Waldeck-Rousseau, René (rənā` väldĕk`-r

sō`), 1846–1904, French statesman. Belonging to the republican left, he was twice minister of the interior (1881, 1883–85), and in 1884 he was responsible for the passage of the Waldeck-Rousseau law, legalizing the creation of trade unions. In 1893 he was defense counsel for A. Gustave Eiffel Eiffel, Alexandre Gustave (ī`fəl, Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. in the Panama Canal scandal trial. President Émile Loubet appointed him to head a cabinet in 1899, at the height of the Dreyfus Affair Dreyfus Affair (drā`fəs, drī–), the controversy that occurred with the treason conviction (1894) of Capt.
..... Click the link for more information. , and he succeeded in securing a presidential pardon for Dreyfus. Although Waldeck-Rousseau himself advocated moderate measures, the repressive anticlerical legislation that grew out of the affair began during his ministry. His Associations Law (1901) virtually abolished the right of free association of religious orders, and thousands of monks and nuns went into exile. Waldeck-Rousseau resigned (1902) because of failing health and was succeeded by Émile Combes.

Waldeck-Rousseau, (Pierre-Marie-) René

(born Dec. 2, 1846, Nantes, France—died Aug. 10, 1904, Corbeil) French politician. A conservative lawyer, he served in the Chamber of Deputies (1879–89) and as minister of the interior (1881–82, 1883–85). In 1884 he sponsored the law that legalized French trade unions. After returning to his prosperous law practice, he became a senator in 1894. In the upheaval over the Alfred Dreyfus affair, he was appointed premier (1899–1902) and formed a coalition cabinet that persuaded the president to pardon Dreyfus.