L'Hydre anarchiste

L'Hydre anarchiste
Liberté, égalité, justice
Cover of the first issue of the newspaper
Founder(s)Antoine Cyvoct
Georges Garraud (Valadier)
G. Robert (Manager)
Vincent Berthout
Founded24 February 1884
Ceased publication30 March 1884
Political alignmentAnarchism
Propaganda by the deed
LanguageFrench
HeadquartersLyon

L'Hydre anarchiste (English: The Anarchist Hydra) was an anarchist newspaper published in Lyon between February and March 1884. It succeeded Le Défi, which was banned before publication began, and preceded L'Alarme.

During this period, Lyon was a major hub for the anarchist movement. They began establishing various press outlets that followed one after another in response to frequent bans and heavy state repression. Despite only being published for two months, the newspaper focused heavily on the trial of Antoine Cyvoct regarding the Assommoir bombing and advocated for propaganda by the deed. It also serves as a significant early example of a female anarchist readership in France, featuring sections of the paper addressed directly to women companions.

It belongs to the first period of the Lyon anarchist press, featuring a series of closely related newspapers that succeeded one another in the face of government bans, including Le Droit social, L'Étendard révolutionnaire, La Lutte, Le Drapeau noir, L'Émeute, Le Défi, L'Hydre anarchiste, L'Alarme, and Le Droit anarchique.