to the Socialists and +pacifists considerably weakened the efficiency of both army and navy. +Combes's administration was pre-eminently one of self-seeking +politicians. + +Yet, on the other hand, certain very praiseworthy achievements may be +registered to its credit. One of these was the act of General Andre, in +1903, instituting a new private investigation of the Dreyfus case. It +resulted in the discovery of material sufficient to justify a new demand +for revision, which the Cour de Cassation admitted in March, 1904. +Another achievement was the _rapprochement_ with England known as the +_Entente cordiale_ or friendly understanding, which following the new +amity with Italy greatly strengthened France face-to-face with Germany. +The Russian alliance had given France one definite European ally, and +the cordiality with Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, cleared the +situation in the Mediterranean and on the frontier of the Alps. The +_Entente cordiale_ was engineered by Edward VII as a result of his visit +to Paris in 1903. The accord of April, 1904, was really due to English +as well as French fear of German aggression. It liquidated all the old +contentions between England and France, one of which, the French Shore +Dispute over Newfoundland fishing rights, dated back to the Treaty of +Utrecht in the early eighteenth century. But, above all, France +definitely gave up her Egyptian claims in return for freedom of action +in Morocco guaranteed by England. For France was anxious to add Morocco +to her African sphere of influence. A secret arrangement with Spain gave +that country reversionary claims to certain parts of Morocco. By the +agreement with England the bad blood caused by the Fashoda incident was +wiped away, a new intimacy sprang up between "Perfidious Albion" and +"Froggy," and through the natural drawing together of England and +France's ally Russia, the Triple Entente came into being some years +later, which was destined to face Germany and Austria in the Great +European War. + +Combes's successor as Prime Minister was a member of his own Cabinet, +Maurice Rouvier. More moderate in views than Combes, he would have been +content to let the Separation bill rest, but the Radicals were in the +saddle and he let things take their course. The discussions over the +project went on through most of the year 1905, under the guidance of the +Minister of Worship, Bienvenu-Martin, and particularly of Aristide +Briand, the _rapporteur_ or spokesman for the _Commission_ in the +Chamber. The bill, again and again modified in a spirit of conciliation +and leniency under the guidance of Briand, finally resulted, as +promulgated on December 9, in a sincere effort for a compromise between +different views on religion. It showed a desire, since Church and State +were to be divorced, to treat the former fairly. Provision was made, +when the budget for religious purposes should be suppressed, for the +legal inventory of ecclesiastical property, the pension of superannuated +clergy, and the formation of legal corporations to insure public worship +(_associations cultuelles_). It must be remembered that the new measure +applied quite as much to the Protestants and to the Jews as to the +Catholics. Before the separation the Protestant pastors and the Jewish +rabbis were maintained by the State no less than the Catholic clergy. +Their numerical insignificance made them of little importance in the +general combat over the Clerical question. Nor could they fairly be +accused of intrigue against the Republic. + +The year 1905 is noteworthy for two other important events. One was the +reduction of the term of compulsory military service from three to two +years. This measure was carried through largely under the auspices of +General Andre and proved an over-dangerous concession to the +anti-militarists and pacifists, since it was destined so soon to be +repealed. The other was the sensational diplomatic dispute with Germany +over Morocco, which resulted at first for France in a worse humiliation +than Fashoda. + +Germany under Bismarck had encouraged the numerous French colonial +schemes, as a way of keeping her busy abroad and of diverting her +thoughts from Alsace-Lorraine. But as the Empire began to develop its +Pan-Germanism and its aspirations to world-power under William II, it +grew jealous of England and France and of their arrangement of 1904 to +settle the interests of Morocco. Forthwith Germany began to intrigue +with the Sultan of Morocco against the French, and declared that, as it +had not been officially informed of the agreements between England, +France, and Spain, it intended to disregard them. The defeat of Russia +by Japan, in particular, encouraged Germany to feel that France, +deprived of its ally, could be bullied with impunity. On March 31, +Emperor William landed at Tangier and proclaimed that his visit was to +the Sultan as an "independent sovereign." Germany also called for the +convocation of an international meeting to regulate the Moroccan +question. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Delcasse, objected to +the thwarting of his plans, but because of the deterioration of the army +and navy and the lack of hoped-for Russian support, Rouvier was obliged +under German threats to drop him from his Cabinet and to agree to the +convocation of the Conference of Algeciras.[17] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] It should be remembered that, in France, the Freemasons are an +anti-religious political quite as much as a benevolent order. + +[17] The pro-German position, expressed in such works as E. D. Morel's +_Morocco in Diplomacy_ (1912), is that Sir Edward Grey and M. Delcasse +were engaged in tricky schemes to dispose of Morocco without regard for +German interests; that Germany was not officially notified by France of +the public agreements with England (April, 1904) and with Spain +(October, 1904); that these two agreements were both accompanied by +secret ones which nullified their effect; that M. Delcasse resigned, not +under German pressure, but at M. Rouvier's wish, for having unduly +involved and compromised France. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARMAND FALLIERES + +February, 1906, to February, 1918 + + +The international conference for the regulation of the Moroccan question +met at Algeciras in southern Spain, in January, 1906. Twelve powers +participated, including the United States. The negotiations were +prolonged until the end of March owing to the unconciliatory German +attitude, and resulted in an arrangement which the Germans looked upon +as totally unsatisfactory to themselves. In the shaping of the general +results the United States had considerable influence. The agreement put +out of discussion the sovereignty of the Sultan, the integrity of the +empire, and the principle of commercial freedom, and was largely devoted +to the question of the establishment of a state bank and the +organization of the police in international ports of entry. In the bank +France was to have special privileges, and the police was to be under +the supervision of France and Spain. Germany was eliminated. + +In the midst of the uncertainty over the outcome of the Conference two +important events took place in France, the second of which came near +seriously weakening the French position. These were the election of a +successor to President Loubet and the downfall of the Rouvier Ministry. + +M. Loubet's term expired in February and he did not desire re-election. +The two chief candidates were Armand Fallieres and Paul Doumer. M. +Fallieres was an easy-going, good-natured, and well-meaning but +second-rate statesman. Doumer was far more brilliant and vigorous, but +was accused of self-seeking and was thought a less safe person to elect. +Unfortunately, M. Fallieres, when chosen, had his master, and was +largely under the control of Clemenceau. + +Meanwhile the almost unprincipled vacillation of M. Rouvier and his +spineless policy caused increased dissatisfaction to the Chamber. During +the discussion of a riotous episode connected with the enforcement of +the Separation law, which had resulted in the death of a man, Rouvier +was overthrown. He was succeeded by a colorless person, Sarrien, who +included Clemenceau in his Cabinet as Minister of the Interior. The +latter gradually pushed his chief aside and finally replaced him before +the end of the year as Prime Minister. + +Clemenceau showed himself during his lengthy control of power an astute +politician. In the public eye ever since the days of the Commune, he had +had success during the eighties as a destroyer of cabinets. Driven into +the background by the Panama scandals, he now came forward again to try +his fortune in holding the power from which he had often driven others. +With a Cabinet thoroughly under his dictatorial control, he announced a +programme which was to depend for success on the Radicals, rather than +on the Moderates or the Socialists. It was a departure from the policy +of the _Bloc_, though to conciliate the advanced parties he created the +new Ministry of Labor and put M. Viviani, a Socialist, in charge of it. +In practice, Clemenceau's policy was that of one determined to stay in +office, showing alternately conciliation and severity, explaining his +actions to the Chamber often with a flippancy which seemed out of place +and did not help the prestige of parliamentary government. + +Apart from the diplomatic tension with Germany, which was not settled by +the Act of Algeciras, the history of the Fallieres Administration is +largely taken up with the final disposition of the religious controversy +and with labor questions. The constant advance toward radicalism and +socialism, the lack of great statesmen in Parliament and the presence of +professional politicians, the progress of anti-militarism and the +relegation of the question of Alsace-Lorraine to the background, left a +free field for the growth of social unrest. The tendency was encouraged +by the elections for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies in May, +1906. To the religious disturbances and the efforts of the Conservatives +to prove themselves persecuted, the country answered at the polls by an +increased anti-Clerical majority. + +In 1906 the Dreyfus case was at last settled. The Cour de Cassation +finally annulled the verdict of the Rennes court-martial. In consequence +Dreyfus was restored to the army with the rank of Major which he would +normally have reached had it not been for his great ordeal. Colonel +Picquart, to whom more than to any one he owed his rehabilitation, who +had been driven from the army in 1898, was now made Brigadier-General. +Promoted a few weeks later to Major-General, he became Minister of War +in Clemenceau's Cabinet. The remains of Emile Zola were also transferred +to the Pantheon. Such were the dramatic changes wrought in half a dozen +years. + +The troubles over the application of the law for the disestablishment of +the Church lasted more than two years. The Vatican was determined to +make itself a martyr. It would undoubtedly have been glad to see a +forcible closing of the churches in order to cause a reaction in its +favor. Moreover, it objected to the diminution of priestly power and the +participation of the laity as prescribed in the formation of the new +_associations cultuelles_. The Ministry, and particularly Briand, were +just as determined not to give it an opportunity to raise the cry of +persecution. + +The first opportunity for a conflict came when the Government tried to +make inventories of religious property, including valuables. This +measure was for the protection of the Church, but the Clericals chose to +call it inquisitorial and a first step to confiscation. In some parts +of France armed resistance, often systematically prepared, was made to +the authorities, army officers again occasionally refused to carry out +orders, and on March 6, at Boeschepe, a man was killed. It was this +incident which caused the downfall of the Rouvier Cabinet. + +It was the policy of M. Briand, entrusted with the application of the +new law, to employ the most conciliatory means face to face with the +Vatican, determined to be persecuted. As a matter of fact the French +bishops, after plenary consultation, had decided by a considerable +majority, to accept the law in a good spirit, with reservations as to +its justice, and to organize the _associations cultuelles_. Suddenly the +Pope intervened by an encyclical directed against any such acceptance, +and prescribed a continuation of the contest. These orders the bishops +felt constrained to obey. + +Therefore, at the advent of the Clemenceau Cabinet in October, 1906, M. +Briand had achieved nothing but compulsory inventories. He got +Parliament to allow the legality of the proposed religious organizations +under the Associations Law of 1901 or under the general law of 1881 on +public meetings, as well as under the special legislation of 1905. Again +the Holy See refused to obey, and ordered the clergy to continue their +occupancy of the churches, but to refrain from any legal declaration or +registration whatsoever. Then M. Briand did away with the declaration. +So the contest went on without agreement until it finally lapsed. The +clergy continued to occupy the churches, but without legal claim to +them, under the law of 1881 on public meetings, amended by the law of +March 28, 1907, suppressing the formality of a declaration. The Catholic +Church was stripped, by its own unwillingness to help organize holding +bodies, of all its possessions. By the good-will of the Government it +continued to occupy the religious edifices, but the maintenance and +repair of these was dependent on the good-will of the _commune_ or +administrative division in which the churches were situated. On the +other hand, nothing has materialized of the prophesied religious +persecutions, civil war, and martyrdoms. + +Apart from the annoyances caused by the separation of Church and State, +the history of the Clemenceau Ministry deals largely with labor +disturbances and social unrest. This was partly due to parliamentary +demagogy. A succession of weak and ineffective ministries had been +followed by Clemenceau's incoherencies and alterations of policy, though +it remained consistently _Radical_ and not socialistic. The Ministers +were often at loggerheads (even Clemenceau and Briand over the +Separation bill), and the Deputies were often mediocre politicians, +quick to vote themselves an increase of salary, but dilatory in other +achievements. The growth of socialism, with its theories of pacifism and +international brotherhood, encouraged the anti-militarists. The +brilliant leader Jaures openly advocated the abolition of the army and +the creation of a national militia. Some anti-militarists, like Herve, +carried their theories beyond all bounds and rhetorically talked of +dragging the national flag in the mire. Meanwhile the political methods +in the past of men like Andre in the War Department and Camille Pelletan +in the Navy had weakened those services, as Delcasse had found to his +cost in the controversy with Germany. The battleship _Iena_ blew up in +March, 1907, there was a suspicious fire at the Toulon Arsenal, and +many other things disquieted people. + +The Government tried to cater to the labor parties, brought forward +plans for an income tax and for old-age pensions, and carried through a +law making compulsory one day of rest out of seven for workingmen. +Especially active were the efforts of the syndicalists and the +organizers of the anarchistic _Confederation generale du travail_, or +"C.G.T.," to promote every contest between capital and labor and to +bring about, if possible, a general strike of all labor. There were +strikes of miners, longshoremen, sailors, electricians among others. +Even more alarming was the formation of unions, affiliated with the +C.G.T., among state employees such as school teachers and postmen, and +efforts to disorganize the public service. These different movements +Clemenceau met with his customary seesaw of friendliness and harshness, +and the Government was usually victorious. Not less troublesome but +somewhat more picturesque was the quasi-revolutionary movement, in 1907, +of the wine-makers of the South, driven to desperation by overproduction +and low prices, attributed to the competition of adulterated wines. The +municipalities where these disturbances occurred were often in sympathy +with the creators of disturbance, not only in small towns, but in large +places like Beziers, Perpignan, Narbonne, and Carcassonne. Municipal +officials resigned or refused to carry out their duties, and some +regiments, made up of men recruited from one of the districts, mutinied. +The troubles at last quieted down. + +In the beginning of 1909 an important agreement was signed with Germany +which seemed to promise an end to the long disputes over Morocco. The +Moroccan question had continued to dominate French foreign policy even +after Algeciras and that conference had not ended the commercial +rivalries of the two countries. In March, 1907, a Frenchman, Dr. +Mauchamp, was murdered by natives at Marrakesh and the French in reply +occupied Ujda near the Algerian frontier. In July, after the murder of +some European workmen at Casablanca, the French sent a landing corps. In +1908 the Sultan Abd-el-Aziz, a friend of the French, was overthrown by a +rival, Muley-Hafid, egged on by the Germans. These also raised a +dispute over some deserters from the French Foreign Legion at +Casablanca, who had taken refuge at the German Consulate and whom the +Germans claimed as their subjects. For a moment war clouds seemed to +appear on the horizon until dissipated by mutual expressions of regret +and after a reference to the Hague Tribunal, which, on the whole, +justified the French. It was, therefore, good news for Europe to hear of +the agreement of February, 1909, which acknowledged the predominance of +French political claims, and tried to facilitate economic co-operation +instead of rivalry between France and Germany. Unfortunately, this +agreement was destined to prove ineffective. + +The Clemenceau Cabinet lasted until July, 1909. During a discussion on +the Navy, Clemenceau and Delcasse had an altercation as to their +relative responsibilities for the French surrender to Germany in 1905 +when Delcasse was driven from the Rouvier Ministry. The Chamber sided +with Delcasse and Clemenceau discovered that his sarcasm had overreached +itself. The new Premier was Briand, the Socialist and former bugbear of +the moneyed classes, who had shown by his management of the Separation +bill the abilities of a true statesman and who became more and more +moderate in his views under the increasing responsibilities of power. + +The history of the Briand Ministry was largely taken up by internal +questions and the elections of May, 1910, for the renewal of the Chamber +of Deputies. To propitiate the electorate the expiring Parliament passed +a law providing old-age pensions for workingmen. The elections left the +Radicals and the Socialistic Radicals (as opposed to the Socialists) on +the whole masters of the situation, but the general parliamentary +instability continued to prevail. The country felt the reaction. In the +autumn of 1910 far-reaching railway strikes broke out, resulting in +violence and injury to railway property or _sabotage_. Briand met the +difficulty energetically by mobilizing the employees still subject to +military duty, and making them perform their work under military orders. +The act of "dictatorship" was approved by the Chamber, but Briand went +through the ceremony of resigning and accepting the mission to form a +new Cabinet. It proved not very homogeneous and withdrew in February, +1911. The Monis Cabinet, of more advanced Socialistic-Radical +principles, lasted only a few months and faced new disturbances with +wine-producers. This time the trouble was in the East, where many were +dissatisfied with the artificial limitation of districts entitled to +produce wines labelled "champagne." The Socialistic-Radical Ministry of +Joseph Caillaux (June, 1911) encountered a new and dangerous crisis in +the relations with Germany. + +The mutual agreement between the two countries for the economic +development of Morocco had, through financial rivalries, not worked +well. There was also friction over similar attempts for the development +of the French Congo. In this state of affairs, the French sent a +military expedition to Fez in the early summer of 1911 for the +ostensible purpose of protecting the Sultan from attack by rebels and of +relieving the French military mission. The Germans, backed up, indeed, +by the French anti-militarist press, declared that this was a mere +pretext for encroachment. Spain also took the opportunity of asserting +its rights to parts of the North in accordance with its reversionary +claims by the Treaty of 1904. Thereupon Germany declared that the +agreements of Algeciras and of 1909 had been nullified by France and +demanded compensations. The gunboat _Panther_ suddenly appeared in the +port of Agadir (July 1) and the Germans began to call for their share in +the partition of Morocco. + +Difficult negotiations were carried on between France and Germany +through the summer of 1911, and at moments the two countries were on the +very brink of war. The English Government backed up France. Lloyd George +and Premier Asquith made public declarations to that effect. French +capitalists also began calling in their funds invested in Germany and a +financial crisis threatened that country. + +Thus brought to terms the Germans became more moderate in their demands, +and it was finally possible to reach a compromise, unsatisfactory to +both parties. Germany definitely gave up all political claim to Morocco +and acknowledged France as paramount there. On the other hand, a +territorial readjustment was made in the Congo by which Germany added +to the Cameroons about two hundred and thirty thousand square kilometres +of land with a million people, and the new frontiers made annoying +salients into the French Congo. The treaty was signed in November, 1911, +but the Pan-Germanists were angry at any concessions to France, the +Colonial Minister resigned, and the Emperor, who had thrown his +influence on the side of peace, lost much prestige for a while. On the +other hand, the French were correspondingly dissatisfied at the losses +in the Congo. The opponents of the Prime Minister, Caillaux, had often +taunted him with too close a relation between his official acts and his +private financial interests. They now accused him of tricky concessions +to Germany in connection with the Congo adjustments. M. Caillaux denied +in the Chamber that he had ever entered into any private dealings apart +from the negotiations of the ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, +Clemenceau asked the Foreign Minister, M. de Selves, point-blank if the +French Ambassador at Berlin had not complained of interference in the +diplomatic negotiations. M. de Selves refused to answer, thus +implicitly giving the lie to M. Caillaux. The consequence was a cabinet +crisis and the resignation of the Ministry (January, 1912). + +The upshot of the Agadir crisis was increased irritation between France +and Germany and the feeling in each country that the other was seeking +trouble. The French were now convinced that, some day or other, war +would inevitably result and the nation dropped its strong pacifist +tendencies and rallied to the army. The Germans were, above all, furious +against the English, whom they considered responsible for their +humiliation. + +So far as Morocco was immediately concerned, the French took steps to +develop their new privileges. In March, 1912, they imposed a definite +protectorate on the Sultan Muley-Hafid and soon replaced him by his +brother Muley-Yussef. They came to an agreement with Spain as to the +latter's claims in the North and entrusted to General Lyautey the +administrative and military reorganization of the country. The +pacification of the hostile tribes was not an easy task and went on +laboriously through 1912 and 1913. + +After the downfall of M. Caillaux, Raymond Poincare became head of a +Cabinet more moderate than its predecessor, the Socialistic Radicals +seeming somewhat discredited in public opinion. M. Poincare was a strong +partisan of proportional representation, and a measure for the +modification of the method of voting was, under his auspices, passed by +the Chamber, though it failed the following year in the Senate. + +In foreign affairs, Morocco having dropped into the background, the +Eastern question became acute. Fear lest the conflict in the Orient +should involve the rest of Europe led France to draw again closer to +Russia and England. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ADMINISTRATION OF RAYMOND POINCARE + +February, 1913 + + +M. Fallieres' term expired on February 18, 1913. The two leading +candidates were Raymond Poincare, head of the Ministry, and Jules Pams, +who was supported by the advanced Radicals. M. Poincare's election was +looked upon, because of his personal vigor, as a triumph of sound +conservative republicanism, and it was predicted that he would prove a +strong leader, able to give prestige to the Presidency and to bring +order out of chaos. The early months of his Administration were less +productive of results than had been hoped, but the European War came too +soon to make definitive judgment safe. + +After M. Poincare's election, M. Fallieres made M. Briand President of +the Council during the last weeks of his term, and M. Poincare kept the +same Cabinet. M. Briand, like M. Poincare, advocated proportional +representation. As the Chamber failed to take a vigorous position in +support of the measure, and defeated the Ministry on a vote of +confidence, the latter withdrew (March, 1913). + +Louis Barthou next became Prime Minister, and the important legislative +measure of the year was the new military law. The Germans having largely +increased their army, it was deemed necessary, in spite of the violent +opposition of the Socialistic Radicals and the Socialists and the +attempts of the syndicalists of the _Confederation generale du travail_ +to work up a general strike, to abrogate the Law of 1905 and to return +to three years of military service without exemption. M. Barthou pushed +the three-years bill already supported by the Briand Cabinet. France +took upon herself an enormous financial burden, coupled with a +corresponding loss of productive labor, yet events soon proved the +wisdom of the step. + +The opposition to the Cabinet was virulent. There were now two great +groupings of the chief political parties.[18] The Radicals and +Socialistic Radicals, under the name of "Unified Radicals" waged war +against the President and the Ministry. They were under the inspiration +of men like Clemenceau and the active leadership of Joseph Caillaux and +tried to revive the methods of the old _Bloc_ of Combes. They +declared their intention of repealing the three-years law and +proclaimed the tenets of their faith at the Congress of Pau. The +Briand-Barthou-Millerand group, supporters of Poincare, soon formed a +Moderate Party with a programme of conciliation and reform known as the +"Federation of the Lefts." + +The Barthou Cabinet had been overthrown early in December, 1913, after a +vote on a government loan. President Poincare had to call in a Radical +Cabinet led by Gaston Doumergue, the programme of which Ministry was, +after all, less "advanced" than the Pau programme, especially as to the +three-years bill. M. Caillaux, the master-spirit of the Radicals, was +the Minister of Finance and the object of the hostility of the +Moderates. They claimed that he used his position to cause speculation +at the Stock Exchange, and accused him of "selling out" to Germany in +the settlement after Agadir. The _Figaro_, edited by Gaston Calmette, +began a violent campaign. Among the charges was that during the +prosecution in 1911 of Rochette, a swindling promoter, the then Prime +Minister Monis, now Minister of Marine, had, at Caillaux's instigation, +held up the prosecution for fraud, during which delay Rochette had been +able to put through other swindles. + +In the midst of the public turmoil over these charges Caillaux's wife +went to Calmette's editorial offices and killed him with a revolver. +Caillaux resigned and, the Rochette case having come up for discussion +in the Chamber, when Monis denied that he had ever influenced the law, +Barthou produced a most damaging letter. A parliamentary commission +later decided that the Monis Cabinet _had_ interfered to save Rochette +from prosecution. + +It was under such circumstances that the Deputies separated for the +general elections. Three chief questions came before the voters, the +three-years law, the income tax, and proportional representation. The +results of the elections were inconclusive and the new Chamber promised +to be as ineffective as its predecessor. On the second ballots the +Socialists made a good many gains. + +The Doumergue Ministry resigned soon after the elections which it had +carried through. President Poincare offered the leadership to the +veteran statesman Ribot, who with the co-operation of Leon Bourgeois, +formed a Moderate Cabinet with an inclination toward the Left. This +Ministry was above the average, but its leaders were insulted and +brow-beaten and overthrown on the very first day they met the Chamber of +Deputies. So then a Cabinet was formed, led by the Socialist Rene +Viviani, who was willing, however, to accept the three-years law, though +he had previously opposed it. But this victory for national defence was +weakened by parliamentary revelations of military unpreparedness. + +In mid-July President Poincare and M. Viviani left France for a round of +state visits to Russia and Scandinavia. Paris was engrossed by the +sensational trial of Madame Caillaux, which resulted in her acquittal, +but this excitement was suddenly replaced by the European crisis, and +President Poincare cut short his foreign trip and hastened home. France +loyally supported her ally Russia, and, on August 3, Baron von Schoen, +the German Ambassador, notified M. Viviani of a state of war between +Germany and France. + +Indeed, no sooner had the Moroccan question been settled than danger had +loomed in the Orient, in which France was likely to be involved through +her alliance with Russia. Moreover, Germany had not got over the Agadir +fiasco and was furious with England as well as France. Thus the European +balance of power had long been in danger through the hostility of the +Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. It is beyond the scope of the +present volume to analyze in detail the Balkan question. The role of +France was consistent in the interest of peace by helping to maintain +the balance of power, but obviously she was loyal toward her partners of +the Triple Entente and acted in solidarity with them. + +So far as the outbreak of the war in 1914 is concerned, France stands +with a clear conscience. She had nothing to do with the disputes between +Austria and Serbia, or between Austria, Germany, and Russia. Once war +proved inevitable France faithfully accepted the responsibilities of the +Russian alliance. Against France, Germany was an open aggressor. +Germany's strategic plans for the quick annihilation of France, before +attacking Russia, are well known to the world. Everybody is aware how +scrupulously France avoided every hostile measure, and, during the +critical days preceding the war, withdrew all troops ten kilometres from +the frontier to prevent a clash. The Germans were obliged, in order to +justify their advance, to invent preposterous tales of bombs dropped by +aeroplanes near Nuremberg or of the violation of Belgium neutrality by +French officers in automobiles. France had no idea of invading Belgium. +All the French strategic plans aimed at the protection of the direct +frontier, and they were dislocated by the dishonest move of Germany +through Belgium. + +In 1914 France was not even prepared for war. The pacification of +Morocco immobilized thousands of her troops. Revelations in Parliament +as late as July 13 showed, as mentioned above, great deficiencies in +equipment. Public attention was taken up by the Caillaux trial and by +political strife apparently reaching the proportions of national +weakness. + +Since Agadir it is true that France, conscious of the constantly +provocative attitude of Germany, had seen the folly of plans for +disarmament. Love for the army had grown again, through realization of +its necessity. But no nation ever looked forward with more horror and +dread to military conflict than the French. They had been the last +victims of a great European war, of which the memories were still alive. +However much the loss of Alsace-Lorraine rankled in their hearts, they +knew too well the madness of war to seek it again. A new generation had +grown up reconciled to fate and willing to let bygones be bygones. + +But Germany would not. The new Empire, a _Bourgeois gentilhomme_ among +nations, but without even the breeding of the _parvenu_, dreamed of +world-supremacy. As the boor in society makes himself conspicuous, so it +was one of the tenets of Pan-Germanism to let no international agreement +take place without German interference. + +Some people, reading the annals of forty-four years since the +Franco-Prussian War, have been disposed to sneer at France. Some have +called the country degenerate because of its small birth-rate, its +fiction sometimes brutal, sometimes neurotic, its inefficient +Parliament, its vindictive political and religious contests. Such +critics should remember that the French Government is the result of +tactical compromise in presence of the Monarchical Party. Nobody denies +that it might be improved. As to religious persecution, Americans might +remember their own righteous feelings toward fellow citizens with +"hyphenated" allegiance, when they rebuke the French for fighting vast +organizations working against their Government under foreign orders. + +In 1914 France, bearing on her shoulders proportionably the greatest +burden of all the Allies, presented to the world a spirit of firmness, +unity, and national resolve that won the admiration of neutral nations. +Religious persecution and clerical manoeuvre were alike put aside. +France forgot all lassitude and discouragement. Atheist, Protestant, and +Catholic felt a great wave of spiritual as well as of patriotic fervor, +and took as symbol of love of country the heroic peasant girl of +Lorraine, Jeanne d'Arc, who, coming from the people and leading the +nation's army, sought to drive from the soil its foes and invaders. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] It must be obvious to the reader, after following all the changes +in nomenclature recorded in this volume, that in France party-names give +little hint of party-views: "In French political parlance 'Progressivs' +ar retrograde, 'Liberals' ar conservativ, 'Conservativs' ar +revolutionary in aim and methods, 'Radicals' ar trimmers and +time-servers, whilst one of the most reactionary administrations of +recent years was heded by three 'Socialists.'" A.-L. Guerard in _Pub. +Mod. Lang. Assoc. of America_, vol. xxx, p. 624. Compare also the +following: "Suivant les regions de la France, c'est-a-dire selon la +moyenne de l'opinion locale et les termes de comparaison ou les +traditions propres a chaque province, les mots changent de +signification. Dans le Var un radical passe pour un modere, dans l'ouest +un republicain est considere par certains comme un revolutionnaire, +ailleurs les candidats qui ne sont pas au moins radicaux-socialistes ne +sont pas tenus pour de bons republicains." L. Jacques, _Les partis +politiques sous la troisieme republique_, p. 429. + + +THE END + + + + +APPENDIX + + +PRESIDING OFFICERS OF FRENCH CABINETS + + VICE-PRESIDENTS DU CONSEIL + + + _Administration of Thiers_ + + Feb. 19, 1871, Jules Dufaure. + May 18, 1873, Jules Dufaure. + + + _Administration of Mac-Mahon_ + + May 25, 1873, Duc de Broglie. + Nov. 26, 1873, Duc de Broglie. + May 22, 1874, General de Cissey. + {Louis Buffet. + March 10, 1875,{ + {Jules Dufaure. + + + PRESIDENTS DU CONSEIL + + + _Administration of Mac-Mahon (continued)_ + + March 9, 1876, Jules Dufaure. + Dec. 12, 1876, Jules Simon. + May 17, 1877, Duc de Broglie. + Nov. 23, 1877, General de Rochebouet. + Dec. 13, 1877, Jules Dufaure. + + + _Administration of Jules Grevy_ + + Feb. 4, 1879, William-Henry Waddington. + Dec. 28, 1879, Charles de Freycinet. + Sept. 23, 1880, Jules Ferry. + Nov. 14, 1881, Leon Gambetta. + Jan. 30, 1882, Charles de Freycinet. + Aug. 7, 1882, Eugene Duclerc. + Jan. 29, 1883, Armand Fallieres. + Feb. 21, 1883, Jules Ferry. + April 6, 1885, Henri Brisson. + Jan. 7, 1886, Charles de Freycinet. + Dec. 11, 1886, Rene Goblet. + May 30, 1887. Maurice Rouvier. + + + _Administration of Carnot_ + + Dec. 12, 1887, Pierre-Emmanuel Tirard. + April 3, 1888, Charles Floquet. + Feb. 22, 1889, Pierre-Emmanuel Tirard. + March 17, 1890, Charles de Freycinet. + Feb. 27, 1892, Emile Loubet. + Dec. 6, 1892, Alexandre Ribot. + Jan. 11, 1893, Alexandre Ribot. + April 4, 1893, Charles Dupuy. + Dec. 3, 1893, Jean Casimir-Perier. + May 30, 1894. Charles Dupuy. + + + _Administration of Casimir-Perier_ + + July 1, 1894, Charles Dupuy. + + + _Administration of Felix Faure_ + + Jan. 26, 1895, Alexandre Ribot. + Nov. 1, 1895, Leon Bourgeois. + April 29, 1896, Jules Meline. + June 28, 1898, Henri Brisson. + Nov. 1, 1898, Charles Dupuy. + + + _Administration of Emile Loubet_ + + Feb. 18, 1899, Charles Dupuy. + June 22, 1899, Rene Waldeck-Rousseau. + June 7, 1902, Emile Combes. + Jan. 24, 1905, Maurice Rouvier. + + + _Administration of Armand Fallieres_ + + Feb. 18, 1906, Maurice Rouvier. + March 14, 1906, Ferdinand Sarrien. + Oct. 25, 1906, Georges Clemenceau. + July 23, 1909, Aristide Briand. + March 2, 1911, Ernest Monis. + July 27, 1911, Joseph Caillaux. + Jan. 13, 1912, Raymond Poincare. + Jan. 21, 1913, Aristide Briand. + + + _Administration of Raymond Poincare_ + + Feb. 18, 1913, Aristide Briand. + March 21, 1913, Louis Barthou. + Dec. 2, 1913, Gaston Doumergue. + June 9, 1914, Alexandre Ribot. + June 13, 1914, Rene Viviani. + Aug. 26, 1914, Rene Viviani. + Oct. 29, 1915, Aristide Briand. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +ALBIN, PIERRE. _D'Agadir a Sarajevo (1911-1914)._ 1915. + +ANDRE, GENERAL L. _Cinq ans de ministere_. 1907. + +_Annual Register_. Yearly volumes. + +BARCLAY, THOMAS. _Thirty Years. Anglo-French Reminiscences (1876-1906)._ +1914. + +BEYENS, BARON. _L'Allemagne avant la guerre. Les causes et les +responsabilites._ 1915. + +BODLEY, J. E. C. _The Church in France._ 1906. + +BODLEY, J. E. C. _France._ 2 vols. 1898. + +BRISSON, H. _Souvenirs._ 1908. + +_Cambridge Modern History._ (Vol. XII, _The Latest Age._ 1910.) + +CHUQUET, A. _La Guerre, 1870-1871._ 1895. + +COUBERTIN, P. DE. _L'Evolution francaise sous la troisieme republique._ +1896. + +DANIEL, ANDRE (ANDRE LEBON). _L'Annee politique._ Yearly volumes, +1874-1905. + +DAUDET, E. _Souvenirs de la Presidence du marechal de Mac-Mahon._ 1879. + +DEBIDOUR, A. _L'Eglise catholique et l'Etat sous la troisieme +Republique._ 2 vols. 1909. + +DENIS, SAMUEL. _Histoire contemporaine._ 4 vols. 1897-1903. + +DESPAGNET, FRANTZ. _La Republique et le Vatican (1870-1906)._ 1906. + +DIMNET, E. _France Herself Again._ 1914. + +DUTRAIT-CROZON, H. _Precis de l'Affaire Dreyfus._ 1909. + +FIAUX, LOUIS. _Histoire de la guerre civile de 1871._ 1879. + +GEORGE, W. L. _France in the Twentieth Century._ 1908. + +GUERARD, A.-L. _French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century._ 1914. + +HANOTAUX, G. _Fachoda._ 1909. + +HANOTAUX, G. _Histoire de la France contemporaine._ 4 vols. 1903-1908. + +HIPPEAU, E. _Histoire diplomatique de la troisieme republique_ +(1870-1889). 1889. + +JACQUES, LEON. _Les partis politiques sous la troisieme republique._ +1912. + +LAVISSE _et_ RAMBAUD, _editors_. _Histoire Generale Du IVe siecle a +nos jours._ (Vol. XII, _Le Monde contemporain_, 1870-1900. 1901.) + +LEPELLETIER, E. _Histoire de la Commune de 1871._ 1911. + +LISSAGARAY, P.-O. _Histoire de la Commune de 1871._ 1896. + +LOWELL, A. L. _Governments and Parties in Continental Europe._ 2 vols. +1897. + +LUCAS, A. _Precis historique de l'Affaire du Panama._ 1893. + +MARECHAL, E. _Histoire contemporaine de 1789 a nos jours._ 3 vols. 1900. + +MARGUERITTE, PAUL _et_ VICTOR. _Histoire de la guerre de 1870-1871._ +1903. + +MAURRAS, CHARLES. _Kiel et Tanger_ (1895-1905). 1913. + +MEAUX, VICOMTE DE. _Souvenirs politiques._ 1904. + +MERMEIX. _Les Coulisses du Boulangisme._ 1890. + +MUEL, LEON. _Histoire politique de la septieme legislature_ (1898-1902). +1903. + +PINON, RENE. _France et Allemagne_ (1870-1913). 1913. + +REINACH, JOSEPH. _Histoire de l'Affaire Dreyfus._ 7 vols. 1901-1911. + +REINACH, JOSEPH. _Le Ministere Gambetta._ 1884. + +R.-L.-M. _Histoire sommaire de l'Affaire Dreyfus._ 1904. + +ROSE, J. H. _The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914. Fifth +edition._ 1916. + +ROUSSET, L. _Histoire generale de la guerre franco-allemande._ 6 vols. +1895. + +SOREL, ALBERT. _Histoire diplomatique de la guerre franco-allemande._ +1875. + +TARDIEU, ANDRE. _La Conference d'Algesiras._ Third Edition. 1909. + +TARDIEU, ANDRE. _La France et les alliances._ Third edition. 1909. + +TARDIEU, ANDRE. _Le Mystere d'Agadir._ 1912. + +VIALLATE, ACHILLE, _editor_. _La Vie politique dans les Deux Mondes._ +Annual volumes, 1908-1913. + +WALLIER, RENE. _Le XXe siecle politique._ Annual volumes, 1901-1907. + +WELSCHINGER, H. _La Guerre de 1870; causes et responsabilites._ 1910. + +ZEVORT, E. _Histoire de la troisieme Republique._ 4 vols. 1896-1901. + + + + +INDEX + + +Abd-el-Aziz, 168. + +Africa, 89, 104, 106,132. + +Agadir, 172, 174, 179, 181, 183. + +Aix, 104. + +Albert of Saxony, 15, 16, 18. + +Alexander III, Czar, 105. + +Algeciras, 158, 159, 162, 168, 172. + +Algeria, 81, 110, 168. + +Algiers, 104. + +Alsace, 11, 13, 34, 35, 43, 157, 162, 183. + +Amiens, 23. + +Andre, General, 143, 152, 153, 154, 157, 166. + +Annam, 89, 90. + +Antony of Hohenzollern, 8, 9. + +Arques, 54. + +Arton, 109, 111, 118, 134. + +Artenay, 19, 22. + +Asquith, 172. + +Aurelle de Paladines, General d', 22, 23, 39. + +Austria, 3, 4, 52, 89, 155, 182. + +Auteuil, 136. + +Avellan, Admiral, 106. + + +Bac-Le, 90. + +Baihaut, 111. + +Bapaume, 24. + +Barthou, Louis, 177, 178, 179. + +Basly, 97. + +Bazaine, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21. + +Beaugency, 23. + +Beaumont, 16. + +Beaune-la-Rolande, 22. + +Belfort, 24, 25, 34. + +Belgium, 4, 16, 182, 183. + +Benedetti, 7, 8, 9, 10. + +Berlin, 11, 51, 73, 81. + +Bert, Paul, 80. + +Beule, 51. + +Beziers, 168. + +Bienvenu-Martin, 156. + +Billot, General, 124, 126. + +Bismarck, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 21, 26, 28, 34, 51, 61, +73, 81, 93, 157. + +Bitche, 24. + +Blanqui, 38. + +Boeschepe, 164. + +Boisdeffre, General de, 106, 125. + +Bordeaux, 22, 31, 35, 36, 40, 43, 45, 46. + +Borny, 14. + +Boulanger, General, 93, 94, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103. + +Bourbaki, General, 23, 24, 25. + +Bourgeois, Leon, 121, 122, 180. + +Briand, Aristide, 151, 153, 156, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169, 170, +176, 177, 178. + +Briere de l'Isle, 90. + +Brisson, Henri, 84, 92, 97, 109, 120, 129, 130, 131, 138. + +Broglie, due de, 48, 51, 55, 56, 57, 67, 69, 71, 72, 83. + +Brussels, 35, 102. + +Buffet, Andre, 141. + +Buffet, Louis, 48, 60, 61. + +Buisson, Ferdinand, 151. + +Burdeau, 116, 120. + +Busch, Moritz, 11. + +Buzenval, 27. + + +Caffarel, General, 94. + +Cahors, 20. + +Caillaux, Joseph, 171, 173, 174, 178, 179. + +Caillaux, Madame, 179, 181, 183. + +Calmette, Gaston, 179. + +Cameroons, 173. + +Canrobert, Marshal, 21. + +Carcassonne, 168. + +Carnot, President, 96-114. + +Casablanca, 168, 169. + +Caserio Santo, 114. + +Casimir-Perier, President, 115-120. + +Cavaignac, Godefroy, 129, 130. + +Chalons, 14. + +Chambord, comte de, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 88. + +Champigny, 23, 26. + +Chanoine, General, 130. + +Chanzy, General, 20, 23, 24. + +Chateaudun, 19. + +Chatillon, 18. + +Chesnelong, 53, 54. + +China, 90, 91, 143. + +Christiani, Baron de, 136. + +Cissey, General de, 57, 60. + +Clemenceau, Georges, 78, 83, 97, 98, 109, 160, 161, 163, +164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 178. + +Clermont-Ferrand, 94. + +Clinchant, 25. + +Cluseret, 40. + +Combes, Emile, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150, 151, 153, 154, 155, 178. + +Congo, 132, 171, 173. + +Cottu, Henri, 108, 110, 111. + +Coulmiers, 22. + +Courbet, Gustave, 42. + +Cremieux, 19. + +Cronstadt, 105, 106. + +Crown Prince of Prussia, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18. + + +Decazes, duc, 56. + +Delahaye, 108. + +Delcasse, 158, 166, 169. + +Delegorgue, 127. + +Delescluze, Charles, 37. + +Demange, Maitre, 119. + +Denfert-Rochereau, 24. + +Deroulede, Paul, 101, 135, 140, 141. + +Devil's Isle, 119. + +Dijon, 151. + +Dillon, 102. + +Dombrowski, 41. + +Dordogne, 99. + +Douay, Abel, 13. + +Doumer, Paul, 160. + +Doumergue, Gaston, 178, 180. + +Dreyfus, Alfred, 105, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, +127, 128, 130, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 145, 154, 162. + +Dreyfus, Madame, 131. + +Dreyfus, Mathieu, 123, 124, 125, 126. + +Drumont, Edouard, 118. + +Duclerc, 86. + +Ducrot, 16, 22. + +Dufaure, Jules, 66, 72. + +Du Lac, Pere, 125. + +Dumas fils, Alexandre, 42. + +Dupuy, Charles, 112, 114, 116, 120, 131, 135, 136. + + +Edward VII, 154. + +Egypt, 86, 132, 155. + +Eiffel, G., 108, 110. + +Ems, 8, 9. + +England, 17, 61, 86, 106, 111, 128, 132, 133, 154, 155, 157, 158, 174, 181. + +Ernoul, 49. + +Esterhazy, 117, 123, 124, 126, 127. + +Eugenie, Empress, 1, 3, 6, 12, 15, 17, 20. + +Evans, Dr., 17. + + +Faidherbe, General, 23, 24. + +Failly, General de, 16. + +Fallieres, Armand, 86, 159-175, 176. + +Fashoda, 132, 133, 155, 157. + +Faure, Felix, 115-133, 134. + +Favre, General, 23. + +Favre, Jules, 17, 18, 25, 27, 28, 29. + +Ferrieres, 18. + +Ferry, Jules, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 96. + +Fez, 171. + +Fiaux, 42. + +Floquet, Charles, 84, 97, 100, 101, 102, 103, 109. + +Flourens, Gustave, 37, 40. + +Fontane, Marius, 108, 110. + +Foo-chow, 90. + +Forbach, 13. + +Formosa, 90. + +Fourichon, Admiral, 19. + +Francis I, 45. + +Frankfort, 35, 43. + +Frederick, Empress, 105. + +Frederick the Great, 3. + +Frederick Charles, 12, 13, 15, 21. + +Freycinet, Charles de, 20, 24, 30, 77, 79, 85, 86, 93, 109. + +Frohsdorf, 52. + +Froeschwiller, 13. + +Frossard, 13. + + +Gabes, 82. + +Galliffet, General de, 137, 139, 143. + +Gambetta, Leon, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 31, 33, 44, 47, 66, 67, 68, +70, 76, 77, 78, 79, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 97, 136. + +Garibaldi, 24, 25. + +Geay, Monseigneur, 151. + +Gerault-Richard, 120. + +Germany, 31, 34, 48, 60, 81, 89, 94, 119, 128, 132, 154, 155,157, 158, 159, +162, 166, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 174, 179, 182, 183, 184. + +Gervais, Admiral, 105. + +Glais-Bizoin, 19. + +Goblet, 93. + +Gouthe-Soulard, 104. + +Gramont, duc de, 6, 7, 9. + +Gravelotte, 15. + +Grevy, Albert, 110, 111. + +Grevy, Jules, 32, 75-95, 96, 110. + +Grey, Sir Edward, 158. + +Guerard, A.-L., 178. + +Guerin, Jules, 140, 141. + + +Habert, Marcel, 135, 141. + +Henry IV, 45. + +Henry, Colonel, 116, 117, 123, 124, 126, 130. + +Henry, Emile, 114. + +Hericourt, 25. + +Herve, Gustave, 166. + +Herz, Cornelius, 109, 111, 118. + +Hugues, Clovis, 97. + + +Italy, 81, 89, 106, 107, 150, 154. + +Ivry, 54. + + +Jacques, L., 178. + +Japan, 158. + +Jaures, Jean, 166. + +Jeanne d'Arc, 45, 185. + +Jerome Napoleon, 86. + +Josnes, 23. + + +Kairouan, 82. + +Kiel Canal, 121. + +Kitchener, 132. + +Koeniggraetz, 4. + +Kroumirs, 81, 82. + + +Labori, 128. + +La Cecilia, 41. + +La Motterouge, 19. + +Lang-son, 90. + +Laval, 24, 151. + +Lavigerie, Cardinal, 104. + +La Villette, 141. + +Lazare, Bernard, 124, 125. + +Leblois, Maitre, 125. + +Le Boeuf, Marshal, 12, 21. + +Le Bourget, 26. + +Lecomte, General, 39. + +Le Mans, 24. + +Le Nordez, Monseigneur, 151. + +Leo XIII, 87, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 113, 144, 150. + +Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 5, 7, 8, 9. + +Lesseps, Charles de, 108, 110. + +Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 86, 107, 108. + +Lille, 70. + +Lisaine, 25. + +Lloyd George, 172. + +Loigny, 22. + +Loir, 24. + +Loire, 19, 22, 23. + +Loisy, Abbe, 150. + +London, 26. + +Longchamps, 136. + +Lorraine, 11, 13, 34, 35, 43, 157, 162, 183, 185. + +Loubet, Emile, 109, 134-158, 160. + +Louis XIV, 26, 36. + +Louis XVI, 45. + +Louis-Philippe, 115. + +Luneville, 13. + +Lur-Saluces, comte de, 141. + +Luxembourg, Duchy of, 4. + +Lyautey, General, 174. + +Lyons, 114. + + +McKinley, 114. + +Mac-Mahon, marechal de, 13, 14, 15, 16, 40, 49, 50-74, 75, 77. + +Madagascar, 89, 122. + +Madrid, 21. + +Mainz, 13. + +Marchand, Captain, 132, 133. + +Marne, 22. + +Marrakesh, 168. + +Mars-la-Tour, 14. + +Mauchamp, Dr., 168. + +Mayer, Captain, 118. + +Mediterranean, 81. + +Meline, Jules, 107, 122, 129, 134. + +Mercier, General, 118, 139. + +Merry del Val, Cardinal, 150. + +Metz, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 34. + +Meuse, 16. + +Mexican expedition, 1. + +Millerand, Alexandre, 97, 137, 178. + +Miribel, General de, 85. + +Moltke, 18, 26. + +Monis, Ernest, 171, 179. + +Montbeliard, 25. + +Montmartre, 39, 52. + +Montmedy, 16. + +Montretout, 27. + +Morel, E. D., 158. + +Mores, marquis de, 118. + +Morocco, 155, 157, 158, 159, 168, 171, 172, 174, 181, 183. + +Muley-Hafid, 168, 174. + +Muley-Yussef, 174. + +Mun, comte de, 105. + + +Nancy, 13. + +Napoleon I, 1, 87. + +Napoleon III, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 35. + +Narbonne, 168. + +Negrier, General de, 90. + +New Caledonia, 42. + +Newfoundland, 155. + +Nicholas II, Czar, 123, 145. + +Nile, 132. + +Nord, 99. + +North Germany, 4, 12. + +Nuremberg, 182. + + +Offenbach, 3. + +Ollivier, Emile, 6, 8, 9. + +Omdurman, 132. + +Orleans, 19, 22, 26. + +Orleans, Duke of, 141. + + +Palikao, comte de, 14, 15, 17. + +Pams, Jules, 176. + +Panama, 97, 107, 111, 134, 161. + +Paray-le-Monial, 52. + +Paris, 2, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, +34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 46, 64, 84, 101, 105, 106, 120, 128, 134, 140, 154, +181. + +Paris, comte de, 44, 52, 53, 55, 100. + +Patay, 22. + +Pau, 178, 179. + +Pelletan, Camille, 97, 166. + +Pellieux, General de, 135. + +Pere-Lachaise, 41. + +Peronne, 24. + +Perpignan, 168. + +Picquart, General, 123, 124, 125, 126, 162, 163. + +Pie, Monseigneur, 52. + +Piou, Jacques, 105. + +Pius IX, 54, 68, 87. + +Pius X, 150, 164. + +Poincare, Raymond, 175, 176-185. + +Poitiers, 52. + +Pont-Noyelles, 24. + +Portsmouth, 105, 106. + +Prince Imperial, 13, 86. + +Prussia, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12. + + +Rampolla, Cardinal, 150. + +Ravachol, 114. + +Raynal, 85. + +Regnier, 21. + +Reichsoffen, 13. + +Reims, 16. + +Reinach, Jacques de, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 134. + +Remusat, Charles de, 48. + +Rennes, 135, 138, 140, 143, 162. + +Rezonville, 14, 15. + +Rhenish provinces, 2. + +Rhine, 2, 4. + +Ribot, Alexandre, 109, 121, 180. + +Rigault, Raoul, 37. + +Riviere, 89. + +Rochebouet, General de, 71. + +Rochefort, Henri, 102. + +Rochette, 179, 180. + +Roget, General, 134, 135, 138. + +Rome, 150. + +Rossel, 40. + +Rouvier, 85, 93, 94, 109, 111, 155, 158, 160, 164, 169. + +Russia, 61, 105, 121, 123, 145, 154, 155, 158, 181, 182. + + +Saarbruecken, 12, 13. + +Sadowa, 4, 6. + +Saint-Cloud, 2. + +Saint-Mande, 137. + +Saint-Privat, 15. + +Saint-Quentin, 24, 27. + +St. Petersburg, 106. + +Salisbury, Lord, 81, 106. + +Salzburg, 53. + +Sans-Leroy, 110. + +Sarrien, Ferdinand, 160. + +Say, Leon, 85. + +Scandinavia, 181. + +Scheurer-Kestner, 125. + +Schnaebele, 94. + +Schoen, Baron von, 181. + +Schwartzkoppen, Colonel, 117, 128, 130. + +Sedan, 16, 17, 49. + +Selves, M. de, 173. + +Serbia, 182. + +Sfax, 82. + +Sicily, 81. + +Simon, Jules, 28, 67, 68, 69, 84. + +South Germany, 4, 7, 12. + +Spain, 5, 8, 155, 158, 159, 171, 174. + +Spicheren, 13. + +Spuller, Eugene, 113. + +Steinheil, Madame, 132. + +Steinmetz, 12, 13, 15. + +Strassburg, 11, 18. + +Sudan, 89. + +Suez, 86, 107, 132. + +Switzerland, 26. + +Syveton, 152. + + +Tangier, 158. + +Thiers, Adolphe, 17, 18, 31-49, 50, 51, 58, 61, 70, 76, 86. + +Thomas, General Clement, 39. + +Tien-tsin, 90. + +Tirard, 102. + +Tonkin, 89, 90, 93. + +Toulon, 106, 167. + +Tours, 19, 22. + +Trochu, General, 17, 19, 22, 27, 29, 52. + +Tuileries, 2, 17. + +Tunis, 81, 93. + + +Ujda, 168. + +United States, 62, 159. + +Uzes, duchesse d', 100. + + +Vaillant, 114. + +Var, 178. + +Vendome, 24. + +Verdun, 14. + +Versailles, 18, 27, 34, 36, 40, 41, 56, 64, 120, 128, 134. + +Victor-Emmanuel II, 68, 104. + +Victor-Emmanuel III, 150. + +Victoria, 106. + +Villepion, 22. + +Villers-Bretonneux, 23. + +Villersexel, 25. + +Villiers, 23. + +Villorceau, 23. + +Vinoy, General, 27. + +Vionville, 14. + +Viviani, Rene, 161, 180, 181. + +Von der Thann, 22. + +Vosges, 12, 25. + + +Waddington, 77, 78, 79, 81. + +Waldeck-Rousseau, 85, 120, 136, 137, 138, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, +153. + +Wallon, 59. + +Weiss, J.-J., 85. + +Welschinger, 30. + +William I, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 18, 26, 35. + +William II, 157, 158, 173. + +Wilson, Daniel, 88, 94, 98. + +Wimpffen, General de, 16. + +Wissembourg, 12, 13. + +Woerth, 13. + +Wrobleski, 41. + + +Zola, Emile, 127, 128, 130, 135, 163. + +Zurlinden, General, 130. + +The Riverside Press + +CAMBRIDGE. 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