On
Bastille Day 1922, anarchist Gustave Bouvet attempted to assassinate
French President Alexandre Millerand
Alexandre Millerand (; – ) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. His participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the sta ...
.
Background
Gustave Bouvet (1898–1984) was raised in
Angers and moved to Paris as a teenager. He was involved in the Anarchist Youth since his early 20s (1919) and took leadership positions in the Anarchist Federation. Bouvet also wrote for ''
Le Libertaire
''Le Libertaire'' is a Francophone anarchist newspaper established in New York City in June 1858 by the exiled anarchist Joseph Déjacque. It appeared at slightly irregular intervals until February 1861. The title reappeared in Algiers in 1892 a ...
'' under the pseudonym Juvénis and sentenced to ten months' imprisonment for printing and publicly posting a leaflet, "To Young Soldiers", in 1921.
Assassination attempt
On July 14, 1922, the French national holiday of
Bastille Day,
French President Alexandre Millerand
Alexandre Millerand (; – ) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. His participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the sta ...
traveled in procession, returning from a
Longchamps military parade with thousands of troops. As his carriage neared the presidential home, the
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace (french: Palais de l'Élysée; ) is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was built for nobleman and army officer Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had been appointed Gover ...
, on the
Champs Elysees, Gustave Bouvet fired three shots of his revolver at a car, believing it to be the president's. In fact it was the
Prefect of Police In France, a Prefecture of Police (french: Préfecture de police), headed by the Prefect of Police (''Préfet de police''), is an agency of the Government of France under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior. Part of the National Poli ...
. The president rode in an open carriage hundreds of feet behind him. The president's Algerian cavalry
guard of honor surrounded the president for protection.
Police on bicycle pursued the shooter, plucking Bouvet from a crowd that was assaulting him, and returning him to the police station, where his identity and prior imprisonment was ascertained. President Millerand, in the afternoon, traveled to French General
Hubert Lyautey and made him a
Marshal of France
Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...
.
Aftermath
The shooter was sentenced in January 1923 to five years of labor and ten years of
banishment from France. However, he was released two years into the sentence, in January 1925, and was partially paralyzed. He would marry and live for another 59 years.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
{{Portal bar, Anarchism, France
Millerand
July 1922 events
1922 in Paris
Anarchist assassins