Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (pronounced as Clémenceau, but written without an accent), born September 28, 1841 in Mouilleron-en-Pareds in Vendée, died November 24, 1929 in Paris, was a French journalist and politician.
Vendean youth
Georges Clemenceau was born on September 28, 1841 in Mouilleron-en-Pareds, a small Vendée town. A few years later this same village will witness the birth of another illustrious figure in French military history:Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.
Her mother is from a Protestant family. His father, Benjamin Clemenceau will have a great influence on him; he was a committed republican who in 1830 became involved in the fight against Charles X and later against Louis-Philippe. Arrested by Napoleon III after the assassination attempt by Orsini, he was sentenced to deportation to Algeria, but was released before being embarked in Marseille.
Remarkable beginnings in politics and journalism
After studying at the Nantes high school, Georges Clemenceau obtained a baccalaureate in letters in 1858. He then chose to go, like his father, towards medical studies. During his first years of study in Nantes, he stood out as a rowdy, no doubt opposing his teachers who loved religion and the imperial ideal. In 1861 he left to continue his studies in Paris where he frequented artistic and republican circles in the Latin Quarter. He also founded with comrades in December of this year a weekly newspaper, Le Travail. On February 23, 1862 he was arrested by the police for having put up posters calling for a demonstration. He will spend 77 days in Mazas prison. During his years of study Clemenceau still participated in the creation of several journals and wrote numerous articles. He became a doctor of medicine on May 13, 1865 with a thesis entitled On the generation of atomic elements. As a young journalist, he violently attacked the work of Louis Pasteur (who was not a doctor). However, once the latter's demonstrations were carried out and endorsed by Joseph Lister, he graciously admitted his error.
On July 25, he sailed for England and then the United States. He finds a job as a teacher in a college for young girls in Stamford where he teaches French and horse riding. He then fell in love with one of his students, Mary Plummer, whom he married on June 20, 1869. He returned on June 26, 1869 and began a political career in the camp of opponents of Napoleon III.
Following the defeat of Napoleon III at Sedan on September 2, 1870, a revolt broke out in Paris. During this "September Fourth Day", Clemenceau took an active part in the demonstration demanding the end of the Empire. The new government appoints provisional mayors in the different arrondissements of Paris. Clemenceau is placed at the head of the 18th arrondissement. On November 5, following elections, he retained his post. On February 8, he was elected deputy for the Seine in the new National Assembly. In March 1871, during the insurrection of the Commune, Clemenceau remained in Paris. He initially tries to appease the spirits but is quickly frightened by the "delirium of blood" which invades the Parisian population. He quickly alienates the insurgents as well as the Versailles government, which accuses him of passivity. Following the failure of his attempts at mediation, he presented his resignation to the National Assembly on March 27 and left Paris on May 10. Returning to Paris on June 15, 1871, he was elected municipal councilor of Clignancourt on July 30, 1871. On November 29, 1875, he was elected president of the municipal council.
The opponent and the faller of ministries
His election on February 20, 1876, as deputy for Paris in the Chamber marked the real beginning of Clemenceau's career. He will gradually make himself known throughout France and establish himself as the undisputed leader of the Republican radicals and the far left opposition. His first fights, developed during his first years in the senate, were to obtain amnesty for the communards, a revision of the constitution drafted by moderate republicans and monarchists and the separation of Church and State. To further establish his political influence, Clemenceau decided to found a newspaper. La Justice appeared for the first time on January 13, 1880. The daily had a relatively small circulation but received a certain audience in political circles. Clemenceau also acquired the nickname "Tiger" for his ferocity and a reputation as a "minister killer" when, in 1881, he obtained the resignation of the ministry led by Jules Ferry. His action in favor of a single assembly also contributed to Gambetta's resignation from the ministry in 1882. By inciting the deputies to refuse the vote of a budget for a French military intervention on the Suez Canal, he pushed the government of Charles de Freycinet to resign. His fight against the Jules Ferry ministry resulted in the resignation of the latter on March 30, 1885 after the negative result of the votes for a budget for the French troops in Tonkin attacked by the Chinese army.
Fiercely opposed to colonization, he opposed Jules Ferry who declared:
“I repeat that there is a right for the superior races because there is a duty for them. They have the duty to civilize the inferior races. (Speech before the Chamber of Deputies, July 28, 1885).
Clemenceau answered him in these terms:
“The superior races have a right over the inferior races which they exercise and this right, by a particular transformation, is at the same time a duty of civilization. Here, in proper terms, is M. Ferry's thesis and we see the French government exercising its right over the inferior races by going to war against them and forcibly converting them to the benefits of civilization. Superior races! Inferior races! It will soon be said. For my part, I am singularly reduced since I saw German scholars scientifically demonstrate that France had to be defeated in the Franco-German war, because the Frenchman is of an inferior race to the German. Since that time, I confess, I look twice before turning to a man and a civilization and pronouncing:man or lower civilization! [...] I do not want to judge the substance of the thesis that has been presented here and which is nothing other than the proclamation of the power of force over the law [...]" (Speech before the House of deputies, July 30, 1885)
He finally forced Jules Ferry to resign after the Tonkin affair in 1885. He was a fierce opponent of the opportunists, who had rallied to the Republic for lack of anything better, and sat on the far left of the Assembly.
In 1885, Georges Clemenceau was elected jointly in the Var and in Paris. He chose to become a deputy for Var, a department whose population is increasingly voting on the left, in the district of Draguignan. He retained this post, although with a smaller majority of votes, in the 1889 elections. votes of some deputies. A lawsuit is brought against him, false evidence is produced but Clemenceau is cleared. Nevertheless, the damage is done, his reputation is stained, the revenge of his many adversaries is on the way. In 1893, during the Var election campaign, the opposition used the rhetoric of the man sold to foreign powers, the crook, the upstart without supporting these accusations with any concrete evidence. On September 3, 1893, in the second round of the elections, Clemenceau was beaten despite the famous Salerno speech where he uttered a phrase that has remained famous “Where are the millions? .
The electoral failure of September 3, 1893 forced Clemenceau to retire from the political scene. He then devoted himself more to writing. His experience as a writer, journalist and his notoriety will be assets that he will take advantage of to face financial difficulties.
The Dreyfus Affair and the return to politics
It is through the Dreyfus affair that Clemenceau will return to the fore. Clemenceau, who became an editor at Aurore in October 1897, was not initially convinced of the innocence of Dreyfus (sentenced to prison in 1894). It was the acquittal of Esterhazy (who would turn out to be the real culprit) on January 11, 1898 that would trigger the crisis. On January 13, Zola publishes an article on the front page of Aurore in which Clemenceau finds a shocking title:"J'accuse...! » . He then pleads in the lawsuit brought against Zola and the newspaper. After the failure of the lawsuit, his articles will be almost daily. His commitment continued until the review of the trial and then the presidential pardon from which Dreyfus benefited, despite constant attacks from conservatives and anti-Semites. At the end of January 1901, Clemenceau left Aurore following disagreements with other journalists. He then created a new weekly:Le Bloc. This weekly will be unique in that Clemenceau will write almost everything in it. It will appear until March 15, 1902.
Georges Clemenceau's return to politics was made possible thanks to the network of friendships he had maintained but also acquired through his Dreyfusard action. Also when a place of senator became available in the Var, many were those who encouraged him to apply and declared themselves ready to support it. On April 4, 1902, he was triumphantly elected senator. According to his colleagues, his first years as a senator were characterized by a certain calming down of Clemenceau, known as an eternal opponent and troublemaker. He remains, however, an ardent defender of the law of separation of Church and State; he made it the second theme of his speech delivered at La Roche-sur-Yon on September 30, 1906.
In March 1906, he was called to a ministerial post for the first time. He then served as Minister of the Interior. In October 1906, the President of the Council, Sarrien, ill, recommends Georges Clemenceau to succeed him to President Fallières. On October 25, 1906, he thus acceded to the presidency of the Council. His years at the head of the Ministry of the Interior and the Presidency of the Council were characterized by an important reform of the police and by a vigorous policy towards trade unions and strikers. Clemenceau even acquires a reputation as a strikebreaker and falls out with Jean Jaurès and the socialists for a long time. He distinguished himself by his ferocity against social movements, repressing with blood the strike of miners in Pas-de-Calais and the revolt of winegrowers in Languedoc-Roussillon. He gave himself the nickname of "first cop of France". At the same time, he supports the foundation of the scientific police by Alphonse Bertillon and of the Tiger Brigades by Célestin Hennion. In the words of Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, "[the] fall [of the Clemenceau government] presented an accidental character and was linked to an undeniable tactical clumsiness on its part". On July 20, 1909, in fact, Clemenceau refused to answer technical questions on the navy from Delcassé, former President of the Council whom Clemenceau helped to bring down, and had an agenda voted on. This is rejected and Clemenceau resigns.
The years 1909-1912 were a period of calm in Clemenceau's career. He devotes his time to travels, conferences but also to his convalescence because, sick of the prostate, he undergoes in 1912 a painful operation. However, Clemenceau did not stop his journalistic activity. On April 10, 1910, the first issue of the Journal du Var appeared, of which he was the creator. He gradually broke away from this publication over the next two years and on May 6, 1913, the first issue of L'Homme libre, a Parisian newspaper, appeared. In this one he gets more involved and publishes his editorial daily. In his editorials, Clemenceau became increasingly interested in foreign policy and military matters while condemning socialist pacifism. His newspaper will be one of the first to know the censorship of the government, exiled in Bordeaux. He sees his article, denouncing the insufficiencies of the medical service to the armies from a news item, censored by the government. The newspaper is suspended from September 29 to October 7. He then changed the title of his daily newspaper to L'Homme enchaîné. During the years that followed, Clemenceau worked to criticize the inefficiency of the government and the lack of information it transmitted, but also to defend the importance of patriotism and union in the face of danger. Note that Clemenceau's patriotism is not part of a nationalist perspective, it is part of a tradition that sees him as an instrument for the defense of the Republic and its values. He also made several visits to the front as Chairman of the Army Committee in the Senate. The chained man would keep his name until Clemenceau became President of the Council on November 16, 1917. On November 13, the Painlevé government fell and President Poincaré had to quickly find him a successor. He would then have had to choose between Joseph Caillaux and Clemenceau. His preference goes to Clemenceau who is in favor of a military victory rather than to Caillaux, a supporter of a compromise peace. Clemenceau thus became, at the age of seventy-six, President of the Council for the second time, but also Minister of War, a ministry he insisted on keeping to himself.
The First World War
At the start of the First World War, he was in the opposition, but Raymond Poincaré, who nevertheless did not like him, called him in November 1917 to head the government. He restored confidence, making every effort to ensure that the Republic endured the shock of this war (William II precisely predicted the opposite, assuring that the democracies - France and the United Kingdom - would collapse on their own if the war were to last). “Neither treason nor half-treason:war! he proclaims. In his domestic policy, Georges Clemenceau worked hard to put down any attempt at revolt, mutiny or strike in the factories. He also leads an energetic fight for the support of the morale of the troops. To do this, he hunts down pacifists, defeatists and also puts pressure on the press favorable to these movements without using censorship. He also had Malvy and Joseph Caillaux arrested, the second without serious reason but simply because he was in favor of a negotiated peace. More resolute and more intransigent than ever, he became a real dictator (in the ancient sense of the term) and conducted a policy of public safety which bore fruit the following year. “I make war, I always make war,” he said on March 8, 1918 from the Assembly gallery, to sum up his tenacity.
In other times, this authoritarianism would have earned him banishment from the French political world. In the circumstances, he came out of the ordeal with great popularity, both among civilians and among the hairy. His many visits to the front are certainly not unrelated to this. Supporting General Foch in the critical hours of the spring of 1918, he left his mark on the last year of the conflict. More than ever, his nickname "Tiger" is both famous and deserved. To this is added that of "Father Victory", which alone summarizes the part taken by him in the recovery of 1918, in particular for his role in the creation of the single command, in March. Clemenceau is responsible for announcing to the Chamber and to the country the conditions of the armistice of November 11, 1918. His nickname "Père-la-Victoire" quickly became the ironic "Perd-la-Victoire" because of his opposition to the annexation of the Saar.
The following year and in the company of the President of the Republic, he undertook a triumphal journey to reconquered Alsace and Lorraine. Clemenceau will represent France at the Versailles peace conference, there he defends an annexation by France of the left bank of the Rhine and demands heavy material and financial compensation. Driven by a public opinion traumatized by the war (“The Boche must pay”), its demands on Germany are indeed exorbitant. Territorial concessions and the payment of gigantic reparations are the two sides of his program. His demands were met with refusal by the United Kingdom and the United States, anxious to avoid the complete ruin of Germany, which resulted in a shaky compromise. Many contemporary historians believe that Clemenceau bears some responsibility for the errors of the Treaty of Versailles.
On the morning of February 19, 1919, the anarchist Eugène Cottin shot him three times, without seriously wounding him. A bullet, never extracted, is lodged in the scapula a few millimeters from the aorta. The attack triggered extraordinary fervor in the population and the press. Popular enthusiasm is exacerbated, Clemenceau is idolized. He finally escaped without too much damage and intervened to have the perpetrator of the attack pardoned. Six days later, he resumed his activities, showing remarkably vigorous health for his age. He kept his position as President of the Council until 1920.
Aborted candidacy for the Presidency and end of life
In January 1920, Clemenceau, who now aspired to a peaceful retirement, accepted that friends submit his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic. It was out of pride that he did not propose himself and was not formally a candidate. But his age worries Catholics:a president so old is the prospect of a civil funeral at the Elysée. He makes the mistake of taunting Aristide Briand by assuring that the latter will beat the sole for seven years in front of the Elysée, that is to say that he would not be a minister. His many political enemies agreed to support the candidacy of his opponent Paul Deschanel. On January 16, a preparatory vote was held in the National Assembly. Deschanel, whom he had beaten a few years earlier in a duel, won by a very narrow majority over Clemenceau. He then withdraws his friends' permission to apply. On the 17th, Deschanel then won the presidential election by a very large majority and on the 18th, Clemenceau presented the resignation of his government.
Aged 79, Clemenceau will now devote his time to long trips. He visited Egypt, Sudan, India, Southeast Asia in September 1920, and the United States in the fall of 1922. Back from his travels, Clemenceau set about the writing of several works:Démosthène, Grandeur et Miseres d'une Victoire (where he defends, against Poincaré and Foch, his political action of 1917-1919 and evokes the risk of German rearmament due to the abandonment of the guarantees of the Treaty of Versailles and Briand's policy of appeasement) but above all a large work of reflection and philosophy which was the main goal of his old age:Au soir de la Pensée (reflection on the changes he observed during his life). During his last years, he shared his life with Marguerite Baldensperger, 43 years his junior. His state of health deteriorated little by little and he died on November 24, 1929. In accordance with his last wishes, he was buried in the greatest sobriety, next to his father, in the dovecote of Mouchamps, a family property, on land in slope overlooking the Petit Lay.
Without being overwhelmed by his tireless activity, including sword duels, he also found time to be an art lover and was the protector of Claude Monet and other painters, such as Jean Peské. He wrote the opera libretto The Veil of Happiness. Endowed with a certain sense of humour, Clemenceau regularly made a name for himself with sarcastic remarks concerning France, its society and its neighbours.
The name of Clemenceau was given to a French aircraft carrier, in service from 1961 to 1997, as well as to many high schools (Nantes, Montpellier...), colleges (Tulle...) and streets. The house of Georges Clemenceau, located in Saint-Vincent-sur-Jard has been transformed into a museum and can be visited. His Parisian home has also been transformed into a museum.
His son, Michel Clemenceau, is a politician of the Fourth Republic.
Quotes
* “Ah, England, that French colony gone wrong. "
* "English is never anything but badly pronounced French. "
* "For my funeral, I only want the bare necessities, that is to say me. "
* "War! It is too serious a matter to entrust to the military. (1886)
* "It is easier to make war than peace." "
* "Just add 'military' to a word to make it lose its meaning. So military justice is not justice, military music is not music. "
* "Never be afraid to make enemies; if you don't, you haven't done anything. »
* « When you have character, it is always bad. »
* « France is an extremely fertile country:civil servants are planted there and taxes are raised there. "
* "A ministry staircase is a place where people who arrive late meet people who leave early. »
* « Civil servants are the best husbands:when they come home in the evening, they are not tired and have already read the newspaper. "
* "You first have to know what you want, then you have to have the courage to say it, then you have to have the energy to do it. "
* "The absurd man is the one who never changes. "
* "A traitor is one who leaves his party to join another; and a convert, one who leaves that other to enroll in yours. "
* "Polytechnicians know everything, but nothing else. "
* "Give me forty assholes and I'll give you a French Academy. "
* "From now on, for nations and for peoples, a drop of oil has the value of a drop of blood. »
* « He is this little Mandel, he is doing me a favor. When I fart, he's the one who stinks. »
* « I hate all these emperors, these kings, these princes, these archdukes. I hate them as people hated that tyrant Louis XVI. Between them and us, it's a matter of life and death. 1867, rejoicing over the execution of Maximilian of Austria in Mexico.
* "My dear friends, when I visited Saint-Quentin in October 1918, long before you, in day after the Liberation, I wondered how you could revive your city. I am amazed at the result you have achieved! "
* As he was about to leave Saint-Quentin, a lady told him that he needed mattresses:"Very well, Madame, I am the king of mattresses, you will have mattresses ! "
* "What interests me is the lives of men who have failed because it is a sign that they have tried to surpass themselves. »
* "There is never so much lying as before an election, during the war and after the hunt"
* "Brazil is a country of the future and will remain so for a long time"
Career
* Mayor of the 18th arrondissement of Paris, consisting mainly of the former commune of Montmartre, from 1870 to 1871
* Member of the National Assembly (1871-1893)
* President of the Paris City Council (1875)
* Senator (1902-1920)
* Minister of the Interior (1906) nicknamed le Tigre
* President of the Council (1906-1909 and 1917-1920) nicknamed Father la Victoire
* Member of the French Academy, elected in 1918.