The Montceau-les-Mines troubles are a series of social movements and events that took place in Montceau-les-Mines, France and, more broadly, in a large part of Saône-et-Loire, roughly between 1878 and 1885. The period was marked by a strong penetration of anarchism within the population - particularly among the miners - of the region, and saw the appearance of the syndicalist movement in Saône-et-Loire, associated with anarchism at the time. It was characterised by great political violence between the French State and the anarchists of the region, some of whom joined the Black Band.
In 1878, the Saône-et-Loire coal basin had been under the financial and political control of the Chagot family for over fifty years. This family owned the Blanzy Coal Mine Company and employed thousands of miners - women, men, and children - in very harsh working and living conditions. Aided by the local clergy, who kept watch over recalcitrant or republican, socialist, and anarchist workers, Léonce Chagot, mayor of Montceau-les-Mines and company director, was able to ensure his control over the region. In 1878, however, he was defeated in the municipal elections of Montceau-les-Mines, where he had been mayor since the town's foundation - this electoral defeat was accompanied by a sudden strike launched by the miners, which was repressed by the army and stopped as abruptly as it began. Some French authorities at the time believed it was a strike launched by the Anti-authoritarian International - the main anarchist organisation of the period; others thought it was an autonomous and local movement with no real connection to this organisation.
After the repression of the 1878 strike by the army, the miners began to gather in one or more secret anarchist societies, possibly linked to the nascent trade unions being founded, which started to radicalise their actions. These secret societies, known by the collective name of the Black Band, began to target symbols of the Catholic Church and threaten the clergy, demanding the dismissal of the priest of Bois-du-Verne, who spied on and had workers fired if he disliked them personally and politically.
During the summer of 1882, a police report indicated that a delegate from Montceau-les-Mines was allegedly in Geneva with members of the Jura Federation branch of the Black International such as Élisée Reclus or Varlam Cherkezishvili—during their discussion, he supposedly maintained that the global anarchist revolution would be launched by France the following day, starting in Montceau-les-Mines and complained about the fact that he lacked support from that branch of the Black International.
Two days later, a group looted an armory and transferred the recovered weapons and explosives to hundreds of miners—who converged on the Bois-du-Verne chapel and set it on fire. They tried to march on the surrounding villages but stopped en route. The army intervened the next day, and the authorities arrested a large number of miners—about thirty of whom were brought to trial in October 1882, even as the Black Band continued its attacks and began to target people in addition to symbols. French authorities were concerned about the trial continuing in Chalon—especially since the start of the 1882-1883 Lyon attacks further frightened them, and they requested its adjournment and relocation. Meanwhile, a vast repressive movement began, targeting anarchists in France, particularly in Lyon with the Trial of the 66, where Lyon anarchists were suspected of having supported the Montceau-les-Mines troubles.
Between 1883 and 1884, the Black Band continued its attacks in the region, with increasing violence—targeting its victims using two different methods, according to the historian Emmanuel Germain. If the target was a suspected police informant, he would have been spared after a spectacular attack, likely to intimidate potential informers without killing him. Conversely, the organization's 'bourgeois' targets, such as the engineer Michalowski, who collaborated in police investigations, were allegedly targeted much more decisively with a clear intent to kill them. Despite this view, no deaths were reported throughout the entire period. In 1884, the arrest of a dozen potential members led to the slowing down and subsequent disappearance of the attacks.
This period as a whole are part of the broader history of anarchism, the workers' movement, propaganda by the deed, the Saône-et-Loire coal basin, and many questions remain about these troubles, particularly whether the miners became anarchists autonomously or if, conversely, they were connected to anarchist organisations such as the Black International.
Situation of the miners in Montceau-les-Mines and the surrounding region
The region surrounding Montceau-les-Mines, Blanzy, Epinac, Le Creusot, Montchanin, and Perrecy-les-Forges is part of the Saône-et-Loire coal basin. The region has been used for mining activities for a relatively long time but saw significant industrialisation starting in the 19th century. At the beginning of that century, the Chagot family, descended from Louis XVI's former wine merchant, decided to invest their capital in the region by taking over the mines and industrialising them. Thanks to this significant financial support, the family, initially from a well-off background but not belonging to the upper bourgeoisie, came to penetrate 'big capitalism', according to historian Robert Beaubernard.
In parallel with these developments specific to the evolution of capitalism in France, the town of Montceau-les-Mines was created ex nihilo to favour mining exploitation and the gathering of the working population in the area where the mines were located. Numerous workers moved there, hoping to find employment, and were employed in the mines. Furthermore, the Chagot family began to occupy political positions and thus came to exert significant political and financial control over the region. In fact, from its foundation, Montceau-les-Mines was led by Léonce Chagot, nephew of the previous boss—himself a Deputy of Saône-et-Loire, elected as the town's first mayor in 1856.
The working and living conditions for the miners of the Blanzy Coal Company, directed by the Chagot family, were abysmal. Work generally began around the age of 12, the working day could start as early as 4 in the morning, and the miners descended for 10 hours a day into the mines to extract coal; women, including widows and single women, worked in the mine but were not sent to the bottom of it. Protections against accidents, such as firedamp explosions, were non-existent, and over four hundred miners were killed up to the period of the troubles, an 'enormous figure', according to Beaubernard.
The Chagot family, which managed the town planning as they wished, decided to establish paternalistic structures there; it is estimated that during the period of the troubles, 6,500 male and female miners worked in the mine, a substantial part of the town, which relied on the financial support of the company and the family. Moreover, the town's schools were run by the company—allowing it to educate the miners' children and thus have succeeding generations of labour in its mines. Politically, the Chagots, and Léonce Chagot in particular, were described as Bonapartists by the Prefect of Saône-et-Loire, but it is more likely that they were avowed conservatives ready to support any regime as long as it served their interests and did not interfere with their economic affairs.To ensure their control over the mines and minds, the Chagots used a political theology by presenting themselves as bosses by divine right; they also used social Christianity to grant some social advances and thus calm down any demands that might arise in the mine. They particularly relied on the local clergy, who were, for example, involved in surveillance activities on their behalf—in order to identify which miners were republican, socialist, or anarchist, and thus have them fired.
Birth and development of anarchism