Beginning  with  the  Poincare  Cabinet  and  continuing
through  the  Barthou  Ministry,  there  was  a  movement  to
unite  all  the  moderate  elements  of  the  Chamber  in  order
to  appease  certain  antagonistic  elements  in  the  Republic,
especially  the  Catholics.  One  of  these  attempts  was
known  as  the  Entente  Democratique  et  Sociale,  organ-
ized in  the  Chamber  by  M.  ]\Iaginot,  with  the  object  of
combining  the  deputies  in  a  "Center  group,"  complete-
ly independent  of  other  political  combinations.  This
group  later  came  to  be  known  as  the  Centre  Gauche,  and
included  members  of  both  the  Radical  and  Independent
Socialist  parties.  This  grouping  soon  was  vigorously  at-
tacked by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Radical
party;  and  as  the  result  of  a  letter  written  on  the  18th
of  June,  1913,  it  succeeded  in  securing  the  withdrawal
of  eiglit  Radicals  from  this  coml)iiiati()n.
Both  of  tlicse  developments,  i.e.,  Radical  participa-

88


THE  "BLOC"  AND  THE  SACRED  UNION

tioii  iu  a  Cabinet  which  iiichuled  a  I'rogrcssi.st  Repul)li-
can  and  Radical  adherence  to  a  group  based  upon  a
policy  of  conciliation,  were  condemned  by  the  Congress
of  Pau,  in  October,  1913,  as  throwing  the  Republic  back
into  the  hands  of  the  Clericals.  The  fundamental  im-
portance in  a  democracy  of  "distinct  parties,  conflicting
in  their  ideas,  opposing  program  to  program,"  was
emphasized. ^^

The  month  following  the  Congress  (in  December,
1913),  M.  Aristide  Briand,  in  a  famous  speech  at  St.
Etienne,  proclaimed  the  necessity  of  a  Republican
entente.  He  protested  against  socialistic  attempts  at
revolution,  strongly  attacking  the  Radicals;  he  pleaded
for  reconciliation  with  the  Catholics ;  he  urged  propor-
tional representation  and  the  three-year  military  law;
and,  finally,  he  denounced  Joseph  Caillaux  in  no  uncer-
tain terms.
