by Emile Zola
in conflict: referring to the increasing tension between Prussia and Austria. Napoleon III had given the impression in May 1866 that he was ready to agree to a rearrangement of the map of Europe and to intervene directly in the crisis between Austria and Prussia, as each sought to benefit from the unification movement of Germany.
declared war on Austria: Napoleon III’s Treaty of Villafranca, after Solferino, had meant that Italy had not been able to secure the Veneto; now, in 1866, Italy was declaring war on Austria to regain that territory.
Sadowa … 4 July: the Austrians had defeated the Italians at Custoza, but Prussian troops defeated the Austrian army at Sadowa. As the war was expected to continue, shares fell sharply at the Bourse. However, just three weeks later, on 22 July 1866, a treaty was signed by which the Emperor of Austria, accepting the mediation of France, surrendered the Veneto to Napoleon III. This was seen as a diplomatic triumph, and shares rose sharply, though only for a short time. In October that year Napoleon handed the Veneto over to Victor-Emmanuel, the King of Italy.
Custoza: battle fought near Verona in 1866 in the Italian War of Independence.
the Moniteur: Le Moniteur universel was an official government organ, authorized to report the debates of the National Assembly. Founded as La Gazette nationale ou Moniteur universel in 1789, the Gazette nationale was dropped from the title in 1811. It was superseded in 1869 by the Journal officiel de l’Empire français.
Palace of the Legion of Honour: the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur, also known as the Hôtel de Salm, built in the late eighteenth century on the left bank of the Seine, near what is now the Musée d’Orsay. The palace was burned down during the Commune in 1871 and then replaced by the replica we see today.
Holy Sepulchre: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, an important place of pilgrimage in the Christian quarter of the walled Old City of Jerusalem: it is traditionally regarded as the site of the crucifixion and burial of Christ, as well as the resurrection.
instruments of the Passion: the nails of the crucifixion, the lance that speared the side of Christ, the crown of thorns, and the sponge soaked in vinegar. See the Gospel of John 19.
1 April … opened: the great exhibition by which Napoleon III meant to demonstrate the power of the Empire to the rest of the world.
opera house: the lavish Paris Opéra, known as the Palais Garnier in honour of its architect Charles Garnier, was built from 1861 to 1875 as part of Baron Haussmann’s reconstruction of Paris. Inaugurated in 1875, its opulence, rich gold-and-velvet decoration, and baroque sumptuousness may well have influenced Zola’s description of the ‘palace’ Saccard provides for his bank.
Rue de Londres: the Union Générale, which provided the model for Saccard’s Universal Bank, had similarly changed its premises, moving from the Rue de Châteaudun in 1879 to the Rue d’Antin.
the Orient question: there was growing concern about tensions between Christians and Muslims and conflict within the Ottoman Empire, which controlled most of the land between Egypt and Constantinople. A rebellion in Crete against Ottoman rule had been put down but still simmered, and continued to inspire similar movements elsewhere. Signs of instability in the Ottoman Empire stimulated the ambitions of countries seeking to extend their territory. Russia’s ambitions in Europe, particularly in Turkey, were seen as a threat to the balance of power in Europe, and various possible solutions were considered, among them the creation of a Christian empire in the Orient, to bring peace to the region.
interpellation: in 1860 Napoleon III had granted the Legislative Body the right to vote annually on an address in response to the speech from the throne. In 1867, in a move toward a more liberal style of government, the Emperor changed this to allow ‘interpellation’, that is, the formal right of the Assembly to put questions to a member of the government, thus allowing the elected Deputies to influence, to some extent, government activity.
Third Party: the party of Thiers and Émile Ollivier, which accepted the Empire but wanted to reduce the personal power of the Emperor. After the elections of 1869 the Third Party became a decisive factor in the Assembly, with its 116 Deputies as against the republicans’ thirty seats and the monarchists’ forty. In January 1870 Napoleon III asked Ollivier to form a ministry, and Ollivier drew up the new Constitution of the Empire which was enthusiastically approved by a referendum of May 1870.
tea-hour: at that time in Parisian society tea was drunk, if at all, some time after dinner.
Peter the Hermit and St Louis: Peter was an eleventh-century priest from Amiens, believed to have been one of the leaders of the First Crusade. The canonized King Louis IX of France led two crusades in the thirteenth century.
proposed release: that is, of the two hundred thousand old shares.
anticipatory balance-sheet: one of the charges made against the Union Générale bank was the anticipatory use in the balance-sheet of profits not yet made.
Mazas: the Mazas prison, inaugurated in 1841, near where the Gare de Lyon now stands.
‘It’s the will of God’: the cry: ‘Dieu le veut’ (‘God wills it’) was the old Crusader battle-cry.
Sodom … Nineveh: all three cities described in the Bible as destroyed by God for their sinfulness. As ‘The Whore of Babylon’, Babylon became a Christian allegorical figure of evil, described, in the Book of Revelation, in terms that chime with Zola’s reference here, as the Whore ‘with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication’.
the Invalides: originally the Hôtel Royal des Invalides, this celebrated Paris monument was built in the 1670s by Louis XIV to house war-wounded soldiers.
Germany … show: the Exhibition of 1867 particularly stressed industry and its products, though military weapons were not intended to be included; the Krupp cannon attracted a great deal of attention because they were made of steel; they would later prove their worth against the French bronze cannon.
catastrophe of Mexico: see note to p. 6.
Europe district: in the eighth arrondissement of Paris, a quartier where the streets bear the names of major European cities: Rue de Berne, de Londres, de Madrid, etc.
the Roman question: the conflict over the status of the Vatican and the Papal States, with Garibaldi’s army threatening Rome and Napoleon III being pressed by the Catholics to protect the Pope. The Emperor had temporized, thinking the situation would resolve itself.
September Convention of 1864: see note to p. 97.
Henri V: Henri, Comte de Chambord, grandson of Charles X who abdicated in 1830, was never officially proclaimed Henri V but was the legitimist pretender to the throne of France from 1844 to 1883.
white … cuirassier: Bismarck became a centre of attention during his stay in Paris; portraits of him proliferated—always in his ceremonial white uniform.
treaties of alliance: after Sadowa Bismarck had united much of northern Germany under the Prussian crown, and had also made secret agreements with the southern states.
Luxembourg: a diplomatic dispute over the status of Luxembourg almost led to war in May 1867, but was resolved by the (Second) Treaty of London.
plaster … staircase: prostitutes were in the habit of renting new apartments in which the plaster was not yet dry, thus acquiring the nickname of filles du plâtre (‘plaster girls’).
charity: the same pretext is used by Count Muffat and his father-in-law for their visit to Nana’s dressing-room in Nana, the ninth novel of the Rougon-Macquart series.
19 January reforms: in his move towards a more liberal style of government Napoleon III, in a letter of this date in 1867, affirmed the right of interpellation (see note to p. 213), and called for relaxation of the laws of public assembly and of government censorship of the Press. These concessions were opposed by Rouher (the model for Rougon), who resigned in protest and was later replaced by Émile Ollivier.
diamond medallion: this episode recalls an event of 1867, when Émile Ollivier, leader of the Third Party, gave Rouher a drubbing in the House, accusing him of acting as ‘v
ice-emperor’ and diluting and restraining the Emperor’s liberal intentions. Next day the Emperor sent Rouher an encouraging letter and the diamond medal of the Legion of Honour.
our Bible: Marx’s Capital: Critique of Political Economy was published in Germany in 1867. Its analysis of capitalism was meant to demonstrate the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, based on the exploitation of the worker, a system that was to be superseded by the socialist mode of production. Two further volumes were added, mainly from manuscripts, by Friedrich Engels after Marx’s death. The three volumes are known collectively as Das Kapital, regarded as a bible by many generations of socialists.
Gothic characters: most German books in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were printed in Fraktur, a typeface based on Gothic characters.
army law: a new military law was passed on 14 January 1868, instituting five years’ active service, keeping the system of drawing lots for conscription, and maintaining the rules by which conscripts could arrange for replacements.
telegraph gallery: commenting on the later frenzy of speculation in 1881, Frederick Brown remarks: ‘The Bourse was Grand Opera for ladies with lorgnettes perched in a gallery above the trading floor’ (For the Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus (New York: Knopf, 2010), 70).
quoters: that is, the men who record the quotations on the Stock-Exchange list.
carrying over: an arrangement by which the purchaser of stocks has the cost of his purchase ‘carried over’ by the broker, that is, not immediately settled. Ultimate responsibility for payment of such purchases, if the purchaser defaults, falls upon the agent, in this case Mazaud.
sixty … there: the authorized stockbrokers.
Austerlitz … Marengo: the battle in December 1805 near Austerlitz in Moravia in which the Emperor Napoleon I defeated the Russo-Austrian army under Tsar Alexander I and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, and which is regarded as one of Napoleon’s greatest victories; and the hard-fought battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800, in which Napoleon, then First Consul, defeated the Austrians near Alexandria in Italy. It was followed by the signing of the Convention of Alexandria, by which the Austrians moved out of north-west Italy. This victory helped to consolidate Napoleon’s power.
Mentana: Garibaldi’s army was defeated at Mentana by French Papal troops, including three companies of Zouaves, under General de Failly. Napoleon III had hoped this intervention on behalf of the Pope would appease the clerical party, but they resented the fact that the annexed Papal States had not been restored to the Vatican, while King Victor-Emmanuel resented France’s intervention and regarded Italy as released from any further obligation towards France.
accommodation bills: bills of exchange between lender and borrower, evidencing the raising of credit. The ‘accommodated’ party is able to raise money for the term of the bill.
bankers … bills of credit: bankers had granted credit by carrying over the bills, that is, discounting them.
Grouchy did not arrive: Napoleon had sent General Grouchy in pursuit of part of the retreating Prussian army. Following the route indicated in his orders, Grouchy continued his pursuit despite hearing the sound of cannon-fire from Waterloo. He won a battle over the Prussians on 18 and 19 June 1815, but by then Napoleon had lost the Battle of Waterloo. Grouchy was widely blamed in France for his failure to rush to Napoleon’s aid.
fixed-term purchases: purchases agreed, payable on a future settlement date.
the big banks: in January 1882 the big Paris banks came to the aid of the Union Générale (Zola’s model for Saccard’s Universal Bank) to give the Paris money market and the Parisian brokers some breathing-space and a chance to stop things getting out of control.
Third Party: Zola had here written ‘tiers état’ (‘third estate’, i.e. the common people of France) but clearly meant ‘le tiers parti’. The ‘tiers parti’ was sometimes jokingly called ‘le Thiers parti’. See note to p. 8.
the assets: that is, the assets of the bank, available to creditors.
Conciergerie: a former prison and palace near Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité. A part of the Palais de Justice, prisoners awaiting trial would be held here before being sent to prison if convicted. During the French Revolution hundreds of prisoners, including Marie-Antoinette, were held here before being guillotined. The Conciergerie was decommissioned in 1914 and opened to the public as a national monument.
publisher: Jordan’s novel follows the same course as those of his creator, from newspaper serial to publication.
‘posting’: this involves first demanding payment within five days, then forcing sale of any shares owned by the debtor, and finally ‘posting’ up in the Stock Exchange the debtor’s failure to meet his engagements. See note to p. 10.
gambling-exemption: as forward buying was not at that time officially recognized, the debt was a gambling debt in the eyes of the law, and payment could not be legally enforced.
periodic epidemic: Zola’s view of the periodicity of economic crises is similar to the economic theory of business cycles developed by Juglar (1819–1905). See Christophe Reffait, ‘Zola et la Crise’, Cahiers naturalistes, 86 (2012), 285–94.
that event: harking back to theories of Prosper Lucas, see note to p. 136.
Mentana: see note to p. 289.
Léonide: the Count’s note was made out to Léonie, before she adopted the more ‘distinguished’ name of ‘Léonide’ as a prostitute.
provinces: the Prussians did indeed gain Alsace and part of Lorraine in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War.
Magistrates’ Court: this court (Police correctionnelle) deals with offences more serious than misdemeanours but less than major crimes.
free defendants … twenty-four hours: this was what had happened in the case of Bontoux and Feder after the crash of the Union Générale in December 1882.
jackal: literally ‘lynx’ (French loup-cervier).
Taurus passes … full steam: what had been Hamelin’s ‘dream’ became a reality with the Anatolian Railway, built in the 1890s by German Empire banks and companies, connecting Constantinople, Ankara, and Konya, and later the construction of the Baghdad Railway between 1903 and 1940. On account of its strategic importance the railway was a focus for international disputes, involving at various times Germany, Turkey, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States.
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Six French Poets of the Nineteenth Century