The Fusillade de Fourmies is an event which happened on 1 May 1891 in Fourmies, in the French Nord department. This day, the

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...

fired on a peaceful demonstration of workers claiming "C'est les huit heures qu'il nous faut !" (it's the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the ...

we need), killing nine people and injuring 35 others.

Context

Fourmies was a small town of 2000 people at the beginning of the 19th century, but it had an important industrial growth because of the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

. In 1891, it had 37 silk and wool mills, and 15 000 people, in majority factory workers. In the factories, workers worked for 12 hours a day, and six days a week. Their salaries were particularly low. Starting in 1885, the textile industry in the Nord began to experience difficulties. These difficulties had direct repercussions on workers, with unemployment and salary reductions when food and lodging expenses were rising.

History

Call to strike

The

right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the In ...

was allowed in France since The Ollivier law on 25 May 1864, but the

Trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s were allowed only since the

Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His father, René W ...

law on 21 March 1884.

Bibliography

* André Pierrard, Jean-Louis Chappat, ''La Fusillade de Fourmies : Premier mai 1891'', Maxima, Paris, 1991 * Madeleine Rebérioux, ''Fourmies et les Premier mai'', Fourmies Colloquium 1891/1991 (1991), Éditions de l'Atelier, 1994, * Odette Hardy-Hémery, ''L'envers d'une fusillade : Fourmies, 1er mai 1891'', L'Harmattan, coll. « Collection Chemins de la mémoire », 2000 * Justinien Raymond, ''Hippolyte Culine'', Dictionnaire biographique, mouvement ouvrier, mouvement social, « Le Maitron », 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of France

Fusillade A fusillade is the simultaneous and continuous firing of a group of firearms on command. It stems from the French word ''fusil'', meaning firearm, and ''fusiller'' meaning to shoot. In the context of military tactics, the term is generally used ...