Théophile Delcassé (1852–1923) Signed autograph letter to Camille Barrè, 1916

  

Autograph letter signed to Camille Barrère, Beaulieu, 5 March 1916. 1 page, in-12°, on blue laid paper with scalloped edges, printed letterhead of the Hôtel Métropole, Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

Postage stamp and postal markings from Beaulieu and Rome. Friendly and political letter addressed to the French ambassador in Rome, then a major figure in Italian diplomacy.

Delcassé thanks him for his help in an administrative matter and mentions the difficulty of finding a collaborator. “Since the task is not lacking, the head of mission has only to ask for an additional collaborator. The question of money and accommodation does not arise; my young friend is independent.” Direct tone, marked by esteem and cordiality, in the context of the First World War, when Franco-Italian cooperation passed through Barrère, the architect of rapprochement between the two countries. Théophile Delcassé (1852–1923) was one of the great architects of French diplomacy during the Belle Époque. A journalist of humble origins who became a statesman, he embodied the cautious and skillful France of the pre-1914 era.

Elected as a Radical deputy for the Hautes-Pyrénées, he entered the Foreign Ministry early on. His opposition to Germany during the Tangier crisis (1905) led to his downfall: Berlin demanded his resignation, a sign of his influence. In short, Delcassé was the diplomat who, long before 1914, prepared the alliance system that would isolate Germany and shape French foreign policy up to the First World War.