ABSTRACT
Jean Jaures, founder of the modern French Socialist Party, was one of the first and most successful socialists to work within the parliamentary system. A talented public speaker who was attracted to republican politics, Jean Jaures was elected at age 26 to the Chamber of Deputies, making him the youngest deputy in the French parliament. The Dreyfus case brought a left-of-center coalition into power, including the socialists. In 1902 Jean Jaures, deputy once again, founded the French Socialist Party. Jean Jaures's dedication, both to socialism and to participation in the formal political institutions of France, provided a model for future socialists in Europe and other nations, an alternative to the extra-legal tactics practiced by Russian communists and their followers. Jean Jaures was also a forerunner of future efforts to foster cooperation among European states, especially between France and Germany.
