The collapse

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Émile Zola , author of the novel The Breakdown

The collapse ( French La Débâcle ) is a novel by the writer Émile Zola . It forms the 19th volume of the Rougon-Macquart cycle . The first edition was published by Charpentier in 1892. It is the longest and most widely read of the Rougon-Macquart novels during the author's lifetime. The novel describes the political and military collapse of the Second Empire , which is also a moral one. A part of the Franco-German War is depicted . The first part describes the retreat of the French army, the second part the battle of Sedan , the third part the overthrow of the Paris Commune . Central themes are the brutality of war for soldiers and civilians, the loss of relatives and friends as well as destruction and economic effects.

The novel contributed to the spread of the word debacle in common parlance.

action

The action begins in the summer of 1870, after France declared war on Prussia . The French soldiers hope for a quick victory and move eastward to cross the Rhine and advance on Berlin . The former farmer and professional soldier Jean Macquart, already known to the reader from the novel Die Erde, serves as a corporal in the VII Army Corps in the 106th Infantry Regiment. He becomes friends with the educated soldier Maurice Levasseur, who volunteered out of national enthusiasm. The merchant Weiß, who is married to Maurice's sister Hélène and lives in Sedan , expresses concern in the camp about the expected course of the war, but is viewed as a coward. Shortly afterwards the news of the defeats at Weißenburg and Fröschweiler arrives . The approach of strong German associations is reported. The French troops then withdrew to Belfort . The withdrawal is badly organized. Different troops obstruct each other at bridge crossings. There were panic scenes, soldiers throwing equipment and weapons away.

It later becomes apparent that the German troops are still far away at this point. The French troops move on to Paris , from there to Reims . Jean and Maurice make friends with the cavalryman Prosper, who serves in the Chasseurs d'Afrique , and with the artilleryman Honoré. Initially on the advance, then ordered back to be set on the march in the direction of Metz , the troops lost a lot of time that the German enemy used to march, while the French soldiers were exhausted, hungry and demoralized even before the first actual fighting. Some generals have little knowledge of geography. Maps of the operational area are not available because, in optimistic expectation of the course of the war, only maps of Germany were issued.

The presence of German cavalry causes the French leadership to mistakenly believe that they are facing the main German force. The French army is preparing for a defensive battle and is losing even more time. It is the job of the German cavalry to watch, alarm and stop the French army. This does it justice. The French cavalry is not used accordingly. The Franktireurs Sambuc, Cabasse and Ducat bring the news of German troop concentrations in the Dieulite forests and an imminent German attack on Beaumont . General Bourgain-Desfeuilles does not believe this information. When the attack occurs the following day, he decides that his troops are too far away to come to the aid of his comrades and orders the continuation of the escape, during which the sounds of the fight can be clearly heard, further demoralizing the Troop. Eventually the unit came under German artillery fire.

There are delays when crossing the Meuse River . The food supply has now completely collapsed. Jean, Maurice and Honoré visit the farm of Honoré's father Fouchard, near Metz, with whom he has a tense relationship. The maid Silvine, who was previously engaged to Honoré, lives on the farm. This connection was prohibited by Fouchard. Honoré then volunteered for service in the army, Silvine had a child from the German migrant worker Goliath, who, as it later turns out, works as a spy for the Germans.

The carnage in Bazeilles

The city of Sedan is overflowing with troops. The French general staff does not continue the march, which would have been necessary to escape encirclement by the Prussian, Bavarian and Saxon troops. They fail to occupy strategically important mountains on which the Germans post their artillery the next day. Bridges are not blown up, which enables the Bavarian troops to attack the important suburb of Bazeilles . The French troops defending Bazeilles are ordered to abandon Bazeilles. Shortly afterwards, the order is received to absolutely retake Bazeilles, which has since become impossible. The businessman Weiß fights together with trapped French soldiers. He is captured and executed immediately afterwards.

Positions of the 106th Regiment, morning during the Battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870

The French infantry lay under enemy artillery fire for hours before the order to attack is given. When the supporting artillery arrives, it turns out that they are hopelessly inferior to the more favorably positioned Germans. The range is too short, most grenades detonate in the air. The artilleryman Honoré is killed. The French cavalry launched an attack on the intact German infantry, which failed with great losses. Prosper survived the attack. A field hospital is set up in the house of the manufacturer Jules Delaherche, in which apocalyptic scenes take place. Amputated limbs and corpses pile up in the garden. The cloth manufacturer and former Bonapartist Delaherche blames the emperor for the disaster and fears for his factory. Meanwhile, his wife Gilberte has a love affair with Captain Beaudoin. The captain is seriously wounded a few hours after the night of love and dies in the hospital after amputating a foot. Gilberte Delaherche soon turned to a new lover. The citadel in Sedan hoists the white flag. The French army command needs a lot of time to be clear about whether to surrender, find the commander in chief and initiate the surrender formalities.

Positions of the 106th Regiment, in the afternoon during the Battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870

Finally, Napoleon III goes . in captivity and negotiating with Otto von Bismarck . The entire French army goes into captivity and is interned on the Iges peninsula . Conditions here are catastrophic. Most soldiers have to camp out in the open. The supply of food is too small and the deliveries are often plundered in an uncontrolled manner by the soldiers initially encamped on the bridge. Silvine and Prosper bring Honoré's corpse from the battlefield to bury him.

On a prisoner transport to Germany, Jean and Maurice manage to escape. Jean is wounded at a roadblock. Fouchard sells rotten meat to the Germans. Jean and Maurice go to Fouchard's farm. Goliath wants to force Silvine on a rendezvous . Sambuc, Cabasse and Ducat kill him. Maurice goes to Paris and joins the Commune. Jean also goes to Paris and joins the Army of the Republic. Jean Maurice was fatally wounded in the crackdown on the commune. While Paris is on fire, Jean brings Maurice to his apartment. Soon after, Hélène arrives. Maurice dies. His death separates Jean and Hélène forever.

literature

  • Helen Beatrice La Rue Rufener: Biography of a war novel: Zola's La débâcle . King's Crown Press, 1946 (English).
  • General Morel: A Propos de La Débâcle . Henri Charles-Lavauzelle, 1893 (French, full text in gallica ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Émile Zola, Robert Lethbridge: La Débâcle . In: Oxford World's Classics . Oxford University Press Place = Oxford, 2000, ISBN 0-19-282289-6 , Introduction section , p. xiii – xiv (English).
  2. ↑ Hans Schulz, Otto Basler, Gerhard Strauss, (Ed.): Da capo - Dynastie (=  German Foreign Dictionary . Volume 4 ). 2nd Edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 978-3-11-016235-6 , pp. 51 ( limited preview in Google Book search).