National Assembly (Third Republic)

The National Assembly (Third Republic) was the French parliamentary body formed after the collapse of Napoleon III's Second French Empire and the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Elected in February 1871 while parts of France were still occupied by German forces, it initially functioned as the central authority of a country without a settled constitutional regime. Its mandate was to negotiate peace, manage the transition from empire to a new political order, and determine whether France would become a restored monarchy or a republic. The assembly met at Versailles because Paris was surrounded by Prussian forces and remained politically volatile. Its members were predominantly conservative and monarchist, although the monarchist camp was divided between Legitimists, who supported the senior Bourbon claimant Henri, Count of Chambord, and Orléanists, who supported the Count of Paris, heir of the July Monarchy's line. This division prevented an immediate restoration. Chambord's refusal to accept the tricolour flag as the symbol of a restored monarchy made compromise impossible, and the assembly gradually maintained a provisional republic rather than installing a king. The body also inherited the severe economic and social consequences of defeat. Under Adolphe Thiers, who was initially designated head of the executive branch pending a decision on France's institutions, the government negotiated the Treaty of Frankfurt with the German Empire. The assembly approved financial measures intended to raise reparations and secure the withdrawal of occupying forces. These policies, together with the government's decision to end wartime financial arrangements and restore order, intensified tensions with Paris's radical population. In March 1871, the Paris Commune rejected the authority of the Versailles government and established a radical revolutionary administration in the capital. The Versailles authorities and the regular army eventually suppressed the Commune during the Bloody Week in May. The conflict and its aftermath marked the assembly's early politics, strengthening conservative demands for order while producing harsh repression of Communards and deepening the divide between the parliamentary government and the Parisian left. The assembly's constitutional role culminated in the laws of 1875. These measures established a bicameral legislature consisting of a directly elected Chamber of Deputies and an indirectly elected Senate, alongside a presidency and a ministry headed by a president of the council. The constitutional settlement transformed the provisional institutions into the framework of the French Third Republic. The National Assembly consequently ceased to be the regime's single transitional legislature, although the two chambers could meet jointly in a national assembly for particular constitutional and presidential functions. The institution's political importance lay less in a unified program than in its management of an unresolved transition. It permitted the republic to survive despite an initial monarchist majority, handled the peace settlement and postwar finances, confronted the Paris Commune, and ultimately enacted the constitutional laws that made republican government permanent. Its history illustrates the Third Republic's formative conflict among monarchists, moderate republicans, radicals, Catholics, secular reformers, and representatives of the Parisian working class.

The National Assembly emerged from the institutional vacuum created by France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the overthrow of Napoleon III in September 1870. The provisional Government of National Defence continued the war, but after France's surrender in January 1871 it dissolved and called elections. The February election was held under extraordinary conditions: German forces occupied portions of the country, Paris had been besieged, and the electorate was divided between advocates of order and peace and supporters of a more radical republican transformation. The elected representatives assembled at Versailles rather than Paris. Their first major task was to approve a government capable of negotiating with the newly proclaimed German Empire. Adolphe Thiers became head of the executive branch pending a decision on France's institutions. The assembly supported the Treaty of Frankfurt, signed on 10 May 1871, and enacted financial measures to meet reparations obligations and secure the evacuation of occupying forces. The assembly's conservative composition was also reflected in its attitude toward the Paris Commune. Parisian workers and National Guards established the Commune in March 1871 after rejecting the authority of the Versailles government. The assembly-backed army reconquered the capital in May. The suppression of the Commune restored the government's control but left a legacy of executions, imprisonment, exile, and distrust between republican institutions and the radical labour movement. For several years the assembly remained divided over the future form of the state. Monarchists held substantial influence and attempted to reconcile the Legitimist and Orléanist claims. Henri, Count of Chambord, was considered a possible king, but his insistence on abandoning the revolutionary tricolour made restoration politically impracticable. The republic therefore continued as a supposedly temporary arrangement. The persistence of republican public opinion, the growth of republican representation, and the inability of monarchists to agree on a claimant gradually changed the balance. The constitutional laws of February and July 1875 provided the decisive settlement. They created a president of the republic, a Chamber of Deputies elected by direct vote, and a Senate elected indirectly. The ministry, headed by the president of the council, was accountable within a system in which parliamentary authority increasingly outweighed presidential initiative. The National Assembly's transitional function was thereby superseded by the regular bicameral institutions of the Third Republic. The constitutional settlement did not eliminate political conflict. The 16 May crisis of 1877 showed that the presidency and the republican parliamentary majority could interpret the constitution differently. When MacMahon dismissed Jules Simon, appointed Albert de Broglie, and dissolved the Chamber, voters returned another republican majority. The republican victory, followed by the change in the Senate and MacMahon's resignation in 1879, effectively ended the prospect of a monarchist restoration and consolidated parliamentary government. As a historical institution, the National Assembly was therefore both a remnant of the postwar emergency and the body that enabled the Third Republic to become permanent. It governed during the peace settlement, confronted revolutionary opposition, mediated between monarchist and republican forces, and enacted the constitutional arrangements under which France remained a parliamentary republic until the defeat of 1940.

• 1879

  Republican control consolidated

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  MacMahon's resignation followed republican control of both chambers, effectively ending the possibility of a monarchist restoration.

• 1877

  The 16 May crisis

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  A confrontation between President MacMahon and the republican majority tested presidential authority and strengthened the principle of parliamentary government.

• 1875

  Constitutional laws of the Third Republic

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  The constitutional laws established the presidency and the two parliamentary chambers that replaced the National Assembly's transitional role.

• 1871

  Election of the National Assembly

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  Postwar elections created the assembly that governed France during the transition from the Second Empire to a new constitutional order.

• 1871

  Government relocates to Versailles

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  The assembly and its government operated from Versailles while Paris remained encircled, contested, and politically unstable.

• 1871

  Treaty of Frankfurt

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  The government concluded peace with Germany, while the assembly supported measures for reparations and postwar reconstruction.

• 1871

  Defeat of the Paris Commune

  [1]French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org

  Versailles forces suppressed the Commune during the Bloody Week, re-establishing the assembly-backed government's authority over Paris.

A transitional national legislature and constituent authority responsible for postwar government, peace arrangements, public finance, and the creation of the Third Republic's constitutional framework.

• 1875

  Creation of a permanent republican constitutional systemStrategy

  Background

  Monarchist factions could not agree on a restoration, while republican forces gained public and parliamentary strength.

  Action taken

  The constitutional laws established a president, a directly elected Chamber of Deputies, and an indirectly elected Senate.

  Aftermath

  The provisional republic became the institutional framework of the Third Republic, which endured until 1940.

  Source

• 1871

  Approval of the postwar peace settlementOther

  Background

  France's defeat and territorial occupation required a negotiated settlement with the newly formed German Empire.

  Action taken

  The assembly-backed government accepted the Treaty of Frankfurt and adopted financial measures to meet reparations obligations.

  Aftermath

  The settlement enabled the withdrawal of occupying forces but contributed to domestic resentment and political instability.

  Source

1. 1French Third Republicen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Assembly (Third Republic)en.wikipedia.org