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L'invention d'une tradition républicaine : la séquence 1848-1851 dans le département de la Drôme

Pierre Gaudin and Claire Reverchon

Abstracts

The department of Drôme was created in 1790, when the province of Dauphiné was partitioned. By the middle of the XIXth century, Drôme's population was mostly rural. The largest cities, Valence and Montélimar, were trading cities, living from road and river. The main industrial activity was silk's industry. Laboring population was gathered in some towns. The Revolution of february 1848 did not bring any excitment. The 23 July's general election saw the election of the "Monarchie de Juillet" political leaders, who joined the moderate Republic. On december 10th 1848, the presidential election was a real plebiscite for Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. But in may 1849, the Montagne's republicans won the election by an overwheiming majority : in a matter of a few weeks, Drôme has become a "red" department. This spectacular turnabout cannot be explained only by the agricultural risis : historical tradition (legacy from the revolutionary period presence of a strong protestant minority) must be considered. When the december 1851's "coup d'État" was announced, 15 to 20 000 republicans rose up arms, and a violent struggle took place nearby Crest. During the ensuing repression, the so-called "Commission mixte" (special court) pronounced many sentences of prison or transportation. The upheaval of political mentalities has been particularily strong in the center, medium-mountains part of the department, where occured the strongest movements in december 1851. Remembrance of the december 1851's insurrection over-shadows in Drôme's department any historical awarness of the Second Republic. This remembrance is not contained to the historians and political circles, but stays deeply alive among a part of the population, impregnating mental attitudes and behaviors, as can testify a survey conducted between 1978 and 1982. This survey did not looked for any "historical truth", but tried to bring to light interpretations, oblivions, uses and reminders, and to understand what role an historical memory can play in cultural identity and relationship to the world.

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Index terms

Mots-clés :

Seconde République

Chronologique:

XIXe siècle
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References

Electronic reference

Pierre Gaudin and Claire Reverchon, “L'invention d'une tradition républicaine : la séquence 1848-1851 dans le département de la Drôme”Cahiers d'histoire [Online], 43-2 | 1998, Online since , connection on 28 March 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ch/177; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/ch.177

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Copyright

The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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