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V. The French ‘Colonial Party’: Its Composition, Aims And Influence, 1885–1914 *

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

C. M. Andrew  and
A. S. Kanya-Forstner
C. M. Andrew
Affiliation:
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
A. S. Kanya-Forstner
Affiliation:
Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge
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Extract

In all three great imperial powers of Western Europe, imperialism acquired a popular following only in the 1890s. This change in public attitudes was particularly striking in France. For most of the 1880s the French public had seemed at best indifferent, at worst violently hostile, to colonial expansion. The Tunisian expedition had helped to bring down Jules Ferry's first ministry in 1881; the proposed Egyptian expedition brought down Freycinet in 1882. Three years later Ferry was hounded not merely from office but virtually from public life after an insignificant military setback in Tonkin. At the elections of 1885 the Opposition reserved its most virulent invective for the attack on colonial expansion, and even the Moderate Republicans felt obliged to condemn the politique d'aventures which they had previously supported.2

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 1971 , pp. 99 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

1 On a few occasions, it is true, particular colonial projects did arouse some enthusiasm, but such enthusiasm was always short-lived. For examples, see Kanya-Forstner, A. S., The Conquest of the Western Sudan: A Study in French Military Imperialism (Cambridge, 1969), pp. 60–3Google Scholar; Newbury, C. W. and Kanya-Forstner, A. S., ‘French Policy and the Origins of the Scramble for West Africa‘, Journal of African History, x (1969), 270–1.Google Scholar

2 See Recueil des textes authentiques des programmes et engagements électoraux des députés proclamés élus … J.O.D.P.C., no. 683, 17 Apr. 1886.Google Scholar

3 Ferry, Jules, ‘Déclaration aux électeurs [des Vosges]’, 23 08 1885Google Scholar, Ibid.

4 Even these figures give a misleadingly favourable picture. In December 1885 the seats of twenty-two invalidated Conservative deputies remained unfilled, as did six Radical seats. Even then, the Prime Minister, Brisson, could only obtain his majority by ordering the Cabinet to vote, contrary to usual Parliamentary procedure. In February 1888 the Chamber approved only the reduced estimates; the vote on the Government's original demands had been tied.

5 For a fuller discussion of these African incidents, see Kanya-Forstner, A. S., ‘French African Policy and the Anglo-French Agreement of 5 August 1890’, Historical Journal, XII, 4 (1969), pp. 628–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar On Siam, see Andrew, C. M., Théophile Delcassé and the Making of the Entente Cordiale (London, 1968), pp. 32–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Recueil des … programmes … èlectoraux, J.O.D.P.C., no. 493, 25 Mar. 1890Google Scholar; no. 532, 15 Mar. 1894. These figures are based on our own calculations. The summarized lists given in the introduction of each recueil are inaccurate.

7 Delcassé to his wife, 27 July 1893, A.E. Delcassé MSS.

8 Speech by Millet at the annual banquet of the Comité du Maroc, 30 Nov. 1909, B.C.Af.F., Dec. 1909.

9 ‘Le progrès de l'idée coloniale’, B.C.Af.F., July 1899.Google Scholar

10 ‘La Ligue Coloniale Française, son but et ses statuts’, P.C., 24 04 1907Google Scholar; ‘Bulletin de la Ligue Coloniale Française’, D.C., 1 07 1913, 2 02 1914.Google Scholar

11 Saint-Germain, [Secretary of the Ligue Coloniale], ‘L'Expansion coloniale de la France’, P.C., 13 06 1907Google Scholar: ‘Tous nos coloniaux métropolitains font partie de ces sociétés: êminents ou modestes, ils apportent tous à la propagande coloniale un dévouement et un labeur incessants.’Google Scholar The most prominent of the societies listed by Saint-Germain were: the Société des Géographic; the Société de Géographic Commerciale, the Soctété des Etudes Marititnes et Coloniales, the Comité de l'Afrique Française, the Union Coloniale Française, the Comité de Madagascar, the Réunion des Etudes Algériennes, the Comité de l'Asie Française, the Comité de la Guyane, the Mission Laïque Française, the Action Coloniale et Maritime, the Comité du Commerce et de l'Industrie de l'lndochine, and the Comité du Maroc.Google Scholar

12 B.C.Af.F., Aug. 1893.

13 Q.C., 25 Nov. 1903.

14 Colonel Louis Archinard, Note personnelle et confidentielle, 13 July 1894, A.N. 81 AP 6 II, Rambaud MSS.

15 Q.C., 25 Mar. 1897, 25 July 1908 (Mercet's obituary).

16 P. C, 11 July 1893, gives a list of the membres sociétaires. Mercet was a director and later president of the Comptoir national d'escompte. The treasurer of the Union Coloniale, Stanislas Simon, was the director-general of the Banque de l'lndochine.

17 Q.C., 25 Dec. 1905.

18 B.C.Af.F., Mar., May, July, Oct. 1905.

19 e.g. P.C., 11 July 1906.

20 Marchand, to Terrier, , 25 Nov. 1897Google Scholar, Institut de France, Terrier MSS 5904.

21 B.C.Af.F., Mar. 1895 (Alis's obituary); Alis to Etienne, 19 July 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 6, Mizon.

22 Alis to [Arenberg], 27 July 1890 [draft], Terrier MSS 5892; Arenberg to Alis, 31 July 1890, 18 Sept. 1890, Terrier MSS 5891. B.C.Af.F., Jan. 1891.

23 Arenberg to Alis, 13 Apr. 1891, Terrier MSS 5891.

24 Letter-heading on Compte Crampel, n.d., Terrier MSS 5891; Baud to Terrier, 2 Jan. 1898, Terrier MSS 5894.

25 e.g. General Derrécagaix to Reinach [both members of the Comité], 4 Jan. 1892, B.N. n.a.fr. 13535, Reinach MSS: ‘Je viens d'être appelé à dormer mon avis sur le tracé du chemin de fer d'Aïn Sefra vers Djénien Bou Rerg, et j'ai lieu d'esperer qu'il sera écouté. Une campagne de presse en faveur des idées que je vous ai exprimées devient done moins nécessaire. Peut-être jugerez-vous qu'il suffirait d'en dire un mot à M. de Freycinet [Prime Minister and Minister of War] pour le décider au besoin. En tout cas, vous pourriez attribuer mon opinion au Comité de 1'Afrique Française afin qu'on ne puisse se douter de la part que j'aurai prise au petit project don't il s'agit.’

26 Note, 1 May 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 6, Mizon; Mizon to Alis, 26 June 1890, Terrier MSS 5892.

27 J.O.D.P.C., 22 Jan. 1891 (speech by Arenberg); Arenberg to Ribot, 14 May 1891, A.E. Nouvelle Serie Afrique 2. The first statement of the Syndicat du Haut-Bénito's claims was in fact drafted by Alis. See Deloncle to Alis, 24 Oct. 1890. Terrier MSS 5891.

28 Mizon's ostensible employer this time was the Compagnie Française de l'Afrique Centrale, formed by members of the Comité de l'Afrique Française, the Sociélé d'Economie Industrielle et Commerciale (the parent body of the Syndicat du Haut-Bénito), the Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis, and the Banque de l'lndustrie et du Commerce. See B.C.Af.F., Sept. 1892, May 1894.

29 Berger to Alis, 5 Nov. 1893, Terrier MSS 5891. Berger, a director of the Chargeurs-Réunis, joined the Comité soon after the second Mizon expedition set out.

30 These figures are calculated from the subscription lists published monthly in the B.C.Af.F. Edmond de Rothschild was a friend of Georges Patinot, put up most of the money for the Crampel expedition, and also contributed 20,000 frs to the second Mizon expedition. Patinot was the Editor of the Journal des Debats and, with Alis, one of the Comité's originators. See Compte Crampel, n.d., Terrier MSS 5891; Alis to Patinot, 6 Aug. 1890, Terrier MSS 5892; B.C.Af.F., Sept. 1892.

31 The five largest contributors were: the comtesse Greffulhe (wife of a member): 39,900 frs; the due de Chartres: 18,200 frs; Armand Templier (treasurer of the Comité) and his widow: 15,150 frs; the due d'Aumale: 13,000 frs; and Alphonse de Rothschild: 10,000 frs. These figures represent total subscriptions over the period 1891–1914.

32 Arenberg's speech to the Comité, 11 Dec. 1912, B.C.Af.F., Jan. 1913.

33 Between 1891 and 1898 the Comités income was 562,000 frs (including 60,000 frs from the Legs Giffard). During the same period it spent 384,000 frs on expeditions. B.C.Af.F., Jan. 1906. The Comités income is calculated from the subscription lists, taking into account certain errors of addition. The calculations on which Professor Brunschwig based his conclusion that the Comité was principally a propaganda organization are incorrect.

34 Alis, Rapport, 15 Nov. 1891. Terrier MSS 5891; Service du Bulletin [1894], Terrier MSS 5893.

35 Alis to [Arenberg], 27 July 1890 [draft], Terrier MSS 5892.

36 Deloncle to Alis, 26 Oct. 1890, Terrier MSS 5891. For the use they made of these connexions, see, for example, Ribot to Alis, 14 Nov. [1890], Terrier MSS 5892; Patinot to Ribot, 18 July 1892, A.E. N.S. Afrique 2.

37 Deloncle's letters in the Terrier MSS 5891 make clear his close relations with Alis and the Comité. See especially Deloncle to Alis, 26 Oct. 1890.

38 Alis, Rapport, 15 Nov. 1891, Terrier MSS 5891. The contribution, given in three instalments, is shown in the Comity's subscription lists under the initial C. The Quai d'Orsay's subscription of 5,000 frs is shown under the initials A.-E.

39 Crampel to Etienne, 12 Mar. 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 5, Crampel; Etienne to Foreign Ministry, 9 Aug. 1890; Foreign Ministry to Etienne, 19 Aug. 1890; Etienne to Foreign Ministry, 7 Sept. 1890; A.E. N.S. Afrique 1. We are grateful for these references to Mr T. R. Roberts of the University of Aberdeen.

40 Rapport au soussecrétaire, 25 Aug. 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 6, Mizon; Arenberg to Alis, 23 Sept. 1891, Terrier MSS 5891.

41 Delcassé to Toutée, 17 Nov. 1894 (Copy) Terrier MSS 5934; Toutée to Terrier, 25 Sept. 1895, Terrier MSS 5908.

42 Arenberg to André Lebon, 18 Apr. 1896; Lebon to Arenberg, 20 Apr. 1896, A.N.S.O.M. Missions II, Cazcmajou; Terrier to Cazemajou, 19 Dec. 1896, 14 Feb. 1897, Terrier MSS 5896.

43 On the combined Tonkin and Madagascar estimates in December 1885, 30 future members of the groupe voted in favour, nine against, and one abstained. On the Tonkin credit in November 1888, 35 voted in favour, five against, six abstained and two were absent. The larger number voting in 1888 was the result of by-elections since 1885.

44 Avenir de la Marine et des Colonies, II Feb. 1886.Google Scholar

45 Le Stècle, 18 Oct. 1889; P.C., 18 June 1892.

46 The list of 91 members published in P.C., 18 June 1892, is inaccurate. One deputy, Françonie, later denied that he was a member; two, Berger and Greffulhe, both prominent in the Comiti de I'Afrique Française, were not listed but must surely have been members. By the end of the Parliament, the membership totalled at least 102.

47 P.C., 25 Nov., 7 Dec. 1893, list many but not all the members. One hundred members were present at the meeting of 26 January 1894; in view of the inevitable absentees, the total membership must surely have been at least 120. Since 27 founder-members had not been re-elected in 1893, the groupe must have acquired over 50 new members since 1892.

48 B.C.Af.F., July 1902, p. 266.Google Scholar

49 Q.C., 25 Feb. 1898.Google Scholar

50 See Sieberg, H., Eugène Etienne und die französische Kolonialpolitik (Cologne, 1968), p. 98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

51 B.C.Af.F., July 1892.Google ScholarBrunschwig, , Mythes et réoaltiés, p. 144Google Scholar, has attempted to classify the 91 deputies on the published list by political affiliation, and his general conclusions are accurate. But the detailed breakdowns are not so reliable. The number of Boulangists and Revisionists, for example, is exaggerated. Arenberg, who had run as a Revisionist in 1889, was by 1892 a leader of the moderate Right. Martineau, who had stood as a Boulangist, broke with the movement in January 1890. Before 1910, the political affiliations of deputies are impossible to determine with complete accuracy. In 1910, when membership lists of political groups in the Chamber first become available, all the office holders of the groupe colonial belonged to the government majority. Etienne and Rozet were members of the Gauche démocratique; Hubert, , Clémentel and Carpot of the Gauche radicale; Métin and Le Hérissé of the Radical-Socialists.Google Scholar

52 The Times, 27 Jan. 1896. Of the Colonial Ministers, Delcassé, Chautemps, André Lebon and Guillain were members of the groupe colonial, and Ernest Boulanger, the first holder of the post, later became a member of the groupe colonial du Sénat. The groupe colonial's membership on the Budget Commission (33 members in all) varied between 10 and 15. Twenty of the 33 members of the Colonial Affairs Commission in 1895 were also members of the groupe colonial.

53 P.C., 25 June 1892Google Scholar; B.C.Af.F., Sept. 1892.Google Scholar

54 P.C., 28 Feb., 2 Mar. 1893.Google Scholar

55 P.C., 7 Dec., 14 Dec. 1893Google Scholar; B.C.Af.F., Nov. 1894 (reporting the meeting of the groupe colonial on 26 Oct.); J.O. D.P.C., 24 Nov., 26 Nov. 1894.Google Scholar

56 Recueil des … programmes … électoraux, J.O. Doc. Pari. Chambre, no. 1162, 3 July 1902.

57 J.O. D.P.C., 2 Mar. 1895.Google Scholar

58 Cr. de Lanessan, in Le Rappel: ‘… si les millions furent votés sans compter … n'est-ce pas encore parce qu'on était dominé par le désir de “donner une Iecon a l'Angleterre”?‘, reprinted in P.C., 12 09 1895.Google Scholar

59 P.C., 8 Aug. 1895: ‘On se croirait revenu au temps où Jules Ferry fut renversé du pouvoir.’ See also P.C., 12 Sept. 1895.

60 Cogordan, to Hanotaux, , 6 Apr., 20 Apr., 11 May 1895Google Scholar. Hanotaux, A. E. MSS vol. xvmGoogle Scholar; Cogordan to Reinach, 18 May 1895, B.N. n.a.fr. 13534, Reinach MSS. As a result of the incident, Cogordan conceived an abiding distrust of ‘les enragés du parti colonial … le parti agité français’. Cogordan, to Hanotaux, , 14 Apr. 1897Google Scholar, cited in Michel, Marc, ‘La Mission Marchand‘, unpublished thèse de 3e cycle (Paris, 1967), p. 146.Google Scholar

61 D.C., II Sept., 14–15 Sept. 1902. Though secretary-general of the Union Coloniale Française, Chailley-Bert's real importance was as a member of Etienne's Moroccan pressure group; see Andrew, , Théophile Dclcassé, p. 109.Google Scholar

62 P.C., 18 June 1905.

63 See, for example, Toutee, to Terrier, , 20 Sept. 1895Google Scholar, Terrier MSS 5908. In November 1894, four months before his death, Alis had used Comité funds to finance Toutée's expedition, without informing most of the Comité's members.

64 The origins of the Fashoda strategy are most fully discussed in Stengers, J., ‘Aux origines de Fachoda: l'expédition Montel’, Revue belge de philologie et d'hisloire, xxxvi (1958), 436–50, xxxvm (1960), 366–404, 1040–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

65 See, for example, Raffalovitch, A., L'abominable vénalité de la presse française (Paris, 1921).Google Scholar

66 The Belgians knew this as well as anyone. Cf. Janssen, to Alis, , 27 May 1894Google Scholar, Terrier MSS 5892: ‘Nous ne nous attendons pas à ce que vous défendiez notre agrément avec l'Angleterre [the Anglo-Congolese agreement of May 1894] … nous nous attendons à vous trouver toujours très bien français et habile à rendre service à votre pays.’

67 Stengers, , ‘Aux origines de Fachoda’, loc. cit. pp. 444–50Google Scholar; Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 24–5, 41–4Google Scholar; Alis, , ‘Note écrite de la main de M. Delcassé … pour que je tâche d'amener M. Janssen à intervenir en faveur de cette solution’, Terrier MSS 5891.Google Scholar

68 D.D.F., Ist ser., xi, no. 285.

69 Hanotaux, G., ‘Carnets’, 10 Mar. 1895Google Scholar, published in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1 Apr. 1949, p. 402Google Scholar; B.C.Af.F., Nov. 1894, reporting meeting of groupe colonial, 26 Oct. 1894.Google Scholar

70 B.C.Af.F., Mar. 1895 (Alis's obituary).Google Scholar

71 Note [13 Jan. 1895], Terrier MSS 6010; Chautemps to Alis, 16 Feb. 1895, Terrier MSS 5891; Grimaux to Terrier, 31 Aug. 1895, Terrier MSS 5900.

72 For a full discussion of the role of Hanotaux and Archinard in the preparation of the Marchand expedition, see Michel, , ‘La Mission Marchand’, pp. 36–63.Google Scholar

73 Marchand, to Terrier, , 16 Mar. 1896, 25 Nov. 1897, Terrier MSS 5904.Google Scholar

74 Michel, , ‘La Mission Marchand’, p. 51Google Scholar; idem.‘Deux Lettres de Marchand à Liotard’, Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, LII (1965), 51Google Scholar; Faure, Felix, ‘Fachoda (1898)’, Revue d'hisloire diplomatique, LXIX (1955), 30.Google Scholar

75 Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 94–6.Google Scholar

76 Faure, , ‘Fachoda (1898)’, loc. cit. p. 34.Google Scholar

77 Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 45–52, 103–10.Google Scholar

78 Chailley-Bert, J., ‘Le traité anglo-français’, Q.C., 25 04 1904.Google Scholar On the small size of the Moroccan pressure group, cf. de Caix, R., ‘Le traité de Fez’, B.C.Af.F., 04 1912Google Scholar, and Bourde's obituary in B.C.Af.F., Aug.-Dec. 1914.

79 Jean, V., Les origines du protectorat de la France au Maroc, 1830–1912 (Rabat, 1940), p. 27Google Scholar; Le Figaro, 28 Nov. 1902, 12 Feb. 1905. We owe these sources to Sieberg, Eugène Etienne.Google Scholar

80 Q.C., 25 Sept. 1903, 25 Apr. 1904.

81 Even Millet, Rene, who ‘ne cessait jamais de représenter l'opposition’ at the Déjeuner du Maroc (Le Figaro, 12 02 1905)Google Scholar, accepted the principle of an Egypt-Morocco barter; with characteristic perversity, he later suggested that England would have agreed to such an arrangement as early as 1900. See Millet, R., Notre politique extérieure de 1898 à 1905 (Paris, 1905), p. 23.Google Scholar

82 Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 64, 196–200.Google Scholar

83 Etienne described the new Comité as ‘une branche du Comité de l'Afrique Française’, B.C.Af.F., Jan. 1904.

84 The subscription lists of the Comité du Maroc were published in the B.C.Af.F., which also acted as the Bulletin du Comité du Maroc.

85 Morel, E. D., Morocco in Diplomacy (London, 1912), p. III.Google Scholar

86 B.C.Af.F., May 1904.

87 See the confidential report prepared for the Comité in January 1905 by de Labry, ‘A.s. de J a situation de l'influence française au Maroc’, Terrier MSS 5951.

88 The Comity's founder members are listed in B.C.Af.F., June 1904; on Bourde, see Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 108–9.Google Scholar

89 Speech by Etienne to the annual banquet of the Comité du Maroc, 30 Nov. 1909, B.C.Af.F., Dec. 1909.

90 De Labry, ‘A.s. de la situation …’, Terrier MSS 5951; Saint-René Taillandier to Etienne, 29 July 1904, B.N. n.a.fr. 24327, Etienne MSS.

91 de Saint-Aulaire, Comte, Confession d'un vieux diplomate (Paris, 1953), p. 267Google Scholar; Saint-Aulaire said that he used this expression ‘dans toute la force du terme’. De Labry had insisted in his report, cited above, on die need for ‘une reconnaissance rapide, pratique, terre à terre, du pays-chemins, fleuves, ressources, état des esprits, influence’ to prepare for an eventual military occupation.

92 Lyautey to Terrier, 14 Dec. 1904, Terrier MSS 5903; Henrys to Terrier, 19 Jan. 1905, Terrier MSS 5900; Jonnart to Terrier, 26 Feb. 1906, Terrier MSS 5901.

93 Q.C., 10 Nov. 1898; Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 32–4.Google Scholar

94 P.C., 21 Jan. 1896; J.O. D.P.C., 27 Feb. 1896.

95 P. C.,; 21 Jan. 1896.

96 B.C.Af.F., Dec. 1899.

97 Q.C., 25 Nov. 1899; Le Figaro, 7 Nov. 1899.

98 B.C.As.F., Jan. 1902.

99 D.D.F., 2nd ser., II, no. 280.

100 B.C.As.F., July, Aug. 1902.

101 Etienne, , ‘Encore le traite franco-siamois’, D.C., 28 Oct. 1902.Google Scholar

102 De Caix at first complained of ‘l'enthousiasme plus ou moins spontané’ of most of the French press for the treaty, B.C.As.F., Oct. 1902.

103 B.C.As.F., June 1902.

104 The Times, 25 Mar. 1907.Google Scholar

105 Cambon, paul, the most respected French ambassador of the time, wrote to Delcassé in 1899: ’Cette question chinoise … va dominer les vingt-cinq premières années du nouveau siècle ‘. Delcasseé agreed: ‘J'y pense depuis longtemps.’ D.D.F., Ist ser. xv, no. 171.Google Scholar

106 Etienne, , ‘L'oeuvre du Comité’, B.C.As.F., Jan. 1901.Google Scholar

107 de Caix, , ‘Les intérêts français en Chine’, B.C.As.F., May 1903.Google Scholar

108 Bruguiere, M., ‘Le chemin dt fer du Yunnan. Paul Doumer et la politique d'intervention francaise en Chine (1899–1902)’, Revue d'histoire diplomatique, LXXVII (1963), 263Google Scholar; D.D.F., Ist ser. xvi, no. 113; Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, p. 255.Google Scholar

109 P.C., 11 Oct. 1906; speech by Clémentel to colonial banquet, 1 Mar. 1905, B.C.Af.F., Mar. 1905.

110 Millet, , Notre politique extérieure, p. 177Google Scholar; Reclus, O., Lâchons l'Asie. Prenons l'Afrique (Paris, 1904), pp. 95ffGoogle Scholar; speech by Lyautey to the Académie Francaise, cited in B.C.Af.F., Oct. 1912; Barrès, M., Mes Cahiers, ix (Paris, 1935), 215Google Scholar; Betts, R. F., ‘The French Colonial Frontier’, in Warner, C. K., From Ancien Régime to Popular Front (London, 1969), p. 135.Google Scholar

111 B.C.Af.F., Jan. 1904.

112 Albin Rozet, secretary of the groupe colonial from 1893 to 1898 and vice-president thereafter, was the most outspoken indigénophile in the Chamber.

113 Figaro, Le, 12 Feb. 1905.Google Scholar Even the violent animosities aroused by the Dreyfus affair had failed to disrupt the unity of the Comité de l'Afrique Française. See Terrier, to Marchand, , 10 Mar. 1900 [draft], Terrier MSS 5904.Google Scholar

114 P.C., 29 Mar., 2 Apr. 1905.

115 Of the officers of the groupe colonial, four (Etienne, Gerville-Réache, Chaumet, Vigouroux) voted for Separation, three (Guillain, Lebrun, Rozet) against, two (Flandin, Carnot) abstained, and Siegfried was absent. J.O.D.P.C., 4 July 1905.

116 P.C., 11 Jan. 1906.

117 P.C., 25 Apr. 1907.

118 Saint-Aulaire, , Confession, p. 180.Google Scholar

119 ‘c'est à dire que l'immense majorité des députés se rend compte que nous ne pouvons déserter notre tâche au Maroc, mais se refuse encore à voir les conditions dans lesquelles cette têche peut s'accomplir avec un minimum de sacrifices et de difficultés.’ B.C.Af.F., Feb. 1908.

120 B.C.Af.F., Nov. 1907.

121 Ibid.

122 Comité d'action republicaine aux colonies, Pour la représentation coloniale au Parletnent (Paris, 1909).Google Scholar

123 D.C., 25 May 1914.

124 This figure, given by Victor Bárard (see below, p. 124 and footnote 131), agrees with our own estimate based on the office-holders of the groupe colonial (D.C., 8 Dec. 1910), parliamentary mem bers of the Comité de l'Afrique Francaise and the Comité d'action républicaine, and deputies on mailing lists in the Terrier MSS. These three lists are largely overlapping.

125 D.C., 20 June 1911.

126 Messimy, A., Mes souvenirs (Paris, 1937), pp. 34, 48, 56Google Scholar; Caillaux, J., Mes mémoires (Paris, 1942–1947) II. 43. 65–6.Google Scholar

127 For the manner in which the oases were occupied, see Andrew, , Théophile Delcassé, pp. 153–4.Google Scholar Credit for the occupation was publicly ascribed by Chailley-Bert to Etienne: ‘C'est à lui qu'elle est due, personne ne me démentira.’ Q.C., 25 Mar. 1900.

128 Even when faced with the fait accompli of the Fez expedition, most deputies at first failed to appreciate its significance. ‘Je ne comprends pas cette Chambre’, wrote Barres. ‘Que croyait-elle qu'on faisait? Est-ce que vraiment tout le monde ne comprenait pas qu'on allait à Fez, qu'on s'acheminait vers la tunisification du Maroc.’ Barrès, , Mes Cahiers, ix, 213.Google Scholar

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130 Messimy, , Mes souvenirs, p. 56.Google Scholar Bertie, the British Ambassador, agreed: ‘I believe that Cruppi really thinks that he will be able to fulfil his pledge as regards withdrawing from Fez and keeping within the terms of the Algeciras Act. The Colonial Party will not be pleased if he succeeds.’ Bertie to Grey, 14 June 1911, Public Record Office, F.O. 800/52 Grey MSS.

131 Les carnets de Georges Louis, II (Paris, 1926), 110.Google Scholar Victor Berard was professor of Mediterranean geography at the Ecole Supérieure de la Marine. From 1904 to 1911 he was secretary-general of Lavisse's influential Revue de Paris, specializing in foreign affairs. One of his best-known works was l'Affaire Marocaine (Paris, 1906)Google Scholar, based on his close contacts with the Quai d'Orsay.

132 President Faure wrote of this incident in his journal: ‘Ainsi, afin d'avoir les voix de Thomson, Etienne et consorts, s'est-il [Méline] engagé à leur donner satisfaction en déplaçant Cambon.’ Note personnelle XXVII, 13 Apr. 1897, Faure MSS (in the possession of Monsieur François Berge).

133 We are indebted for this information to the researches of Mr Peter Morris, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in the Paris police archives.

134 Messimy, , Mes souvenirs, p. 55.Google Scholar

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136 Barrès, , Mes Cahiers, IX, 215.Google Scholar

137 President Fallières wanted a civilian; Poincaré, the Prime Minister, proposed a fellow Lorrainer, General d'Amade. Alexandre Millerand, ‘Souvenirs’ (unpublished typescript in the possession of Monsieur Jacques Millerand), p. 70.

138 Typewritten note by Terrier, ‘Entrevue du 2 décembre 1912 avec le général Lyautey’, Terrier MSS 5903. 139 D.C., 13 Jan. 1914.

140 D.C., 6 Dec, 12 Dec. 1912; Ageron, C.-R., Les algériens musulmans et la France, 1871–1919 (Paris, 1968), p. 1103.Google Scholar

141 D.C., 23 Feb. 1913, 9 Mar. 1913, 25 June 1914, 23 Dec. 1914.

142 On 22 February 1913, the groupe interparlementaire gave its unanimous approval to a report on the indigénat prepared by Lucien Hubert, a prominent supporter of reform. D.C., 23 Feb. 1913.

143 The Comité d'action républicaine, although open to Republicans outside as well as inside Parliament, was dominated by its parliamentary members. All three organizations, of course, had an overlapping membership.

144 Ageron, , Les algériens musulmans, p. 1110Google Scholar; L'Illustration, 14 Feb. 1914.Google Scholar

145 J.O. D.P.C., 23 Nov. 1903.

146 Chailley-Bert, , open letter to Etienne, D.C., 11 Sept. 1902: ‘… vous me guiderez, vous m'ordonnerez, vous me commanderez. Et je vous obéirai.’Google Scholar

147 Sec Girardet, R., ‘L'apothéose de la “Plus Grande France”: I'idee coloniale devant l'opinion française (1930–1935)’, Revue française de science politique, XVIII (1968), 1086, 1090.Google Scholar