Marius Plateau (8 July 1886,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 22 January 1923, Paris) was a French engineer, WWI sergeant, and royalist militant. Plateau was an editor of the far-right journal of ''

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

'' and a former secretary general of the

Camelots du Roi The King's Camelots, officially the National Federation of the King's Camelots () was a far-right youth organization of the French militant royalist and integralist movement Action Française active from 1908 to 1936. It is best known for taking ...

. In 1923, Plateau was assassinated by the French anarchist

Germaine Berton Germaine Berton (7 June 1902, in Puteaux – 6 July 1942, in Paris) was a French anarchist and trade unionist. She is known for the murder of Marius Plateau, an editor for the Action Française journal and a leader in the royalist organisation Ca ...

, who was later acquitted.

Biography

Marius Plateau was born on 8 July 1886 in Paris. Plateau first entered politics in 1908 when he began selling the ''

Revue d'Action Française A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...

'' newspaper, only a few weeks following its inception.Jacques Bariéty (préf. Jacques Droz), Paris, Editions Pedone, 1977, 797 p. (, ), p. 343 Plateau was involved in the second Thalamas affair, an effort to disrupt the teachings of Amédée Thalamas at the Sorbonne, following his ascension as a delegate to the Camelots du Roi. On 10 February 1909 Plateau, along with other delegates from ''Action Francaise'', proclaimed “Thank you! It will put in my heart a little more hatred for your Republic," amongst other criticisms of the professor. This resulted in him being sentenced to two months in prison. In October 1909, Plateau was appointed the Secretary General of the Camelots du Roi. In 1910, he, alongside the Camelots du Roi provided flood relief to families affected by the Great Flood of Paris. In 1911, Plateau was arrested for a demonstration against President Armand Fallières. That same year, he formed the ''National Federation of Camelots du Roi,'' unifying multiple smaller sects of the Camelots du Roi. He then became secretary general of '' Action Francaise''. Marius Plateau served as a sergeant during World War I, receiving a commendation for "exemplary courage" stating: Plateau left the military having sustained long-term

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

and was left partially deaf.

Assassination and burial

On 22 January 1923 Germaine Berton, a French

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, shot and killed Plateau with a revolver at the ''Action Francaise'' headquarters. Berton declared at her trial, "I considered

Daudet Daudet is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the surname * Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897), French novelist * Célimène Daudet (born 1977), French classical pianist * Ernest Daudet (1837–1921), French journ ...

and Maurras responsible for the

occupation of the Ruhr The occupation of the Ruhr () was the period from 11 January 1923 to 25 August 1925 when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region of Weimar Republic Germany. The occupation of the heavily industrialized Ruhr district came in respons ...

" for her reason for the assassination. Berton had originally planned to assassinate Léon Daudet or Charles Maurras but neither were present at the time of the shooting. Plateau's assistant, Ernest Berger, attempted to assist Plateau after he was shot. Despite confessing, Berton was acquitted of the assassination on 24 December 1923. ''Action Française'' denounced the verdict as a "crime of the jury". Following Plateau's death, Germaine's lover Armand Gohary was found to have committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

and a senior police officer involved in the case, Joseph Dumas, was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Action Française claimed the assassination was part of a larger "

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

–

Bolshevist The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolshevik party, formally established in 19 ...

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and called for the mobilization of

. This led to the vandalization of the printing press of the ''

L'Œuvre ''(The Masterpiece)' is the fourteenth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by Émile Zola. It was first serialized in the periodical '' Gil Blas'' beginning in December 1885 before being published in novel form by Charpentier in 1886. Th ...

'' newspaper on the evening of Plateau's death. According to the newspaper ''

Le Populaire ''Le Populaire'' is a major independent daily newspaper in Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal ...

'': "Violence and murder have struck the house 'Action françaisewhere the call to violence is daily and where political assassination is glorified" (a few days before, one person had died following a riot by the Camelots du Roi). In ''Revue d'Action Française'', Robert Havard de La Montagne stated that "certain acts of violence are necessary and noble". The assassination led to an increased solidarity within ''Action Française'', with

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aqui ...

writing to Charles Maurras: "The idea of the dangers you are running makes even dearer to the hearts of all those who love France and intelligence". On the day of Plateau's burial, sculptor and future leader of Camelots du Roi,

Maxime Real del Sarte Maxime Real del Sarte (May 2, 1888 – February 15, 1954) was a French sculptor and political activist. Biography Early life Maxime Real del Sarte was born on 2 May 1888 in Paris, France, as the son of the sculptor Louis Desire Real and Marie ...

commemorated the ''Monument to Marius Plateau'' in the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

Vaugirard The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the left bank of the River Seine. S ...

. During the burial, a crowd of tens of thousands of people rushed the Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou church; in the crowd were

Maurice Barrès Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist, philosopher, and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work ''The Cult of the S ...

and

Henry de Montherlant Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Biography Born in Paris, a descendant of ...

Tributes

In 1930, members of ''Action française'' founded the

Marius Plateau Association Marius may refer to: People * Marius (name), a male given name, a Roman clan name and family name, and a modern name or surname *Gaius Marius (–86 BC), Roman statesman, seven times consul. * Marcus Aurelius Marius, emperor of the Gallic Empire, ...

, an organization for former members of ''Action Française''. Guy Steinbach led to the organization until his death in 2013.

References

{{Authority control 1886 births 1923 deaths Assassinated French politicians Deaths by firearm in France French monarchists French prisoners and detainees People affiliated with Action Française Politicians assassinated in the 1920s Prisoners and detainees of France