Ne parlons pas de l’affaire Dreyfus: Antisemitic riots and radicalization in Fin de Siècle France

There is mixed evidence on whether politically-motivated riots lead to more support for or a backlash against the political side perpetrating the violence. While most recent literature has focused on contemporary leftwing riots, and the role of parties in shaping public reactions, we look at rightwing riots in late 19\textsuperscript{th} century France, before mass parties. We use a combination of historical municipal-level election data and newly collected information on the location of antisemitic riots in early 1898, following the publication of Émile Zola’s \emph{J’Accuse} in the midst of the Dreyfus Affair. Using a difference-in-differences design -- comparing municipalities where riots occurred to those were riots did not -- we show that the riots caused a decline in support in the 1898 elections for rightwing candidates. This might at first seem like a backlash against the political positions of the rioters. However, we also find an increase in support for leftwing candidates who were endorsed by \emph{La Libre Parole}, a popular antisemitic newspaper that mainly endorsed candidates on the right. These results contribute valuable insights into understanding the consequences of political violence, suggesting that riots against an ethnic minority can have significant electoral implications, both for and against the side supporting the riots, and this effect already existed in the early years of democratic politics.