Ferry, Jules François Camille

(1832–1893)

   French politician and colonial theorist who, during his two terms as prime minister, initiated major educational reforms and oversaw a significant expansion of the French overseas empire. After brief stints as a lawyer and a liberal Republican journalist known for his critiques of the Second Empire, Ferry entered politics and was elected to the French National Assembly in 1869. Following the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, he became head of the Republican Left and from 1879–85 held a variety of ministerial posts in the new Third Republic. Although initially more interested in domestic policy, in the wake of the Battle of Sedan Ferry became convinced that France needed to obtain colonies to maintain her status as a great power and compete effectively in the growing international economy. In exchange for new markets and guaranteed sources of raw materials, Ferry argued that France in turn had a moral obligation, dubbed the mission civilisatrice , to uplift the indigenous peoples of colonized areas by exposing them to French culture, education, industry, and a Western work ethic. These principles became the cornerstone of French colonial policy until the end of World War II.

   During his first term as prime minister from September 1880 to November 1881, Ferry supported Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza ’s efforts to establish a protectorate in the French Congo and authorized the French acquisition of Tunisia as a preemptive measure to forestall its annexation by Italy. This measure and its associated expenses proved unpopular and led to the downfall of his first government. In his second term as prime minister, running from February 1883 to March 1885, Ferry served simultaneously as foreign minister and became increasingly involved in colonial policymaking. In 1884, increasing international tensions provoked by German, Belgian and French colonial expansion in Africa led Ferry to join forces with Otto von Bismarck in arranging the Conference of Berlin, which set ground rules for the acquisition of additional colonies, thereby unleashing the Scramble for Africa. Early the next year, Ferry expanded the existing French protectorate in Madagascar at the behest of colonial interest groups. In addition to authorizing colonial expansion in Africa, Ferry also oversaw the growth of French holdings in Indochina. Eager to undo the damage caused to French prestige by two earlier failed ventures in the region, in 1883 Ferry dispatched a military expedition to create protectorates over Annam and Tonkin. Confused reports over temporary military setbacks in Tonkin became a lightning rod for anticolonial sentiment and toppled his second government in 1885. Despite this political setback, Ferry was elected to the Senate in 1891 and became its president less than a month before his 1893 assassination by a religious fanatic.

   See also <>; <>; <>; <>; <>.

   FURTHER READING:

    Cooke, James J. The New French Imperialism, 1880-1910: The Third Republic and Colonial Expansion. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1973;

    Gaillard, Jean-Michel. Jules Ferry. Paris: Fayard, 1989;

    Power, Thomas F. Jules Ferry and the Renaissance of French Imperialism. New York: King’s Crown Press, 1944;

    Wesseling, H. L. The European Colonial Empires 1815-1919. New York: Pearson Education, 2004.

   KENNETH J. OROSZ