Repression Of January And February 1894

The repression of January and February 1894 was an episode of the Ère des attentats (1892–1894), during which France engaged in significant state repression against anarchists. The passage of the lois scélérates ('villainous laws') in December 1893, following the National Assembly bombing, granted French political and police authorities extensive powers to combat anarchists. Using these laws, they launched a large-scale crackdown, employing both legal and extra-legal means to achieve their goals. Thousands of raids and arrests were carried out across France, including its colonies, anarchist newspapers were banned, and a nationwide 'manhunt for anarchists' was declared. The execution of Auguste Vaillant on 5 February 1894—after president Sadi Carnot refused to grant him his pardon—was a defining moment of this repression. It was the most severe repression in France since the Paris Commune (1871).  

Rather than stopping the attacks, this episode radicalized anarchists who evaded arrest—often the most dangerous ones—and drove them to seek revenge through further attacks. Figures like Émile Henry, Désiré Pauwels, and Célestin Nat responded with attacks of varying scope and intensity. On 24 June 1894, Sante Caserio assassinated Sadi Carnot in Lyon. This vicious circle of repression and retaliatory attacks began to draw criticism from some republicans, such as Georges Clemenceau, who brought attention to the issue.

While the repression had limited success for the authorities, the measures influenced other European states, such as Italy and Spain, which adopted similar policies, deporting or arresting thousands of anarchists.

History

Context

In the 19th century, anarchism emerged and took shape in Europe before spreading. Anarchists advocated a struggle against all forms of domination perceived as unjust including economic domination brought forth by capitalism. They were particularly opposed to the State, seen as the organization that legitimized these dominations through its police, army and propaganda.

In France, relations between the authorities and anarchists grew tense due to the severe repression that anarchists faced in the 1880s. After the Fourmies massacre and the Clichy affair (1891), a number of anarchists in France decided to engage in terrorist actions against those they held responsible for the repression they endured, launching the Ère des attentats (1892–1894). One of the first terrorists of this period, François Koenigstein (Ravachol), who targeted the magistrates involved in the Clichy affair, was arrested and sent to the guillotine on 11 July 1892, transforming him into a martyr and hero of the anarchist cause. In December 1893, Auguste Vaillant, seeking revenge for the misery he endured, carried out the National Assembly bombing, throwing a bomb into the chamber without causing any fatalities.

Quickly arrested, this final attack served as a pretext for French authorities to pass the first two lois scélérates ('villainous laws')—a set of repressive laws later joined by a third in late summer 1894—explicitly targeting the anarchist movement. These laws restricted freedom of speech, weakened the presumption of innocence, facilitated police raids, expanded state surveillance, and normalized preventive arrests. Both the authorities and the French press widely promoted the idea that anarchists were part of a vast international conspiracy, using this narrative to justify their repression.

Repression

During this 'hunt for anarchists', the French authorities began compiling lists of individuals to be searched; in Paris alone, more than five hundred names appeared on the list of French anarchists, not including foreigners, who were placed on a separate list. The French Minister of the Interior, David Raynal, requested lists of all individuals who were friends or affiliates of anarchists, even if they were not anarchists themselves. This marked the most repressive action taken by the French Republic since the Paris Commune (1871).

The raids they were about to conduct could be conducted with illegal methods; authorities sometimes planted incriminating evidence in an anarchist’s home before conducting a raid the next morning, 'discovering' the planted evidence, and using it to secure conviction of their targets.

1 and 2 January 1894

On the night of 31 December to 1 January 1894, French police officers were ordered to be on standby. This date was chosen to catch the targeted anarchists off guard and prevent them from preparing for the searches. To maintain the secrecy of the operation, each commissaire received a series of sealed envelopes at 4 A.M. containing the names of those to be raided. They then opened them, took note of the names and addresses, and prepared to launch the operation, expecting to uncover large caches of weapons or explosives.

At 6 A.M., the French police launched hundreds of raids targeting anarchists across France. That day alone, a total of 552 raids were conducted, including 50-60 in Paris. The police raided the home of Élisée Reclus in Sèvres and arrested his seventy years old brother, Élie Reclus, in Paris, though he was released a few hours later. The fact that Reclus was targeted sparked outrage among part of the French intellectual world. The police also raided Jean Grave or Sébastien Faure.

On the same day, other cities were also searched. In Île-de-France, the police carried out similar operations in Puteaux, Nanterre, Courbevoie, Colombes, Sèvres, Asnières, Villeneuve-la-Garenne, and Levallois-Perret. Dozens of searches were also conducted in Lyon and Nice

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