fbpx
Wikipedia

Émile Combes

January 01, 1970

Émile Justin Louis Combes (French: [emil kɔ̃b]; 6 September 1835 – 25 May 1921) was a French politician and freemason[1][2][3] who led the Lefts Bloc (French: Bloc des gauches) cabinet from June 1902 to January 1905.

Émile Combes
Prime Minister of France
In office
7 June 1902 – 24 January 1905
PresidentÉmile Loubet
Preceded byPierre Waldeck-Rousseau
Succeeded byMaurice Rouvier
Personal details
Born6 September 1835
Roquecourbe
Died25 May 1921(1921-05-25) (aged 85)
Pons, Charente-Maritime
Political partyRadical Party
SpouseAngèle-Maria Dussaud

Career edit

Émile Combes was born on 6 September 1835, in Roquecourbe, Tarn, the sixth child of Jean Combes, a dressmaker, and Marie-Rose Bannesborn.

He first learned Latin from his public schoolteacher and then from his godfather and cousin, a priest named Jean Gaubert. Gabriel Merle, biographer of Émile Combes, describes Jean Gaubert: "He has the prestige and authority of the priesthood and education. He is obeyed. And if he demands sacrifices, he also imposes them on himself. His insistence that one of his younger cousins should become a priest is astonishing. Having failed with Philippe around 1840 and Émile in 1847, he missed his last attempt with Henri around 1860."[4]

Thanks to his knowledge of Latin, twelve-year-old Émile Combes entered the fourth year of the minor seminary in Castres. His godfather supported him financially through his studies, first at the seminary; then at the École des Carmes, an ecclesiastical school where future priests wishing to study at the Sorbonne were trained; and finally at the Grand Séminaire d'Albi, where Émile Combes wore the cassock and was tonsured. Here, his vocation to the priesthood was seen as unserious, and despite initial efforts to persist, he would abandon the idea before ordination.

His anti-clericalism would later lead him into becoming a Freemason.[5][6] He was also in later life a spiritualist.[7] He later took a diploma as a doctor of letters (1860). He then studied medicine and graduated in 1867, and setting up in practice at Pons in Charente-Inférieure. In 1881, he presented himself as a political candidate for Saintes, but was defeated. In 1885, he was elected to the senate by the département of Charente-Inférieure. He sat in the Democratic left, and was elected vice-president in 1893 and 1894. The reports which he drew up upon educational questions drew attention to him, and on 3 November 1895, he entered the Leon Victor Auguste Bourgeois cabinet as minister of public instruction, resigning with his colleagues on 21 April following.[8]

Prime minister edit

He actively supported the Waldeck-Rousseau ministry, and upon its retirement in 1902, he was himself charged with the formation of a cabinet. In this, he took the portfolio of the Interior, and the main energy of the government was devoted to an anti-clerical agenda.[9] The parties of the Left united upon this question in the Bloc republicain, supported Combes in his application of the law of 1901 on the religious associations, and voted the new bill on the congregations (1904). Under his guidance, France took the first definite steps toward the separation of church and state.[8] By 1904, through his efforts, nearly 10,000 religious schools had been closed, and thousands of priests and nuns left France rather than be persecuted.[10]

Combes was vigorously opposed by all the conservative parties, who saw the mass closure of church schools as a persecution of religion. Combes led the anti-clerical coalition on the left, facing opposition primarily organized by the pro-Catholic party Action libérale populaire (ALP). ALP had a stronger popular base, with better financing and a stronger network of newspapers, but had far fewer seats in the Chamber of Deputies.[11]

Among people who looked with favor on his stubborn enforcement of the law, he was familiarly called le petit père.[8] In October 1904, his Minister of War, General André, was uncovered 'republicanizing' the army. He took the promotion process out of the hands of senior officers and handled it directly as a political matter. He used Freemasons to spy on the religious behavior of all 19,000 officers; they flagged the observant Catholics and André made sure they would not be promoted. Exposed as the Affaire Des Fiches, the scandal undermined support for the Combes government. It also undermined morale in the army, as officers realized that hostile spies examining their private lives were more important to their careers than their own professional accomplishments.[12]

Finally, the defection of the Radical and Socialist groups induced him to resign on 17 January 1905, although he had not met an adverse vote in the Chamber. His policy was still carried on; and when the law of the separation of church and state was passed, all the leaders of the Radical parties entertained him at a noteworthy banquet in which they openly recognized him as the real originator of the movement.

Later life edit

The campaign for the separation of church and state was the last big political action in his life. While still possessed of great influence over extreme Radicals, Combes took but little public part in politics after his resignation from the premiership in 1905. He joined the Aristide Briand ministry in October 1915 as one of the five Elder Statesmen, but without portfolio.[13]

According to Geoffrey Kurtz, the years of Émile Combes' administration were a period of social reform "without equal" during the era of the Third Republic, which included such reforms as an eight-hour day for miners, a ten-hour day for many workers, the lowering of mandatory military service from 3 to 2 years, the elimination of certain middle-class draft exemptions, and some modest public assistance for the chronically ill, the disabled, and the elderly.[14] In 1903, safety standards were extended to shops and offices.[15] In addition, a 1904 law "pioneered assistance to the children of single mothers, ignoring invidious distinctions between married and single mothers, in order to prevent abandonment."[16]

Combes died on 25 May 1921 in Pons, Charente-Maritime.

Combes's Ministry, 7 June 1902 – 24 January 1905 edit

Changes

Notes edit

  1. ^ Ce que la France doit aux francs-maçons (Laurent KUPFERMAN and Emmanuel PIERRAT - Grund ed. - 2012)
  2. ^ Dictionnaire universel de la Franc-Maçonnerie (Monique Cara, Jean-Marc Cara and Marc de Jode - Larousse ed. - 2011)
  3. ^ Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie française (Pierre Chevallier, Fayard ed., 1975)
  4. ^ Merle, Gabriel (1995). Émile Combes. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-59386-9.
  5. ^ Masonic references in the works of Charles Williams Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon 2007
  6. ^ Burke, Peter The New Cambridge Modern History p. 304 (1979 Cambridge University)
  7. ^ Bigots united
  8. ^ a b c   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Combes, Émile". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 751–752.
  9. ^ "Emile Combes who boasted of taking office for the sole purpose of destroying the religious orders. He closed thousands of what were not then called 'faith schools'" Bigots united in the Guardian, 9 October 2005
  10. ^ Burns, Michael. France and the Dreyfus Affair: A Documentary History. 1999 (Palgrave Macmillan) ISBN 0-312-21813-3p. 171
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Douglas Porch, The March to the Marne: The French Army 1871-1914 (2003) excerpt and text search pp 92–104, is the most thorough account in English
  13. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Combes, Justin Louis Émile". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 729.
  14. ^ Kurtz, Geoffrey (2014). Jean Jaurès: The Inner Life of Social Democracy. Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 118. ISBN 9780271065823.
  15. ^ Stewart, Mary Lynn (1989). Women, Work, and the French State: Labour Protection and Social Patriarchy, 1879-1919. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780773562059.
  16. ^ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History Volume 1 By Bonnie G. Smith, 2008, P.348

Further reading edit

  • Akan, Murat. The Politics of Secularism: Religion, Diversity, and Institutional Change in France and Turkey (2017).
  • Arnal, Oscar L. "Why the French Christian Democrats Were Condemned." Church History 49.2 (1980): 188–202. online
  • Coffey, Joan L. "Of Catechisms and Sermons: Church-State Relations in France, 1890–1905." Church history 66.1 (1997): 54–66. online
  • McManners, John. Church and State in France, 1870–1914 (Harper & Row, 1972), pp. 125–55.
  • Mayeur, Jean-Marie Mayeur and Madeleine Rebérioux. The Third Republic from its Origins to the Great War, 1871-1914 (1984), pp. 227–44
  • Merle, Gabriel. Emile Combes (1995), p. 1, 662 p.; standard biography, in French
  • Partin, Malcolm. Waldeck-Rousseau, Combes, and the Church: the Politics of Anticlericalism, 1899–1905 (1969)
  • Sabatier, Paul. Disestablishment in France (1906) online

External links edit

  • Cartoons
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of France
1902–1905 		Succeeded by

January 01, 1970
Émile, combes, this, article, rough, translation, from, french, have, been, generated, whole, part, computer, translator, without, dual, proficiency, please, help, enhance, translation, original, article, under, français, languages, list, have, just, labeled, . This article may be a rough translation from French It may have been generated in whole or in part by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency Please help to enhance the translation The original article is under francais in the languages list If you have just labeled this article as needing attention please add a href Template Needtrans html class mw redirect title Template Needtrans subst Needtrans a pg Emile Combes language French comments to the bottom of the WP PNTCU section on Wikipedia Pages needing translation into English April 2023 Emile Justin Louis Combes French emil kɔ b 6 September 1835 25 May 1921 was a French politician and freemason 1 2 3 who led the Lefts Bloc French Bloc des gauches cabinet from June 1902 to January 1905 Emile CombesPrime Minister of FranceIn office 7 June 1902 24 January 1905PresidentEmile LoubetPreceded byPierre Waldeck RousseauSucceeded byMaurice RouvierPersonal detailsBorn6 September 1835RoquecourbeDied25 May 1921 1921 05 25 aged 85 Pons Charente MaritimePolitical partyRadical PartySpouseAngele Maria Dussaud Contents 1 Career 2 Prime minister 3 Later life 4 Combes s Ministry 7 June 1902 24 January 1905 5 Notes 6 Further reading 7 External linksCareer editEmile Combes was born on 6 September 1835 in Roquecourbe Tarn the sixth child of Jean Combes a dressmaker and Marie Rose Bannesborn He first learned Latin from his public schoolteacher and then from his godfather and cousin a priest named Jean Gaubert Gabriel Merle biographer of Emile Combes describes Jean Gaubert He has the prestige and authority of the priesthood and education He is obeyed And if he demands sacrifices he also imposes them on himself His insistence that one of his younger cousins should become a priest is astonishing Having failed with Philippe around 1840 and Emile in 1847 he missed his last attempt with Henri around 1860 4 Thanks to his knowledge of Latin twelve year old Emile Combes entered the fourth year of the minor seminary in Castres His godfather supported him financially through his studies first at the seminary then at the Ecole des Carmes an ecclesiastical school where future priests wishing to study at the Sorbonne were trained and finally at the Grand Seminaire d Albi where Emile Combes wore the cassock and was tonsured Here his vocation to the priesthood was seen as unserious and despite initial efforts to persist he would abandon the idea before ordination His anti clericalism would later lead him into becoming a Freemason 5 6 He was also in later life a spiritualist 7 He later took a diploma as a doctor of letters 1860 He then studied medicine and graduated in 1867 and setting up in practice at Pons in Charente Inferieure In 1881 he presented himself as a political candidate for Saintes but was defeated In 1885 he was elected to the senate by the departement of Charente Inferieure He sat in the Democratic left and was elected vice president in 1893 and 1894 The reports which he drew up upon educational questions drew attention to him and on 3 November 1895 he entered the Leon Victor Auguste Bourgeois cabinet as minister of public instruction resigning with his colleagues on 21 April following 8 Prime minister editHe actively supported the Waldeck Rousseau ministry and upon its retirement in 1902 he was himself charged with the formation of a cabinet In this he took the portfolio of the Interior and the main energy of the government was devoted to an anti clerical agenda 9 The parties of the Left united upon this question in the Bloc republicain supported Combes in his application of the law of 1901 on the religious associations and voted the new bill on the congregations 1904 Under his guidance France took the first definite steps toward the separation of church and state 8 By 1904 through his efforts nearly 10 000 religious schools had been closed and thousands of priests and nuns left France rather than be persecuted 10 Combes was vigorously opposed by all the conservative parties who saw the mass closure of church schools as a persecution of religion Combes led the anti clerical coalition on the left facing opposition primarily organized by the pro Catholic party Action liberale populaire ALP ALP had a stronger popular base with better financing and a stronger network of newspapers but had far fewer seats in the Chamber of Deputies 11 Among people who looked with favor on his stubborn enforcement of the law he was familiarly called le petit pere 8 In October 1904 his Minister of War General Andre was uncovered republicanizing the army He took the promotion process out of the hands of senior officers and handled it directly as a political matter He used Freemasons to spy on the religious behavior of all 19 000 officers they flagged the observant Catholics and Andre made sure they would not be promoted Exposed as the Affaire Des Fiches the scandal undermined support for the Combes government It also undermined morale in the army as officers realized that hostile spies examining their private lives were more important to their careers than their own professional accomplishments 12 Finally the defection of the Radical and Socialist groups induced him to resign on 17 January 1905 although he had not met an adverse vote in the Chamber His policy was still carried on and when the law of the separation of church and state was passed all the leaders of the Radical parties entertained him at a noteworthy banquet in which they openly recognized him as the real originator of the movement Later life editThe campaign for the separation of church and state was the last big political action in his life While still possessed of great influence over extreme Radicals Combes took but little public part in politics after his resignation from the premiership in 1905 He joined the Aristide Briand ministry in October 1915 as one of the five Elder Statesmen but without portfolio 13 According to Geoffrey Kurtz the years of Emile Combes administration were a period of social reform without equal during the era of the Third Republic which included such reforms as an eight hour day for miners a ten hour day for many workers the lowering of mandatory military service from 3 to 2 years the elimination of certain middle class draft exemptions and some modest public assistance for the chronically ill the disabled and the elderly 14 In 1903 safety standards were extended to shops and offices 15 In addition a 1904 law pioneered assistance to the children of single mothers ignoring invidious distinctions between married and single mothers in order to prevent abandonment 16 Combes died on 25 May 1921 in Pons Charente Maritime Combes s Ministry 7 June 1902 24 January 1905 editEmile Combes President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship Theophile Delcasse Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Andre Minister of War Maurice Rouvier Minister of Finance Ernest Valle Minister of Justice Charles Camille Pelletan Minister of Marine Joseph Chaumie Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts Leon Mougeot Minister of Agriculture Gaston Doumergue Minister of Colonies Emile Maruejouls Minister of Public Works Georges Trouillot Minister of Commerce Industry Posts and Telegraphs Changes 15 November 1904 Maurice Berteaux succeeds Andre as Minister of WarNotes edit Ce que la France doit aux francs macons Laurent KUPFERMAN and Emmanuel PIERRAT Grund ed 2012 Dictionnaire universel de la Franc Maconnerie Monique Cara Jean Marc Cara and Marc de Jode Larousse ed 2011 Histoire de la Franc Maconnerie francaise Pierre Chevallier Fayard ed 1975 Merle Gabriel 1995 Emile Combes Paris Fayard ISBN 978 2 213 59386 9 Masonic references in the works of Charles Williams Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon 2007 Burke Peter The New Cambridge Modern History p 304 1979 Cambridge University Bigots united a b c nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Combes Emile Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 6 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 751 752 Emile Combes who boasted of taking office for the sole purpose of destroying the religious orders He closed thousands of what were not then called faith schools Bigots united in the Guardian 9 October 2005 Burns Michael France and the Dreyfus Affair A Documentary History 1999 Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 0 312 21813 3p 171 Benjamin F Martin The Creation of the Action Liberale Populaire an Example of Party Formation in Third Republic France French Historical Studies 9 4 1976 660 689 online Douglas Porch The March to the Marne The French Army 1871 1914 2003 excerpt and text search pp 92 104 is the most thorough account in English nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1922 Combes Justin Louis Emile Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 30 12th ed London amp New York The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company p 729 Kurtz Geoffrey 2014 Jean Jaures The Inner Life of Social Democracy Pennsylvania State University Press p 118 ISBN 9780271065823 Stewart Mary Lynn 1989 Women Work and the French State Labour Protection and Social Patriarchy 1879 1919 McGill Queen s University Press p 59 ISBN 9780773562059 The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History Volume 1 By Bonnie G Smith 2008 P 348Further reading editAkan Murat The Politics of Secularism Religion Diversity and Institutional Change in France and Turkey 2017 Arnal Oscar L Why the French Christian Democrats Were Condemned Church History 49 2 1980 188 202 online Coffey Joan L Of Catechisms and Sermons Church State Relations in France 1890 1905 Church history 66 1 1997 54 66 online McManners John Church and State in France 1870 1914 Harper amp Row 1972 pp 125 55 Mayeur Jean Marie Mayeur and Madeleine Reberioux The Third Republic from its Origins to the Great War 1871 1914 1984 pp 227 44 Merle Gabriel Emile Combes 1995 p 1 662 p standard biography in French Partin Malcolm Waldeck Rousseau Combes and the Church the Politics of Anticlericalism 1899 1905 1969 Sabatier Paul Disestablishment in France 1906 onlineExternal links editCartoons Political offices Preceded byPierre Waldeck Rousseau Prime Minister of France1902 1905 Succeeded byMaurice Rouvier Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Emile Combes amp oldid 1221775460, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.