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 ar ...

in which the left-wing agreed, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

, it stood in opposition to the pledge made by the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was fou ...

(SFIO) internationalism, 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 de ...

, 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 (s ...

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 is ...

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 The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the " French Left" and used to be one of the two major ...

threatened a general strike, while many French

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

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 Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

, 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