^{page 347 note 1} This is the view taken of the Guesdists by Claude Willard in Le Mouvement socialiste en France (1893–1905): les Guesdistes (Paris, 1965), see chapters IV and V, especially pp. 90–91. Noland, Aaron, The Founding of the French Socialist Party (1893–1905) (Cambridge, Mass., 1956), p. 33,CrossRefGoogle Scholar employs the same metaphor when he speaks of the party's coming of age in 1893.

^{page 348 note 1} The classic formulation is that of Michels, Robert, Political Parties, transl. by Eden, and Paul, Cedar (New York, 1959),Google Scholar especially Part Four, ch. III. While Michels is of course speaking of the situation in the German Social Democratic Party, the same sort of thing was said of French socialists. It was a prominent feature of the Anarcho-syndicalist criticism of socialists.

^{page 348 note 2} Since the publication in 1965 of Willard's massive volume on the Guesdists, a number of valuable studies have appeared. Stafford's, DavidFrom Anarchism to Reformism (Toronto, 1971)Google Scholar contributes much to our knowledge of Paul Brousse and Possibilism. Of numerous articles that have appeared, the following are particularly helpful: Baker, Robert P., “Socialism in the Nord, 1880–1914”, in: International Review of Social History, XII (1967), pp. 357–89;CrossRefGoogle ScholarHutton, Patrick H., “The Impact of the Boulangist Crisis Upon the Guesdist Party at Bordeaux”, in: French Historical Studies, VII (1971), pp. 226–44;CrossRefGoogle Scholaridem, “The Role of the Blanquist Party in Left-wing Politics in France, 1879–90”, in: Journal of Modern History, XLVI (1974), pp. 277–95;Google ScholarLequin, Yves, “Classe ouvrière et idéologie dans la région Lyonnaise à la fin du XIXe siècle”, in: Le Mouvement Social, No 69 (1969), pp. 3–20;CrossRefGoogle Scholar M. Winock, “La Naissance du parti ‘allemaniste’ (1890–91)”, ibid., No 75 (1971), pp. 31–62.

^{page 349 note 1} Numerous general histories of French socialism deal with this period. One of the best brief accounts is Lefranc, Georges, Le Mouvement socialiste sous la Troisième République (Paris, 1963),Google Scholar chs II and III.

^{page 349 note 2} The phrase quoted is from Willard, Le Mouvement socialiste, p. 27. Willard's coverage on the character of Guesdist activity in the 1880's is brief but excellent.

^{page 349 note 3} Le Prolétaire, 18 November 1881.

^{page 349 note 4} Brousse, Paul, La Propriété collective et les services publics (Paris, 1883),Google Scholar passim. This pamphlet of thirty-five pages is the most complete formulation of the theory Brousse ever published.

^{page 350 note 1} Le Prolétariat, 2 January 1886 and 28 May 1887. Le Prolétariat was the successor to Le Prolétaire as the official journal of the Possibilists.

^{page 350 note 2} Adéodat Compère-Morel, Guesde, Jules, le socialisme fait homme (Paris, 1937), p. 258.Google Scholar

^{page 350 note 3} Engels, Friedrich, Paul et Laura Lafargue, Correspondance (3 vols; Paris, 1956–1959), II, p. 138.Google Scholar Hereafter cited as Correspondance.

^{page 351 note 1} For the Blanquists see Charles Costa, Da, Les Blanquistes (Paris, 1912);Google ScholarDommanget, Maurice, Edouard Vaillant (Paris, 1956);Google Scholar and Hutton, “The Role of the Blanquist Party”, loc. cit.

^{page 351 note 2} Ni Dieu, Ni Maître, 16 January 1881.

^{page 351 note 3} Le Prolétaire, 2 February 1884.

^{page 351 note 4} Archives Départmentales du Rhône, 4 M 6–12a, reports for 1887 and 1888. Departmental archives will hereafter be cited as AD, followed by the name of the department.

^{page 352 note 1} Le Travailleur (Marseille), 12 May and 7 July 1888; AD Bouches-du-Rhône, M 6 3392.

^{page 352 note 2} Correspondance, I, pp. 308–09, where Lafargue declared that socialists had not anticipated “such a shameful defeat”.

^{page 352 note 3} Le Prolétariat, 14 and 21 May 1887; Correspondance, II, pp. 38–39.

^{page 352 note 4} Le Cri du Travailleur (Lille), 12 May 1888.

^{page 353 note 1} Archives de la Préfecture de Police, B A/1479 (reports of 21 July 1887 and 5 July 1888), hereafter cited as APP; Le Prolétariat, 25 June 1887; Winock, “Naissance du parti ‘allemaniste’”, loc. cit., pp. 35–36.

^{page 353 note 2} This is not the place to detail the difficulties of the Guesdists in maintaining a regular periodic press. Provincial journals came and went with amazing rapidity. In the Nord, for example, the journal Le Forçat, which survived for only one year (July 1883 to July 1884), was replaced by La Revanche du Forçat (nine numbers), then Le Cri du Forçat (eighteen numbers), and so on. In Paris the party launched an official organ, Le Socialiste, in 1885, but publication was interrupted in 1887 for over two months and after February 1888 it did not appear again until September 1890.

^{page 354 note 1} This was true of both Gabriel Deville and Paul Lafargue, Guesde's principal lieutenants. Further discussion of this point appears below.

^{page 354 note 2} For the growing cooperation between Vaillant and the Guesdists see Cor-respondance, II, pp. 7–195, which cover the years 1887 and 1888, especially pp. 182–83.

^{page 354 note 3} Hutton, , “The Role of the Blanquist Party”, p. 292;Google Scholar Correspondance, II, p. 190; and APP, B A/497, which contains an interesting report on the “Attitude des socialistes devant le mouvement boulangiste”, dated November 1888.

^{page 354 note 4} The best account is that of Seager, Frederick H., The Boulanger Affair: Political Crossroad of France, 1886–1889 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1969).Google Scholar

^{page 355 note 1} Le Prolétariat, 21 April and 12 May 1888. Quotations are from the number of 12 May.

^{page 355 note 2} Seager, , The Boulanger Affair, pp. 159–62.Google Scholar

^{page 355 note 3} APP, B A/201 (report of 22 June 1888) and A/497 (report of November 1888).

^{page 355 note 4} Stafford, From Anarchism to Reformism, pp. 233–34.

^{page 356 note 1} Le Cri du Travailleur, 7 April 1888.

^{page 356 note 2} Ibid., 14 April 1888.

^{page 356 note 3} Ibid., 7 April 1888.

^{page 356 note 4} The formula “neither Ferry, nor Boulanger”, or sometimes “neither plague, nor cholera”, was often repeated from this point forward. But even when his position was challenged from within the party, Guesde did not elaborate.b

^{page 356 note 5} See Correspondance, II, pp. 113–341, covering the period from March 1888 to October 1889.

^{page 356 note 6} Ibid., p. 138.

^{page 357 note 1} Ibid., p. 174.

^{page 357 note 2} The quotation is in a letter from Engels to Lafargue, ibid., p. 139. Italics in the original.

^{page 357 note 3} Ibid., p. 183.

^{page 357 note 4} Laura Lafargue cautioned Engels not to mistake her husband's position for that of the Parti ouvrier. See Correspondance, II, p. 192. The police, who watched the socialists carefully on their attitude toward Boulanger, reported no dispute among Guesdist leaders in Paris. See “Attitude des socialistes devant le mouve-ment boulangiste”, loc. cit.

^{page 357 note 5} Hutton, “Impact of the Boulangist Crisis”, loc. cit., passim.

^{page 357 note 6} AD Gironde, 1 M 391 (reports of 2 and 6 June 1887).

^{page 357 note 7} Hutton, , “Impact of the Boulangist Crisis”, p. 239;Google Scholar AD Gironde, 1 M 391 (reports of 29 September 1888 and 9 February 1889).

^{page 357 note 8} AD Gironde, 1 M 391 (report of 18 February 1889).

^{page 357 note 9} AD Gironde, 1 M 391 (reports of 27 February and 18 April 1889).

^{page 358 note 1} Lavigne to Guesde, 8 July 1889, Guesde Archives, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Amsterdam.

^{page 358 note 2} Draft letter of Guesde to Lavigne, undated (but presumably July 1889), Guesde Archives.

^{page 358 note 3} It is interesting to note that the coalition's candidate, the Blanquist Boulé, later appeared as a “socialist-revisionist” (i.e., Boulangist) candidate in the Paris municipal elections of 1890.

^{page 358 note 4} AD Rhô4 M 82 (report of 3 October 1888). Further reports indicate continued support for Boulanger among Blanquists, even after his flight from the country in April 1889, 4 M 82 (report of 13 April 1889).

^{page 358 note 5} Hutton, , “Impact of the Boulangist Crisis”, p. 228.Google Scholar

^{page 359 note 1} Dansette, Adrien, Le Boulangisme (Paris, 1946), p. 187.Google Scholar

^{page 359 note 2} Seager, The Boulanger Affair, p. 233.

^{page 359 note 3} Ibid., p. 236.

^{page 359 note 4} For the results see Le Parti ouvrier, 24 September and 8 October 1889.

^{page 360 note 1} Le Temps, 24 September 1889.

^{page 360 note 2} The election results are difficult to interpret because the affiliation of some socialists is obscure. See Zévaès, Alexandre, Aperçu historique sur le Parti ouvrier français (Lille, 1899), p. 102;Google Scholar Correspondance, II, pp. 328–35 (the quotation is from p. 334); and Ligou, Daniel, Histoire du socialisme en France, 1871–1961 (Paris, 1962), pp. 108–11.Google Scholar

^{page 360 note 3} Seager, The Boulanger Affair, pp. 244–45.

^{page 361 note 1} This was alleged by Allemane's enemies. It has been impossible to establish the truth of the charges. See Winock, , “Naissance du parti ‘allemaniste’”, pp. 45–46.Google Scholar The journal was in no way connected with the Guesdist party of the same name.

^{page 361 note 2} Le Prolétariat, 12 April 1890.

^{page 361 note 3} Ibid., 5 April 1890.

^{page 361 note 4} Ibid., 3 and 10 May 1890.

^{page 361 note 5} Ibid., 19 April 1890.

^{page 362 note 1} It may be followed in the pages of Le Prolétariat and Le Parti ouvrier (which Allemane revived in May 1890).

^{page 362 note 2} Le Prolétariat, 6 September 1890.

^{page 362 note 3} For reports on the congress and texts of the resolutions adopted see Le Parti ouvrier, 7 October 1890, and Le Prolétariat, 11 October 1890.

^{page 363 note 1} The mandates of the delegates from the Ardennes were held to be invalid because they were signed by the secretary of the departmental federation rather than by the secretaries of individual groups, Le Prolétariat, 18 October 1890. Le Temps, 14 October 1890, reported that the irregularity did not prevent the National Committee from accepting 100 francs in dues from the Ardennes groups.

^{page 363 note 2} A police report of 22 October 1890 (APP, B A/1480) listed 45 groups loyal to Brousse and 213 that supported Allemane. A subsequent report (13 December 1890) attributed a more realistic 75 groups to the Allemanists while leaving the Broussist strength about the same. The compte-rendu of the congress as printed in Le Prolétariat did not indicate the number of delegates who stayed or departed. See also Winock, , “Naissance du parti ‘allemaniste’”, pp. 58–59,Google Scholar for another assessment of Allemanist strength.

^{page 363 note 3} See Le Prolétariat, 15 November and 22 December 1890; Le Temps, 29 October 1890; APP, B A/202 (report of 1 February 1891).

^{page 363 note 4} This is the view of Stafford, From Anarchism to Reformism, pp. 240–42, as well as of the writers of general histories of French socialism such as Ligou and Lefranc.

^{page 364 note 1} This new orientation was clearly in evidence at the POSR's first national congress held in Paris in 1891. On electoral politics the congress resolved that “the presentation of candidates for election can only be considered as a means of agitation toward an end that must be rigorously revolutionary”. A resolution in favor of the general strike was also adopted. See ouvrier, Partisocialiste révolutionnaire, Compte-rendu du Xe Congrès national tenu à Paris du 21 au 29 juin 1891 (Paris, 1892), pp. 100–01.Google Scholar

^{page 364 note 2} See particularly Le Socialiste and Le Cri du Travailleur for these years.

^{page 364 note 3} The figures for 1889 and 1893 are from Willard, Le mouvement socialiste, pp. 41 and 84; the figure for 1890 is from a police report which says that Guesde had signed more than 6,000 membership cards by the end of that year. APP, B A/202 (report of 4 December 1890).

^{page 365 note 1} For the text of the new by-laws see Huitième Congrès national du ouvrier, Partitenu à Lille le samedi 11 et dimanche 12 octobre 1890 (Lille, 1890), pp. 24–27.Google Scholar

^{page 365 note 2} Willard, , Le Mouvement socialiste, p. 95;Google ScholarBaker, Robert P., “A Regional Study of Working-Class Organization in France: Socialism in the Nord, 1870–1924” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1966), p. 52;Google Scholar AD Rhône, 4 M 196 (report of 27 September 1890); Hutton, , “Impact of the Boulangist Crisis”, p. 243.Google Scholar

^{page 365 note 3} Le Socialiste, 2 November 1890.

^{page 366 note 1} Guesde delivered an address on 1 April 1890 on “Socialist Germany, its History, Aims and Methods” (according to Compère-Morel, Jules Guesde, p. 353).Google Scholar See also Le Cri du Travailleur, 9 March 1890.

^{page 366 note 2} Correspondance, II, p. 437; APP, B A/1484 (report of 28 October 1890); and Le Socialiste, 9 November 1890.

^{page 366 note 3} APP, B A/202 (report of 6 December 1889) and A/1484 (reports of 11 and 18 October 1889).

^{page 366 note 4} Deville to Liebknecht, 9 December 1890, Liebknecht Archives, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis.

^{page 366 note 5} Die Neue Zeit, IX, 1 (1890–91), pp. 478–82.

^{page 366 note 6} APP, B A/201 (report of 19 May 1890). Combat was a newspaper for which Guesde wrote before the revival of Le Socialiste in September 1890.

^{page 366 note 7} APP, B A/40 (report of 8 October 1890).

^{page 366 note 8} An article entitled “Nouvelle tactique, mêmes principes”, by Charles Bonnier appeared in Le Socialiste, 28 September 1890.

^{page 367 note 1} A police report of 29 August 1891 related that Camescasse had come under suspicion and was on the verge of being discovered, APP, B A/1484. Later in the year he resigned his position on the National Council, ibid., report of 8 December 1891.

^{page 368 note 1} Le Socialiste, 23 April 1892. See also Guesde's “Réponse ouverte” to Pel-loutier in Le Socialiste, 16 October 1892.

^{page 368 note 2} Except from Engels, who complained to Lafargue that the Parti ouvrier was going too far in welcoming erstwhile Boulangists into its ranks. See Correspon-dance, II, p. 346.

^{page 369 note 1} See the article by Derfler, Leslie, “Reformism and Jules Guesde, 1891–1904”, in: International Review of Social History, XI (1967), pp. 66–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Derfler focuses on Guesde alone without taking into consideration the more general situation of the Parti ouvrier. His conclusion that Guesde first embraced and later rejected reformist tactics largely in order to maintain “his position of authority” is scarcely adequate to explain the behavior of the entire party.

^{page 369 note 2} A thorough analysis of the Guesdist bid for domination of the socialist movement in the early 1890's would require a study as lengthy as the present one. Certainly they were encouraged in this direction by the example of the German Social Democrats and directly by Engels. In addition to their new electoral programs and tactics, one can cite their appeal for support from Allemanists and their attempt to dominate the labor movement through the Fédération nationale des syndicats as parts of this effort.

^{page 369 note 3} Willard, , Le Mouvement socialiste, pp. 213–15, 597–98.Google Scholar