Early life

Déroulède was born in Paris. He was published first as a poet in the magazine Revue nationale, with the pseudonym "Jean Rebel". In 1869 he produced, at the Théâtre Français, a one-act drama in verse named Juan Strenner.

Military career

At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

 he enlisted as a private, but was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Sedan

Battle of Sedan

The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War on 1 September 1870. It resulted in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and large numbers of his troops and for all intents and purposes decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, though fighting continued under a new French...

. He was sent to Breslau (now Wrocław), but escaped. He then served with generals Antoine Chanzy and Charles Denis Bourbaki

Charles Denis Bourbaki

Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki was a French general.He was born at Pau, the son of Greek colonel Constantin Denis Bourbaki, who died in the War of Independence in 1827...

, participated with the latter's disastrous retreat to Switzerland, and fought against 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...

. After being promoted to lieutenant, he was forced by an accident to retire from the army.

Early publications

In 1872, he published a collection of patriotic poems (Chants du soldat), which enjoyed great popularity. This was followed in 1875 by another collection, Nouveaux Chants du soldat. In 1877 he produced a drama in verse named L'Hetman, which derived a moderate success from the patriotic fervour of its sentiments. For the exhibition of 1878 he wrote a hymn, Vive la France, which was set to music by Charles Gounod

Charles Gounod

Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...

. In 1880 his drama in verse, La Moabite, which had been accepted by the Théâtre Français, was censored

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

 for religious reasons.

Political life

In 1882 Déroulède, along with the historian Henri Martin and Félix Faure

Félix Faure

Félix François Faure was President of France from 1895 until his death.-Biography:Félix François Faure was born in Paris, the son of a small furniture maker...

, founded the Ligue des patriotes, to promote France's "revanche" against Germany. Déroulède served initially as the deputy to vice-president Faure, and the league quickly attained a membership of 182,000, a relatively large number for the time. Déroulède eventually became the president of the league, in March 1885. The league sought education reforms intended to increase patriotism among French students, but when those reforms were ignored by the French legislature Déroulède began to despair of "parliamentarism" as a method of reform. After losing an election for the Chamber of Deputies in 1885, Déroulède decided that the parliamentary system adopted from Britain had sapped France of its vitality and virtue, and should be replaced by a presidential republic with the cabinet appointed by and responsible to a popularly elected president. Déroulède thus became a champion of constitutional revision and hoped to use the league as an organization to promote the cause among republican patriots. After the rise of General Georges Boulanger, Déroulède attempted to use the Ligue des Patriotes, until then a non-political organization, to assist his cause, but was deserted by many of the league's members and forced to resign his presidency. Nevertheless he used the section that remained faithful to him with such effect that the government found it necessary in 1889 to decree its suppression.

During the same year, he was elected to the chamber as member for Angoulême

Angoulême

-Main sights:In place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards above the old city walls, known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often narrow. Apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the...

. He was expelled from the chamber in 1890 for interrupting debates. He did not campaign for the election of 1893, but was re-elected in 1898, and distinguished himself by his vehemence as a nationalist and anti-Dreyfusard

Dreyfus Affair

The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...

. After the funeral of President Félix Faure, on 23 February 1899, he endeavoured to persuade General Gaudérique Roget to send his troops to Paris. After the general and his troops first ignored and then dismissed Déroulède, he demanded to be arrested for treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

. During his trial, Déroulède declared that if released he would continue his insurrectionary activity. He was triumphantly acquitted on 31 May, and on 12 August was again arrested and accused, together with André Buffet, Jules Guérin

Jules Guérin

Jules Guérin was the founder and leader of the French Ligue Antisemitique, an organisation similar to the Ligue des Patriotes. The Ligue was involved in many anti-semitic and anti-Dreyfus protests during the Dreyfus Affair. Guérin was indicted, with Déroulède and his Ligue de Patriotes for...

 and others, of conspiracy against the republic. After a long trial before the French Senate serving as the high court, he was sentenced, on 25 January 1900, to ten years' banishment from France, and retired to San Sebastián

San Sebastián

Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...

 in Spain.

As a member of the chamber Paul Déroulède was an opponent of colonialism

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

, believing that it distracted from more pressing foreign policy issues in Europe, especially German control of Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 and Lorraine

Lorraine (région)

Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...

. As he stated; 'I have lost two sisters and you offer me twenty servants."

Déroulède was also an Anglophile, believing that an alliance or agreement with Britain was essential for defending France against Germany and enabling the recapture of Alsace-Lorraine. His opposition to colonialism can also be seen as being associated with a desire for France not to alienate the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 by competing with it for foreign colonies.

While Déroulède was not an anti-Semite, he was the principal proponent of the anti-Semitic nationalist movement and suffered the dilemma of trying decrease the anti-Semitism of the league during the Dreyfus Affair. After his banishment to Spain, the league became thoroughly anti-Semitic.

During 1901, he was again publicized by a quarrel with his Royalist allies, which resulted in an abortive attempt to arrange a duel

Duel

A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

 with Buffet in Switzerland. In November 1905, however, the law of amnesty

Amnesty

Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...

 enabled him to return to France.

When Déroulède died in January 1914 his funeral procession in Paris attracted the largest crowds since that of the national hero Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....

.

Déroulède's recommendation for a presidential republic with the cabinet appointed by and responsible to a popularly elected president was the basis of the French Fifth Republic

French Fifth Republic

The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...

 introduced by Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....

 during the 1950s.

Other publications

Besides the works already mentioned, he published the following:

• Le Sergent, in the Théâtre de campagne (1880)
• De l'éducation nationale (1882)
• Monsieur le Uhlan et les trois couleurs (1884)
• Le Premier grenadier de France (1886)
• La Tour d'auvergne (1886)
• Le Livre de Ia ligue des patriotes (1887)
• Refrains militaires (1888)
• Histoire d'amour (1890)
• a pamphlet entitled Désarmement? (1891)
• Chants du paysan (1894)
• Poésies Militaires (1896)
• Messire du Guesclin
  Bertrand du Guesclin
  Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...
  
  , drame en vers (1895)
• La mort de Hoche. (1897)
• La Plus belle fille du monde (1898).