Revolt vine growers of Languedoc in 1907

In 1907, in the Languedoc and in Catalan country, of many vine growers revolted against the French government. This vast movement of demonstrations is the fruit of a wine serious attack to the beginning of the 20th century.

This movement is also called revolt of the gueux . It was in particular marked by the fraternization of the 17 {{E}} regiment of infantry of line with the demonstrators, with Béziers.

The Languedocien vineyard before the crisis of 1907

An old vine growing

The Vigne is cultivated in Languedoc since the Romans. It was maintained with the Moyen-âge, in particular thanks to the monasteries. However, the agricultural activities were primarily based on cereals, like the breeding (mainly the Ovin S) and the culture of the olive-tree.

The vine growing develops at the 18th century thanks to the creation of the port of Sète and the completion of the Canal of the South. The wine can be more easily transported towards new markets. One improves also the techniques of conservation of the wine. The day before the French revolution, approximately 50% of the grounds are covered with vine around Béziers.

In 1853, the railroad arrives to Languedoc and makes it possible the Languedocien vine growing to widen its outlets, in particular north and is France, areas industrial where the workmen sacrifice a considerable share of their wages in the purchase of wine, and in the great French agglomerations (Paris and its suburbs, Lyon and the Rhone-native corridor…).

Microscopic enemies

At the 19th century, the French vine growing faces several crises: the Oïdium, which is spread in the neighborhoods of 1850 by attacking the vineleaves as well as the fruits, then the Phylloxéra in 1877, and at the end of the 19th century, the Mildiou, another mushroom which is fixed on the back of the sheets. It produces on the surface of those of the oily reflections which involve their fall in an early way while weakening the stock. Thanks to " Pulp of Bordeaux " , mixing Copper sulfate to lime, and the introduction of American seedlings, used as understocks naturally resistant to will phylloxéra, the vine is completely regenerated.

Whereas everywhere else, especially in the North-West, the surface planted in vines is in regression (the Norman vineyard, for example, disappears), it increases in the departments of the Aude, Gard, Herault and the Eastern Pyrenees. To them four, they provide 40% of the French production of wine.

High Languedoc, and more particularly the Biterrois and Béziers, autoproclamée " World capital of the vin" , grows rich quickly. Great fortunes are formed. Land great landowners, resulting from industry, finance or liberal professions, have immense fields of several tens of Hectares.

Red South

The wine development of High Languedoc benefits many small holders. Some have another trade and thus have an auxiliary income drawn from the vine. In the Biterrois, there exist many family small-scale farmings which live vine growing. They see their benefit following rising curve.

The vine growing gets many induced employment, farm laborers, wet coopers, manufacturers of Engrais, tools, machines, but also in transport and the trade. The small holders must organize themselves for better running out their production. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the Biterrois, some of them found co-operatives.

1905: construction of the Cooperative wine cave of Maraussan, in the west of Béziers. The idea germinated since 1901 and under the impulse of a Limonadier Biterrois, Elie Cathala accustomed of the distribution systems. What was not at the beginning which a marketing cooperative becomes a co-operative of wine making for the co-operating wine growers. In the month of May 1905, the cellar receives the visit of Jean Jaurès. Following Maraussan, other cooperative wine caves will be built in Languedoc, Roussillon and in the other French wine-producing areas, in Provence as in the Of Bordeaux one.

A large majority of these " small vignerons" co-operators of Languedoc and Roussillon are of sensitivity socialist, even communist (shared production equipments and benefit of the sale, basic principle of the cooperative wine caves), thus forming a " Rouge" midday;. The majority of the town councilors, resulting from rural communes or the wine medium, are the political representatives of this " Rouge" midday;.

Political bonds link the vine growers and farm laborers of Languedoc to the working classes of France of north and the east.

Crisis of the beginning of the 20th century

Crisis of overproduction

Years 1902 and 1903 had known the weak harvests, which had with meteorology: 35 to 40 million Hectolitre S. the courses are then of 16 francs, then of 24 francs the hectolitre.

In 1904 and 1905, always because of meteorology, harvests are extremely abundant in all Europe: the rise of production is of 96 % in France, of 48 % in Spain, of 16 % in Italy, three principal European producers. Whereas the threshold of price-cutting is at 50 million hectolitres, the production is of 69 million. The production is maintained with an elevated level the following years: 58 million hectolitres in 1905,52 in 1906,66 in 1907. The price of the hectolitre of wine passes to 6 or 7 francs.

The Languedocien wine is sold more and more badly. The heavy crops make inflate stocks become impossible to run out. In the purlin supports, one sells even the wine “per hour”: one pays and one drinks all the wine which one wants… or which one can drink!

Since 1905, a demonstration gathers 15 000 people with Béziers.

Adulterated increased competition and wines

To this crisis of overproduction, is added foreign competition (Spain and Italy has they also surpluses to run out), and that of the Algerian wines.

Moreover, the market is partly occupied by wines worked out starting from imported dried grapes (standard grapes of Corinth), of chaptalized or even elaborate “wet” wines known as (lengthened water), without grape. If the vine growers attach a great importance to this unfair competition, which exists, it does not represent more than 5% of the market.

Events of 1907

The committee of Argeliers

1907, the crisis is there. The small wine growers are ruined, the farm laborers are with unemployment. There is a effect domino on all the population, the ruin of the vine growers involves that of the tradesmen and other trade associations, misery reign on all the littoral. The grape harvest of 1906 is not sold. In February 1907, a tax strike starts with Baixas.

March 11th, 1907, the signal of the revolt is given by a group of vine growers of Minervois, in the village of Argeliers. They are carried out by Marcellin Albert which founds the wine Defense committee or Comité of Argeliers . It organizes a walk, with 87 vine growers, towards Narbonne, to have an interview with a parliamentary commission.

Every Sunday, of the meetings and the demonstrations is organized.

Great demonstrations

The movement accelerates and gains in scope:

March 31st: five to six hundred demonstrators with Bize-Minervois. The deputy and minister Albert Sarraut resign;
April 7th: thousand demonstrators with Ouveillan;
April 14th: some thousands of demonstrators with Coursan;
April 21st: ten to fifteen thousand with Capestang;
April 28th: twenty thousand demonstrators with Lézignan-Corbières;
May 5th, one counts 100.000 people with Narbonne where the army makes fire on the demonstrators (there are two died);
on May 12th, they are hundred to a hundred and fifty thousand on the alleys Paul Riquet and at Field-of-March with Béziers, where the army fraternizes with crowd (the 17 {{E}} regiment of infantry of line). On the streamers carried by the vine growers one could read: “Victory or death! ”, “Died with the defrauders”, “Enough of word, the acts”, “the bread or Death” or “To live while working or to die as a combatant”. The demonstrators came of more than 200 communes of the area and they were joined by many employees and tradesmen of the city. The demonstration is enclosed by the speeches made by Marcellin Albert and the mayor of Béziers, Emile Suchon, speeches made on the place of the Citadel (today Jean-Jaurès). There were some light incidents at the time of the call to the dispersion of the demonstrators. ;
on May 19th: nearly two hundred and thousand demonstrators with Perpignan, where the wine growers set fire to the Prefecture;
on May 26th: more than two hundred and thousand demonstrators with Carcassonne;
on June 2nd: three hundred and thousand demonstrators with Nimes;
on June 9th, at least a half-million in Montpellier. It is the largest manifestation of the third Republic: the bishop, Mgr of Cabrières, makes open the doors of the cathedral of Montpellier and those of the churches of the city to allow the wine growers strikers to spend the night there. The royalists support the movement actively, as well as the radical . Only the socialist party is anxious aspect collate fight. All Languedoc seems to league against Clemenceau, president of the Council. The revolt vigneronne does not weaken, and gathers all the political tendencies;
on June 10th, of many Languedocien elected officials resigns to protest against the absence of solution suggested by the government. Clemenceau counts on a rotting and breathlessness of the revolt. It wrongly: 600 mayors will announce their resignation, of which the socialist mayor of Narbonne, Ernest Ferroul, which supported the combat carried out by Marcellin Albert, after being itself been wary about it in the beginning. It will carry out the sling of the elected officials;
on June 19th, Ernest Ferroul is arrested in the small hour in its residence with Narbonne by the 139e regiment of cuirassiers, and is imprisoned in Montpellier. The news of the programmed arrest of all the members of the Committee of Argeliers puts fire at the powders. Incidents burst during all the day, then about the evening, in general confusion, the cavalry shoots at crowd. There are two died, of which a 14 year old teenager;
the following day June 20th, the tension still goes up. Following new scuffles, the army makes fire on crowd, killing five people again. Among them, a 20 year old young girl, Cecile Bourrel, arrival with Narbonne in this market day (the writer Yves Rouquette will write later a very beautiful poem, sung by Marie Rouanet, on this tragedy of Narbonne). This repression ordered by the Clemenceau Tiger, which cumulated the president's functions of the Council and Minister of Interior Department, revolts the soldiers of the 17th regiment of infantry, of which much was wire of vine growers or peasants originating in the area;

Mutineers of 17th

The 17 {{E}} regiment of infantry of line is transferred of Béziers to Agde on June 18th, 1907.

In the evening of June 20th, the soldiers learn the drama from Narbonne. Approximately 500 soldiers of the 6th company of the 17th regiment of infantry mutinent themselves. They carry weapons and ammunition, leave the barracks where they were confined and take the direction of Béziers, with foot. They traverse a score of kilometers, by a walk of night. June 21st, at the beginning of morning, they arrive at Béziers. They are accommodated cordially by the Biterrois. The soldiers are installed then on the Alleys Paul Riquet, long esplanade in the center of Béziers and they fraternize with the population which does not hesitate to offer food and wine to them. The military authorities cannot accept this Mutinerie. The example of the 17th regiment can give ideas similar to other regiments of the area. The police force drives out the mutineers in the course of the day, without any major incident. June 22nd, by train, the soldiers are constrained to regain their barracks agathoise. Later, the leaders of the mutiny are sent in Tunisia, with Gafsa, by disciplinary measure, then know the horror of the Tranchées during the Great War.

It is following these events that from now on the conscripts will carry out their military service far from on their premises.

The mutiny of the soldiers of 17th remained celebrates in particular by the words of the song of Montéhus " Glory with the 17e" , of which the refrain clamp: “Hello, hello with you,/Honest soldiers of the seventeenth… ”.

Way out of crisis

Marcellin Albert is pursued by the police force, but it hides and is run away in Paris. It does not succeed in being received with the National Assembly which discusses bill against the fraud. It succeeds in being made receive by Georges Clémenceau, chief of the government, with the ministry for the Interior. This last will persuade it to turn over to calm the rebellion and a ticket of one hundred francs gives him, which will be refunded besides, intended to pay the return in the train. But at once Marcellin left Albert, Clemenceau arranges the history with his way with the journalists, insists on this ticket, and discredits Marcellin Albert thus skilfully, involving the anger of his former friends. The " rédempteur" becomes the " vendu" and misses being made lynch. Albert leaves for Algeria, discredited and hated, the vine growers of Algeria cotisent themselves for him which defended the wine growers, but he dies in misery.

The Parliament adopts a series of laws to reduce the sugaring and the damping of the wines, on June 29th. In September, the wine General confederation is created. However, the effects of the wine crisis are long to reabsorb. Thousands of hectolitres of “plonk” are distilled. Languedoc undergoes thereafter other wine crises, related on the Surproduction and the price-cutting (one speaks about “chronic crises” of the Monoculture of the vine).

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