Armand-Elzéar Gauthier de l'Aude (28 September 1850,

Fitou Fitou (; oc, Fitor) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population Wine Fitou has a red wine appellation; see Fitou AOC. See also * Corbières AOC * Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the ...

– 10 May 1926,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

) was a French politician. He was also known as Elzéar Gauthier. In 1886, he was elected to the General Council of the Aude, where he represented the canton of Sigean for 40 years, holding the Presidency of the Council from 1901 to 1902, 1905 to 1906, and 1908 to 1921. In 1894, he was elected Senator of Aude, and held the position until 1926. He was a member of the Democratic Left. In the Rouvier Ministry he became Minister of Public Works, then Minister of the Navy in the first

Doumergue Doumergue may refer to: *François Doumergue (1858–1938), French naturalist **Doumergue's fringe-fingered lizard, a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae **Doumergue's skink, a species of skink in the family Scincidae *Gaston Doumergue (1863 ...

ministry from 20 March to 3 June 1914, and again in the first Viviani Cabinet, from 13 June to 3 August 1914. In the fraught atmosphere of the Crisis he forgot to deploy torpedo boats into the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

. He then quarreled with

War Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Adolphe Messimy Adolphe Marie Messimy (31 January 1869 – 1 September 1935) was a French politician and general. He served as Minister of War in 1911–12 and then again for a few months during the outbreak of and first three weeks of the First World War. Havi ...

, who was keen to use the Navy to bring the Colonial Corps from North Africa to France. Gauthier wanted to redeem his reputation by using the French Navy to attack the German warships '' Goeben'' and '' Breslau'', currently in the Mediterranean, before Germany and France were actually at war. He challenged Messimy to a duel on 2 August, but eventually embraced him tearfully and was persuaded to resign on grounds of health on 3 August, the day of the declaration of war of Germany on France.Tuchman 1962, p. 149-50

References

Sources

* *"Armand Gauthier", in ''Dictionnaire des parlementaires français (1889-1940)'', Jean Jolly (ed.), PUF, 1960 1850 births 1926 deaths French Naval Ministers French Senators of the Third Republic Democratic Republican Alliance politicians People from Aude Senators of Aude {{Aude-politician-stub