Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau
Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau | |
---|---|
Nadar | |
Prime Minister of France | |
In office 22 June 1899 – 7 June 1902 | |
President | Émile Loubet |
Preceded by | Charles Dupuy |
Succeeded by | Émile Combes |
Personal details | |
Born | 2 December 1846 Moderate Republicans Democratic Republican Alliance |
Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (French: [pjɛʁ valdɛk ʁuso]; 2 December 1846 – 10 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served for three years as the Prime Minister of France.
Early life
Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in
The son was a delicate child whose eyesight made reading difficult, and his early education was therefore entirely oral. He studied law at Poitiers and in Paris, where he took his licentiate in January 1869. His father's record ensured his reception in high republican circles.
Under the Third Republic
In 1873, following the establishment of the
The Waldeck-
Capital/labour relations
He was chiefly occupied with the relations between capital and labour, and had a large share in securing the
Law practice
Waldeck-Rousseau had begun to practise at the Paris bar in 1886, and in 1889 he did not seek re-election to the Chamber, but devoted himself to his legal work. The most famous of the many noteworthy cases in which his cold and penetrating intellect and his power of clear exposition were retained was the defense of Gustave Eiffel in the Panama scandals of 1893.[1]
Return to political life
In 1894 he returned to political life as senator for the department of the
Coalition cabinet
After an initial failure he succeeded in forming a coalition cabinet of "Republican Defense", supported by the
With the condemnation in January 1900 of
Associations Bill of 1901
The most important measure of Waldeck-Rousseau's later administration was the
All Conservative parties opposed Waldeck-Rousseau's policies, especially the mass closure of church schools, as a persecution of religion. He led the anti-clerical coalition on the left, facing opposition primarily organized by the pro-Catholic Action libérale populaire, (ALP). The ALP had a stronger popular base, with better financing and a stronger network of newspapers, but had far fewer seats in parliament.[6]
As the general election of 1902 approached, all sections of the Opposition united their efforts under the Bloc des gauches, and the name of Waldeck-Rousseau served as a battle-cry for one side, and on the other as a target for abuse. The result was a decisive victory for the left and Waldeck-Rousseau considered his task ended. Therefore, on 3 June 1902 he resigned office, having proved himself the "strongest personality in French politics since the death of Gambetta."[1]
He emerged from his retirement to protest in the Senate against the construction put on his Associations Bill by Émile Combes, who refused en masse the applications of the teaching and preaching congregations for official recognition.[clarification needed][7]
Death
In January 1904, Waldeck-Rousseau announced that he was suffering from "calculus of the liver".[8] In May, he underwent surgery,[9] — and, as was later revealed, attempted suicide;[10] He died on August 11, 1904, after further surgery.[11]
Publication of speeches
His speeches were published as Discours parlementaires (1889); Pour la République, 1883–1903 (1904), edited by H Leyret; L'État et la liberté (1906); and his Plaidoyers (1906) were edited by H Barboux. See also H Leyret, Waldeck-Rousseau et la Troisième République (1908).[5]
Honours
- Oscar II of Sweden and Norway.[12]
Waldeck-Rousseau's Ministry, 22 June 1899 – 7 June 1902
- Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
- Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Minister of War
- Minister of Finance
- Ernest Monis – Minister of Justice
- Minister of the Navy
- Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Minister of Agriculture
- Minister of Colonies
- Pierre Baudin – Minister of Transport
- Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs
Changes
- 20 May 1900 – Minister of War.
See also
- History of the Left in France
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Chisholm 1911, p. 253.
- CNRS, 2005 (in French)
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 253–254.
- ISBN 978-0-7735-6205-9.
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 254.
- ^ Benjamin F. Martin, "The Creation of the Action Libérale Populaire: an Example of Party Formation in Third Republic France." French Historical Studies 9.4 (1976): 660–689. online
- ^ Robert L. Fuller, The Origins of the French Nationalist Movement, 1886–1914 (2011) p. 202.
- ^ M. Waldeck-Rousseau's Illness., in The New York Times; January 11, 1904; page 2
- ^ "M. WALDECK-ROUSSEAU WORSE", in The New York Times; May 5, 1904, p. 2
- ^ "EX-PREMIER TRIED SUICIDE?", in The New York Times; July 1, 1904, p. 2
- ^ "M. WALDECK-ROUSSEAU DIES AFTER OPERATION", in The New York Times, August 11, 1904, p. 7
- ^ "Court News". The Times. No. 36824. London. 19 July 1902. p. 12.
Attribution:
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Waldeck-Rousseau, Pierre Marie René Ernest". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 253–254. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- McManners, John. Church and State in France, 1870–1914 (Harper & Row, 1972) pp. 125–55.
- Mayeur, Jean-Marie, and Madeleine Rebirioux. The Third Republic from its origins to the Great War, 1871–1914 (Cambridge UP, 1987). passim
- Partin, Malcolm O. Waldeck-Rousseau, Combes, and the Church: The politics of anticlericalism, 1899–1905 (Duke UP, 1969).