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The French Third Republic (French: Troisième République, sometimes written as La III e République) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy ...
Third Republic, French government from 1870 to 1940. After the fall of the Second Empire and the suppression of the Paris Commune, the new Constitutional Laws of 1875 were adopted, establishing a regime based on parliamentary supremacy.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Roots of The Paris Commune
- The Third Republic
- The Cannons of Montmartre
- Paris Commune Established
- Women's Rights
- Vendôme Column
- Paris Under Attack
- Bloody Week
- Paris Burns
- Pere Lachaise Cemetery
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Prince Otto von Bismarck sought to unify all German states under the control of his native state, Prussia. But the Second Empire of France, ruled by Napoleon III (the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte), declared war against Prussia to resist their ambitions. In the months of war that followed, France’s army was co...
Following the collapse of France’s Second Empire, the remaining government officials established the Third Republic, formed a new legislative National Assembly and elected Adolphe Thiers, age 74, as leader. Because the government was more conservative than the citizens of Paris would tolerate, and because Paris was still dealing with the effects of...
By the end of the Franco-Prussian War, Paris had hundreds of bronze cannons scattered across the city. The National Guard, now firmly opposed to the Third Republic and their military leaders ensconced at Versailles, moved many of the cannons to the working-class neighborhoods of Montmartre, Belleville and Buttes-Chaumont and out of the reach of gov...
Now that the government of the Third Republic had departed the city, the National Guard and sympathetic citizens of Paris wasted no time in setting up a local government and preparing for an expected battle against troops from Versailles. Within days, the city was militarized, with crude barricades made of cobblestones and other debris blocking roa...
Women played an active part in the Paris Commune, including fighting against the Versaillais and caring for wounded soldiers. Some women reportedly acted as pétroleuses, arsonists paid for throwing flammable petrol into opposition houses and other buildings. There were also a number of feminist initiatives proposed to the Paris Commune, including e...
Many participants in the Paris Commune had a decidedly destructive nature, and anything that smacked of monarchy rule was considered a target. Foremost among these was the Vendôme Column, a towering monument erected to honor Napoleon Bonaparte. Called a “a monument of barbarism,” the movement to destroy the tower was started by artist Gustave Courb...
In April 1871, fearing an impending attack, the leaders of the Paris Commune decided to mount an offensive against the Versaillais. After a couple of failed efforts, their attacks on the palace at Versailles were called off. Thus emboldened, the Versaillaistroops, led by Marshal Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, mounted an attack on the city of Paris, f...
By May 23, the third day of what became known as Semaine Sanglante or “Bloody Week,” Third Republic Versaillaistroops had overrun most of Paris, and the slaughter of Communards began in earnest. As mayhem and terror swept through Paris, shooting and killing of Communards, government soldiers, Catholic clergy and ordinary citizens occurred day and n...
Indeed, burning buildings were a common sight during Bloody Week, when the skies above Paris were black with smoke. One diarist wroteon May 24: “The night has been dreadful, with reciprocal fury. Shells, shrapnel, cannonade, musketry, all kept on bursting in a frightful concert. The sky itself is red, the flashes of the massacre have set it on fire...
In one of the most dramatic final episodes of Bloody Week, the Pere Lachaise Cemetery was occupied by hundreds of Communards. But after Versaillaistroops used a cannon to blast open the cemetery gates on May 27, they stormed the cemetery and fought a pitched battle against Communards among the gravestones. As evening fell, the revolutionaries final...
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Birth of the Third Republic, 1875. After four years of uncertainty over the leadership of the country, the Third Republic was firmly instituted in Versailles in 1875. The proclamation quenched the monarchist quarrels.
Under the Third Republic the middle and lower sectors of society came to share political and social dominance with the rich notables. Universal suffrage gave them a new political weapon; France’s peculiar socioeconomic structure gave them political weight.
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The Third Republic lasted seventy years, a feat of longevity unmatched in France’s postrevolutionary history. Yet, until recent years, the Republic has not had a good press. Criticism has taken a variety of forms. The regime’s constitution and political mores have been a primary target.
The assembly began its deliberations in 1873; in 1875 it adopted a series of fundamental laws, which, taken collectively, came to be known as the constitution of the Third Republic.
