Georges Ernest Boulanger - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Born in Rennes, Boulanger graduated from Saint-Cyr and entered regular service in the French Army in 1856. He fought in the Austro-Sardinian War (he was wounded at Robecchetto, where he received the Légion d'honneur), and in the occupation of Cochin China, after which he became a captain and instructor at Saint-Cyr. During the Franco-Prussian War, Georges Boulanger was noted for his bravery, and soon promoted to chef de bataillon; he was again wounded while fighting at Champigny-sur-Marne (during the Siege of Paris). Subsequently, Boulanger was among the Third Republic military leaders who crushed the Paris Commune in April–May 1871. He was wounded a third time as he led troops to the siege of the Panthéon, and was promoted commandeur of the Légion d'honneur by Patrice Mac-Mahon. However, he was soon demoted (as his position was considered provisional), and his resignation in protest was rejected.

With backing from his direct superior, Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale (incidentally, one of the sons of former king Louis-Philippe), Boulanger was made a brigadier-general in 1880, and in 1882 War Minister Jean-Baptiste Billot appointed him director of infantry at the war office, enabling him to make a name as a military reformer (he took measures to improve morale and efficiency). In 1884 he was appointed to command the army occupying Tunis, but was recalled owing to his differences of opinion with Pierre-Paul Cambon, the political resident. He returned to Paris, and began to take part in politics under the aegis of Georges Clemenceau and the Radicals. In January 1886, when Charles de Freycinet was brought into power, Clemenceau used his influence to secure Boulanger's appointment as War Minister (replacing Jean-Baptiste-Marie Campenon). Clemenceau assumed Boulanger was a republican, because he was known not to attend Mass. However Boulanger would soon prove himself a conservative and monarchist.