Canut revolts
Encyclopedia
Three major revolts by silk
workers in Lyon
, France, called the Canut
revolts took place during the first half of the 19th century. The first occurred in November 1831, and was the first clearly defined worker uprising of the Industrial Revolution
.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the textile industry was the main industrial activity of Lyon and the surrounding region. The livelihood of half of the population of Lyon
was dependent on the silk weaving industry.
In 1831, the production of silken goods in Lyon was still organised in a manner similar to that of the pre-industrial era:
While most of the workshops were situated in houses on the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse
, some were also located in Saint-Georges
in Vieux Lyon
, Bourgneuf (Pierre scize), La Guillotière and Vaise
. There was only one industrial grade factory, the silk factory of la Sauvagère, employing 600 workers, in Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe
.
The value of silk, as with any luxury product, was highly dependent on the economic climate. A large portion of the demand came from North America
, and was very susceptible to competition and change. Under the First French Empire
, the government accepted, or at least tolerated, the price fixing done in Lyon. The increased revenue from price fixing
allowed higher salaries throughout the system. After the economic crisis of 1825, with the support of Catholic
royalist
s, the canuts and their companions had created mutual support societies, the forebearer of syndicalism
.
In 1831, the economic outlook was grim and drastically reduced the demand for silk goods. Salaries were continually being reduced, far lower than their peak during the economically prosperous years of the First French Empire
.
On October 18, 1831, the canuts asked the prefect of the Rhône department, Louis Bouvier-Dumolart, to help in their negotiations with the manufacturers. The canuts wanted a fixed price to be put in place, which would stop the further fall in the price of silk goods. The prefect organised a panel of owners and workers, which was able to establish a fixed rate on October 26. A labour court, the Conseil de prud'hommes, was given the role of insuring the rate was applied.
The intervention of the prefect was, however, poorly received by some manufacturers who considered his actions to be demagogic, and the concessions afforded by their representatives to be a sign of weakness. 104 of them refused to apply the rate, claiming it was against the principles of the French Revolution
. Laws such as the Le Chapelier Law
and the Allarde decree of 1791, enshrined the principle of economic non-intervention by the state, in addition to explicitly banning guild
s (a predecessor to trade unions), and denying the right to strike. The manufacturers claimed the fixed rate was a block to freedom of enterprise. On November 10, they rejected the salary claims of the canuts, which they considered to be exorbitant. This attitude infuriated the working class
, and tensions neared the breaking point.
. They forced the few weavers still at work to close their workshops, hassling the National Guard. Soon after they erected barricades and marched to Lyon under the black flag.
On November 22 in Lyon, the workers took hold of the fortified police barracks at Bon-Pasteur, pillaging the arsenal
and stealing weapons in the process. Several units of the military guard and the national guard were attacked. The infantry attempted to stop them, but was forced to fall back under a hail of tiles and bullets. The national guard, most of which was recruited from amongst the canuts, changed sides, joining the insurgents.
After a bloody battle which caused around 600 casualties (100 dead, 263 injured on the military side, 69 dead, 140 injured on the civilian side), the insurgents took hold of the town. During the night of November 22 to November 23, General Roguet, commander of the 7th division and mayor Victor Prunelle fled the town.
The insurgents occupied the town hall, though they allegedly did not loot the town at all. At this point, the leaders of the workers were unsure as to the further course of action, having started the strike with the sole intention of making sure the fixed rate on silken goods was being applied correctly. A few republicans in the group insisted on using the momentum to form a governmental committee. The committee did not make any tangible decisions, due to a lack of agenda. Not helping the committee's effectiveness was the canuts' refusal to have their uprising twisted to political ends.
In Paris
, the news of the riot and the occupation of France
's second largest city caused astonishment and consternation. Debate raged in the Chamber of deputies
and the opposition, led by François Mauguin, seized the opportunity to decry the incompetence of the cabinet
. The President of the Council of Ministers
, Casimir Perier, whose government's first goal was to re-establish order after the July Revolution
, thought otherwise. He blamed the troubles in Lyon on Saint-Simonianist
propaganda and political manoeuvres by the supporters of Charles X
. King Louis-Philippe
himself was quite sure that the problems were caused by republican actions. General Baudrand, aide de camp of Crown Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, wrote: "Poverty... [...] there are many exaggerations in what is said about it. It has been worse in other times and did not produce such results," which probably reflected opinion in the Tuileries Palace
.
On November 25, Perier announced that Crown Prince Ferdinand Philippe, and Marshal Soult
, Minister of War and formerly one of Napoleon's most renowned marshal
s, would lead an army of 20,000 men to retake Lyon. King Louis-Philippe
asked them to be firm, but to avoid the use of capital punishment. On 29 November 1831, he wrote to Soult: "The important point [...] is to enter Lyon without suffering any [major] blows and without agreeing to any conditions. [...] You will need to be strict. [...] [Y]et you know that when I say strict, I do not refer to execution , and it is not to you that I need say this."
Louis-Philippe was very critical of the prefect, writing: "It is very clear, in my opinion, that he had a previously formed agreement with the leaders, and that he was not acting loyally to his government before the events."
He nonetheless was cautious on the subject of the fixed rate, writing to his son: "The fixed rate is a delicate point on which I believe we must tread lightly and carefully weigh what we do. I can not give further advice because I lack sufficient information. You must say as little on the subject as possible."
On November 28, the duke of Orléans and Marshal Soult, stopped at Trévoux
, where they waited for order to return in Lyon. They entered the city on December 3 without any blood being shed and with no negotiation or agreements being made. The fixed rate was abolished, the prefect dismissed, the national guard disbanded, and a large garrison positioned in the town. The government decided to build a fort to separate the commune of Croix-Rousse from the town of Lyon. 90 workers were arrested, 11 of whom would be prosecuted, to be later acquitted in June 1832.
Soult informed the king of the total success of his mission, attributing all the praise to "recognition of the king and the prince" and, where it was lacking, to an "expression of sadness which was obviously a testimony of repentance." He noted that all the authorities came to "pay homage to His Highness," and that all had prepared very good speeches, with the exception of the archbishop, who was content saying he had nothing but prayers to offer."
From December 17 to December 20, 1831, the far left opposition parties tried to bring the situation in Lyon back to the forefront in the Chamber of Deputies. Casimir Perier declared that the revolt had wanted to arm itself "against the freedom of commerce and industry," and affirmed on December 26 that "society will not let itself be threatened with impunity." The cabinet's motion was quickly passed by a large majority, moving on to the day's agenda despite the protests and demand for an enquiry by the far left.
At the end of 1833, good economic prospects and conditions caused a boom in the Lyonnais silk industry. As a result, the government thought the chances of a second revolt extremely unlikely. The Interior Minister, the Count of Argout
, wrote to the king on September 9, 1833: "I have just received M. Fulchiron, who comes from Lyon. The manufacture is in a state of simply fabulous prosperity. The orders from America are immense. The workers earn 6 to 7 francs per day. This is too much. They are, however, in a state of tranquillity as one may easily conceive."
On February 1, 1834, an attempt by a few hundred Italian
, German
and Polish
revolutionaries from Geneva
and Grenoble
was made to start a republican coup in Savoy
. D'Argout told the king: "They are Savoyards who have recently come to Grenoble, and a few French republicans. M. Gasparin writes to me that 1,200 inhabitants of Lyon had made plans to support the movement in Savoy should it have succeeded. The republicans skillfully moved to create a revolutionary climate, taking advantage of a salary conflict caused by high worker wages.
In February 1834, owners began to agree that workers' salaries had risen too high, and they began an attempt to impose a reduction. The results of this were conflict and strikes, the leaders of which were arrested and tried
. Their trial began on April 5, while the members of Chamber of Peers were discussing a law which would intensify the repression of republican groups. The Republicans managed to amalgamate several political parties to fall within the scope of this law, as did the mutual workers' associations to which Lyon's canuts were very strongly attached. As a result, thousands of craftsmen rebelled on April 9. The leaders proclaimed daily agendas, which they dated not "April 9, 1834," but instead "Germinal
22, year XLII of the Republic," using the French Republican Calendar
.
The army occupied the town and bridges. Soon after, gunfire broke out, with troops firing on the unarmed crowd. Barricades were quickly erected throughout the town to hinder the army's progress. The disorganised workers stormed the Bon-Pasteur barracks, the same as in the first revolt, and again plundered the arsenal. The workers barricaded the different districts of the city, including Croix-Rousse, effectively creating fortified camps. What would later be known as the Sanglante semaine (bloody week) had begun.
Adolphe Thiers
, the Interior minister, would use a tactic that he would later reuse in 1871 to crush the Paris Commune
: retreat from the town, abandon it to the insurgents, surround it, then take it back.
On April 10, more fire was exchanged between the insurgents and the troops. The workers took hold of the telegraph office, the Guillotière quarter, and then of the nearby city of Villeurbanne
where military barracks were taken. The black flag was flown over Fourvière
, Saint-Nizier
and the Antiquaille
. Fighting continued on April 11; Croix Rousse was bombarded by the recently reinforced military, while revolts started in the more distant cities of Saint-Étienne
and Vienne. On April 12, the troops attacked and re-took the Guillotière quarter, after having destroyed numerous houses with the artillery. On April 14, the army reconquered the town piece by piece, attacking Croix-Rousse for the third time, massacring many workers in the process.
April 15 marked the end of the Sanglante semaine in Lyon, the second canut uprising having been bloodily put down. Conservative estimates put the number of casualties between 100 and 200,
while more liberal estimates put it at over 600. 10,000 captured insurgents were tried in a "gigantic trial" in Paris in April 1835, and were condemned to deportation
or heavy prison sentences. The July Monarchy suspected the intrigues of other groups, such as legitimists
or Bonapartist
s, at work, which accounted for the harsh repression of the revolt.
all over Europe and it did not acquire the same renown as that of 1831. Indeed, the revolt of 1831 saw international coverage, and was the origin of many other worker revolts of the 19th century.
They were later the inspiration for the uprising that led to the short lived Paris Commune
, which in turn led to much of the socialist, communist and anarchistic philosophies that still reverberate into the 21st century.
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
workers in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France, called the Canut
Canut
The canuts were Lyonnais silk workers, often working on Jacquard looms. They were primarily found in the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood of Lyon in the 19th century. Although the term generally refers to Lyonnais silk workers, silk workers in the commune of l'Arbresle are also called canuts.-Canut...
revolts took place during the first half of the 19th century. The first occurred in November 1831, and was the first clearly defined worker uprising of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
The silk industry in Lyon at the beginning of the 19th century
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
was dependent on the silk weaving industry.
In 1831, the production of silken goods in Lyon was still organised in a manner similar to that of the pre-industrial era:
- At the top of the pyramid was the grande fabrique (literally great manufacture), a group of around 1400 bankers and traderMerchantA merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s named fabricants (manufacturers) or soyeux (silkies), who controlled and financed the manufacture and commercialisation of the goods. - The manufacturers contracted about 8000 chief weaving craftsmen, the canuts, who were paid either for a specific order or per piece. The Canuts owned their own loomLoomA loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
s, generally between 2 and 6, depending on the size of the workshop. - The Canuts employed around 30,000 apprentices, who were paid by the day, but generally lived with the canut, who lodged and fed them, and with whom they shared a similar standard of living.
- Women were also employed at a lesser salary, as were apprentices and errand boys. These workers filled a wide variety of professions: gareurs (mechanic who repairs and adjusts the looms), satinaires (women who prepare the satinSatinSatin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...
), battandiers (who make the tools necessary for the weaving), metteurs en carte (who make the coded tables indicating the colour and characteristics of the silk to be used, according to the drawing provided by the customer), liseurs (who create the perforated cards for the Jacquard loomJacquard weavingJacquard weaving makes possible in almost any loom the programmed raising of each warp thread independently of the others. This brings much greater versatility to the weaving process, and offers the highest level of warp yarn control...
), magnanerelles (women working in the magnaneries, warpersWarp (weaving)In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...
, embroiderers, silk folders, spinners, ourdisseuses (women who prepare the shape of the piece to be woven onto a machine prior to it being placed on the loom), dyers, etc.
While most of the workshops were situated in houses on the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
, some were also located in Saint-Georges
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
in Vieux Lyon
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
, Bourgneuf (Pierre scize), La Guillotière and Vaise
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
. There was only one industrial grade factory, the silk factory of la Sauvagère, employing 600 workers, in Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
.
The value of silk, as with any luxury product, was highly dependent on the economic climate. A large portion of the demand came from North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and was very susceptible to competition and change. Under the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, the government accepted, or at least tolerated, the price fixing done in Lyon. The increased revenue from price fixing
Price fixing
Price fixing is an agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and demand...
allowed higher salaries throughout the system. After the economic crisis of 1825, with the support of Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
royalist
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch...
s, the canuts and their companions had created mutual support societies, the forebearer of syndicalism
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
.
The first revolt
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
.
On October 18, 1831, the canuts asked the prefect of the Rhône department, Louis Bouvier-Dumolart, to help in their negotiations with the manufacturers. The canuts wanted a fixed price to be put in place, which would stop the further fall in the price of silk goods. The prefect organised a panel of owners and workers, which was able to establish a fixed rate on October 26. A labour court, the Conseil de prud'hommes, was given the role of insuring the rate was applied.
The intervention of the prefect was, however, poorly received by some manufacturers who considered his actions to be demagogic, and the concessions afforded by their representatives to be a sign of weakness. 104 of them refused to apply the rate, claiming it was against the principles of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Laws such as the Le Chapelier Law
Le Chapelier Law
The Le Chapelier Law was a piece of legislation passed by the National Assembly during the first phase of the French Revolution , banning guilds as the early version of trade unions, as well as compagnonnage and the right to strike, and proclaiming free enterprise as the norm...
and the Allarde decree of 1791, enshrined the principle of economic non-intervention by the state, in addition to explicitly banning guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s (a predecessor to trade unions), and denying the right to strike. The manufacturers claimed the fixed rate was a block to freedom of enterprise. On November 10, they rejected the salary claims of the canuts, which they considered to be exorbitant. This attitude infuriated the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, and tensions neared the breaking point.
The insurrection
On November 21, 1831, several hundred weavers toured the then independent commune of Croix-RousseArrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
. They forced the few weavers still at work to close their workshops, hassling the National Guard. Soon after they erected barricades and marched to Lyon under the black flag.
On November 22 in Lyon, the workers took hold of the fortified police barracks at Bon-Pasteur, pillaging the arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
and stealing weapons in the process. Several units of the military guard and the national guard were attacked. The infantry attempted to stop them, but was forced to fall back under a hail of tiles and bullets. The national guard, most of which was recruited from amongst the canuts, changed sides, joining the insurgents.
After a bloody battle which caused around 600 casualties (100 dead, 263 injured on the military side, 69 dead, 140 injured on the civilian side), the insurgents took hold of the town. During the night of November 22 to November 23, General Roguet, commander of the 7th division and mayor Victor Prunelle fled the town.
The insurgents occupied the town hall, though they allegedly did not loot the town at all. At this point, the leaders of the workers were unsure as to the further course of action, having started the strike with the sole intention of making sure the fixed rate on silken goods was being applied correctly. A few republicans in the group insisted on using the momentum to form a governmental committee. The committee did not make any tangible decisions, due to a lack of agenda. Not helping the committee's effectiveness was the canuts' refusal to have their uprising twisted to political ends.
The return of order
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the news of the riot and the occupation of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's second largest city caused astonishment and consternation. Debate raged in the Chamber of deputies
Chamber of Deputies of France
Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
and the opposition, led by François Mauguin, seized the opportunity to decry the incompetence of the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
. The President of the Council of Ministers
President of the Council of Ministers
The official title President of the Council of Ministers, or Chairman of the Council of Ministers is used to describe the head of government of the states of Italy and Poland, and formerly in the Soviet Union, Portugal, France , Spain , Brazil , and Luxembourg...
, Casimir Perier, whose government's first goal was to re-establish order after the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, thought otherwise. He blamed the troubles in Lyon on Saint-Simonianist
Saint-Simonianism
Saint-Simonianism was a French political and social movement of the first half of the 19th century, inspired by the ideas of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon ....
propaganda and political manoeuvres by the supporters of Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
. King Louis-Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
himself was quite sure that the problems were caused by republican actions. General Baudrand, aide de camp of Crown Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, wrote: "Poverty... [...] there are many exaggerations in what is said about it. It has been worse in other times and did not produce such results," which probably reflected opinion in the Tuileries Palace
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
.
On November 25, Perier announced that Crown Prince Ferdinand Philippe, and Marshal Soult
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia , the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804. He was one of only six officers in French history to receive the distinction of Marshal General of France...
, Minister of War and formerly one of Napoleon's most renowned marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
s, would lead an army of 20,000 men to retake Lyon. King Louis-Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
asked them to be firm, but to avoid the use of capital punishment. On 29 November 1831, he wrote to Soult: "The important point [...] is to enter Lyon without suffering any [major] blows and without agreeing to any conditions. [...] You will need to be strict. [...] [Y]et you know that when I say strict, I do not refer to execution , and it is not to you that I need say this."
Louis-Philippe was very critical of the prefect, writing: "It is very clear, in my opinion, that he had a previously formed agreement with the leaders, and that he was not acting loyally to his government before the events."
He nonetheless was cautious on the subject of the fixed rate, writing to his son: "The fixed rate is a delicate point on which I believe we must tread lightly and carefully weigh what we do. I can not give further advice because I lack sufficient information. You must say as little on the subject as possible."
Trévoux
Trévoux is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.It is a suburb of Lyon.-History:The town was the capital of the Dombes principality, and famed for its dictionary...
, where they waited for order to return in Lyon. They entered the city on December 3 without any blood being shed and with no negotiation or agreements being made. The fixed rate was abolished, the prefect dismissed, the national guard disbanded, and a large garrison positioned in the town. The government decided to build a fort to separate the commune of Croix-Rousse from the town of Lyon. 90 workers were arrested, 11 of whom would be prosecuted, to be later acquitted in June 1832.
Soult informed the king of the total success of his mission, attributing all the praise to "recognition of the king and the prince" and, where it was lacking, to an "expression of sadness which was obviously a testimony of repentance." He noted that all the authorities came to "pay homage to His Highness," and that all had prepared very good speeches, with the exception of the archbishop, who was content saying he had nothing but prayers to offer."
From December 17 to December 20, 1831, the far left opposition parties tried to bring the situation in Lyon back to the forefront in the Chamber of Deputies. Casimir Perier declared that the revolt had wanted to arm itself "against the freedom of commerce and industry," and affirmed on December 26 that "society will not let itself be threatened with impunity." The cabinet's motion was quickly passed by a large majority, moving on to the day's agenda despite the protests and demand for an enquiry by the far left.
The second revolt
After the failure of the 1831 revolt, the Parisian republicans sent agents to Lyon. They were able to create a large network of underground societies, often working closely with labour associations for silk craftsmen.At the end of 1833, good economic prospects and conditions caused a boom in the Lyonnais silk industry. As a result, the government thought the chances of a second revolt extremely unlikely. The Interior Minister, the Count of Argout
Antoine Maurice Apollinaire d'Argout
Atoine Maurice Apollinaire, Comte d'Argout was a French statesman, minister and governor of the Bank of France.- Life :...
, wrote to the king on September 9, 1833: "I have just received M. Fulchiron, who comes from Lyon. The manufacture is in a state of simply fabulous prosperity. The orders from America are immense. The workers earn 6 to 7 francs per day. This is too much. They are, however, in a state of tranquillity as one may easily conceive."
On February 1, 1834, an attempt by a few hundred Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
revolutionaries from Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
was made to start a republican coup in Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
. D'Argout told the king: "They are Savoyards who have recently come to Grenoble, and a few French republicans. M. Gasparin writes to me that 1,200 inhabitants of Lyon had made plans to support the movement in Savoy should it have succeeded. The republicans skillfully moved to create a revolutionary climate, taking advantage of a salary conflict caused by high worker wages.
In February 1834, owners began to agree that workers' salaries had risen too high, and they began an attempt to impose a reduction. The results of this were conflict and strikes, the leaders of which were arrested and tried
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
. Their trial began on April 5, while the members of Chamber of Peers were discussing a law which would intensify the repression of republican groups. The Republicans managed to amalgamate several political parties to fall within the scope of this law, as did the mutual workers' associations to which Lyon's canuts were very strongly attached. As a result, thousands of craftsmen rebelled on April 9. The leaders proclaimed daily agendas, which they dated not "April 9, 1834," but instead "Germinal
Germinal (French Republican Calendar)
Germinal was the seventh month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word germen, which means germination...
22, year XLII of the Republic," using the French Republican Calendar
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...
.
Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
, the Interior minister, would use a tactic that he would later reuse in 1871 to crush the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
: retreat from the town, abandon it to the insurgents, surround it, then take it back.
On April 10, more fire was exchanged between the insurgents and the troops. The workers took hold of the telegraph office, the Guillotière quarter, and then of the nearby city of Villeurbanne
Villeurbanne
Villeurbanne is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after that of Paris. Villeurbanne is the second-largest city in the department.-History:The current location of...
where military barracks were taken. The black flag was flown over Fourvière
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
, Saint-Nizier
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
and the Antiquaille
Arrondissements of Lyon
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic...
. Fighting continued on April 11; Croix Rousse was bombarded by the recently reinforced military, while revolts started in the more distant cities of Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
and Vienne. On April 12, the troops attacked and re-took the Guillotière quarter, after having destroyed numerous houses with the artillery. On April 14, the army reconquered the town piece by piece, attacking Croix-Rousse for the third time, massacring many workers in the process.
April 15 marked the end of the Sanglante semaine in Lyon, the second canut uprising having been bloodily put down. Conservative estimates put the number of casualties between 100 and 200,
while more liberal estimates put it at over 600. 10,000 captured insurgents were tried in a "gigantic trial" in Paris in April 1835, and were condemned to deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
or heavy prison sentences. The July Monarchy suspected the intrigues of other groups, such as legitimists
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
or Bonapartist
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
s, at work, which accounted for the harsh repression of the revolt.
The third revolt
A third insurrection occurred in 1848. Although it was as violent and was motivated by almost identical worker exploitation, 1848 was a year of revolutionRevolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
all over Europe and it did not acquire the same renown as that of 1831. Indeed, the revolt of 1831 saw international coverage, and was the origin of many other worker revolts of the 19th century.
Consequences of the revolts
The canut revolts caused the emergence of a sense of shared interests in workers' communities. It began an era of social claims, that would be accentuated by the physical and moral distress of the workers in this time of emerging capitalism, as attested by the famous memoirs of doctor Louis René Villermé at the Académie des sciences morales et politiques.They were later the inspiration for the uprising that led to the short lived Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
, which in turn led to much of the socialist, communist and anarchistic philosophies that still reverberate into the 21st century.