Paris Commune and the Origins of the Third Republic

Who was Adolphe Thiers

Head of the provisional government (1871); sought peace with Prussia; crushed the Paris Commune (“Semaine Sanglante”); negotiated the Treaty of Frankfurt; toppled by monarchists in May 1873.

Who was Léon Gambetta?

Republican leader who called for continued resistance against Prussia; distanced himself from the Commune; later guided the Assembly toward republicanism.

Who was Comte de Chambord?

Legitimist claimant to the Bourbon throne; his refusal to accept the tricolor flag or constitutional limits doomed the monarchist restoration in 1873.

Who was Marshal MacMahon?

Conservative general elected president in 1873 for seven years; led the “Moral Order” regime; attempted a failed coup in 1877 by dissolving parliament.

Who were Louise Michel and Elizabeth Dimitrieff?

Prominent women in the Paris Commune; Michel fought on the barricades, while Dimitrieff organized women’s workshops.

Who was Mohammed el Mokrani?

Algerian Muslim leader who led a major anti-French uprising in 1871; brutally suppressed.

What happened on September 4, 1870?

The Republic was proclaimed; Government of National Defense formed.

What occurred on February 8, 1871?

National elections gave conservatives a majority (“party of peace”).

What happened on March 18, 1871?

Thiers’s attempt to seize National Guard cannons sparked the Paris Commune uprising.

What was May 21–28, 1871 known as?

“The Bloody Week” (Semaine Sanglante), when Thiers’s forces crushed the Commune with massive bloodshed.

What happened in May 1873?

Thiers was overthrown; MacMahon became president for seven years.

What was significant about January 30, 1875?

The Wallon Amendment narrowly passed, formally establishing the Third Republic.

What occurred on May 16, 1877?

MacMahon dissolved the Chamber in a failed bid to restore conservative control—securing republican dominance instead.

What was the Terrible Year (L’Année Terrible)?

1870–71 — France’s defeat by Prussia, loss of Alsace-Lorraine, civil war, and the Paris Commune uprising.ernment of Moral Order.”

What defined the Conservative Ascendancy after 1871?

A monarchist-dominated Assembly split among Legitimists, Orléanists, and Bonapartists; their divisions blocked a royal restoration.

Why did the monarchist restoration fail in 1873?

The Comte de Chambord refused to accept the tricolor flag and constitutional monarchy.

What was the Paris Commune (1871)?

A radical workers’ and socialist revolt in Paris against the national government’s surrender to Prussia; violently suppressed by Thiers.

What was the Mokrani rebellion?

A simultaneous uprising in Algeria; brutally repressed, resulting in land seizures and heavy fines on Muslims.

How did the Commune’s defeat benefit the republicans?

It proved they could maintain order, discrediting royalists and legitimizing moderate republican leadership.

What was the Wallon Amendment (1875)?

A narrowly passed constitutional measure that officially founded the French Third Republic.

Why was May 16, 1877, pivotal?

MacMahon’s failed attempt to override the republican majority confirmed parliamentary supremacy.

What were the early republican priorities?

Secular education, opposition to clerical influence, and containment of socialism.