| Repression of early 1894 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofÈre des attentats | |||
 Depiction of the 1 January 1894 raids inL'Univers illustré (6 January 1894), showing police operations at anarchist locations includingLe Père Peinard offices and Reclus brothers' portraits | |||
| Date | January 1, 1894 (1894-01-01) | ||
| Location | |||
| Goals | interrumpting anarchist attacks, destroying theanarchist movement in France | ||
| Methods | police raids, planting of evidence, summary arrests, state surveillance | ||
| Resulted in | Arrested and raided thousands of anarchists with limited results and radicalized some that were still at large, effectively pushing to a resume of anarchist attacks | ||
| Parties | |||
| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties | |||
| Arrested | 50-60 the first day, 284 arrested and kept in prison without trial after the whole period | ||
| Damage | 552 homes raided the first day alone | ||
Therepression of early 1894 was an episode of theÈre des attentats (1892–1894), during which France engaged in significantstate repression againstanarchists. The passage of thelois scélérates ('villainous laws') in December 1893, following theNational Assembly bombing, granted French political and police authorities extensive powers to combat anarchists. Using these laws, they launched a large-scale crackdown, employing both legal and extra-legal means to achieve their goals. Thousands of raids and arrests were carried out across France and itscolonies, anarchist newspapers were banned, and a nationwide "manhunt for anarchists" was declared. The execution ofAuguste Vaillant on 5 February 1894—after presidentSadi Carnot refused to grant him his pardon—was a defining moment of this repression, the most severe since theParis Commune (1871).
Rather than stopping the attacks, this episode radicalized those anarchists who evaded arrest—who were often the most dangerous ones—and drove them to seek revenge. Figures likeÉmile Henry,Désiré Pauwels, andCélestin Nat responded with attacks of varying scope and intensity. On 24 June 1894,Sante Caserioassassinated Sadi Carnot in Lyon. Thisvicious circle of repression and retaliatory attacks began to draw criticism from some republicans, such asGeorges Clemenceau.
While the repression had limited success, the measures influenced other European states, such as Italy and Spain, which adopted similar policies, deporting or arresting thousands of anarchists.
In the 19th century,anarchism emerged and took shape in Europe before spreading.[1] Anarchists advocated a struggle against all forms of domination perceived as unjust including economic domination brought forth bycapitalism.[1] They were particularly opposed to theState, seen as the organization that legitimized these dominations through its police, army and propaganda.[2]
In France, relations between the authorities and anarchists grew tense due to the severe repression that anarchists faced in the 1880s.[3] After theFourmies massacre and theClichy affair (1891), a number ofanarchists in France decided to engage in terrorist actions against those they held responsible for the repression they endured, launching theÈre des attentats (1892–1894).[4] One of the first terrorists of this period,François Koenigstein (Ravachol), who targeted the magistrates involved in the Clichy affair, was arrested and sent to the guillotine on 11 July 1892, transforming him into a martyr and hero of the anarchist cause.[5] In December 1893,Auguste Vaillant, seeking revenge for the misery he endured, carried out theNational Assembly bombing, throwing a bomb into the chamber without causing any fatalities.[6][7]
Quickly arrested, this final attack served as a pretext[9] for French authorities to pass the first twolois scélérates ('villainous laws')—a set of repressive laws later joined by a third in late summer 1894—explicitly targeting the anarchist movement.[9] These laws restrictedfreedom of speech, weakened thepresumption of innocence, facilitatedpolice raids, expandedstate surveillance, and normalized preventive arrests.[9] Both the authorities and the French press widely promoted the idea that anarchists were part of a vast international conspiracy, using this narrative to justify their repression.[10][11]
During this "hunt for anarchists",[12] the French authorities began compiling lists of individuals to be searched; in Paris alone, more than five hundred names appeared on the list of French anarchists, not including foreigners, who were placed on a separate list. The French Minister of the Interior,David Raynal, requested lists of all individuals who were friends or affiliates of anarchists, even if they were not anarchists themselves.[13] This marked the most repressive action taken by the French Republic since theParis Commune (1871).[13]
The raids they were about to conduct could be conducted with illegal methods; authorities sometimes planted incriminating evidence in an anarchist's home before conducting a raid the next morning, "discovering" the planted evidence, and using it to secure conviction of their targets.[13]
On the night of 31 December to 1 January 1894, French police officers were ordered to be on standby. This date was chosen to catch the targeted anarchists off guard and prevent them from preparing for the searches.[14] To maintain the secrecy of the operation, eachcommissaire received a series of sealed envelopes at 4 A.M. containing the names of those to be raided.[14] They then opened them, took note of the names and addresses, and prepared to launch the operation, expecting to uncover large caches of weapons or explosives.[14]
At 6 A.M., the French police launched hundreds of raids targeting anarchists across France.[13] That day alone, a total of 552 raids were conducted,[13] including 50-60 in Paris.[14][15] The police raided the home ofÉlisée Reclus in Sèvres[14] and arrested his seventy years old[14] brother,Élie Reclus, in Paris, though he was released a few hours later. The fact that Reclus was targeted sparked outrage among part of the French intellectual world.[14] The police also raidedJean Grave,Michel Antoine,Élisée Bastard,Louis Léveillé,Henri Étiévant,Louis Duprat,Georges Brunet,Émile Pouget,Philogone andÉmilien Segard orSébastien Faure.[14][15]
On the same day, other cities were also searched. InÎle-de-France, the police carried out similar operations inPuteaux,Nanterre,Courbevoie,Colombes,Sèvres,Asnières,Villeneuve-la-Garenne, andLevallois-Perret.[15][16] Dozens of searches were also conducted inLyon andNice, as well as inColombier andCommentry in theAllier region.[15][16]
InBrest, as the raids began, thegendarmes surroundedRégis Meunier's residence with bayonets fixed.[15][16] They arrested seven anarchists—four men and three women—before releasing them later that day due to a lack of evidence.[15][16] InRouen and its suburbs, the police carried out around thirty raids and arrested a militant for writing a letter of congratulations to Vaillant. Additionally, other raids took place inSaint-Quentin (25),Saintes (2),Roubaix,Montpellier,Cannes,Valence,Belfort,Montluçon,Saint-Étienne,Amiens,Troyes, and other French cities.[15][16]Decazeville,Angers,Les Ponts-de-Cé, andTrélazé were also affected by the searches.[17]
Alongside these raids, the police conducted dozens of arrests.[14][16] They arrestedLouis Léveillé, one of those convicted and beaten in theClichy affair,Henri Étiévant,Élisée Bastard, and the Dutchman Alexandre Cohen, who was deported.[13]
The results of the searches on 1 and 2 January 1894 were highly disappointing for the authorities.[14][15][16] Instead of uncovering large caches of weapons and explosives, the police found almost nothing in most cases.[14][15][16] Over the two days, they recovered only a few handguns and a canon shell.[14][15][16] Around sixty anarchists were arrested, but nearly all were released the same day due to the absence of incriminating evidence.[14][15][16] The operation appeared poorly planned. In one instance, police officers mistakenly raided the home of an undercover officer. He greeted his colleagues at the door with friendliness—only for them to arrest him anyway and figure their mistake late.[14]
Moreover, the searches inadvertently revealed to the anarchists the full list of individuals spied upon by the police.[14]
The crackdown extended to anarchists in French colonial territories; in Algeria, Paul Régnier, Jules Xixonnet, and othercompanions were arrested after protesting the police raid on the anarchist colony of Tarzout.[18] Anarchist newspapers were banned inAlgiers andMostaganem on 5 January 1894, with police seizing the stocks.[19]
Various pretexts were used to justify arrests: one man was prosecuted for shouting "Long live anarchy! Long live Ravachol!" on charges of glorifying murder, while another received a two-year prison sentence for teaching anarchist theory to someone who later stole from his employer.[13] Some were arrested for their friendships with anarchists in sports associations, while others were detained simply for expressing sympathy toward anarchism.[13]
On 3 January 1894, it was anarchists located inBesançon,Toulouse,Marseille, andGrenoble who were targeted.[20] Two days later, the measures resumed in Marseille and began inCarmaux.[19] On 6 January 1894, the operations resumed in Brest and Saint-Étienne, and also reachedArras.[21] The next day, operations targetedBeauvais and once again, Valence and Saint-Étienne.[22] On the 8th, they reached Beauvais,Le Havre,Calais, Toulouse, Algiers, andSaint-Gaudens.[23] On 13 and 15 January 1894,Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, and Lyon were touched.[24][25] On the 17th of January 1894, police raided and arrested anarchist restaurateur Constant Martin, who had been hostingSidonie Vaillant for several days—taking advantage of her absence while she was out shopping with her adoptive mother.[26] On 24 January 1894, the crackdown reachedBéziers.[27]
In total, 248 people were arrested in January, with 80 remaining in pre-trial detention for more than two months.[13]
The anarchist press was censored, first banned from kiosks.Émile Pouget, the founder ofLe Père Peinard, managed to escape to the United Kingdom, but on 21 February 1894, the police imposed a complete ban on the newspaper.[13]
Meanwhile, Vaillant's trial took place. In his defense, he condemnedimperialism and the widespread poverty in French society, arguing that he had killed no one and had only sought to injure as a means of making the deputies aware of social injustices.[28] He was sentenced to death. His fate stirred emotions among the working-class population of Paris, who saw in him a man scarred by a life of misery and worried for his young daughter,Sidonie Vaillant.[28] Since most of those injured in the attack recovered quickly and had only suffered minor wounds, the possibility of granting him clemency was raised. His daughter wrote a letter toCécile Carnot pleading for her father's pardon, and later, a group ofsocialist deputies, joined byGeorges Clemenceau, also appealed to presidentSadi Carnot for clemency—without success.[28]
Vaillant was executed by guillotine on 5 February 1894.[28] He was the first person in 19th-century France to be executed without having killed anyone.[28] David Raynal triumphantly addressed the Chamber of Deputies, declaring that thelois scélérates had "thrown terror into the anarchist camp".[13]
Despite Raynal's statement, the severe repression of the anarchist movement led to the radicalization of several militants who managed to evade the French police and avoid arrest—often, the most radical anarchists were the very ones who succeeded in escaping.[13] Thus,Émile Henry, witnessing this situation unfold after his return to Paris on 18 December 1893, decided to avenge Vaillant by assassinating Sadi Carnot.[29]
Six days after Vaillant's execution, Henry went near theÉlysée Palace.[29] Seeing a strong police presence that made any action impossible, he instead chose to target the Café Terminus, where he threw a bomb into the crowd, killing one person and injuring 21.[29]This attack, considered a foundational act of modern terrorism because Henry no longer targeted individuals but society as a whole—perceived as an objective enemy[30]—was partially explained by Henry as an act of revenge for the repression suffered by anarchists.[31] During his trial, he declared:[31]
The bourgeoisie has made anarchists into a single bloc. [...] Well then! Since you hold an entire movement responsible for the acts of a single man and strike as a bloc, we too will strike as a bloc.
Two days later, thevicious circle of "repression-attacks" was highlighted by republicans such asGeorges Clemenceau, who questioned the effectiveness of such measures in combating terrorism on 14 February 1894.[30] He wrote, bringing the issue of political repression's efficacy to public attention:[30]
Will executions and attacks succeed one another endlessly?
A friend of Henry,Désiré Pauwels, responded to Henry's arrest by carrying out the20 February and theMadeleine bombings.[32] Two days before Henry's execution,Célestin Nat carried out the1894 Marseille stabbing.[33] Finally, on 24 June 1894,Sante Caserioassassinated Sadi Carnot in Lyon.[34]
In the following months, other European powers were influenced by this wave of police repression.[13] Inspired by France, Italy implemented similar measures in June 1894, deporting 3,000 anarchists to penal colonies, while hundreds fled into exile. Spain soon followed the same path.[13]
In hisMemoirs,Marie-François Goron, former head of theFrench Sûreté during the repression, questions the effectiveness of such police practices.[35] He stated on the matter:[35]
One should not overestimate the results of intimidation on men. Certainly, many revolutionaries of this generation are quite capable of considering the troubles of a long incarceration before going out like their ancestors to shout on the boulevard and overturn newspaper kiosks. But the fear of prison has never stopped a true man of action. It's unlikely that the fear of a stay inMazas prison would have impressed Ravachol or Émile Henry. [...] On the other hand, unjustly endured imprisonment irritates even the calmest individuals. [...] All the anarchist hunts I have witnessed have had the most pathetic results.
