Pierre Biétry (9 May 1872 – 3 December 1918) was a French
syndicalist
Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...
and politician who initially followed orthodox
socialism
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
before pioneering the "
Yellow socialist" movement of the early 20th century.
He was also the maternal grandfather of
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and
White House Press Secretary
The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...
Pierre Salinger.
Early life and socialist activity
Born in
Fêche-l'Église, he moved to
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
as a 13-year-old and stayed four years in the colony before returning home.
[David M. Gordon, ''Liberalism and social reform'', p. 167] He then became a member of the
French Workers' Party (POF) and was praised in its paper, ''Le Socialiste'', for his activity in
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...
. He was also for a time associated with the followers of
Jules Guesde
Jules Bazile, known as Jules Guesde (; 11 November 1845 – 28 July 1922) was a French socialist journalist and politician.
Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter ...
.
He was active in a series of
strikes between 1898 and 1901 and even led a march of workers in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1899.
[ George Mosse, ''Masses and man'', 1987, p. 127]
Move right
His break with socialism occurred around then, largely as a result of his opposition to the idea of a
general strike
A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...
as well as his overall disillusionment with the failure of socialist activity in France.
Coupled with his advocacy of class co-operation to alleviate
working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
suffering, that made him quit the POF in 1900.
He came to advocate non-political
trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
activity and a
corporatist relationship between the unions and the employers.
He formed his own trade union, the ''Fédération nationale des jaunes de France'' in 1902.
As a political arm to his union he also formed the National Socialist Party in 1903. Initially the new movement was fairly low-key, but it gained a surge in support in 1910-11 after a series of violent acts by the
Confédération générale du travail
The General Confederation of Labour (, , CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.
It is the largest in terms of votes in the Labour C ...
led to many more conservative workers deserting their ranks. Biétry's somewhat unusual approach to politics and his muddied ideology earned him widespread coverage in the press, which reported him as something of an oddity.
According to his grandson Pierre Salinger, he was a deputy at the
French National Assembly
The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...
from 1906 to 1910, where his "highlight" was his "vigorous" and "heated" defense of
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...
when
the latter was (falsely) accused of stealing military secrets.
[
He became attracted to the anti-Jewism of Édouard Drumont and soon grafted it on to his corporatist ]anti-capitalism
Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...
.[ George Mosse, ''Masses and man'', 1987, p. 128] His ''Jaunes'' movement surprisingly won the support of traditionally-conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
figures such as Victor Henri Rochefort and Paul Déroulède who were attracted to Biétry's patriotism
Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...
as well as Drumont. He briefly enjoyed the support of '' Action Française'', but Biétry's headstrong personality meant that was short-lived as it had hoped to dominate his movement. He was elected to Parliament in the 1906 election.
Later life
Ultimately, Biétry's period of influence proved short-lived as Charles Maurras and his followers became the main focus of agitation on the right.[ Zeev Sternhell & David Maisel, ''Neither right nor left '', 1996, p. 48] ''Les Jaunes'' held a final congress in 1909, and he declined to run again in the 1910 election. Biétry left France in 1914 to manage a rubber plantation in Indochina. According to his grandson Pierre Salinger this move was because he had "fallen for another woman". Biétry reportedly maltreated his workers on the plantation. He died in Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
in late 1918.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bietry, Pierre
1872 births
1918 deaths
French far-right politicians
French socialists
French trade unionists
People from the Territoire de Belfort
Proto-fascists
French people of colonial Algeria