Global InformationFrench School Wars information
The French School Wars between 1900 and 1910 comprised political discussions and social disagreements about the role of religion in French education. They resulted from the prevailing political conditions as per the law separating Church and State. The Morizot affair surfaced in 1907 after a teacher was charged with making anti-religious comments.
The government, feeling the pressure from the Ligue de l'enseignement, introduced a bill to exempt schoolteachers from civil courts and fine families who declined to teach their children secular ethics. The Catholic Church swiftly reacted; in its September 1908 declaration, the French episcopate challenged the new legislation and reaffirmed families' right to regulate the education provided in public schools. In the months that followed, the French cardinals, led by the intransigent Rafael Merry del Val, worked to redefine the educational doctrine of the Church in France. In September 1909, their efforts culminated in the rejection of school neutrality, the preference for free schools, and the condemnation of approximately fifteen school textbooks.
This marked the beginning of a "textbook war," similar to the one that had troubled France between 1882 and 1883. What was novel, however, was the significant role attributed to Catholic organizations - such as the Société générale d'éducation et d'enseignement, the Ligue patriotique des Françaises, and the Associations des pères de familles - and their mobilization, which was integral to the campaign and long-term.
The crisis persisted for numerous years with the radicals battling until 1914 to pass their "secular defense" initiatives. The Sacred Union, which governed at the onset of World War I, ended conflicts in schools. After the war, while secular education persisted, Christian schools experienced an increase in enrollment and received full attention from the French Catholic hierarchy. Additionally, the school war empowered Pius X to establish his superiority over the French episcopate, subduing Gallicanism temporarily.