*** Welcome to piglix ***

Third French Republic

French Republic
République française
1870–1940
Flag Emblem
(unofficial)
Motto
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (French)
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"
France in 1939
  •   France
  •   French protectorates
France in September 1939
Dark blue: Metropolitan territory of the Republic
Light blue: Colonies, mandates, and protectorates of France
Capital Paris
Languages French
Religion Catholicism, disestablished 1905
Government Parliamentary republic
President
 •  1871–1873 Adolphe Thiers (first)
 •  1932–1940 Albert Lebrun (last)
President of the Council of Ministers
 •  1870–1871 Louis Jules Trochu
 •  1940 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
Population
 •  est. 35,565,800 
Currency French Franc
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Second French Empire
Vichy France
Free France
German military administration in occupied France during World War II
Today part of  France
 Algeria

The French Third Republic (French: La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe République) was the system of government adopted in France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed, until 1940, when France's defeat by Nazi Germany in World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government in France. It came to an end on 10 July 1940.

The early days of the Third Republic were dominated by political disruptions caused by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, 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 Belfort district) and Lorraine (the northeastern part, i.e. present-day département de la Moselle), social upheaval, and the establishment of the Paris Commune. The early governments of the Third Republic considered re-establishing the monarchy, but confusion as to the nature of that monarchy and who should be awarded the throne caused those talks to stall. Thus, the Third Republic, which was originally intended as a provisional government, instead became the permanent 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. Issues over the re-establishment of the monarchy dominated the tenures of the first two presidents, Adolphe Thiers and Patrice de MacMahon, but the growing support for the republican form of government in the French population and a series of republican presidents during the 1880s quashed all plans for a monarchical restoration.


...
Wikipedia

...