On 12 February 1894, Émile Henry carried out an anarchist attack at the Café Terminus. Initially planning to assassinate Sadi Carnot, the president of the republic, who had just refused to

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

Auguste Vaillant Auguste Vaillant (; 27 December 1861 – 5 February 1894) was a French anarchist known for his bomb attack on the French Chamber of Deputies on 9 December 1893. The French government's reaction to this attack was the passing of the infamous rep ...

, he decided against the attack upon noticing the large number of

police officers A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

stationed around the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

. Instead, he redirected his efforts to the

Café Terminus The Café Terminus was a popular cafe in the late 19th century near the Gare Saint-Lazare, located in Paris, France. It is infamously known as the target of Terminus bombing, a bomb attack by French Anarchist Émile Henry on February 12, 1894. H ...

, where he detonated his

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

, killing one person and injuring 17 others. Émile Henry was arrested at the end of this episode,

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, and

guillotined A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pil ...

three months later. The attack was part of the 1892-1894 period called the Era of Attacks. This was one of the first attacks targeting indiscriminate civilians rather than specific individuals. Some scholars consider it a pivotal event in the emergence of modern terrorism. This bombing, along with other attacks during the Era of Attacks, also marked an early shift in another point of terrorist strategy: instead of targeting specific individuals, it focused on symbolic locations—in this case, the Café Terminus as a stand-in for a precise human target. This shift became a hallmark of modern terrorism but was poorly understood by contemporaries.

History

Context

Henry started his attacks in 1892, during the Carmaux-Bons Enfants bombing. The attacks were seen as part of a campaign of

propaganda of the deed Propaganda of the deed, or propaganda by the deed, is a type of direct action intended to influence public opinion. The action itself is meant to serve as an example for others to follow, acting as a catalyst for social revolution. It is primari ...

. After fleeing to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and then returning to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Henry adopted an illegalist lifestyle. He committed several

robberies Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

before returning to Paris. The news of

Ravachol François Claudius Ravachol (; born Koenigstein; 14 October 1859 – 11 July 1892) was a French illegalist anarchist mainly known for his terrorist activism, impact, the myths developed around his figure and his influence on the anarchist moveme ...

's execution (1892), of the voting of the

Lois scélérates The ''lois scélérates'' ("villainous laws") – a pejorative name – were a set of three French laws passed from 1893 to 1894 under the Third Republic (1870–1940) that restricted the 1881 freedom of the press laws, after several bombings an ...

(1893-1894), and the denial of a

presidential pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

for his attack on the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

(1894) drove Henry to act. He decided to assassinate Sadi Carnot.

Events

After arriving near the

and noticing a heavy police presence, Henry decided not to carry out the attack there. He wandered through Paris for a while before heading to the

, near the

Gare Saint-Lazare The Gare Saint-Lazare (; ), officially Paris Saint Lazare, is one of the seven large mainline List of Paris railway stations, railway station terminals in Paris, France. It was the first railway station built in Paris, opening in 1837. It mostly ...

. There, he chose to detonate the fuse bomb he had brought with him. The explosion injured 17 people and killed one. While attempting to flee, he was caught by one of the café's employees and quickly arrested by the police.

After

Henry was swiftly tried following the events. He was sentenced to death, his appeal was rejected, and within three months, in May 1894, he was guillotined. Sadi Carnot, for his part, was assassinated in June 1894 by

Sante Geronimo Caserio Sante Geronimo Caserio (; 8 September 187316 August 1894) was an Italian baker, Anarchism, anarchist, and Propaganda of the deed, propagandist by the deed. He is primarily known for Assassination of Sadi Carnot, assassinating Sadi Carnot, the sit ...

, another anarchist.

Legacy

The attack is considered significant in the evolution of terrorism, as it was one of the first to indiscriminately target civilians rather than specific, intended targets. It had a lasting impact on terrorist methods and practice.

Analysis

Shift in the scope of terrorism

The Café Terminus bombing, like other attacks during the Era of Attacks (1892-1894) marked the emergence of a terrorist symbolism tied to locations rather than individuals. Karine Salomé writes on this subject:

References

Bibliography

* {{Portal bar, Anarchism, Crime, France 1890s in Paris Murder in Paris Anarchism in France Propaganda of the deed Terminus bombing 1894 murders in France Explosions in 1894 Terrorist incidents in Paris Terrorist incidents in the 1890s February 1894 Building bombings in Paris Restaurant bombings in France 1894 in France