Writer 1879: Solitary Journey in France

Chapter 335 The Fiercest Artillery Fire!
Those who were first enraged by Jules Ferry’s speech in Parliament about the “obligations of the superior race” were the “communists” whose blood still burned with fire.

Following the amnesty in July 1880, most of them chose the “radical republic” led by Georges Clemenceau.

On the same day Jules Ferry delivered his speech, Georges Clemenceau loudly refuted him in the council chamber of the Palais Bourbon:

"Gentlemen! What have we just heard? 'The duty of a superior race'? This is the most shameless betrayal of the spirit of the French Republic!"

Jules Ferry and his colleagues are trying to degenerate the Third Republic into yet another empire!
Their so-called 'mission of civilization' is nothing more than a thin cultural cloak covering greed and violence!

He detailed the Ferry government's military operations in "Tonkin" (then referring to Vietnam) and "Annam," comparing them to those of Britain:

"Look at them in Algeria, in Vietnam! Gunboats blast open other countries' ports, bayonets force other peoples to submit, and plunder their land and gold!"

Is this what our republic's 'civilization export' looks like? No! This is atrocity committed in the uniform of the republic!

Édouard Varyan directly contrasted colonial expansion with the ideals of the Paris Commune: "Why did the Commune's fighters sacrifice themselves?"
For the freedom of the people, for international solidarity, and for resistance against all forms of oppression!

Today, the colonial policies of the Jules Ferry government represent a complete betrayal of the spirit of the Commune!

They are not liberating the people, but enslaving them;
They are not spreading love, but sowing hatred;
They are not practicing republicanism, they are practicing oppression!

His words were met with applause and cheers from the audience, while Jules Ferry's supporters booed.

The struggle within parliament quickly spread to the streets and newspapers.

Among them, Louise Michel, the "Red Madonna," is the most eye-catching.

Facing reporters who had come to hear the news, she angrily retorted: "I saw them! I saw those people who were oppressed in Algeria and Vietnam!"

Like the workers in Paris ten years earlier, they were killed and expelled. Colonial atrocities were another kind of prison for the empire!
However, this prison is much larger and more secluded!

When a reporter mentioned Ferry's rhetoric about a "civilization mission," she scoffed: "They say they want to civilize savages."
No! They went to plunder land and gold! The French flag should not be planted on the corpses of foreign people!

Don't be fooled! The tyranny of the colonies is the same as their oppression of workers at home!

It's all about exploiting the blood and sweat of the majority for the wealth and power of a few.

Colonialism is the extension of state violence and the international manifestation of class oppression!

Louise Michel's words quickly spread throughout Paris through the newspapers, triggering a chain reaction.

Jules Wallace launched a fierce attack on the Ferry government in his own newspaper, Volksvítá.

He wrote a commentary entitled "Bleeding Gold":

Because wars of plunder waged by colonialism are wars that add icing on the cake for the rich and leave the poor bleeding dry!
What is the difference between the young bodies torn apart by gunfire in Algeria and Vietnam and the corpses of Parisian workers who fell at the foot of the Commune?
These young French people are all victims of the Republic!
The only difference is that the former died in a distant foreign land, for the gold in the pockets of capitalists; the latter died on the streets of Paris, for bread and dignity!

He even directly targeted the beneficiaries of colonial policies:
Who profits from these wars? Arms dealers, speculators, and generals eager to adorn their uniforms with colonial medals!
And who is paying the price? It's the ordinary French soldiers and their families, and the innocent civilians on the invaded lands!

Wallace's article resonated widely among workers and urban dwellers. Lionel, reading these newspaper articles, never imagined that the controversy that originated from his work would ignite such a massive storm.

He looked again at the article he was going to send to Le Figaro, found it utterly uninteresting, and simply pulled it out of the paper tube, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can.

But people have not forgotten him.

Paul Lafargue offered a different perspective on Lionel, who sparked the controversy.

During a discussion within the Workers' Party, Lafargue discussed *The Sign of Four* and its author:
"Sorel is a very interesting young man. His 'The Sign of Four,' although a work of fiction, touches upon the core contradictions of colonialism."

—Primitive accumulation based on plunder and violence.

His works reveal a deep internationalist compassion and a genuine concern for the oppressed.

More importantly, his tracing of the source of wealth and his depiction of colonial atrocities in "The Sign of Four" implicitly reveal a simple materialist view of history.

He attempted to find the roots of the tragedy in material interests and historical context, rather than attributing it to abstract human nature or chance events.

After some discussion, Paul Lafargue determined Lionel's value as follows:
"While bourgeois media were still singing praises of colonial expansion, Sorel revealed to readers the bloodshed and filth beneath the imperial halo through his novels."

This objectively played a role in awakening the public and breaking the monopoly of public opinion. His compassion and his works are beneficial to our cause.

Of course, he was still a petty bourgeois, and his thinking had limitations, but we should see the progressive aspects in him.

Soon, part of the meeting's proceedings were edited into an article and published in The Free Man.

Lionel immediately acquired several new titles—"friend of the workers," "progressive writer," and "conscience of Paris."

Lionel was acutely aware of the political and media storm raging in Paris.

His feelings were complicated. The commune members' fierce and direct attacks were clearly more thorough and revolutionary than he had imagined.

However, Lionel did not give up making his voice heard, but he also did not simply repeat the slogans of the Commune members.

This morning, he just received a quick letter from Norman McLeod.

In the telegram, Norman MacLeod stated that there was no need to worry about the sales of "The Sign of Four," because the more controversial a work is, the more readers it will attract.

He also told Lionel about the incident where young Indian elites in London protested in front of the Good Words magazine office and were driven away, as if it were an amusing story.

Leonard was immediately inspired and typed out the title of the article—

The Glorified and the Castrated

(End of this chapter)