French Third Republic

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 government.

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French Republic République française (French)
1870–1940
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité ("Liberty, equality, fraternity")
Anthem: La Marseillaise ("The Marseillaise")
Great Seal of France:
The French Republic in 1939   France   French protectorates
Territories and colonies of the French Republic at the end of 1939 Dark blue: Metropolitan territory Light blue: Colonies, mandates, and protectorates
Capital and largest city	Paris 48°52′13″N 02°18′59″E
Common languages	French (official), several others
Religion	Roman Catholicism (state religion until 1905) Calvinism Lutheranism Judaism Islam
Demonym(s)	French
Government	Unitary provisional parliamentary republic (1871−1875) Unitary parliamentary republic (1875–1940)
President
• 1871–1873 (first)	Adolphe Thiers
• 1932–1940 (last)	Albert Lebrun
Prime Minister
• 1870–1871 (first)	Louis Jules Trochu
• 1940 (last)	Philippe Pétain
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
History
• Proclamation by Leon Gambetta	4 September 1870
• Vichy France established	10 July 1940
Area
1894 (Metropolitan France)	536,464 km2 (207,130 sq mi)
1938 (including colonies)	13,500,000[1][2] km2 (5,200,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1938 (including colonies)	150,000,000[3]
Currency	French Franc
ISO 3166 code	FR
Preceded by Succeeded by Second French Empire Vichy France German military administration Italian military administration Free France
Today part of	France Algeria

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History of France
Ancient Prehistory   Greek colonies 600 BC – 49 BC Celtic Gaul   until 50 BC Roman Gaul 50 BC – 486 AD
Middle Ages Francia and the Franks   Merovingians 481–751 Carolingians 751–987 Direct Capetians 987–1328 Valois 1328–1498
Early modern Ancien Régime Valois-Orléans kings 1498–1515 Valois-Angoulême kings 1515–1589 Bourbon kings 1589–1792
Long 19th century French Revolution 1789–1799 Kingdom of France 1791–1792 First Republic 1792–1804 First Empire 1804–1814 Restoration 1814–1830 July Monarchy 1830–1848 Second Republic 1848–1852 Second Empire 1852–1870 Third Republic 1870–1940     Belle Époque 1871–1914
20th century Third Republic 1870–1940     Interwar period 1919–1939         Années folles 1920–1929 Free France Vichy France 1940–1944 Provisional Republic 1944–1946 Fourth Republic 1946–1958 Fifth Republic 1958–present
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The early days of the Third Republic were dominated by political disruptions caused by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, which the Republic continued to wage after the fall of Emperor Napoleon III in 1870. Harsh reparations exacted by the Prussians after the war resulted in the loss of the French regions of Alsace (keeping the Territoire de Belfort) and Lorraine (the northeastern part, i.e. present-day department of Moselle), social upheaval, and the establishment of the Paris Commune. The early governments of the Third Republic considered re-establishing the monarchy, but disagreement as to the nature of that monarchy and the rightful occupant of the throne could not be resolved. Consequently, the Third Republic, originally envisioned as a provisional government, instead became the permanent form of government of France.

The French Constitutional Laws of 1875 defined the composition of the Third Republic. It consisted of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate to form the legislative branch of government and a president to serve as head of state. Calls for the re-establishment of the monarchy dominated the tenures of the first two presidents, Adolphe Thiers and Patrice de MacMahon, but growing support for the republican form of government among the French populace and a series of republican presidents in the 1880s gradually quashed prospects of a monarchical restoration.

The Third Republic established many French colonial possessions, including French Indochina, French Madagascar, French Polynesia, and large territories in West Africa during the Scramble for Africa, all of them acquired during the last two decades of the 19th century. The early years of the 20th century were dominated by the Democratic Republican Alliance, which was originally conceived as a centre-left political alliance, but over time became the main centre-right party. The period from the start of World War I to the late 1930s featured sharply polarized politics, between the Democratic Republican Alliance and the Radicals. The government fell less than a year after the outbreak of World War II, when Nazi forces occupied much of France, and was replaced by the rival governments of Charles de Gaulle's Free France (La France libre) and Philippe Pétain's French State (L'État français).

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire; it extended over 13,500,000 km² (5,200,000 sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. In terms of population however, on the eve of World War II, France and its colonial possessions totaled only 150 million inhabitants, compared with 330 million for British India alone.

Adolphe Thiers called republicanism in the 1870s "the form of government that divides France least"; however, politics under the Third Republic were sharply polarized. On the left stood reformist France, heir to the French Revolution. On the right stood conservative France, rooted in the peasantry, the Roman Catholic Church, and the army.[4] In spite of France's sharply divided electorate and persistent attempts to overthrow it, the Third Republic endured for seventy years, which as of 2023^[update] makes it the longest lasting system of government in France since the collapse of the Ancien Régime in 1789.[5]