lecture 9, "general boulanger and captain dreyfus"
john merriman

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today, two very well-known crises in the third republic (Boulanger and Dreyfus affair). the latter is perhaps more poignant given that dreyfus' granddaughter died at auschwitz.

Boulanger affair portends the rise of the far-right in France--parallels the rise of the far-right in austria, etc.

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the background to all this, of course, is the rise of anti-semitism.

in a way, WWI released the demons of the twentieth century, to a great extent. for adolph hitler, it transformed his anti-socialism/anti-communism into a frenzy, but it added this dimension of anti-semitism.

but, of course, anti-semitism was already out there. not invented by the third republic, either.

but, certainly, the political dimensions of anti-semitism in the 1880s and 1890s made these two affairs so salient (it preoccupied dinner-table discussions, etc.).

the continued growth of anti-semitism also needs to be explained in the context of two further dynamics: (1) there was the question of revenge--the re-capture of Alsace-Lorraine from the german empire; by the end of the 1880s, this is an important part of French discourse; (2) the perceived weakness of French republicanism; in order to protect France from further Caesarism, they create a constitutional framework that vested a lot of authority in the Chamber of Deputies (and this chamber is basically a "political club", of swinging door ministries and the same people--the accomplishments are rather "pale," prof is arguing).

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All this frustration gave rise to an anti-parliamentarian movement--and a temptation to find a strong man who will right these wrongs, and re-attach Alsace-Lorraine to France. Impression that the Republic was at the end of its rope.

In May of 1882, the League of the Patriots is created--an anti-parliamentarian, ultra-nationalist movement. Quickly has 180,000 members(!). With this began the rapidly rising career of General Boulanger, born in 1837. He was a veteran of four campaigns (Africa, Italy, Vietnam/Indochina). He was a brave, heroic figure, and wasn't associated with the reprisals after the Paris commune as he had been injured earlier. Lots of energy/bravery, though not many brains.

He fit the image of what many people believed France needed. He was sent to the US to celebrate the centennial of the revolution (and caused a stir by refusing to get off the boat until the German flags were taken down)--this makes him the darling of the press (right-wing press, which dominates the newspapers). On good terms with Georges Clemenceau, an electoral leader of the Radical Party--both had graduated from the same high school. Boulanger had an anti-clerical streak, which he would have to temper later as he sought right-wing support. Saw the civilian population as meddlesome, prof is saying. Took every possible opportunity to be seen in front of his troops--it was his idea to paint all the sentry boxes red, white, and blue.

In 1886, during a miners' strike, he said that French soldiers were sharing their rations with workers--so he gave the impression of a kind of Napoleonic figure who had broad interests at heart. People start writing songs about him (General "Victory"). Tensions with the German empire increase his popularity; Bismarck himself was aware of Boulanger, and he uses Boulanger's popularity for his own support. One of the few ways the Reichstag could reign in the authority of the Kaiser.

This begins to worry people--Jules Grevy says that he's got to go. But this threatened to make Boulanger a martyr. He is not allowed to run for office--but as a write-in candidate, he gets something like 39,000 votes. So they opt to send him away, away from Paris--huge crowds block the tracks of the train on which he's on (singing the Marsellaise--a mix of people...)

In the early days he got some votes from the Left, and a lot of money from the Right and the Monarchists).

Clemenceau, then, dumps Boulanger as a friend.

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This is the stage at which the crisis re: Grevy's son-in-law takes place (trafficking medals of honor). And who comes along to become President of France, but Sadi-Carnot, who will be assasinated in 1894 (elected by the deputies). Arguably voted in because he was the stupidest(!).

The contrast between Boulanger and the impotent republic, then, become more and more marked. One thing leads to another, but it comes down to the fact that he's sitting in a restraunt in Paris, in 1889 (he's already a member of the chamber of deputies)--and there's a crowd that gathers in the street, shouting for him to take action. To go out, greet his adorers, and who knows? To end the impotent republic, perhaps. But he just sits there--finishes his elaborate meal. And then goes upstairs with his mistress. And the opportunity is passed. (And while he hesitates, his enemies do not--the electoral procedure that allowed him to be elected is eliminated). He flees to Belgium, which makes him seem less brave/dashing.

There's a committee working for him in France, but he remains aloof. His mistress, whom he loves, dies in 1891, after a long illness--on the 30th of September, 1891, he goes alone to her grave, and blew his brains out.

The republic emerged strengthened, by this crisis. But that's only one aspect--what's very interesting, is what was happening to the Right, at this time.

The crisis (and response to it), prof is arguing, is one of the best examples of this new world of mass politics. The question of how the message got out? How did people know about Boulanger, in different regions across France. For centuries, one of the only ways in which people imagined religious/military/political events, was by reading "comic strips"--they would show you pictures of Saints, Generals, etc. These were peddled to villages, through an elaborate distribution network. And so Boulanger is plugged into this popular library, at a time when most people could read, anyway--and his pamphlets, etc., get distributed via these networks (and, of course, assisted by trains). These images just inundated these places.

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Two things are particularly interesting, then, about the Boulanger affair:

(1) origins of the modern right.

(2) the beginnings of mass politics, even in rural areas. (and we see, with Boulanger's images, the beginnings of an enormous propaganda campaign against Jews--departments without Jews used to denounce this "Other." They flood the countryside with images, messages, etc.).

This anticipates the 1920s and 1930s in the sense that this is the first time that the Right is out in the streets--Paris is changing, with this, it's no longer the Paris of the radical sans-culottes. Until 1968, the big demonstrations are of the right (for the canonization of Joan of Arc, for the end of the Republic in 1934).

Of course, you can't always look through hindsight--if you want to explain Auschwitz, or the arrests of Jews in Paris in 1942/1943, but we can, at the very least, say that this was all out there. It was part of the mythology of Boulanger, of course.

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The Dreyfus Affair--more obvious, in some senses, than the Boulanger affair--reflects the anti-semitism that had been exacerbated by the economic crisis that begins in the mid-1870s. Where it was easy to blame it on the Jewish bankers, etc.

Edward Drumont's newspaper had been at the forefront of denouncing the scandals of the Republic (arguing that it was inherent in the structure of the Republic, and that the Jews were prominent). He had published a book in which he had argued that Jewish financiers were conspiring to dominate France.

He is at the forefront of this affair, which pits the Right, the Church, and the Army against the Republicans, Socialists, etc. (who supported Dreyfus). He was the son of an old Jewish family from Alsace--his family had been peddlers, and became textile manufactures. But they were well assimilated, and considered themselves French. But, in 1871, of course, they move to Paris, to a wealthy part of the city.

At this time, you have a huge contrast between assimilated Jews and poor immigrants from Russia/Poland, etc., who settle in Paris (And some of the former don't want the latter, because they "fit the stereotype").

In 1894, evidence surfaced that someone was passing secret information to the Germans, about German military operations on the new frontier. Circumstantial evidence pointed to Dreyfus (looked like his handwriting). Presented him with a pistol! He said, "it's not me." But a court-martial found him guilty of treason--sent to Devil's Island, off the coast of South America.

However, more documents were leaked in the aftermath of his sentencing. The new chief of army intelligence, Picard, came to the conclusion that it wasn't Dreyfus. That the handwriting was the same--he was an unlikely hero, actually, because he himself was a vicious anti-Semite. He comes to the conclusion that they were penned by another immigrant, a Hungarian. BUT: high-ranking officers come together, and argue that it's better to have this Jew, imprisioned, than to admit we made a mistake. The Right and the Catholic Church say the same thing; he's a Jew, and he's guilty. Picard is sent to Tunisia.

At this point, Zola takes up the case. He writes a famous article on the cover-up. This is where the controversy explodes.

Soon, some more documents are "discovered." A man called Henry had forged them, actually, to try and make it more clear. Finally, however, Henry slits his throat, where he had been condemned for this forgery. They bring Dreyfus back, however. And find him guilty! Send him back to Devil's island.

He's finally pardoned in 1899/1900, but not fully exonerated until 1906. Reinstated in the French army, left after his health deteroriated in 1907--but returned to serve during WWI!

This was another moment for the anti-Republican right, who had convicted him essentially on the basis of his Jew-ness. Dreyfus retreated to his own life; amazingly forgiving for all that had happened (and one of the ironies, of course, is the fact that his granddaughter dies at Auschwitz).