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Jean Jaurès
Historical figureFrance1859-1914

Jean Jaurès

Leader of the French Socialist Party and co-leader of the SFIO · Deputy for the Tarn

Socialist orator and historian who defended Dreyfus, founded L'Humanité, helped unite French socialists in 1905 and was shot dead in 1914 while trying to stop war.

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Profile on 12 axes8 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Jean Jaurès, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-60
    PublicPrivate

    He promised a collectivist programme and suggested nationalising wine estates. Still, he favoured spreading property more widely and collectivising step by step, not abolishing private ownership at once.

  2. 02Markets-50
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare-65
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority-60
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He was a reformer who hoped to reach socialism by way of the republic and the ballot box. In 1899 he approved of a socialist taking a seat in a coalition cabinet.

  5. 05Security-35
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06StructureNo clear record
    LocalCentral
  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion-40
    SecularReligious

    He helped draft the 1905 law that ended the church's official standing. Some historians still see him as a spiritual thinker, so the score is moderately secular.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture-25
    MulticulturalNational identity
  11. 11TradeNo clear record
    GlobalProtected

    Nothing clear is recorded on tariffs, so trade has no score. The same goes for structure, morality and technology.

  12. 12Foreign policy-70
    CooperationStrength

    An internationalist, he was against militarism and empire. He opposed the 1913 law on three-year service and called for a general strike to block war.

4 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Jean Jaurès?

Jean Jaurès was born in Castres and trained as a teacher of philosophy. In 1885 voters in the Tarn sent him to the Chamber of Deputies as a moderate republican. His support for striking miners at Carmaux in 1892 pulled him toward socialism, and in 1893 he returned there calling himself an independent socialist. He hesitated at first over the Dreyfus case, then became one of its most active defenders. From 1902 he headed the French Socialist Party, and in 1904 he started the newspaper L'Humanité. In 1905 he and Jules Guesde brought the rival socialist groups together in the SFIO. His writing includes a Socialist History of the French Revolution. A nationalist named Raoul Villain shot him dead in Paris on 31 July 1914.

Political views

  • Took Alfred Dreyfus's side and collected the evidence that he was innocent in the 1898 book Les Preuves.Source: fr.wikipedia.org
  • Backed the decision of the socialist Alexandre Millerand to join the Waldeck-Rousseau government, which split French socialists.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Kept the left-wing bloc united long enough for the 1905 law to separate church from state.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Preferred to spread property ownership more democratically and to collectivise parts of the economy by consent, instead of abolishing private property.Source: fr.wikipedia.org
  • Argued for an income tax that rises with earnings, in place of an unequal system of taxes.Source: fr.wikipedia.org
  • Set out a plan for a citizens' defensive army in L'Armée nouvelle, published in 1910.Source: fr.wikipedia.org
  • Treated empire-building as a threat to peace, and in 1913 he fought the law extending military service to three years.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Also wrote about the death penalty, about socialist unity and about what a socialist programme should contain.Source: marxists.org

Legacy

Politicians from many camps lay claim to Jaurès. In 1924 his body was placed in the Panthéon, and speakers from the left and the right still hold him up as a model of republican belief and eloquence. Admirers say he tied socialism to democracy, secular schools and peace. Revolutionary Marxists like Guesde attacked his gradual approach, and in particular his backing for a socialist sitting in a middle-class government. Nationalists said his hostility to militarism was unpatriotic. After the war a jury cleared Villain in 1919, by 11 votes to 1.

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Jean Jaurès: questions

Was Jaurès a Marxist or a reformer?

Marxist ideas influenced him, but he wanted socialism to grow out of democracy and the republic. Marxists like Jules Guesde criticised him for it, though the two men later led the united party together.

Why was Jean Jaurès killed?

On 31 July 1914, just days before war began, Raoul Villain, a nationalist, shot him in a Paris café. Jaurès was the best-known voice against the war, and nationalists saw him as a traitor.

What is Jean Jaurès remembered for?

He is remembered as the leading French socialist before 1914. He defended Dreyfus, helped create the united Socialist Party in 1905, founded L'Humanité and tried to prevent the First World War.

Sources