The Sacred Union (french: Union Sacrée, ) was a political truce in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in which the left-wing agreed, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, not to oppose the government or call any

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

s. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made by the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO)

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectur ...

, and its former leader

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

, not to enter any "bourgeois war." Although an important part of the

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

movement joined the ''Union sacrée'', some

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 ...

ists such as

Pierre Monatte Pierre Monatte (15 January 188127 June 1960) was a French trade unionist, a founder of the ''Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT, Generation Confederation of Labour) at the beginning of the 20th century, and founder of its journal '' La ...

opposed it. On 3 August 1914, Germany declared war on France. The next day,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Rene Viviani read an address written by the

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

, Raymond Poincaré: :' :("In the coming war, France will be heroically defended by all its sons, whose sacred union will not break in the face of the enemy"). This political movement may have been an attempt to create solidarity during a time when the largely pacifist French Socialist Party threatened a general strike, while many French

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s felt slighted by a 1905 law separating church and state. Elements of nationalism, that the Germans attacked rather than the French, anti-German propaganda, and a desire to regain the former French territory of Alsace-Moselle may have provided further impetus for the movement.

References

France in World War I Political history of France World War I French Third Republic {{France-hist-stub

See also

References