The Republicans in Power

major reform began in 1848 under the Second Republic

universal manhood suffrage

What happened to France in 1870, marking the end of the Second Empire?

France suffered a defeat + the Mokrani rebellion in Algeria was defeated.

What did the 1875 constitutional compromise achieve?

It was accepted by Opportunist republicans; the Wallon amendment was adopted, and a Catholic university was permitted.

What was the result of MacMahon’s 1877 coup attempt?

It failed, reducing the president to a symbolic role.

What was the Freycinet Plan of 1878?

A massive expansion of France’s national rail network.

Who replaced MacMahon as president in January 1879, and what did this symbolize?

Jules Grévy; it confirmed France as a political democracy, neither revolutionary nor conservative.

What political shift occurred in 1879?

Opportunist republicans gained control of both houses; workers in Marseille called for a workers’ political party.

What educational development spanned 1879–1885?

Jules Ferry served as Minister of Education and enacted major secular education reforms.

What did the 1880 Camille Sée law establish?

Public secondary schools for women.

What freedoms were granted in 1881?

Press censorship was abolished; civic funeral laws expanded; France occupied Tunisia; and the indigenous law imposed arbitrary colonial authority.

What change occurred in 1882 regarding funerals

Civic funerals without religious elements became legal.

What local political reform occurred 1882–1884

Cities and towns (except Paris) gained the right to elect mayors and councils

What did France establish in Indochina between 1883–1885

A French protectorate over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

What major reforms occurred in 1884

Trade unions legalized; divorce reinstated; Republic declared France’s permanent system; Berlin Congress convened

What led to Jules Ferry’s downfall in 1885

Opposition to colonial expansion

When did the Third Republic collapse

1940

Who was MacMahon?

President of the Republic; his failed 1877 coup reduced the presidency to a symbolic role.

Who was Jules Grévy?

Replaced MacMahon in 1879; represented stable parliamentary democracy.

Who was Léon Gambetta?

Key Opportunist republican leader; supported 1875 compromise; briefly held office in 1881; coined "les nouvelles couches sociales."

Who was Jules Ferry?

Leading Opportunist and Minister of Education (1879–1885); led secular education reforms and colonial expansion.

Who was Camille Sée?

Authored 1880 law creating secondary education for women.

Who was Auguste Bartholdi?

Sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.

Who was Ernest Lavisse?

Official historian; portrayed French kings as founders of the nation.

Who was Denis Poulot?

Entrepreneur, reformer, and Paris mayor; founded the "Society for Civil Marriage" (1881).

Who was Stanley Hoffmann?

Political scientist who said the regime had “plenty of brakes and not much of a motor.”

What was the core political structure of the Third Republic

A moderate parliamentary democracy centered on the Chamber of Deputies.

Why was France politically unstable but administratively continuous?

Frequent cabinet changes but recurring leaders and stable bureaucracy.

How was the regime socially conservative?

It protected property and elites; peasants and middle class dominated politics; workers excluded.

What does laïcité mean, and how did the Ferry Laws enforce it?

Secularism—Ferry laws made education free, compulsory, and nonreligious, barring clergy from teaching.

What were the goals of the new education system?

To instill loyalty to the nation and republican values through secular teachers (“black hussars of the Republic”).

How did education and military service shape identity?

They helped transform “peasants into Frenchmen.”

What civil rights expanded under the republicans?

Abolition of press censorship, legalization of unions and divorce, secular funerals, and national holidays.

What new symbols reinforced republican identity?

Marianne and Bastille Day as national icons.

What was the essence of Ferry’s colonial policy?

Expansion to restore France’s prestige and markets—reflecting the civilizing mission

What contradiction defined the colonial empire?

Democracy in France coexisted with authoritarian rule in colonies (e.g., the 1881 indigénat law).