Fordham


IHSP

Modern History


Full Texts Multimedia Search Help


Selected Sources Sections Studying History Reformation Early Modern World Everyday Life Absolutism Constitutionalism Colonial North America Colonial Latin America Scientific Revolution Enlightenment Enlightened Despots American Independence French Revolution Industrial Revolution Romanticism Conservative Order Nationalism Liberalism 1848 Revolutions 19C Britain British Empire History 19C France 19C Germany 19C Italy 19C West Europe 19C East Europe Early US US Civil War US Immigration 19C US Culture Canada Australia & New Zealand 19C Latin America Socialism Imperialism Industrial Revolution II Darwin, Freud, Einstein 19C Religion World War I Russian Revolution Age of Anxiety Depression Fascism Nazism Holocaust World War II Bipolar World US Power US Society Western Europe Since 1945 Eastern Europe Since 1945 Decolonization Asia Since 1900 Africa Since 1945 Middle East Since 1945 20C Latin America Modern Social Movements Post War Western Thought Religion Since 1945 Modern Science Pop Culture 21st Century
IHSP Credits
Modern History Sourcebook:
Léon Gambetta (1838-82):
The Belleville Manifesto, 1869

Gambetta was a republican leader who opposed Napoleon III's "Second Empire". He took part in the provisional government after the overthrow of the Empire following the defeat by Prussia in 1870.  After 1871 he was a major figure in the evolution of the Third Republic, and served as premier in 1881-82. 

The Electors:

In the name of universal suffrage, the basis of every political and social organization, we instruct our deputy to reaffirm the principles of radical democracy and to demand with vigor:

(1) The most radical application of universal suffrage; (2) Repartitioning of constituencies according to the actual number of electors entitled to vote; (3) Individual liberty to be in future protected by the law and not left at the mercy of arbitrary administrators; (4) Trial by jury for every kind of political offense; (5) Complete freedom of the press unrestricted by stamp-duty and caution-money;  (6) Freedom of meeting without let or hindrance, with liberty to discuss all religious, philosophical, political, and social affairs; (7) Separation of church and state; (8) Free, compulsory, secular primary education; (9) Election of all public fonctionnaires; (10) Abolition of privileges and monopolies; (11) That economic reforms be connected with the social problem. Indeed, this principle alone, put into general application, can cause social antagonism to disappear and give complete reality to our slogan: Liberté, Equalité, Fraternité!

Gambetta's Reply:

Citizen electors---I accept this mandate. On these conditions I shall be especially proud to represent you because this election will have been conducted in conformity with the true principles of universal suffrage. The electors will have freely chosen their candidate. The electors will have determined the political program of their delegate. This method seems to me at once right and in line with the traditions of the early days of the French Revolution. I therefore in my turn adhere freely to the declaration of principles and the rightful claims which you commission me to press at the tribune.

With you, I think that there is no other sovereign but the people, and that universal suffrage, the instrument of this sovereignty, has no value and basis and carries no obligation, unless it be radically free. The most urgent reform must therefore be to free universal suffrage from every tutelage, every shackle, every pressure, every corruption. With you, I think that universal suffrage, once made the master, would suffice to sweep away all the things which your program demands, and to establish all the freedoms, all the institutions which we are seeking to bring about. With you, I think that France, the home of indestructible democracy, will know liberty, peace, order, justice, material prosperity, and moral greatness only through the triumph of the principles of the French Revolution. With you, I think that a legal and loyal democracy is the political system par excellence which achieves most promptly and certainly the moral and material emancipation of the greatest number, and best ensures social equality in laws, actions, and customs.

But, with you also, I consider that the progressive achievement of these reforms depends absolutely on the political regime and on political reforms, and it is for me axiomatic in these matters that the form involves and determines the substance. It is, furthermore, this sequence and order of priority which our fathers have indicated and fixed in the profound and comprehensive slogan beyond which there is no safety: liberty, equality, fraternity. We are thus in mutual agreement. Our contract is completed. I am at once your delegate and your trustee. I go further than signifying agreement. I give you my vow: I swear obedience to this present contract and fidelity to the sovereign people.

 


Source:


This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.

Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.

© Paul Halsall, July 1998



The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of  Fordham University, New York. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University.  Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.

© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 11 March 2024 [CV]