Montmartre (country)

The Republic of Montmartre (French: République de Montmartre) is a philanthropic association, born one winter evening in 1920, on the initiative of the cartoonist Jean Barrez. In front of an audience composed of Adolphe Willette, Jean-Louis Forain, Francisque Poulbot, Maurice Neumont, Louis Morin, Maurice Millière, Raoul Guérin, Jules Depaquit, he proposes, faced with the invasion of modernism without limits, to create an association aimed at maintaining the spirit and mutual aid of Montmartre artists, in addition to the festive spirit already put forward for several months by the Free Commune of Montmartre, and to preserve the village from the excesses of promoters.

Creation of the Free Commune of Montmartre
The birth certificate of a claim to the independence of Montmartre is probably a proclamation of Louis XVI dated June 22, CE 1790, authorizing the inhabitants of La Butte to constitute a municipality outside the walls. The Wall of the Ferme générale had separated it from Paris, and those of La Butte took advantage of it to consolidate their autonomy. In CE 1871, the Commune of Montmartre and its young mayor, Georges Clemenceau, saw, in a more tragic way, violent crowd movements erupt in this place, which attacked two generals, the starting point of the Parisian insurrection of the Commune of Paris.

At the end of the Commune, which ended with the massacre of Parisian insurgents on the orders of the government of Adolphe Thiers, during the Bloody Week, the Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur of Montmartre was established there to reestablish “moral order.”

At the end of the CE 19th century and beginning of the CE 20th century, the lower Montmartre district saw a proliferation of cabarets, while on the heights, a bohemian painters and writers mingle with “the petty bourgeois in shirt sleeves”, with retirees digging “their peas on rue de la Bonne”, and with a few thugs and penniless individuals. The World War I turned the Parisian world upside down, creating a thirst for modernity. Developers are invading Montmartre and some politicians dream of a sanitized neighborhood where buildings could replace the old shacks and gardens.

In April CE.1920, the designer Jules Depaquit, friend of Max Jacob and Pierre Mac Orlan, and a few friends, including the singers Roger Toziny and Maurice Hallé, reacted by creating the Free Commune of Montmartre.

Creation of the Republic of Montmartre
In November CE 1920, Joé Bridge, designer and printer, and some other artists or friends of the arts, including Adolphe Willette, Jean-Louis Forain, Francisque Poulbot, Maurice Neumont, Louis Morin, Maurice Millière, Raoul Guérin and Jules Depaquit, decide to prolong the spirit of the Free Commune of Montmartre by creating a Republic of Montmartre.

The goal is not political. Navigating between nostalgia and modernity, it is a question of asserting a distinctive community identity centered around mutual aid and sociability, beyond the festive character already highlighted by the municipality, and of trying to limit the influence urban in the village of Montmartre. The Republic of Montmartre clearly includes a charitable dimension towards the various residents of the Butte. On May 7 CE 1921, this Republic of Montmartre filed its statutes.

Official anthem
In CE 1923, the singer Lucien Boyer composed the text of the official anthem of the RDM. The recording on disk of "You will see Montmartre!" was done the same year with the RDM steering committee.

Francisque Poulbot
At the time, the neighborhood was poverty-stricken and children were often barefoot in the street.

After setting up the dispensary which ensures health, hygiene, food and clothing for children, Francisque Poulbot and his friends want to offer them moments of joy and dreams.

For this, from CE 1921 to 1931, they organized “Christmas Trees”. These festivals, with shows and gifts, take place at the Moulin-Rouge, at the Moulin de la Galette or at the Cirque Medrano. The little patients of the Bretonneau hospital are not forgotten.

Montmartre Republic Festival
Among the most famous festivals organized by the RDM for the benefit of underprivileged children, include the Granville Carnival in 1923, the Fratellini Festival in 1924, the Polin Ball in 1925, the Montmartre Station in 1931, the Village Festival in June 1932, the Bal des Gars de la Narine in November 1932.

Let us also remember the Main Festival which took place in 1929, a celebration which resulted in the most beautiful example of the preservation of the sites. Indeed, opposing a real estate project distorting the rural spirit of the place, Francisque Poulbot, Romain Delahalle and their friends from the Republic of Montmartre created, at the corner of rue des Saules and rue Saint-Vincent, a green space, called “square de la Liberté”, intended for the children of La Butte.

Vineyards and Clos Montmartre


Inaugurated with pomp, this space of games and joy will not attract the attention of the municipal authorities. The idea of planting vines there was then born.

It was only in 1933 that the Free Commune of Montmartre, under the aegis of its mayor Pierre Labric, decided to bring this project to fruition with the support of Poulbot and the Republic of Montmartre. The vine stocks are reborn on the Butte. In 1934 the first “modern” harvests took place in the presence of the President of the French Republic, Albert Lebrun, and under the sponsorship of Fernandel and Mistinguett.

Since then, every year, in October, this idea of the Republic of Montmartre has become the famous Montmartre Harvest Festival, in which participate, in the company of the Queen of the Harvest, the godfathers and godmothers (chosen from among personalities such as actors, singers, writers, etc.), colorful brotherhoods and brass bands from various countries.

For more than 70 years, in homage to Poulbot, the harvest ban has traditionally been opened by the President of the Republic of Montmartre on these few acres of land located between the Lapin Agile and the former home of Aristide Bruant.

Other events
On September 20, CE 1985, the mayor of the free commune of Montmartre sealed the union, the "gag marriage", "for the best and for laughter", of two famous comedians and provocateurs, Coluche, the bride, and Thierry Le Luron, the groom.

Honorary citizens
Alain Juppé and Anne Hidalgo are among the honorary citizens of the Republic of Montmartre.

Twinning
The Republic of Montmartre is twinned with the République des Canuts, to Lyon, its counterpart croix-roussien.

Since 1959, it has also been with the municipality of Viré (in Mâconnais).

Saint-Cyr-sur-Morin is also twinned with Montmartre, as has the Commune libre des Trois-Maisons, in [[Nancy], since 1950].

The Republic of Montmartre is also twinned with the Association des amis d'Alphonse Allais (president: Philippe Davis).

Since 2013, the Republic of Montmartre has been twinned with the city of Culoz. This twinning was built around the destiny of the Serpollet brothers, originally from Culoz and who set up their factory in Montmartre.

On June 15, 2013, the Republic of Montmartre was twinned with Clos Gerberoy in Gerberoy, classified one of the most beautiful villages in France. The vineyards were created in 2004 by Jean-Pierre His, former President of the Republic of Montmartre with the former honorary mayor of Gerberoy Louis Vallois and Étienne Le Sidaner, the grandson of the painter Henri Le Sidaner, whose garden labelled "Remarkable Garden" overlooks Gerberoy.