French socialist leader who united the left, founded L'Humanité, and was assassinated fighting to prevent the Great War
"In the vat of the Republic, prepare the wine of the Social Revolution!" — to winegrowers at the Maraussan cooperative, 1 May 1905
Jean Jaurès was the central figure in the unification of French socialism, leading the French Socialist Party from 1902 and merging it with Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France in 1905 to create the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Through L'Humanité, the daily he founded in 1904, he championed reformist social democracy, while during the Dreyfus Affair he stood as the republican conscience against anti-Semitism and militarism. His Marxist class analysis in the multi-volume Socialist History of the French Revolution (1900–1903) left a lasting mark on French revolutionary historiography. In July 1914, he fought to prevent world war through an international general strike with the German Social Democrats, but was assassinated by nationalist Raoul Villain three days before France entered the conflict.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1885Elected to Chamber of Deputies as Opportunist Republican for Tarn
- 1892–1893Supported Carmaux miners' strike; re-elected as Independent Socialist deputy
- 1898–1902Leading Dreyfusard voice; edited La Petite République
- 1902Founded and led the French Socialist Party
- 1904Founded L'Humanité
- 1905Unified French socialist parties into SFIO
- 1900–1903Published Socialist History of the French Revolution
- 1914Assassinated while leading international anti-war general strike campaign
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World Waranti-war campaigner seeking to prevent the warIn July 1914, he sought to prevent the world war through an international general strike with the German Social Democrats.
- 1907–1919The collapse of the Second InternationalLeader of French socialismGave his last speech for peace on 29 July and was assassinated two days later.
The Carmaux Miners’ Strike and Turn to Socialism
In 1892, miners in Carmaux went on strike after the dismissal of Jean-Baptiste Calvignac, a former miner and the town’s mayor. Jaurès was not yet a socialist, but he publicly supported the miners and pressed the government to intervene and secure Calvignac’s reinstatement. His advocacy in the dispute helped turn him from a republican politician toward socialism; in 1893 the miners’ constituency elected him deputy for Tarn. He returned to the Chamber as an Independent Socialist, linking workers’ struggle with parliamentary politics. Jaurès did not accept all of Marx’s ideas and aligned himself with the Independent Socialist current led by Alexandre Millerand.