21 January – ActressSarah Bernhardt, having taken over management of the Paris theatre which she renames theThéâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, opens in the title rôle ofVictorien Sardou'sLa Tosca. On 20 May she premières a French adaptation ofShakespeare'sHamlet with herself in the title rôle, one of the first successful female actresses to tackle a male part.
23 February –Paul Déroulède andJules Guérin of the right-wingLigue des Patriotes attempt to persuade GeneralGeorges-Gabriel de Pellieux to lead a coup d'état during the funeral of Félix Faure in order to overthrow President Loubet. General Pellieux refuses to participate. Later in the year, Déroulède and Guérin are indicted for conspiracy against the government and banished from France.
10 June – ComposerErnest Chausson dies when his bicycle crashes into a brick wall as he is riding down a hill. The death is ruled to be an accident, although later biographers speculate that Chausson committed suicide.
12 June –France's Prime MinisterCharles Dupuy and his cabinet announce their resignations after losing a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies.
25 July – France's Minister of War levies out punishments against officers who participated in theDreyfus affair, dismissing GeneralGeorges-Gabriel de Pellieux as Military Governor of Paris, and removing GeneralOscar de Négrier from the War Council.[1]
14 August – AttorneyFernand Labori is wounded in an assassination attempt while serving as the defense lawyer for in the retrial of CaptainAlfred Dreyfus.
24 August – Minister of Commerce,Alexandre Millerand, decrees a change in regulations to extend the right toworkers' compensation to cover all profit-making establishments.
