Jules Claude Gabriel Favre (21 March 1809 – 20 January 1880) was a French statesman and lawyer. After the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870, he became one of the leaders of the

Opportunist Republicans The Moderates or Moderate Republicans (french: Républicains modérés), pejoratively labeled Opportunist Republicans (), was a French political group active in the late 19th century during the Third French Republic. The leaders of the group inc ...

in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

Early years

He was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

, and began his career as a lawyer. From the time of the Revolution of 1830, he openly declared himself a republican, and in political trials he took the opportunity to express this opinion. After the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

he was elected deputy for Lyon to the Constituent Assembly, where he sat among the Moderate Republicans, voting against the socialists. When Louis Napoleon was elected President of France, Favre openly opposed him, and on 2 December 1851 he tried with

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

and others to organize armed resistance in the streets of Paris. After the ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

'', he withdrew from politics, returned to the legal profession, and distinguished himself by his defence of Felice Orsini, the perpetrator of the attack against the life of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

. In 1858 he was elected deputy for Paris, and was 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

in 1867.

Franco-Prussian War and Third Republic

With

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...

he opposed the war against Prussia in 1870, and at the news of the defeat of Napoleon III at Sedan he demanded the deposition of the emperor. Favre opposed the removal of the government from Paris during the siege. In the

government of National Defence The Government of National Defense (french: Gouvernement de la Défense nationale) was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the proclam ...

he became vice-president under 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 Bismarck met on the 19th by his declaration to Favre that

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

and Lorraine had to be ceded as a condition of peace. He arranged for the armistice of 28 January 1871 without knowing the situation of the armies, and without consulting the government at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

. By a grave oversight, he neglected to inform

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, Ga ...

that the 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, 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 parliamentary group, ''Gauche républicaine''. Elected

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on 30 January 1876, he continued to support the government of the republic against the reactionary opposition until his death on 20 January 1880.

Post-war scandal

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,

knew of the situation, but as Favre never attacked the Emperor about his sexual affairs, the Emperor respected Favre on the same issue.

Works

His works include many speeches and addresses, notably ''La Liberté de la Presse'' (1849), ''Défense de F. Orsini'' (1866), ''Discours de réception a l'

'' (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. After Favre's death his wife Julie Velten Favre, an educator and philosopher who had collaborated with Favre during their marriage, compiled and edited his speeches into 8 volumes.

References

Sources

External links

1867 Caricature of Jules Favre
by André Gill {{DEFAULTSORT:Favre, Jules 1809 births 1880 deaths Politicians from Lyon Moderate Republicans (France) Opportunist Republicans French Foreign Ministers Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic Members of the 2nd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 3rd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the National Assembly (1871) French Senators of the Third Republic Senators of Rhône (department) Members of the Académie Française Burials at the Cemetery of Notre-Dame, Versailles