Society of December Tenth

(La Société du Dix-Décembre), a Bonapartist mass organization in France that was founded in September 1849 and dissolved in November 1850. Its name is connected with the date of Louis Napoleon’s election to the presidency of the republic (Dec. 10, 1848). The Society of December Tenth existed in the guise of a charitable organization – to a large extent with means that were provided by the president himself. Headed by some of Louis Napoleon’s closest associates, it enlisted supporters from among the déclassé strata of the population. To this end, the society resorted to demagogic promises, sops, bribes, and money for drink. At Louis Napoleon’s appearances in public, the “delight” and “enthusiasm” of the crowd were incited. The society organized reprisals against those hostile to Bonapartism.