Camille Pelletan Charles Camille Pelletan ( 28 June 1846 – 1915 ) was a French politician and journalist , Minister of Marine in Emile Combes ' " Bloc des gauches " ( Left - Wing Blocks ) cabinet from 1902 to 1905 . He was part of the left - wing of the Republican , Radical and Radical - Socialist Party , created in 1902 . Biography . Pelletan was born in Paris , the son of Eugène Pelletan ( 1813 - 1884 ) , a writer of some distinction and a noted opponent of the Second Empire . Camille Pelletan was educated in Paris , passed as licentiate in laws , and studied at the " École Nationale des Chartes " where he was qualified as an " archiviste paléographe " . At the age of twenty he became an active journalist , and a bitter critic of the Imperial Government . After the war of 1870 - 71 he took a leading place among the Radicals , as an opponent of the " Opportunist Republicans " who continued the policy of Léon Gambetta . In 1880 he became editor of " Justice " , and worked with success to bring about a revision of the sentences passed on the " Communards " . In 1881 he was elected a deputy for the Xe arrondissement of Paris , and in 1885 for the Bouches - du - Rhône " département " , being reelected in 1889 , 1893 and 1898 ; and he was repeatedly chosen as reporter to the various bureaus . During the Dreyfus Affair he fought vigorously on behalf of the Republican government and when the coalition known as the " Bloc des gauches " ( Left - Wings Block ) was formed he took his place as a Radical leader , becoming a member of the Republican , Radical and Radical - Socialist Party at its creation in 1902 , and taking place at its left - wing . He was nominated as Minister of Marine in the " Bloc des gauches " cabinet of Émile Combes ( June 1902 to January 1905 ) , but his administration was severely criticized , notably by Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan and other naval experts . During the great sailors strike at Marseille in 1904 he showed pronounced sympathy with the socialistic aims and methods of the strikers , and a strong feeling was aroused that his Radical sympathies tended to a serious weakening of the navy and to destruction of discipline . A somewhat violent controversy resulted , in the course of which Pelletan ' s indiscreet speeches did him no good ; and he became a common subject for ill - natured caricatures . On the fall of the Combes ministry he became less prominent in French politics . A deputy again for the Bouches du Rhône ( until 1912 ) , he voted on 3 July 1905 the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State . From 1912 to 1915 he was a senator elected in the Bouches du Rhône electoral district . Camille Pelletan ' s name was given to the " Parti radical - socialiste Camille Pelletan " , a left - wing off - shoot of the Republican , Radical and Radical - Socialist Party created after the 6 February 1934 crisis by Gabriel Cudenet , who opposed the participation of several Radicals to the conservative cabinet of Gaston Doumergue , which had replaced the fallen " Cartel des gauches " ( Left - Wings Cartel ) . The Pelletan ' s family tree includes 11 parliamentaries , among whom are Georges Bonnet and Michel Debré . As French Navy minister , Camille Pelletan will be highly criticized . The Rear Admiral Bradley A . Fiske , USN ( 1854 - 1942 ) wrote in he ’ s book , " From midshipman to rear admiral " , edited in 1919 , concerning the French navy minister Camille Pelletan : " Instead of being a friend of the people , as so many French people thought , Camille Pelletan by his course was more dangerous to them than all the German spies in France put together . Camille Pelletan ' s course did more to break down the defense of the French Republic than a half a million German troops could have done . " http : / / en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Bradley _ A . _ Fiske http : / / books . google . com . hk / books ? id = 6tIqAAAAYAAJ & q = admiral + bradley + pelletan & dq = admiral + bradl ey + pelletan & hl = zh - CN & sa = X & ei = MgG3UfPdFYinkgWN74GgAQ & ved = 0CEEQ6AewAg