“Défendons Notre Liberté par la Force”

Abstract At the beginning of the twentieth century, large parts of the world witnessed a wave of strikes. In response, groups of independent trade unionists, private industrial security forces, and associations of strikebreakers created new practices to defend social stability and private property. This article focuses on the strikebreaking associations active in France before World War I. It examines the nature of the nineteenth-century French state, describing the patterns of collaboration between authorities and strikebreakers. It concentrates on the actions of two Parisian groups: the Liberté du Travail, founded in 1908 by Jean Allembert, and the Bourse Libre du Travail de Paris, founded in 1911 by Pierre Lambert. Mainly present in the Parisian public works sector, these two groups were capable of violence and provided effective labor replacement. The article argues that French police forces were willing to cooperate with such violent private forces and shows that public authorities sought hegemony over violence rather than a complete monopoly.