Émile Eudes
Encyclopedia
Émile Eudes was a French revolutionary, Blanquist socialist and participant in the Paris Commune
.
of Napoléon III. As a physician and man of science, he subscribed to the materialist philosophy then current. He was also strongly anti-clerical. He became associated with the 'free thinkers', a humanistic, non-religious movement associated with the exiled Victor Hugo
. In 1866, Eudes became managing editor of the journal La Pensée Libre (Free Thought). He also briefly ran a progressive bookstore and became a freemason. Along with other free thinkers, he joined the French section of the First International. However, Eudes was drawn to a more radical ideology than the humanism of Hugo or the Mutualist doctrine of the followers of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
, who dominated the French section of the International. He joined the revolutionary socialist followers of the imprisoned veteran revolutionary Louis Auguste Blanqui
. His associates included radicals like Ernest Granger
, Gustave Tridon
and Anne
and Victor Jaclard
. In 1865, the Blanquists managed to organise Blanqui's escape from prison to Belgium.
was then raging. Eudes, who had already had several prior arrests, was captured and sentenced to death. However, on September 1, Napoléon III lost the battle of Sedan and was captured by the Germans. On September 4, the Third Republic
was proclaimed. Eudes was released from prison. He became commander of the 138th battalion of the National Guard and helped to organize the defence of Paris against the Germans. He joined the Republican Central Committee of the Twenty Districts, which co-ordinated the activities of diverse socialist, anarchist and republican groups and prepared the ground for the Paris Commune
.
Eudes was vehemently opposed to the peace negotiations undertaken by the new republican government of Adolphe Thiers
. On October 31, 1870, he took part in an unsuccessful uprising against Thiers' Government of National Defence. He was not among those captured as a result. On March 18 he was at it again, leading the National Guard of Belleville in an occupation of city hall. He tried, but failed, to persuade his comrades to attack the national government at Versailles. On March 24, the Central Committee of the National Guard appointed Eudes Commissioner of War, along with Émile-Victor Duval and Paul Antoine Brunel. On March 26, he was elected to the General Council of the Paris Commune. He served on the Commune's Executive Commission and on the War Commission. He was given the rank of general for his efforts in defence of Paris. The most notable of these efforts, however, was the offensive of the Commune against the Versailles government on April 3, 1871. This offensive failed disastrously. In May, Eudes voted with the majority to establish a Committee of Public Safety, modelled on that of the first French Revolution
, and became one of its members.
Eudes participated actively in the fighting during the Bloody Week (Semaine sanglante), May 22–28, that marked the Paris Commune's last stand. Somehow, he escaped the savage suppression which followed (mass arrests, summary mass executions). He escaped first to Switzerland and then to London; meanwhile, a French military tribunal sentenced him to death in absentia.
. A general amnesty for Communards in 1880 enabled him to return home. He resumed his political activities. He contributed to the Blanquist journal Ni Dieu ni Maître (Neither God nor Master) and co-founded L'Homme Libre (The Free Man) with Édouard Vaillant
. He became a member of the Blanquist Central Revolutionary Committee, founded in 1881. On August 5, 1888, Eudes was holding a particularly vehement speech at a meeting at the Salle Favié, when he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage due to an aneurism and died. He was buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery. His grave stone includes a bust of him.
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
.
Early life
Émile Eudes was born on September 12, 1843, in Roncy in the English Channel. He began his medical studies in Saint-Lô and stubsequently moved to Paris to specialize in pharmacology. As a convinced republican, he rejected the Second French EmpireSecond French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
of Napoléon III. As a physician and man of science, he subscribed to the materialist philosophy then current. He was also strongly anti-clerical. He became associated with the 'free thinkers', a humanistic, non-religious movement associated with the exiled Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
. In 1866, Eudes became managing editor of the journal La Pensée Libre (Free Thought). He also briefly ran a progressive bookstore and became a freemason. Along with other free thinkers, he joined the French section of the First International. However, Eudes was drawn to a more radical ideology than the humanism of Hugo or the Mutualist doctrine of the followers of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...
, who dominated the French section of the International. He joined the revolutionary socialist followers of the imprisoned veteran revolutionary Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui was a French political activist, notable for the revolutionary theory of Blanquism, attributed to him....
. His associates included radicals like Ernest Granger
Ernest Granger
Ernest Granger was a French politician, a veteran of the Paris Commune of 1871, a Blanquist socialist and subsequently a Boulangist nationalist.-Early Life: Blanquism under the Second Empire:...
, Gustave Tridon
Gustave Tridon
Gustave Tridon was a French revolutionary socialist, member of the First International and the Paris Commune and anti-Semite.-Blanquism and the International:...
and Anne
Anne Jaclard
Note: This article deals with the Russian-born nineteenth-century revolutionary, not with the American Marxist-Humanist theoretician Anne Jaclard....
and Victor Jaclard
Victor Jaclard
Charles Victor Jaclard was a French revolutionary socialist, a member of the First International and of the Paris Commune.-Early Life:...
. In 1865, the Blanquists managed to organise Blanqui's escape from prison to Belgium.
The Paris Commune
In August 1870, Eudes was one of the ringleaders of an unsuccessful Blanquit insurrection at La Villette, a district of Paris. The Franco-Prussian WarFranco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
was then raging. Eudes, who had already had several prior arrests, was captured and sentenced to death. However, on September 1, Napoléon III lost the battle of Sedan and was captured by the Germans. On September 4, the Third Republic
Third Republic
Third Republic may refer to:* French Third Republic * Third Republic of South Korea * Third and current Democratic Republic of the Congo * Third and current Hellenic Republic of Greece...
was proclaimed. Eudes was released from prison. He became commander of the 138th battalion of the National Guard and helped to organize the defence of Paris against the Germans. He joined the Republican Central Committee of the Twenty Districts, which co-ordinated the activities of diverse socialist, anarchist and republican groups and prepared the ground for the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
.
Eudes was vehemently opposed to the peace negotiations undertaken by the new republican government of Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
. On October 31, 1870, he took part in an unsuccessful uprising against Thiers' Government of National Defence. He was not among those captured as a result. On March 18 he was at it again, leading the National Guard of Belleville in an occupation of city hall. He tried, but failed, to persuade his comrades to attack the national government at Versailles. On March 24, the Central Committee of the National Guard appointed Eudes Commissioner of War, along with Émile-Victor Duval and Paul Antoine Brunel. On March 26, he was elected to the General Council of the Paris Commune. He served on the Commune's Executive Commission and on the War Commission. He was given the rank of general for his efforts in defence of Paris. The most notable of these efforts, however, was the offensive of the Commune against the Versailles government on April 3, 1871. This offensive failed disastrously. In May, Eudes voted with the majority to establish a Committee of Public Safety, modelled on that of the first French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, and became one of its members.
Eudes participated actively in the fighting during the Bloody Week (Semaine sanglante), May 22–28, that marked the Paris Commune's last stand. Somehow, he escaped the savage suppression which followed (mass arrests, summary mass executions). He escaped first to Switzerland and then to London; meanwhile, a French military tribunal sentenced him to death in absentia.
Last Years
In London, General Eudes, as he was known, lived in poverty. He took part in some of the affairs of the First International and once received a letter from Karl MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
. A general amnesty for Communards in 1880 enabled him to return home. He resumed his political activities. He contributed to the Blanquist journal Ni Dieu ni Maître (Neither God nor Master) and co-founded L'Homme Libre (The Free Man) with Édouard Vaillant
Édouard Vaillant
Marie Édouard Vaillant was a French politician.Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then law at the Sorbonne. In Paris he knew Charles Longuet, Louis-Auguste Rogeard, and Jules Vallès...
. He became a member of the Blanquist Central Revolutionary Committee, founded in 1881. On August 5, 1888, Eudes was holding a particularly vehement speech at a meeting at the Salle Favié, when he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage due to an aneurism and died. He was buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery. His grave stone includes a bust of him.
Sources
- Menard, J.-L., Emile Eudes, 1843-1888: Général de la Commune et Blanquiste. Dittmar: Paris, 2005.
- Noël, B., Dictionnaire de la Commune de Paris. Flammarion: Paris, 1978.
- The Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Moscow, 1979.