Jules Favre: Difference between revisions

{{forabout|the French politician|the Swiss zoologist, mycologist and geologist|Jules Favre (naturalist)|the French rugby union player|Jules Favre (rugby union)}}

{{NoMore footnotes|date=April 2009}}

He was born in [[Lyon]], and began his career as a lawyer. From the time of the [[July Revolution|Revolution of 1830]], he openly declared himself a [[republicanism|republican]], and in political trials he took the opportunity to express this opinion. After the [[Revolution of 1848]] he was elected deputy for Lyon to the Constituent Assembly, where he sat among the moderate[[Moderate republicansRepublicans (France, 1848–1870)|Moderate Republicans]], voting against the socialists. When [[Louis Napoleon]] was elected President of France, Favre openly opposed him, and on.On 2 December 1851 he tried with [[Victor Hugo]] and others to organize armed resistance in the streets of Paris. After the ''[[coup d'état]]'', he withdrew from politics, returned to the legal profession, and distinguisheddistinguishing himself by his defence of [[Felice Orsini]], the perpetrator of the attack against the life of [[Napoleon III]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1858 he was elected deputy for Paris, and wasbeing one of the "Five" who gave the signal for the republican opposition to the Empire. In 1863 he became the head of his party, and delivered a number of addresses denouncing the Mexican expedition and the occupation of Rome. These addresses, eloquent, clear and incisive, won him a seat in the [[Académie française]] in 1867.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

With [[Adolphe Thiers]] he opposed the [[Franco-Prussian War|war against Prussia]] in 1870, and at the news of the defeat of Napoleon III at [[Battle of Sedan|Sedan]] he demanded the deposition of the emperor. Favre opposed the removal of the government from Paris during the siege. {{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In the [[government of National Defence]] he became vice-president under [[Louis Jules Trochu|General Trochu]], and minister of foreign affairs, with the onerous task of negotiating peace with victorious Germany. He proved to be less adroit as a diplomat than he had been as an orator, and committed several irreparable blunders. His famous statement on 6 September 1870, that he "would not yield to Germany an inch of territory nor a single stone of the fortresses" was a piece of oratory which [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] met on the 19th by his declaration to Favre that [[Alsace]] and [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]] had to be ceded as a condition of peace.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He arranged for the [[Armistice of Versailles|armistice of 28 January 1871]] without knowing the situation of the armies, and without consulting the government at [[Bordeaux]]. By a grave oversight, he neglected to inform [[Léon Gambetta]] that the [[Armée de l'Est|Army of the East]] (80,000 men) was not included in the armistice, and it was thus obliged to retreat to neutral territory. He showed no diplomatic skill in the negotiations for the [[Treaty of Frankfurt (1871)|Treaty of Frankfurt]], and it was Bismarck who imposed all the conditions. He withdrew from the ministry, discredited, on 2 August 1871, but remained in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the [[Opportunist Republicans|Opportunist]] parliamentary group, ''Gauche républicaine''. Elected [[Senate of France|Senator]] on 30 January 1876, he continued to support the government of the republic against the reactionary opposition until his death on 20 January 1880.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Favre turned out to have a skeleton in his closet, although he probably never saw it as such. He had a series of children with a married woman who never got a divorce. Although Favre recognized these children as his own legally, the story did not become known generally until after 1871, when his bungling of the diplomacy with Bismarck left him a good target for political enemies. The story was released, and Favre did win damages against one of the men who released it, but whatever influence he might still have had was smashed. Ironically, it is apparent that his old opponent, [[Napoleon III]] knew of the situation, but as Favre never attacked the Emperor about his sexual affairs, the Emperor respected Favre on the same issue.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

His works include many speeches and addresses, notably ''La Liberté de la Presse'' (1849), ''Défense de F. Orsini'' (1866), ''Discours de réception a l'[[Académie française]]'' (1868), ''Discours sur la liberté intérieure'' (1869). In ''Le Gouvernement de la Défense Nationale'', 3 vols., 1871–1875, he explained his role in 1870–1871.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== SourcesReferences ==

[[Category:PeoplePoliticians from Lyon]]

[[Category:FrenchModerate republicansRepublicans (France)]]

[[Category:FrenchOpportunist Foreign MinistersRepublicans]]

[[Category:Members of the 2nd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire]]

[[Category:19th-centuryMembers of the 3rd Corps législatif of the Second French politiciansEmpire]]

[[Category:French SenatorsMembers of theParliament Thirdfor RepublicLoire]]

[[Category:Members of theParliament Académiefor françaiseRhône]]