FRENCH HISTORICAL CRISES.   Term Paper ID:23229 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines threats to French Republic's stability posed by Dreyfuss Affair (1890s), Cartel des Gauches (1920s) & Popular Front (1934).... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 3 sources, 15 Citations, TURABIAN Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines threats to French Republic's stability posed by Dreyfuss Affair (1890s), Cartel des Gauches (1920s) & Popular Front (1934). Paper Introduction: The French Republic has been threatened most directly in this century by domestic conservative forces. Three major confrontations demonstrating this fact can be identified as the Dreyfus Affair, the Cartel des Gauches in the early 1920s, and the Popular Front in 1934. These three incidents can be seen as evidence that the Republic at the time was radical and was courting a radical political agenda. The Dreyfus affair involved the false accusation, trial, and imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus for having supposedly revealed certain military secrets to Germany. One of the most troubling aspects of the Dreyfus affair was the possibility that it involved anti-Semitism, for Dreyfus was Jewish. The degree of anti-Semitism involved has been argued for some time. The affair began with an error on the part of a military court when it Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The Dreyfus affair accelerated thetrend in French political society toward the left, and from 1899 to 1914,the radicals became the dominant party: Although many ardent Catholics were Dreyfusians, clerical- conservative elements had somehow committed the church to the losing side, and the church had to pay. New York: W.W. The Popular Front leaders were honest and intelligent men; not a few of them had political experience; but in financial matters, they were too conservative.[xv] The sense that the Republic was never more radical except at thesethree junctures shows how conservative the Republic was the rest of thetime and how even small victories by the left and the radical element madeany shift seem more radical. The most they were prepared to do was to support the Radicals and their allies in policies of which they approved.[viii]The tactics of the Left generally helped alienate Frenchmen from the régimewhich permitted them, and the political tactics of the Communists and theSocialists had disenfranchised that section of the electorate that votedfor them, generally increasing the estrangement of the working classes fromthe bourgeois Republic.[ix] The growing power of the Radicals at this timedid not produce the sort of change hoped for by supporters: On one side were the Socialist leaders, committed to the doctrine that the only solution of the financial problem was bound up with a complete economic reconstruction of French society, on the other were the Radicals, fundamentally skeptical of the need or desirablity of such a reconstruction and loath to increase the authority of the State which alone could make the Socialist program practicable.[x] In the period before the onset of world War II, the Popular Fronthelped radicalize French politics once more. In the Dreyfus affair, that element asserted theneed for acceptance even of unjust decisions, and the people rejected thatidea, giving the radical element a leg up. Formany Frenchmen, the Popular Front offered the one chance for improvement inthe French economy, but this was not to be. The election revived and strengthened the dominantpolitical tradition of the French political system, a tradition which hadbeen evident even in the hysterical atmosphere of the 1919 election: It was not only the superior tactics and superior discipline of the Radicals that made them so formidable. The Dreyfus affair involved the false accusation, trial, andimprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus for having supposedly revealed certainmilitary secrets to Germany. Endnotes BibliographyBrogan, D.W. It was becoming apparent thatthe French people were weary of the war and its aftermath, and the 1924elections gave the people the chance to express their views about thecurrent regime. Three major confrontations demonstratingthis fact can be identified as the Dreyfus Affair, the Cartel des Gauchesin the early 192 s, and the Popular Front in 1934. This was expressed in amanifesto: It was, the manifesto continued, because the SFIO wanted to safeguard the Republic liberties of the French that it had concluded alliances with other political groups that were equally ready to defend the principle of popular sovereignty, and these alliances led to the formation of the Popular front.[xi]In the 1936 election, the Popular Front received nearly 6 million votes.This election produced the first Socialist Prime Minister in France. The Blum government wassingularly unsuccessful at handling the economic situation.[xiii] The Right in France was following a pro-German program and was tryingto push France in that direction, while the Socialists and the Communistswere highly critical of Germany and of the efforts of the Right.[xiv] OnceBlum had formed a cabinet, he immediately proposed a series of socialreforms, and the conservative senate passed these reforms because themembers were awed by the epidemic of shrieks taking place and by theconsiderable electoral victory of the Popular Front. Brogan, The Development of Modern France 187 -1939 (NewYork: Harper & Row, 1966), 3 5-3 6.Albert Guérard, France: A Short History (New York: W.W. One of the most troubling aspects of theDreyfus affair was the possibility that it involved anti-Semitism, forDreyfus was Jewish.[i] The degree of anti-Semitism involved has beenargued for some time. The elections of 1924 in France revealed the same desire to return to the easy ways of life of the good old days before the war. The Development of Modern France 187 -1939. The results showed thatthe people wanted a change from the current government, but the behavior ofthe new majority made this impossible: The Socialists of the SFIO were particularly to blame for this. France Since 1918. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.Guérard, Albert. The Carteloffered its own program which saw the extension of direct taxation, theabolition of school fees and the secularization of the educational system,and savings on defense by means of the organization of a nationalmilitia.[vi] The Bloc National had by this time lost its emotional appeal on theelectorate, while the Cartel was gaining that sort of appeal. ThePopular front parties fought back in the election of 1936 and cried outthat the real enemy of the French was Fascism. In the 193 s, the leftmanaged to come together and form a united front for the first time. The popular frontproduced the first socialist government which again fell down in terms ofmaking itself the power it needed to be. A number of journalists, notably Emile Zola, turned the affairinto a spiritual storm which affected much of the world. In spite of the compromise andthe time it took, it was clear that those supporting Dreyfus werecompletely victorious. The opposition was known as the Bloc des Gauches orthe Cartel des Gauches, and it sought to publiciZe the likely consequencesof the deflationary economic proposals offered by the Bloc. France: A Short History. The radical element was in theform of the Cartel des Gauches was contrasted with the ruling National Blocbut could not consolidate its success at the time. This shiftwas noted around the election in 1924, and some of the important elementsin this election involved the issue of reparations from Germany for WorldWar I. These three incidentscan be seen as evidence that the Republic at the time was radical and wascourting a radical political agenda. This evolution was hastened and made more dramatic bymeans of the Dreyfus case.[iv] The Dreyfus affair ended in 1899 with acompromise. A genuine horror of war, a revival of the old optimistic dreams of international understanding, a natural revulsion against the extravagant nationalism that had been preached and to some extent practiced in recent years, revived the enthusiasm of the parties of the old Left.[vii] The Cartel was also calling for payment of the reparations byGermany. Norton,1946), 2 9.Ibid., 2 9.Ibid., 2 8.Ibid., 21 .Herbert Tint, France Since 1918 (New York: Harper & Row, 197 ),2 .Brogan, 583.Tint, 21.Ibid., 21-22.Brogan, 588-589.Tint, 6 .Ibid., 61.Ibid., 62.Ibid., 75.Guérard, 231.----------------------- 9 Waldeck-Rousseau was their political leader, and heoffered the model for a method many consider far superior to rigid partydivisions--a coalition, as broad as possible, for the purpose of promotingjustice and restoring civil peace. The affair began with an error on the part of amilitary court when it condemned Captain dreyfus to life imprisonment foran act of treason he had not committed; this was in 1894: Antisemitism played but a minor part in this miscarriage of justice; the chief apostle of that barbaric creed, Edouard Drumont, was admired as a journalist but even the people who relished the virulence of his Libre Parole shrugged away his fanatical bias.[ii]The real problem in the affair after the original conviction was theattitude on the part of the general staff that any decision made by amilitary court was final. The voters elected 266 Cartel members of the new Chamber ofdeputies and only 229 members of the former Bloc. . On the one hand, the champions of authority and tradition: aristocracy, clergy, social conservatives; on the other, the defenders of freedom: intellectuals, Protestants, freethinkers.[iii] The consolidation of the republic was accompanied by the growth ofpopular education, the resurgence of socialism, and gradual changes in thepolitical scene. Hereminded everyone that his would be a Popular Front government and not aSocialist Government as such. In thecompromise, Dreyfus was condemned by a second military court "withextenuating circumstances" and was immediately pardoned. Norton, 1946.Tint, Herbert. It did not conduct its campaign on the basis of itsrecord but instead relied on its anti-Bolshevism, a move which had broughtit success in 1919. Religious orders which had enjoyed exemptions and privileges, were placed under the common law.[v]The radicalization of French politics and society reached its apex in thisinstance in 19 6 when Clemenceau attained power. In 1924, the ruling group in France was known as the Bloc, and itsrecord was poor. No doubt because they feared the Communist allegation that they were in league with bourgeois reaction, the Socialists refused to participate in the Government; their left wing was already unhappy at the party's collaboration with the Radicals during the election campaign. Soon, spiritual rather than political forces were definitely polarized. The family of Dreyfus and some jurists andpatriots called for a new trial, but the general staff only stiffened itsresolve: They believed in passive obedience and the infallibility of rank. Germany had been expected to pay a certain amount after 1919, butthe payments were far below expectations. The promise of ademocratic and social republic now seemed possible: It was a false spring. The radical element was evident from thestart: France was treated to the spectacle of triumphant left-wing celebrations that put the fear of Marx into every bourgeois citizen, and must have sent a shiver of apprehension down even the new Prime Minister's spine.[xii]Blum, the leader of the Popular Front, remembered the fate of the Carteldes Gauches in the 192 s and sought to find ways of avoiding this. New York: Harper & Row, 197 .-----------------------D.W. Thepopular Front was seen by some on the Right as trying to get France into awar with Germany because that would presumably benefit the Soviets. To challenge the verdict of a military court was to break down army discipline; and the army was not merely the sword and shield but the very armature of the nation. . In each of the three cases, the ascendancy ofmore radical politics was a popular reaction to the failure of theconservative element. In 19 6 he wasfully reinstated, promoted, and decorated. The French Republic has been threatened most directly in this centuryby domestic conservative forces. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

Many of our Papers can be Downloaded From This Site!

PLEASE READ THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT!

Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). You may place orders for custom research over the phone during office hours. E-mail requests can be made to our graduate and undergraduate department any time, and will be reviewed during office hours. You may also contact customer service any time through e-mail, and we will review your message during business hours. A great many papers can be downloaded right from this site, but not all of them. If you would like to know if a particular paper is downloadable, just look in the description for: "Available for Internet Download: Y" or "Available for Internet Download: N" If you wish to purchase a paper which is NOT available for immediate download, you will need to make other shipping arrangements. Also, please be aware that these orders are processed Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). If you place your order after 4:45pm on Friday, it will not be processed until the following Monday morning. We charge $8 per page for all of our pre-written reports, plus shipping (and tax for California residents). However, the highest cost of any ONE report is $136, or 17 pages. Please, take a moment. Make sure you have chosen the report you want or need BEFORE you complete your order. If you are not sure, allow us to help you. We do not offer refunds or exchanges, so it is important for you to let us answer your questions during office hours. Reports which are e-mailed or downloaded are in Microsoft Word format. We are making more reports available for e-mail delivery faster than we can update our listings. Please call to check on the status of particular reports. There are many other shipping options which are listed on the Checkout page.