Ère des attentats
The, or the French anarchist campaign of attacks from 1892 to 1894, was a period in the history of France and the broader history of propaganda of the deed, marked by a significant wave of political violence—both from the French authorities and anarchist terrorists. Its chronological boundaries extend from the Saint-Germain bombing to the massacre of the anarchist convicts. During this period, the French press largely shaped political discourse and public opinion, presenting these acts as interconnected events forming a progressive logic rather than isolated incidents.
In response to the significant repression anarchists had suffered in France since the Paris Commune, a number of them came to consider terrorism as a legitimate means of avenging this repression, targeting symbols of power, state institutions, and emblematic places of bourgeois life. During the first part of the period, Ravachol, Théodule Meunier, and other anarchist activists engaged in a series of bombings targeting those responsible for judicial persecution against anarchists—although they killed no one, Ravachol was sentenced to death, becoming a martyr for the anarchist cause.
In response to these developments, the French state engaged in increasingly harsh repressive policies, which generally proved ineffective and only further radicalised anarchists in France. After the National Assembly bombing, a major crackdown began, leading to the passing of the first two lois scélérates and the start of widespread repression of January and February 1894. This wave of repression triggered a new series of attacks and, in February 1894, Émile Henry carried out the Café Terminus bombing, one of the first acts of indiscriminate terrorism and a significant event in the emergence of modern terrorism. A few months later, Sante Caserio committed the last attack of the period by assassinating one of the main figures behind the repressive policies, the president of the Republic, Sadi Carnot, whom he stabbed to death in Lyon. The period ended in October 1894, when the French authorities organised the massacre of a part the anarchist convicts deported to the French Guiana penal colony.
The Ère des attentats had broader ramifications. It influenced anarchists in France, who began turning toward new forms of organisation such as anarcho-syndicalism. It also led France to establish stronger and increasingly coordinated repressive methods in cooperation with other European powers. The era significantly impacted the arts, especially French literature, inspiring the creation of new literary figures such as Fantômas. Lastly, its influence on the emergence and integration of terrorism into the modern world should not be underestimated.
General aspects
Historiography and chronology
's 1951 history of the French anarchist movement established the term Ère des attentats for the French period of propaganda of the deed anarchist attentats from 1892 to 1894. The French press was also influential in this specific view, as it shaped the narrative by writing recurring features—for example, titled 'The Dynamite' or 'The Anarchists'—which structured the public perception of anarchist terrorism in France during that period. It did not present the attacks as isolated incidents, but rather as parts of a single, unified 'Ère des attentatsAs this was one of the most active periods of the anarchist broader terrorist acts and perspectives, the term is also used by metonymy in English-speaking scholarship to designate the whole trend of such attacks beyond France.
Establishing an exact timeline for this period is challenging, but Hélène Millot considers that it began with the Saint-Germain bombing in March 1892 and concluded with the massacre of anarchist convicts in October 1894. For Vivien Bouhey, the period in question is broader, spanning from 1890 to 1894, without any clear event-based boundaries.
Typology
According to Hélène Millot, the anarchist attacks of this period can be divided into three main categories. The first category, which is the most common, involves attacks targeting symbols of power – capital, the executive, legislative, and judicial powers, the military, or the managing class. The second category consists of acts of revenge, and the third concerns attacks that fit within the logic of indiscriminate terrorism.The idea that the attacks characterising this period were mostly individual acts is criticized by Bouhey, who notes that, on the contrary, many attacks were organised by small groups rather than completely isolated militants.
Nuances
According to John M. Merriman, when analysing anarchist terrorism overall, one must not forget that this represents only a minimal part of the terrorism of the era. Thus, state terrorism—which predates the emergence of revolutionary terrorism—resulted in far more victims than anarchist terrorism. During the 1890s, anarchists killed, worldwide, at most 60 people and injured 200. In contrast, the Semaine sanglante is only a single example of state terrorism. It caused 15,000 deaths—approximately 260 times more victims than anarchist terrorism in one week.Context
Birth and development of anarchism
In the 19th century, the anarchist movement took shape. It emerged under the same conditions that saw the birth of socialism and Marxism—namely, the industrial revolution in Western Europe and the United States, which led to a massive rural exodus to urban centers. The development of heavy industry, urbanization, and, more broadly, capitalism brought about significant changes in Western societies, which later extended to the entire world.Within this context, a number of thinkers and revolutionaries, including Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, and Peter Kropotkin, defined an ideological framework. While their ideologies varied and their versions of anarchism did not necessarily align on all points, they shared a commitment to abolishing all forms of domination perceived as unjust. This included economic, political, religious, domestic, and other forms of oppression, depending on the texts.
The state was a primary target of anarchist thought, as it was seen as the entity that supported and exercised many of these dominations through its police, army, and propaganda. The Third Republic, established after the defeat of the Paris Commune, turned away from addressing social issues, which allowed the anarchist movement to grow and take deeper root in France.
State repression, evolutions and the 'coming vengeance'
The anarchist social environment was in a precarious situation in the early 1890s. It was subjected to significant state repression in the 1870s and especially the 1880s, with increased surveillance of anarchists, harsher sentences, the banning of their press, and numerous trials targeting them and, more broadly, far-left movements. In France specifically, this led to significant transformations within anarchist circles, which became increasingly radicalized in response to this repression and adopted new organizational methods. While anarchists had previously gathered in relatively large groups, the movement became more insular in order to evade the police, leading to the disappearance of such groups. They were replaced by sometimes nameless groups composed of only a few militants. Meeting places, which had previously been in halls rented by activists, changed to more private spaces, such as homes. These developments made state surveillance of anarchists more complicated and, more generally, allowed for the emergence of the phenomenon of the lone wolf within anarchist and terrorist actions. Police were caught off guard by these changes and struggled to track all the new groups, organisations, and informal gatherings that continued to emerge as repression intensified.In addition to these internal developments within the anarchist movement in France, neighbouring states often acted similarly toward the anarchists within their borders, which led anarchist militants in Europe to develop significant mobility. The exile or flight of a large number of them thus contributed to the rapid spread and evolution of their ideas across Europe.Moreover, the repression triggered a series of traumatic reactions within anarchist circles and among anarchist actors, who were gradually isolated from other leftist movements, such as the socialists. In this repressive context, a certain number of anarchists came to believe that vengeance against the bourgeoisie, magistrates, police officers, or any other target perceived as responsible for this violence was legitimate.
This tension erupted on 1 May 1891, during International Workers' Day, in two pivotal events. The first took place in the town of Fourmies, where textile workers' wages had dropped by 20% over a few years, leading to discussions about launching a strike. A group of a few hundred people, led by Maria Blondeau, gathered in front of Fourmies' church, where they encountered the army. After clashes between the groups, the commanding officer gave the order to fire on the crowd, only stopping when priests intervened. Ten people were killed by the army, including a child.
That same day, a small group of anarchists marched toward Clichy. On their way, they encountered four policemen, leading to a confrontation. Some of the anarchists entered a nearby bar to buy drinks. Shortly after, the police stormed the bar to seize what they considered a "seditious symbol"—a red flag carried by the group. Gunfire was exchanged. Three members of the group, Henri Decamps, Charles Dardare, and Louis Léveillé, refused to surrender and were struck with sabers. They were then taken to the Clichy police station, where they were pistol-whipped and kicked before being left without medical treatment or water. In August, during their trial, the prosecutor sought the death penalty for all three. Two of them received harsh sentences—five and three years in prison.
File:PP 1892 Grande Trouille.png|thumb|'The big fear of the wankers of the upper class', front page of Le Père Peinard, discussing the robbery of 35kg of dynamite by Ravachol, Soubère, Jas-Béala and Charles Simon.
These two events further radicalised anarchists in France. A group in the 15th arrondissement of Paris began calling themselves "Vengeance for Fourmies". In December 1891, the first anarchist attack was thwarted when three bombs were discovered at the Clichy police station. Jean Grave, himself a witness to the period, described the shock caused by the Clichy affair among anarchists, writing: