Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aristide Briand contributed to the unity of the socialist party alongside Jean Jaurès. A moderate anticlerical, he participated in the law of 1905 without radically opposing the Church.
Biography of Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand (1862 –1932) came from a modest family. After studying law, he became lawyer at the bar of Saint Nazaire, then of Paris. He also works at populist and anticlerical newspaper Lantern. Alongside Jean Jaurès, he strives to keep the opposing currents united within the socialist party. Her ministerial career is one of the longest of the IIIth Republic. Aristide Briand is nicknamed “ the pilgrim of peace » for having contributed to the pacification of Europe, particularly during the conflict between France and Germany. In 1926, he received the Nobel Prize of Peace with Gustav Stresemann.
The law of separation of Church and State
Aristide Briand succeeds in this impossible mission thanks to his pragmatism and his talent as a negotiator. He declared on April 6, 1905: “I hate religious war. (…) But we would be very imprudent if we did not think of providing the State with the weapons which it will perhaps need to resist the militias of the Church tomorrow.” Aristide Briand is a moderate anticlerical: he is not radically opposed to the Church, whose presence he considers too heavy, particularly in teachingwhich is a potential danger for the national authority of the State. He is hostile to the very anticlerical project ofÉmile Combes.
The preparatory work for the 1905 law
The bill includes 8 very divergent proposals. Aristide Briand proposes the adoption of “a clear and methodical discussion plan” which will first cover the fundamental points to facilitate the work of the Commission chaired by Ferdinand Buisson. The provisional rapporteur Aristide Briand quickly imposes himself in public session. He leads the debates thanks to his eloquence and the balanced dynamics of his arguments. This is to ensure the freedom of conscience while guaranteeing the free exercise of religion. Aristide Briand succeeded in rallying a large number of opponents and having a project considered realistic and liberal by the majority. Briand will then be unanimously elected final rapporteur.
Individual public freedom
The affirmation of the liberal current results in a unprecedented separation of Church and State. It affirms a desire to establish the religious peace over there protection of fundamental freedoms. Personal freedom coexists with collective religious freedom. The law establishes the ideological and philosophical neutrality of the state, public services and its staff. It does not favor any religion: all are equal in rights and duties. There is no more interference from the State in the Church nor from the Church in the State. THE religious pluralism is well-known.
Aristide Briand is appointed Minister of Religious Affairs from 1906 to 1911 thanks to the legitimacy acquired during the debates. Called upon the government to ensure the application of the law, he organizes inventories of Church property. THE Pope Pius X condemning the 1905 lawshe is modified in three amendmentsbut Aristide Briand’s liberal solution triumphs.
