Le Canard enchaîné Free Man") which was forced to close by government censorship and reacted upon its reopening by changing its name to "L'homme enchaîné" ("The Chained-up Man"); "Le Canard enchaîné" means "The chained-up duck", but "canard" (duck) is also French slang for "newspaper"; it was also a reference to French journals published by soldiers during World War I. The weekly was founded in 1915 by and his wife , along with H. P. Gassier. It changed its title briefly after World War I to "Le Canard Déchaîné" ("The duck unbound", or "out of control"), to celebrate the end of military censorship of
Le Canard enchaîné directorial office of "Le Canard". The resulting scandal forced Interior Minister Raymond Marcellin to leave the government, though it is said that Marcellin was a scapegoat for other members of the government, especially the Defense Minister, who was intent on knowing the identities of informers for the newspaper. A series of articles accusing long-serving Gaullist minister and possible Prime Ministerial candidate Robert Boulin of involvement in dubious real estate deals was followed by Boulin's mysterious death (October 1979), presumed to be suicide. Following his death, major officials publicly accused "Le Canard enchaîné" of the moral responsibility for Boulin's death, and