Le Pere Duchesne
Le Père Duchesne (Old Duchesne or Father Duchesne in French) was an extremist newspaper published during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques René Hébert, which published 385 numbers from September 1790 to 11 days before being guillotined, on March 24, 1794.
History
Being denounced as an enemy of the Republic by Le Père Duchesne frequently led to the guillotine. The newspaper never hesitated to ask, according to its own words, that the "carriage with thirty-six doors" carry this or that "marsh toad", to "sneeze in the bag", "ask the time on the second floor", or "try the Capetian tie".
Born in the fairs of the 18th century, Père Duchesne was a character who represented the man of the people, always driven to denounce abuses and injustices. This fictitious character is found in a text entitled le plat de Carnaval (the Carnival plate), as well as in an anonymous booklet published in February 1789 entitled "Père Duchesne's Journey to Versailles& #3. 4; or "The anger of Père Duchesne before the abuses", published that same year.
By 1789, several pamphlets had been published under this name. In 1790, a postal worker named Antoine Lemaire and Abbe Jean-Charles Jumel were attacked in newspapers under the pseudonym Père Duchesne, but Hébert's Père Duchesne newspaper, the one that the town criers sold shouting "Père Duchesne is very angry today!", was distinguished by the violence that characterized his style.
From 1790 to 1791, Père Duchesne represented the Jacobin faction and praised Louis XVI and the Marquis de La Fayette for their attempts to balance the power of the aristocrats and the French people. After the king's escape attempt, writers changed their minds about Louis XVI and accused Marie Antoinette and Jean-Sifrein Maury, the great defender of papal authority against the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. In 1792, the government printed some issues of Père Duchesne at the expense of the treasury, in order to distribute them in the Army so that the soldiers come out of the state of inactivity that was considered dangerous for public safety.
The tone towards Louis XVI changed drastically after his failed attempts to make reforms that benefit the French people. La Fayette was also attacked after the Champ de Mars massacre. Marie Antoinette was criticized because she was partially seen as the reason for the downfall of Louis XVI. She blamed herself on her nationality, because she was seen as a foreigner that the king did not deserve. The issue of children also caused problems, because it was believed that she was sterile and this worried Louis XVI.
Originally the publication, started by printer Tremblay, had 8 unnumbered pages in octavo format and appeared three times a week. The first page was headed by an illustration showing Père Duchesne with a pipe in one hand and a pack of tobacco in the other, accompanied by the caption "I'm the real Père Duchesne, dammit!" with Maltese crosses on each side. The numbering of the diary began with the first number in January 1791. Starting with number 13, he copied a scene from another Père Duchesne, which was published on Rue Vieux-Colombier and depicted a man with whiskers, a saber at his side, and raising an ax towards a priest, to whom he shouts a menacing memento mori: "Remember your mortality!". Starting with number 138, Hébert stopped publishing it with Tremblay, who would in turn publish several forgeries.
The diary continued to be published until Hébert's death in 1794.
Themes
The paper said the country was ruled by the rich, but "nineteen-twenties are neither rich nor merchants," but "this mass was always pure." He also criticized the government's lack of initiative to stop counterrevolutionary acts and "dictatorial actions" used to run the country. He often focused on specific people and events, completely degrading each element of them. Hébert was a radical and had no qualms about publishing his opinion, using foul language in most of his articles. The newspaper was used to oppose and denounce other parties that contradicted the views of its author, such as the Girondins.
The publisher's followers called themselves Hebertists. They shared the idea of the de-Christianization of France, which was a recurring theme in the newspaper.
In some cases, the newspaper criticized the people it tried to defend, the sans-culottes. He talked about his "naivete" regarding the words of the government. He claimed they were a "sheep species" who "couldn't see past their noses." The situation of the people became more and more difficult by believing what the government told them.
Camille Desmoulins
One of the paper's main enemies was journalist Camille Desmoulins. Desmoulins was opposed to the de-Christianization movement in France, which was supported by Hébert and his followers. He confronted Père Duchesne and other newspapers. Desmoulins was executed a few weeks after Hébert.
End and reappearance of Père Duchesne
As soon as Hébert was guillotined, these fake Père Duchesne multiplied, producing parodies such as The great anger of Père Duchesne as his head fell from the national window. Others, such as Saint-Venant, would try Mustache without fear to write new parodies according to the mood of the time and with the same vulgar style that characterized Hébert. Lebon published one of these in 1797, and Damane published 32 issues under the name Père Duchesne in Lyon. The title was reused numerous times in the 19th century.
Its title (even with some slight variations) was reused hundreds of times, mainly during revolutionary periods, in publications that had no connection with the original journal: for example the Revolution of 1830, the French Revolution of 1848, and during the Paris Commune (1871).