French legislative election, February 1871

French legislative election, 1871

1869 ← 8 February 1871 → 1876

All 675 seats to the National Assembly   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Albert de Broglie Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot Jules Favre Party Orleanist Legitimist Moderate Leader's seat Eure Nièvre Rhône Seats won 214 182 112 Seat change new party new party Percentage 31.70% 26.96% 16.59%

Composition of the National Assembly

Prime Minister before election Charles Cousin-Montauban Independent Elected Prime Minister Jules Armand Dufaure Independent

Charles Cousin-Montauban
Independent

Jules Armand Dufaure
Independent

Legislative elections were held in France on 8 February 1871 to elect the first legislature of the French Third Republic, the unicameral National Assembly. The elections were held during a situation of crisis in the country, as following the Franco-Prussian War, 43 departments were occupied by Prussian forces. As a result, all public meetings were outlawed and Paris was the only city where an election campaign took place.

The electoral law allowed candidates to run in more than one seat at a time. As a result, several candidates were elected in more than one seat, with Adolphe Thiers elected in 86 constituencies. A series of by-elections were subsequently held on 2 July to elect representatives for the 114 vacant seats.

This election saw the victory of monarchists (Legitimists and Orleanists), favourable to peace with the German Empire, with a large majority.

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