French Democratization
A history of French democratization.
Contents
Kingdom of France
French Revolution
The kingdom faced a financial crisis in the late 18th century. Levying taxes required summoning the 13 provincial parlements, which generally opposed tax increases. Case in point, a proposal for a universal land tax was rejected by the parlements in 1786. Furthermore, the church and nobility held a variety of exemptions to what taxes already existed. The Anglo-French War had been financed entirely by loans. By 1788, half of annual revenues were spent servicing the debt.
In August 1788, Louis XIV summoned the Estates-General (États généraux). This body had not convened since 1614. Delegates for the first and second estates--representing the clergy and the nobility, respectively--were selected by regional judicial districts (bailliages). Delegates for the third estate (generally referred to as 'commoners') were elected in each tax district (e.g., cities, parishes, etc.). In theory there were about 1,200 seats; 303, 282, and 578 across the three estates. In practice many nobles, and some clergymen, were doubly elected for the third estate. Over the existence of this body and its direct successors, 1,315 delegates were certified.
The parlement of Paris ruled that the Estates-General should convene under the same structure as in 1614: the three estates would convene and vote separately. Regardless of how decisions are reached internal to an estate, final decisions are made by majority among the 3 estates. In other words, the king only needed majority support in 2 of 3 estates.
The Estates-General finally convened in May 1789. Each of the estates quickly became preoccupied with the constitutional role that their institutions should hold. The third estate declared itself the Commons (Communes). In June however, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès proposed a National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) that would replace the separate estates. The king attempted to prevent this reorganization; he evicted the delegates from their hall and deployed mercenary regiments into Paris. This instead encouraged more the clergy and nobility to join. On July 9th, the Estates-General dissolved itself and the National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée nationale constituante) was declared.
On July 11, the king reshuffled his privy council. The mobs of Paris perceived this as a reactionary coup; a militia of about 50,000 was organized and then seized the Hôtel des Invalides in search of munitions. Gunpowder had however just been removed to the Bastille. In the subsequent weeks Gilbert du Motier, the marquis of Lafayette, reorganized this militia into the National Guard (Garde nationale) and adopted the tricolore as its standard.
A crowd coalesced around the Bastille on July 14 demanding munitions be turned over; the confrontation devolved into a massacre within hours. Retribution killings followed, including the commanding officers of the garrison and the mayor (prévôt dès marchands) of Paris. Mob attacks continued despite the deployment of the National Guard. A large cohort of nobles fled the country around this time; these émigrés would fund reactionary forces for the next decade.
The August decrees, which abolished most feudal titles and privileges, were passed in the hope that concessions would pacify the mobs. These motions did have some support among the first and second estates, namely: Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, duke of Aiguillon; Louis Marie de Noailles (holding a courtesy title of viscount); and Anne Louis Henri de La Fare, bishop of Nancy. Importantly though, landlords were empowered to raise rents equivalent to the former tithes. The resignation of titles was also conditioned on unreasonable 'buyout' payments, so feudalism was not generally abolished until a subsequent decree in 1793.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen) was also adopted in August. It was first drafted by Motier but largely rewritten by Sieyès before passage.
On October 5, the Hôtel de Ville was seized by a starving mob; this then evolved into the Women's March on Versailles. Motier and about 15,000 of the National Guard accompanied the mob, who presented demands to the king. Motier convinced the king that moving court to Paris was necessary to keep the peace. He was effectively held under house arrest in Tuileries thereafter.
A constitutional monarchy emerged now, with centrists of the National Constituent Assembly maintaining a tenuous control. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy in July 1790 incorporated the clergy as civil employees. In September, the provincial parlements were abolished.
The royal family briefly escaped house arrest in June 1791, before being recognized and arrested in Varennes. In August, Frederick William II and Leopold II issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which declared support for Louis and an intent to intervene militarily. Expectations of a foreign invasion funded by émigrés rapidly dissolved the tenuous peace.
The National Constituent Assembly dissolved itself and announced the new Legislative Assembly (Assemblée législative); standing delegates were barred from seeking standing in the inaugural elections held in September 1791. This body produced the French Constitution of 1791, but otherwise was a disorganized and ineffective institution.
First Republic
The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars began with an attack on the Austrian and Prussian forces that had mustered along their borders. A series of military defeats followed however, the Brunswick Manifest promised to burn Paris if the royal family were harmed. In 'retaliation', on August 10, Tuileries was seized by a mob. Louis XIV fled to the Legislative Assembly and was relieved of his role, effectively suspending the monarchy.
The assembly then dissolved itself and announced thew new National Convention, charged with designing a purely democratic constitution. Elections were held within the month and then convened on September 20. Their first act was to strip Louis of all titles and bring charges of treason against him. The French First Republic was declared the next day.
First Empire
Bourbon Restoration
July Revolution
Second Republic
Second Empire
Third Republic
Vichy France
Following the armistice of June 22nd, 1940, Alsace-Lorraine were ceded to Germany and the northern half of metropolitan France, including the Atlantic coast, was placed under occupation. The southern half, with a new capital city in Vichy, became known as the zone libre.
On July 10th, the National Assembly voted to grant full powers to Pétain. This effectively ended the third Republic and established Vichy France as an autocratic state.
The armistice specifically allowed France to retain a militarized Navy that would not be compelled to re-enter the war. From the German perspective, it was a dormant threat that must either be swiftly absorbed or left unprovoked. From the French perspective, it was the final bargaining chip to guarantee independence for the zone libre. As a compromise, most of the Navy was relocated to Mers-el-Kébir under command of Darlan or Alexandria under command of René-Émile Godfroy. Standing orders were given to scuttle the ships if the German Navy attempted a seizure. Churchill was unwilling to leave any possibility of seizure however, and ordered Operation Catapult against the North African naval bases. Pétain severed diplomatic relations with the UK, and tensions were raised with De Gaulle and Free France as well.
Fourth Republic
In 1942, Roosevelt made plans to vassalize France as the United States Army Military Government in France. In negotiations through Admiral Mark Clark, he compelled Darlan to sign an agreement consenting to American rule. De Gaulle opposed any such arrangements. In founding the Provisional Government of the French Republic from Algiers and negotiating diplomatic recognition of it as the legitimate French state, he aimed to diplomatically block those efforts.