V. The French ‘Colonial Party’: Its Composition, Aims and Influence, 1885-1914

The Historical Journal

Volumn 14, Issue 1, 1971, Pages 99-128

  Andrew, C M ^a   Kanya Forstner, A S ^b  

^a University of Cambridge   (United States)

^b GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040116696     PISSN: 0018246X     EISSN: 14695103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X0000741X     Document Type: Article

References (115)

1. See Recueil des textes authentiques des programmes et engagements électoraux des députés proclamés élus. J.O.D.P.C. no. 683, 17 Apr. 1886.
2. Jules Ferry, ‘Déclaration aux électeurs [des Vosges]’, 23 Aug. 1885, ibid.
3. Recueil des. programmes. électoraux, J.O.D.P.C. no. 493, 25 Mar. 1890; 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.
4. Delcassé to his wife, 27 July 1893, A.E. Delcassé MSS.
5. Speech by Millet at the annual banquet of the Comité du Maroc, 30 Nov. 1909, B.C. Af.F. Dec. 1909.
6. ‘Le progrès de l'idée coloniale B.C. Af.F. July 1899.
7. ‘La Ligue Coloniale Française, son but et ses statuts’, P.C. 24 Apr. 1907; ‘ Bulletin de la Ligue Coloniale Française D.C. 1 July 1913, 2 Feb. 1914.
8. B.C. Af.F. Aug. 1893.
9. Q.C. 25 Nov. 1903.
10. Colonel Louis Archinard, Note personnelle et confidentielle, 13 July 1894, A.N. 81 AP 6 II, Rambaud MSS.
11. Q.C. 25 Mar. 1897, 25 July 1908 (Mercet's obituary).
12. 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'Indochine.
13. Q.C. 25 Dec. 1905. 18 B.C. Af.F. Mar. May, July, Oct. 1905.
14. e.g. P.C. 11 July 1906.
15. Marchand to Terrier, 25 Nov. 1897, Institut de France, Terrier MSS 5904.
16. B.C. Af.F. Mar. 1895 (Alis's obituary); Alis to Etienne, 19 July 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 6, Mizon.
17. 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.
18. Arenberg to Alis, 13 Apr. 1891, Terrier MSS 5891.
19. Letter-heading on Compte Crampel, n.d. Terrier MSS 5891; Baud to Terrier, 2 Jan. 1898, Terrier MSS 5894.
20. Note, 1 May 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 6, Mizon; Mizon to Alis, 26 June 1890, Terrier MSS 5892.
21. J.O. D.P.C. 22 Jan. 1891 (speech by Arenberg); Arenberg to Ribot, 14 May 1891, A.E. Nouvelle Série 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.
22. 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 Société d'Economie Industrielle et Commerciale (the parent body of the Syndicat du Haut-Bénito), the Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis, and the Banque de l'Industrie et du Commerce. See B.C. Af.F. Sept. 1892, May 1894.
23. 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.
24. 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 Débats 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.
25. Arenberg's speech to the Comité, 11 Dec. 1912, B.C. Af.F. Jan. 1913.
26. Between 1891 and 1898 the Comité's 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 Comité's 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.
27. Alis, Rapport, 15 Nov. 1891.Terrier MSS 5891; Service du Bulletin [1894], Terrier MSS 5893.
28. Alis to [Arenberg], 27 July 1890 [draft], Terrier MSS 5892.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. Alis, Rapport, 15 Nov. 1891, Terrier MSS 5891. The contribution, given in three instalments, is shown in the Comité's subscription lists under the initial C. The Quai d'Orsay's subscription of 5, 000 frs is shown under the initials A.-E.
32. 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.
33. Rapport au soussecrétaire, 25 Aug. 1890, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 6, Mizon; Arenberg to Alis, 23 Sept. 1891, Terrier MSS 5891.
34. Delcassé to Toutée, 17 Nov. 1894 (Copy), Terrier MSS 5934; Toutće to Terrier, 25 Sept. 1895, Terrier MSS 5908.
35. Arenberg to André Lebon, 18 Apr. 1896; Lebon to Arenberg, 20 Apr. 1896, A.N.S.O.M. Missions 11, Cazemajou; Terrier to Cazemajou, 19 Dec. 1896, 14 Feb. 1897, Terrier MSS 5896.
36. Avenir de la Marine et des Colonies, 11 Feb. 1886.
37. Le Siècle, 18 Oct. 1889; P.C. 18 June 1892.
38. The list of 91 members published in P.C. 18 June 1892, is inaccurate. One deputy, Franconie, later denied that he was a member; two, Berger and Greffulhe, both prominent in the Comité de l'Afrique Française, were not listed but must surely have been members. By the end of the Parliament, the membership totalled at least 102.
39. 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.
40. B.C. Af.F. July 1902, p. 266.
41. Q.C. 25 Feb. 1898.
42. See H. Sieberg, Eugène Etienne und die französische Kolonialpolitik (Cologne, 1968), p. 98.
43. P.C. 25 June 1892; B.C. Af.F. Sept. 1892.
44. P.C. 28 Feb. 2 Mar. 1893.
45. P.C. 7 Dec. 14 Dec. 1893; 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.
46. Recueil des. programmes. électoraux, J.O. Doc. Parl. Chambre, no. 1162, 3 July 1902.
47. J.O. D.P.C. 2 Mar. 1895.
48. Cf. 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 leçon à l'Angleterre “? reprinted in P.C. 12 Sept. 1895.
49. 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.
50. D.C. 11 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 Delcassé, p. 109.
51. P.C. 18 June 1905.
52. Stengers, ‘Aux origines de Fachoda loc. cit. pp. 444-50; Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, pp. 24-5, 41-4; 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.
53. D.D.F. ist ser. xi, no. 285.
54. G. Hanotaux, ‘Carnets 10 Mar. 1895, published in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1 Apr. 1949, p. 402; B.C. Af.F. Nov. 1894, reporting meeting of groupe colonial, 26 Oct. 1894.
55. B.C. Af.F. Mar. 1895 (Alis's obituary).
56. 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.
57. 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.
58. Marchand to Terrier, 16 Mar. 1896, 25 Nov. 1897, Terrier MSS 5904.
59. Michel, ‘La Mission Marchand’, p. 51; idem, ‘Deux Lettres de Marchand à Liotard’, Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, lii (1965), 51; Félix Faure, ‘Fachoda (1898)’, Revue d'histoire diplomatique, lxix (1955), 30.
60. Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, pp. 94-6.
61. Faure, ‘Fachoda (1898) loc. cit. p. 34.
62. Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, pp. 45-52, 103-10.
63. J. Chailley-Bert, ‘Le traité anglo-français Q.C. 25 Apr. 1904. On the small size of the Moroccan pressure group, cf. R. de Caix, ‘Le traité de Fez’, B.C. Af.F. Apr. 1912, and Bourde's obituary in B.C. Af.F. Aug.-Dec. 1914.
64. V. Jean, Les origines du protectorat de la France au Maroc, 1830-1912 (Rabat, 1940), p. 27; Le Figaro, 28 Nov. 1902, 12 Feb. 1905. We owe these sources to Sieberg, Eugene Etienne.
65. Q.C. 25 Sept. 1903, 25 Apr. 1904.
66. Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, pp. 64, 196-200.
67. Etienne described the new Comité as ‘ une branche du Comité de l'Afrique Française’, B.C. Af.F. Jan. 1904.
68. 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.
69. E. D. Morel, Morocco in Diplomacy (London, 1912), p. iii.
70. B.C. Af.F. May 1904.
71. See the confidential report prepared for the Comité in January 1905 by de Labry, ‘A.s. de la situation de l'influence française au Maroc’, Terrier MSS 5951.
72. The Comité's founder members are listed in B.C. Af.F. June 1904; on Bourde, see Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, pp. 108-9.
73. Speech by Etienne to the annual banquet of the Comité du Maroc, 30 Nov. 1909, B.C. Af.F. Dec. 1909.
74. 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.
75. 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.
76. Q.C. 10 Nov. 1898; Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, pp. 32-4.
77. P.C. 21 Jan. 1896; J.O. D.P.C. 27 Feb. 1896. 95 P.C. 21 Jan. 1896.
78. B.C. Af.F. Dec. 1899. 97 Q.C. 25 Nov. 1899; Le Figaro, 7 Nov. 1899.
79. B.C. As.F. Jan. 1902. 99 D.D.F. 2nd ser. 11, no. 280.
80. B.C. As.F. July, Aug. 1902.
81. Etienne, ‘Encore le traité franco-siamois D.C. 28 Oct. 1902.
82. 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.
83. B.C. As.F. June 1902.
84. The Times, 25 Mar. 1907.
85. Etienne, ‘L'oeuvre du Comité’, B.C. As.F. Jan. 1901.
86. De Caix, ‘Les intérêts français en Chine’, B.C. As.F. May 1903.
87. M. Bruguière, ‘Le chemin dc fer du Yunnan. Paul Doumer et la politique d'intervention française en Chine (1899-1902)’, Revue d'histoire diplomatique, lxxvii (1963), 263; D.D.F. 1st ser. xvi, no. 113; Andrew, Théophile Delcassé, p. 255.
88. P.C. 11 Oct. 1906; speech by Clémentel to colonial banquet, 1 Mar. 1905, B.C. Af.F. Mar. 1905.
89. Millet, Notre politique extérieure, p. 177; O. Reclus, Lâchons l'Asie. Prenons l'Afrique (Paris, 1904), pp. 95ff; speech by Lyautey to the Académie Française, cited in B.C. Af.F. Oct. 1912; M. Barrès, Mes Cahiers, ix (Paris, 1935), 215; R. F. Betts, ‘The French Colonial Frontier’, in C. K. Warner, From Ancien Régime to Popular Front (London, 1969), p. 135.
90. B.C. Af.F. Jan. 1904.
91. Albin Rozet, secretary of the groupe colonial from 1893 to 1898 and vice-president thereafter, was the most outspoken indigénophile in the Chamber.
92. Le Figaro, 12 Feb. 1905. 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.
93. P.C. 29 Mar. 2 Apr. 1905.
94. P.C. 11 Jan. 1906.
95. P.C. 25 Apr. 1907.
96. Saint-Aulaire, Confession, p. 180.
97. B.C. Af.F. Nov. 1907.
98. Ibid. 122 Comité d'action républicaine aux colonies, Pour la représentation coloniale au Parlement (Paris, 1909).
99. D.C. 25 May 1914.
100. D.C. 20 June 1911.
101. A. Messimy, Mes souvenirs (Paris, 1937), pp. 34, 48, 56; J. Caillaux, Mes mémoires (Paris, 1942-7). 11. 43. 65-6.
102. Messimy, Mes souvenirs, p. 56; Caillaux, Mes mémoires, 11, 65-6.
103. 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).
104. We are indebted for this information to the researches of Mr Peter Morris, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in the Paris police archives.
105. Messimy, Mes souvenirs, p. 55.
106. Revue des Deux Mondes, 1911 (3), p. 239; ‘ Modem Methods of Conquest Nation, 6 May 1911.
107. Barrés, Mes Cahiers, ix, 215.
108. President Fallieres 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.
109. Typewritten note by Terrier, ‘Entrevue du 2 décembre 1912 avec le général Lyautey’, Terrier MSS 5903. 139 D.C. 13 Jan. 1914.
110. D.C. 6 Dec. 12 Dec. 1912; C.-R. Ageron, Les algériens musulmans et la France, 1871-1919 (Paris, 1968), p. 1103.
111. D.C. 23 Feb. 1913, 9 Mar. 1913, 25 June 1914, 23 Dec. 1914.
112. Ageron, Les algériens musulmans, P. 1110; L'Illustration, 14 Feb. 1914.
113. J.O. D.P.C. 23 Nov. 1903.
114. Chailley-Bert, open letter to Etienne, D.C. 11 Sept. 1902: “. vous me guiderez, vous m'ordonnerez, vous me commanderez. Et je vous obéirai.’
115. See R. Girardet, ‘L'apothéose de la “Plus Grande France “: l'idée coloniale devant l'opinion française (1930-1935) Revue française de science politique, xviii (1968), 1086, 1090.