First Textbook War

These books were accused of promoting moral relativism, disregarding the principle of school neutrality, and presenting an unfavorable image of the Catholic Church.

The so-called "textbook war" led to a national-level conflict between the government, prefects, and the French episcopate, and a local-level[1] dispute between specific priests, teachers, and mayors.

On the part of the Catholic clergy, it resulted in the confiscation of secular morality books[2] and refusal of sacraments to urge the faithful to pull their children out of "unfavorable schools".

However, the tensions were not universal throughout France and decreased with Jules Ferry's return to the presidency of the Conseil, together with the appeasement of Pope Leo XIII and the more moderate bishops.

[7] Ultimately, conflicts over school books cannot simply be reduced to a dichotomy between two educational systems, as they also reflect larger trends in political life.

Set against a backdrop of national and international events, textbooks reflect complex currents of thought that blend religious convictions with the political and social opinions of a country marked by the defeat in 1871.

[8] Beyond the emergence of secular morality, the use of textbooks in elementary schools to instill patriotic spirits in younger generations also pits proponents of teaching the cult of fatherland and national values against advocates of pacifism.

Similarly, Louis Veuillot's L'Univers, led conservative press denounced the "school revolution" brought about by these "scurrilous laws," which resulted in the January 11, 1883 decree condemning the four textbooks.

In his view, future citizens should have the ability to attain "all basic knowledge in the field of positive sciences, devoid of any religious presumptions or dogmatic instruction."

A textbook authored by the same Paul Bert - and suggested as an addendum to republican school laws and decrees - affirmatively declared positivism's resistance to religious education.

For Lent 1882, eighty-eight episcopal mandement [fr]s condemned the law's provisions and urged parents to enroll their children in free Catholic schools.

Perraud of Autun-Chalon-Mâcon invites the clergy to explain the political situation with moderation, avoiding attacks on the teaching system and civil servants responsible for its administration.

de La Foata, the Bishop of Ajaccio, who wrote about this issue during Lent in 1882ː[12] "If the doctrine is manifestly impious, if it shines in the eyes of children, as one of the advantages of their future freedom, the right they would have to profane the Lord's Day, to regard all religions as equally good, to pass from one to another, and even to profess none of them, these books carry with them their condemnation.

[18] Indeed, on July 27, 1882, he signed the decree that organized the pedagogy and curriculum of elementary school, with the section on moral education including "duties towards God" (reported in the Journal officiel on August 2, 1882).

[21] Simultaneously, the bishops of Saint-Dié, Aix-en-Provence, Tulle, and Moulins unilaterally denounced L'instruction civique à l'école on October 18, 1882, without awaiting the Holy See's decision.

The Director of Religious Affairs, Émile Flourens, cited the rule that all papal bulls require validation by a decree of the Council of State before being published in France.

The prefects instigated the processing of 2,000 suspensions of salary by the Conseil d'État -recently purged of its members suspected of clericalism- and affected five rebellious bishops,[27] including Mgr.

[30] The press campaign peaks once the Index decree is released, as newspapers serve as the main medium for the Holy See to convey its position to the Catholic population.

[26] These exhortations were executed: textbooks were confiscated or destroyed en masse locally, and recalcitrant families were denied the sacraments, especially First Communion, by the parish priest, based on the bishops' recommendation.

Cotton:[31] "Children who attend schools where the condemned textbooks are adopted as classics seem to us to be exposed to the permanent and very imminent danger of losing their faith and contracting the most deplorable habits.

[32] While the Société générale d'éducation et d'enseignement supported the movement, it remained more moderate than L'Univers and refrained from endorsing civil disobedience or school strikes.

[33] There is a growing number of incidents, with a radicalization of the conflict occurring in Ariège, Doubs, Drôme, Gers, Gironde, Landes, Haute-Marne, Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn, Var, and Vosges.

The Inspector of the Indre-et-Loire Academy documented the situation within his department:[36] "We must therefore strive, wherever possible and without neglecting any opportunity, to reduce the number of communes where the denominational neutrality of schools has not yet been fully established.

Say a short prayer where the abrupt suppression of this practice would favor the rival Congregational school; make it disappear elsewhere as soon as an opportunity arises, either the vacation period, or the change of teacher.

[39] Émile Flourens, through negotiations with the Holy See, issued a directive on June 30, 1883, prolonging the prohibition of salaries and urging all relevant clergy to engage in talks with the government.

It is worth noting that he was not the President of the council during the passing of the secular law in the prior year under the Gouvernement Charles de Freycinet (2) [fr] administration: "When you propose a precept or maxim to your students, ask yourself if you know of a single honest man who might be offended by what you're about to say.

[27] The mobilization regarding textbooks indicates that "education is now a privileged terrain for observing society's profound forces, the weightiness of traditions, and the desire for innovation and alignment with contemporary morals," as Jean-Marie Mayeur [fr] suggests.

[40] Catholic elites, who frequently monitor textbook content, point out two issues with the criticized educational materials: anti-religious sentiment and morality that lacks religious references.

In politics, the systematic denigration of all that preceded 89, the worship of the Revolution before which French society was a little below the savage state in morals, [...] then the hatred of the Catholic religion which oozes everywhere even though it is nowhere formulated."M.

Paul-Matthieu de La Foata [fr] observesː[50] "Children will comprehend that God does not have a place in moral teachings because Religion is viewed as a solely human construct, consisting of incompatible superstitions with the enlightenment that science offers."