The Alleged military conspiracy of 1877, or attempted , was a possible failed coup attempt in France during the May Sixteenth crisis. The aim of the conspirators – led by generals Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot and Gaëtan de Rochebouët – was to keep the Ordre moral government in power. Lacking the support of Marshal de Mac Mahon, who remained committed to the law, this military plot would have remained at the project stage. However, it was widely exploited by the Republicans to undermine the monarchists' credentials and stigmatize the social conservatism of the French army's leaders. In fact, between January 1878 and February 1879, the generals suspected of having taken part in the preparations for the putsch were purged, prompting Mac Mahon to resign.
Context: May 16th
Opening the crisis The events took place against a turbulent political backdrop. The legislative elections of 1876 had been won by a republican majority, while the president of the republic, Marshal de Mac Mahon, was a staunch monarchist. Faced with a restive Chamber of Deputies intent on imposing its demands and putting an end to the Ordre Moral policy, the Marshal refused to back down. Since he did not support the measures taken by to combat Ultramontanism, he dismissed it on May 16, 1877. From then on, the situation escalated: left-wing deputies met to sign , which condemned the attitude of the president, who appointed Duke Albert de Broglie as head of government. Although the latter was not an intransigent monarchist – a liberal Catholic and Orleanist – he was unable to win the approval of the Chamber of Deputies.(fr) Emmanuel Cherrier, "Seize-Mai 1877: est-ce un coup d'état?", in Le Seize-mai revisité, Publications de l'Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion, coll. "Histoire et littérature du Septentrion (IRHiS)", April 8, 2018 (, read online archive), pp. 17-36.
With the break between Versailles and the Élysée complete, on June 22, 1877, the Marshal obtained the consent of the Senate to dissolve the Chamber in accordance with the constitutional laws of 1875. The monarchists and republicans threw all their weight into the electoral battle, with Minister Oscar Bardi de Fourtou taking firm control of the administration to ensure the victory of the conservatives. Nevertheless, the October 1877 legislative elections were won by the Republicans, although they lost several dozen seats compared to 1876.(fr) Jean-Marc Guislin, "La crise du Seize-Mai, cent trente ans après: Présentation de la journée", in Le Seize-mai revisité, Publications de l'Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion, coll. "Histoire et littérature du Septentrion (IRHiS)", April 8, 2018 (, read online archive), pp. 13-16.
Formation of the Rochebouët cabinet
Faced with an impasse, Patrice de Mac Mahon decided to call on one of his close friends, General de Rochebouët, to form a new government. He had previously considered forming a "military cabinet" with General Félix Charles Douay in charge of war and General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot in charge of the interior, but having given up on bringing the army into the political arena in this way, he ruled out this possibility. By appointing Rochebouët as President of the council, Mac Mahon reaffirmed his respect for institutions and seemed to be forming a transitional government, thus ruling out the idea of a .
However, once Rochebouët was in office, the temptation of a coup stirred the military high command, as it had a few years before.
The "Saint-Arnaud of the Restoration"
The temptation of a faced by Gaétan de Rochebouët's government was not new during the Third Republic. As early as 1871, General Nicolas Changarnier offered his services to restore order and establish an authoritarian monarchical regime. According to the historian François Bédarida, Changarnier "burned to be the Saint-Arnaud of a monarchical restoration". General Changarnier was unable to carry out his plans to "clean up" Versailles, as he was repeatedly rebuffed by the very legalistic Patrice de Mac Mahon. His death in February 1877(fr) Adolphe Robert and Gaston Cougny (dir.), Dictionnaire des parlementaires français: comprenant tous les membres des assemblées françaises et tous les ministres français depuis le 1er mai 1789 jusqu'au 1er mai 1889, avec leurs noms, état civil, états de service, actes politiques, votes parlementaires, etc., t. II: Cay - Fes, Paris, E. Bourloton, 1890 (repr. 2000), 1st ed. 1 vol. 640, in-8o (24 cm) (read online archive), p. 39-41 also prevented him from participating in the possible preparations for December 1877.
However, a number of generals shared General Changarnier's concerns and disapproved of the president's political maneuvers, which they considered too pusillanimous. General du Barail, for example, wrote in his memoirs that in order to be successful in Seize Mai, he would have acted "by not looking back, by throwing away the scabbard from which the sword had been drawn, by marching straight and fast. In his view, the 363 signatories of the manifesto should have been arrested as soon as the House adjourned, since they no longer enjoyed parliamentary immunity. A strict application of censorship would then have made it possible to prepare for the elections, with newspapers "kept within the bounds of civility and polite discussion".
Development
General Ducrot's campaigns
General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot was one of the key figures in the military conspiracy. Throughout the May 16th crisis, this staunch Legitimist – he had been elected on that ticket in 1871 – sought to overthrow the Third Republic in order to restore the Comte de Chambord to the French throne.
He first came to prominence in the summer of 1877, when conservative newspapers, led by the Bonapartist dailies Le Figaro and Le Pays, called for a . A journalist using the pseudonym Saint-Genest, , published editorials sharply criticizing the passivity of the Minister of War, General Berthaut, in the face of the unrest fomented by the Republicans. Le Moniteur universel quickly accused General Ducrot of having inspired these articles, sparking off a veritable polemic and forcing the Ministry of Armed Forces to issue a denial in a note published in the Journal Officiel, stressing that its "spirit of duty and discipline [...] is too well known for such allegations to be believed" and sentencing Bucheron (who was a reserve lieutenant) to 30 days' imprisonment.
In November 1877, Ducrot again played a central role: it was he who proposed to Mac Mahon the formation of a military cabinet in which he would receive the interior portfolio. When this combination failed, General Ducrot informed Gaëtan de Rochebouët, then commander of the 18th Corps, that the president had asked him to form the new cabinet and that Rochebouët had been summoned to Paris on November 18. He urged Rochebouët to accept, setting as a precondition "that you be allowed to make any changes in the ministerial staff and the garrisons of Paris and Versailles that you deem indispensable, under your responsibility," as a means of bypassing Mac Mahon. After Rochebouët's appointment, the new president of the council called General Joseph de Miribel to his side as chief of the general staff. Since Miribel was Ducrot's former chief of staff, Henri Brisson's report concluded that "[Rochebouët] asked Ducrot not only for inspiration but also for collaborators. The newspaper Le Temps agreed, noting that Ducrot "seems to have a certain influence in the Ministry of War.
Conspiracy of December 1877
Military arrangements Inspired by General Ducrot, a possible military conspiracy may have been orchestrated by the Minister of War and his Chief of Staff in December 1877. However, information on this subject is fragmentary, making it difficult to form an overall picture of military preparations. Documents and facts related to unusual orders are as followsː
Gaëtan de Rochebouët did not appoint a general to succeed him at the head of the 18th Corps for the duration of his government. This unusual measure could be a prelude to a large-scale movement by the generals to prepare a coup, or it could simply be explained by Rochebouët's desire to return to his duties as soon as his "transitional" government was over (which was exactly what happened after December 13). On November 27 and 28, "confidential instructions" from Rochebouët reached General Lallemand (15th Corps, Marseille) and General Bourbaki (14th Corps, Lyon): the former was to "bring back weapons belonging to private individuals to Fort Saint-Jean", while the latter asked for a state of siege to be declared. On November 28, a 24-pounder cannon was sent to Versailles, causing a stir. On December 5, Rochebouët informed Bourbaki that "the troublemakers would be aware of the orders given to [his] chefs de corps. In the event of disturbances, [his] confidential instructions would not be kept secret" and asked Ducrot to "prohibit all movements of division generals, except by ministerial order," in accordance with the verbal instructions Ducrot had already received from him. On December 9, the 5th Corps (Orléans) asked the sub-prefects of the region to send two days' worth of mobilization supplies to the barracks. These measures were also taken by other corps, such as the 12th Corps (Limoges). On December 10, Rochebouët summoned all the regional commanding generals to Paris. On December 11, Ducrot met with Rochebouët. There, according to Henri Brisson, "the final decisions were taken". On December 13, General Bressolles gave instructions to his men "in case of disturbances in the city". On the same day, Rochebouet informed the 18th Corps that he was returning to take command and that "all preparations for departure should be halted".
It also appears that orders were being prepared for all corps units to leave in the event of a . Colonel Théodore Fix, Chief of Staff of the 1st Infantry Division, wrote in his memoirs that he discovered these orders a few months later when he accidentally opened a confidential envelope. According to Captain Bernard Lamarque, a Bonapartist cavalry colonel had received orders to arrest the Duc de Chartres (a member of the House of Orléans), who was then chef de corps in the same division as himself.
Incident in Limoges (December 13th)
On December 13, 1877, the commander of the 14th infantry regiment, stationed in Limoges, summoned his officers to inform them of General Antoine-Aubin Bressolles's instructions "in case of disturbances in the city". Major Jean-Marie-Arthur Labordère, outraged, told his superior that "[a coup] is a crime; I will not be an accomplice [...]. I will not play the role reserved for me in this criminal attempt". On December 31, he was dismissed as a result of this insubordination.
According to the Major's own account, collected for the Brisson report, "none of us could or did doubt that it was a and that we would have to take up arms that very night". In March 1878, following the publication of the report, the republicans reinstated the major in active service, while General Bressolles himself was placed on leave, accused of having exceeded his orders and "transformed measures of foresight into measures of execution".
However, the historian Xavier Boniface believes that Labordère's fears were no longer justified, since on December 13, the military plot had been definitively ruled out and Gaëtan de Rochebouët's government had decided to leave office.
Army loyalty