Massacre of Italians at Aigues-Mortes

Massacre of Italians at Aigues-Mortes
Massacre of the Italian salt workers at Aigues-Mortes
Location	Aigues-Mortes in the Camargue (France)
Date	August 16–17, 1893
Target	Italian migrant workers at the salt pits
Attack type	Massacre
Deaths	Unclear, numbers vary from 8 to 150. Most probably 17 dead and 150 injured.
Perpetrators	Angry mob of the local population and unemployed French workers detesting poor Italian immigrant labourers that were prepared to work at cut-rate wages
Motive	A brawl between the local and immigrant Italian communities rapidly escalating into a battle of honour

The Massacre of the Italians at Aigues-Mortes was a series of events on 16 and 17 August 1893, in Aigues-Mortes, France, which resulted in the deaths of immigrant Italian workers of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi, at the hands of French villagers and labourers. Estimates range from the official number of eight deaths up to 150, according to the Italian press of the time. Those killed were victims of lynchings, beatings with clubs, drowning and rifle shots, as well as many casualties.

The massacre was not the first attack by French workers on poor Italian immigrant labourers that were prepared to work at cut-rate wages. When the news reached Italy anti-French riots erupted in the country. The case was also one of the greatest legal scandals of the time, since no convictions were ever made.

In the summer of 1893, the Compagnie des Salins du Midi began to recruit workers to harvest seasalt from its evaporation ponds (salines). With unemployment increasing because of an economic crisis in Europe, the prospect of finding seasonal employment attracted more applicants than usual. They were divided into three categories: Ardéchois (peasants, not necessarily from Ardèche, who left their land seasonally); Piémontais (Italians originating from across northern Italy and recruited on the spot by team leaders); and trimards (composed partly of vagrants).

Because of the recruitment policies of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi, the team leaders were constrained to form teams comprising French and Italians. On the morning of 16 August, a brawl between the two communities rapidly escalated into a battle of honour.

Despite the intervention of a justice of the peace and gendarmes, the situation rapidly deteriorated. Some trimards reached Aigues-Mortes and said that the Italians had killed some local Aiguemortais, causing their ranks to grow from the local population and workers who had been unable to secure employment. A group of Italians was then attacked and had to take refuge in a bakery that the rioters wanted to set fire to. The prefect called in troops at around 4 o'clock in the morning; they did not arrive on the scene until 6 pm, after the drama.

In the morning, the situation festered. The rioters went into the Peccais salines (43°32′23″N 4°13′07″E / 43.539714°N 4.218535°E / 43.539714; 4.218535) where there was the largest number of Italians. Gendarme captain Cabley was trying to protect them, while promising the rioters he would drive out the Italians once they had been accompanied back to the railway station in Aigues-Mortes. It was during the journey that the Italians were attacked by the rioters and massacred by a crowd that the gendarmes were unable to contain.