Ravachol was executed on July 11, 1892, not long before Vaillant followed in his footsteps. Ravachol, like Vaillant, had come from a fragmented family background. His father abandoned him and his mother, brother, and sister when Ravachol was only eight-years-old. As the eldest of the siblings, he filled the role his father did not want and worked to support the whole family.
Familiarity with unsavory working conditions led Ravachol to become politically active in fighting for better work environments. At the same time, his anarchist ambitions began to take shape possibly as a result of physical altercations with police that turned violent during a demonstration for better working conditions. On May Day in 1891, Ravachol and other demonstrators were in the village of Fourmies, in the north of France. The police opened fire on the peaceful crowd, killing several people and wounding many more. Elsewhere in France on the same day, police behaved in a military fashion, arresting, beating, and shooting protesters.
The injustice inspired Ravachol to take action. He brazenly placed bombs in the homes of two city officials. General Léon Bulot (executive of the Public Ministry), and Edmond Benoît had both taken part in the court cases against those arrested during the May Day events. Ravachol is thought to be responsible for additional bombings, including at the Restaurant Véry. Nevertheless, to many Ravachol was a heroic figure. He stood trial, was executed and mythologized just as fast. The French workers could not help but admire him. Artists found inspiration in him. Songs were written in his name as were more acts of terror, including the bombing, carried out by Vaillant.
The rising popularity of anarchists alarmed the French government. Directly after Vaillant’s execution, a controversial law was issued that had two purposes. It was intended to demonize anarchists, restrict the press and free assembly, and it made anti-military sentiment a criminal activity. The law made support of any crime a crime in itself. The blanketed wording precluded that all anarchist literature and propaganda would be effectively suppressed, and those who broke the law would be imprisoned…but the band played on.