Basic Information
In 1911 and 1912, several bank robber/car thief/criminals with strong anarchist political leanings confounded the police of France and Belgium. These troublemakers used then-cutting-edge technology such as get-away cars and repeating firearms to rob bankers and other wealthy individuals. The cops just hadn't yet caught up with the big industrial and technological changes of the early 20th Century.
They robbed banks, gun shops, and transfers of money. They stole guns and automobiles and later used those stolen goods to commit future crimes.
The most famous of these anarchists was a man named Jules Bonnot. He actually was interviewed by a French newspaper in the midst of his crime spree. Prior to his interview, these movement of anarchist robbers were just known as "automobile bandits", but afterwards, they were popularly called The Bonnot Gang. In the interview he talked politics and espoused professionalism in his "work", and claimed to try to avoid violence and out-think the police. None the less, his crew did kill police officers, and eventually he himself died in a violent shoot-out with police in 1912.
Bonnot's accomplices were arrested in 1912 and tried in 1913. Some received life sentences, or even just a few years, but others were put to death by guillotine.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- A game set in Belle Epoque Europe could use the Bonnot Gang for much the same sorts of stories as you might use Bonnie and Clyde or any other Roaring Twenties gangster. They were ahead of their time!
- Jules Bonnot could be portrayed as anything from political agitator to revolutionary to sinister agent provocateur to gentleman thief to criminal mastermind to folk hero.
- Transplanted to another setting, the Bonnot Gang could be used as a model for any terrorist organization or organized crime faction with political motivations (or just using politics as cover for their crimes) that utilizes some emerging technology to confound authorities and stay ahead of the manhunt.
- In a cyberpunk setting, the Jules Bonnot equivalent might be a rock star, influencer, or other celebrity, brazenly broadcasting their spree of crimes before going out in blaze of glory.
- The gang they lead might use autonomous drones or driverless cars or computer hacking or even cloning to pull off a heist and evade pursuit.
- Transplanted to the Old West, they might target primarily Robber Baron and Cattle Barons.
- Conduct a train robbery, then later use the train in a daylight raid on a company town.
- In a cyberpunk setting, the Jules Bonnot equivalent might be a rock star, influencer, or other celebrity, brazenly broadcasting their spree of crimes before going out in blaze of glory.
- An interesting twist on the honor among thieves theme/trope might be: what to do when one member of your organization is revealing your crimes to the media as a form of self-promotion?
- In Unknown Armies (or any other urban fantasy setting with magical resonances akin to the Sympathy/Correspondence laws of magic) the homophone of Bonnet Gang and Bonnie (and Clyde) could be a sign that they were tapping in to the same magical archetype. A future criminal might name themselves something similar to draw upon that same source of mystical cachet and get themselves a similarly exciting (and short) career.