Georges Ernest Boulanger - The Rise of Boulangisme

The Rise of Boulangisme

The government was astonished by the revelation that Boulanger had received around 100,000 votes for the partial election in Seine, without him even being a candidate. He was removed from the Paris region and sent to the provinces, appointed commander of the troops stationed in Clermont-Ferrand. Upon his departure on July 8, a crowd of ten thousand took the Gare de Lyon by storm, covering his train with posters titled Il reviendra ("He will come back"), and blocking the railway, but he was smuggled out.

The general decided to gather support for his own movement, an eclectic one that capitalized on the frustrations of French conservatism, advocating the three principles of Revanche (Revenge on Germany), Révision (Revision of the Constitution), Restoration (the return to monarchy). The common reference to it has become Boulangisme, a term used by its partisans and adversaries alike. Immediately, the option was backed by notable conservative figures such as Count Arthur Dillon, Alfred Joseph Naquet, Anne de Mortemart-Rochechouart (Duchess of Uzès, who financed him with immense sums), Arthur Meyer, Paul Déroulède (and his Ligue des Patriotes).

After the political corruption scandal surrounding the President's son-in-law Daniel Wilson, who was secretly selling Legion of Honor medals to anyone who wanted one, the Republican government was brought into disrepute and Boulanger's popular appeal rose in contrast. His position became essential after President Jules Grévy was forced to resign due to the scandal: in January 1888, the boulangistes promised to back any candidate for the presidency that would in turn offer his support to Boulanger for the post of War Minister (France was a parliamentary republic). The crisis was cut short by the election of Marie François Sadi Carnot and the appointment of Pierre Tirard as Prime Minister - Tirard refused to include Boulanger in his cabinet. During the period, Boulanger was in Switzerland, where he met with Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte II, technically a Bonapartist, who offered his full support to the cause. The Bonapartists had attached themselves to the general, and even the Comte de Paris encouraged his followers to support him. Once seen as a republican, Boulanger showed his true colors in the camp of the conservative monarchists. On March 26, 1888 he was expelled from the army. The day after, Daniel Wilson had his imprisonment repealed. It seemed to the French people that honorable generals were punished while corrupt politicians were spared, further increasing Boulanger's popularity.

Although he was not in fact a legal candidate for the French Chamber of Deputies (since he was a military man), Boulanger ran with Bonapartist backing in seven separate départements during the remainder of 1888. Boulangiste candidates were present in every département. Consequently, he and many of his supporters were voted to the Chamber, and accompanied by a large crowd on July 12, the day of their swearing in - the general himself was elected in the constituency of Nord. The boulangistes were, nonetheless, a minority in the Chamber. Since Boulanger could not pass legislation, his actions were directed to maintaining his public image. Neither his failure as an orator nor his defeat in a duel with Charles Thomas Floquet, then an elderly civilian and the minister of the interior, reduced the enthusiasm of his popular following.

During 1888 his personality was the dominating feature of French politics, and, when he resigned his seat as a protest against the reception given by the Chamber to his proposals, constituencies vied with one another in selecting him as their representative. His name was the theme of the popular song C'est Boulanger qu'il nous faut ("Boulanger is the One We Need"), he and his black horse became the idol of the Parisian population, and he was urged to run for the presidency. The general agreed, but his personal ambitions soon alienated his republican supporters, who recognised in him a potential military dictator. Numerous monarchists continued to give him financial aid, even though Boulanger saw himself as a leader rather than a restorer of kings.