page_title: Revolt of the Languedoc winegrowers
section_title: The events of 1907
hierarchical_section_title: Revolt of the Languedoc winegrowers / The events of 1907
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Chargement de vins dans le port d’Oran à destination de la France
context_page_description: The Revolt of the Languedoc winegrowers was a mass movement in 1907 in Languedoc and the Pyrénées-Orientales of France that was repressed by the government of Georges Clemenceau.
  It was caused by a serious crisis in winemaking at the start of the 20th century.
  The movement was also called the "paupers revolt" of the Midi.
  It was marked by the fraternization of the 17th line infantry regiment with the demonstrators in Béziers.
context_section_description: There was a crisis in 1907.
  The winemakers of Languedoc felt themselves increasingly threatened by wines imported from Algeria through the port of Sète and by chaptalization (adding sugar before fermentation to increase alcohol content).
  The country had not experienced such misery since the outbreak of phylloxera. 
  The crisis had been building for three years.
  Winemakers could not sell their product, people were unemployed and there was general distress.
  Wine was still needed after the phylloxera crisis. 
  The vineyards of the Île-de-France had disappeared but southern vineyards could replace them thanks to the railways. 
  There was no hesitation over adulterating the wine.
  The state favored importing Algerian wines, which were mixed with poor quality wines of metropolitan France. 
  This practice created a glut of wine that caused the slump in the Languedoc-Roussillon viticulture.
  Apart from its role as a distribution center, the port of Sète acted as a catalyst for the crisis. 
  Its presence at the center of a large production area created the risk of overproduction by encouraging use of aramon grapes and large vineyards. 
  This created volume.
  The need to cut these wines to increase strength caused increased demand for Algerian wines, whose production rose from 500,000,000 liters in 1900 to 800,000,000 in 1904.
  Strong local production together with the production of fake wines and blends with Algerian wines saturated the consumer market. 
  Wine imports, far from diminishing, increased in 1907, aggravating the imbalance between supply and demand. 
  This caused the fall of prices and the economic crisis.
  As early as January 1907 a warning was given by a report published by the Revue de la Societe des Viticulteurs de France: "The sweetening of grape harvests was authorized by law only in view of chaptalization, that is to say that is to say, as a means of improving the quality of the wine, and not as a method of increasing its quantity by means of dilution. 
  It is therefore legitimate to establish a proportional tax on the natural product thus enhanced. 
  The wine associations and oenology committee have long recommended that all regulation of sugaring the grape harvest should include a tax on the sugar used in the harvest".
  The small wine growers were ruined and agricultural workers were unemployed. 
  There was a domino effect on the whole population, since the ruin of the winemakers entails that of shopkeepers and other trades.
  There was misery throughout the region, and the 1906 harvest did not sell.
  In February 1907 a tax strike began in Baixas.
  Joseph Tarrius, winemaker and pharmacist, circulated a petition to be signed by his fellow citizens entitled: "The municipality of Baixas, unable to pay the tax, is under mass expropriation. It is a tax we can pay and pay again: The tax on blood."
  On 18 February 1907 Marcelin Albert took the initiative to send a telegram to Georges Clemenceau.
  One historian described Albert as follows: "A small peasant from Argeliers, who looked like a Spanish Christ, Marcelin Albert was a jack of all trades: director of a theatrical troupe, a café owner and a winemaker. In his village he was called "lo Cigal" (the Cicada), because of his whimsical and carefree spirit. 
  Since 1900 he had been fighting for the defense of natural wine against fake wine. He was the initiator of the revolt of winemakers that started on 11 March 1907."
caption: Wine being loaded in the port of Oran for shipment to France
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