The Apaches, the bands that terrorize Paris in 1900, seen by the newspapers of the time

Knife brawls, fights between young people, territory war, juvenile delinquency...The press already evoked the phenomenon of the bands over a century ago, with the apaches.Here is how these kids “born on the pavement» have ""terrorized Paris"" of the Belle Epoque, giving grain to grind to the most touting newspapers.

In 1900, groups of adolescents sow trouble in the streets of Paris.They are between 14 and 20 years old, are sometimes orphans, escape school and live day by day.They come from the eastern Paris, from the outskirts, near the old fortifications of the city.

Auguste Le Breton, writer and former little thug, France Culture 1994illes nicknames according to their neighborhood: “Les Moucherons», “Les Sautete-aux-Pattes de la Glacière», “Les Chevaliers du Sac», “Les LoupsButte ».

But the press quickly finds them a more scary generic name: lesapaches.

Henri Fouquier, morning, December 16, 1900

Jean-Marc Berlière, historian and author of the book History of police in France: from the old regime to the present day (co-written with René Lévy), published New World, in 2011: “We are in the years 1895-1910, Buffalo Bill did his tour in France, there is a start of what could be called comics.There is a real myth for the conquest of the American West and the Apaches become a symbolic figure of fear, of anxiety in Paris.»

Albert Simonin, a writer who attended the apaches described on the ORTF in 1974 their precarious existence: ""They led such a sinister life, still hunted.I never experienced one who lived in a suitable furnished.They lived in garnish payable by the week, without water, finally water on the square, no gas in periods of scarcity when they did not go to the restaurant.""

A certain libertarian hedonism

Ils aiment pourtant l’alcool, le tabac, le jeu, les bals musette et considèrent que “celui qui travaille est un imbécile».Some are pimp and put girls on the sidewalk sometimes older than them.

Jean-Marc Berlière: “There is a passage of affirmation of his virility, there are incessant territorial conflicts. On défend son territoire, on défend ses femmes, ses “marmites», c’est leur moyen de subsistance. Et l’autre moyen de subsistance, c’est ce qu'ils appellent “dégringoler un pante», c’est-à-dire aller attaquer des bourgeois, avec une certain nombre de ruses, les assommer.One of their favorite weapons is the ball and at that time, we take the watch, the wallet.»

C’est une histoire de proxénétisme qui attire l'attention sur les Apaches en 1902 quand deux chefs rivaux se livrent une guerresans merci pour le coeur de “Casque d’or».

Pour s’identifier au groupe, ils parlent un argot enrichi chaque jour de mots nouveaux, comme “la renifle» qui désigne les policiers tant exécrés.

Fernand Trignol, voyou repenti, décrit le quotidien typique d'un apache sur la RTF en 1950 : ""Dénicheur est un mec de Belleville, il était de la rue Compans exactement.His name was Hippolyte Poli.He reigned in Paris, regulated conflicts, made the marlou in fiacres with his band.In the morning in the Terns, in the evening in Grenelle, at midnight in the Halles.He was the terror of Paris.»

The streets of the streets display tattoos, and a recognizable output: courmellades, sneakers or shiny shoes, very wide pants, red scarf, bridge cap and fitted jacket.

The darling of the big daily newspapers

Daily daily newspapers are enjoying these stories.Some editorialists deplore the laxity of justice and claim guillotine.They imagine that the conditions of detention of these offenders are too mild.Jean-Marc Berlière: “And that multiplies the articles in the press, very anxiety-provoking articles: what is the government doing?What does the state do?What are our elected officials doing to defend our populations.This persuades the people they live in in a time when there is less security than ever.We have the impression of a return to the Middle Ages.And insecurity becomes a political subject.»

Journalists do not hesitate to exaggerate and invent assaults to sell more, while paradoxically, the 1900s experienced a drop in juvenile delinquency.

La plupart de ces “récalcitrants» sont mobilisés sur le front en 1914.Many do not come back.Others are sent to the prison in Guyana.

Diabolized by the press, embellished by the song and fictionalized by cinema, the Apaches embody the fear of a society which has no longer taken on its youth. Une peur qui reviendra avec d’autres visages au XXe siècle avec les Blousons noirs, les Punks ou les “banlieusards».