16 May 1877 crisis
Encyclopedia
The 16 May 1877 crisis was a constitutional crisis
in the French Third Republic
concerning the distribution of power between the President
and the legislature. When the Royalist
President Patrice MacMahon
dismissed the Opportunist Republican
Prime Minister Jules Simon
, parliament on 16 May 1877 refused to support the new government and was dissolved by the President. New elections brought in an overwhelming victory for the Republicans. Thus, the interpretation of the 1875 Constitution
as a parliamentary system
prevailed over a presidential system
. The crisis ultimately sealed the defeat of the Royalist movement, and was instrumental in creating the conditions of the longevity of the Third Republic.
, the elections for the National Assembly had brought about a monarchist majority, divided into Legitimists
and Orleanist
s, which conceived the republican institutions created by the fall of Napoleon III in 1870 as a transitory state. Until the 1876 elections, the royalist movement dominated the legislature, thus creating the paradox
of a Republic led by anti-republicans. The royalist deputies supported Marshal MacMahon, a declared monarchist of the legitimist party, as president of the Republic. His term was set to seven years – the time to find a compromise between the two rival royalist families.
In 1873, a plan to place Henri, comte de Chambord
, the head of the Bourbon branch supported by Legitimists, back on the throne had failed over the comte's intransigence. President MacMahon was supposed to lead him to the National Assembly and have him acclaimed as King. However, the Comte de Chambord rejected this plan in the white flag
manifesto of 5 July 1871, reiterated by an 23 October 1873 letter, in which he explained that in no case would he abandon the white flag, symbol of the monarchy (with its fleur-de-lis
), in exchange for the republican tricolor. Chambord's decision thus ruined the hopes of a quick restoration of the monarchy.
In 1875, Adolphe Thiers
joined with the initiative of moderate Republicans Jules Ferry
and Léon Gambetta
to vote for the constitutional laws of the Republic
. The next year, the elections were won by the Republicans, although the end result was contradictory:
Political crisis was thus inevitable. It involved a struggle for supremacy between the monarchist President and the republican Chamber of Deputies.
, head of the government, and substituted him with a new "Ordre moral" government led by the Orleanist Albert, duc de Broglie
. MacMahon favoured a presidential government, while the Republicans in the chamber considered the parliament as the predominant political organ, which decided the policies of the nation.
The Chamber refused to accord its trust to the new government. On 16 May 1877, 363 French deputies — among them Georges Clemenceau
, Jean Casimir-Perier
and Émile Loubet
— passed a vote of no confidence (Manifeste des 363).
MacMahon dissolved the parliament
and called for new elections
, which brought 323 Republicans and 209 royalists to the Chamber, marking a clear rejection of the President's move. MacMahon had either to submit himself or to resign, as had Léon Gambetta
famously called for: "When France will have let its sovereign voice
heard, then one will have to submit himself or resign" (se soumettre ou se démettre ) MacMahon thus appointed a moderate republican, Jules Armand Dufaure
as president of the Council, and accepted Dufaure's interpretation of the constitution
:
, whose intransigeancy had ruined the alliance between Legitimists and Orleanist
s, died in 1883, after which several Orleanists would rally to the Republic, quoting Adolphe Thiers
' words according to which "the Republic is the form of government which divides [the French] the least". These newly rallied would become the first right-wing republicans of France — see René Rémond
's classic distinction of the three right-wing families in France. After World War I
(1914–18), some of the independent radicals
and members of the right-wing of the late Radical-Socialist Party
would ally themselves with these pragmatic
republicans, although anticlericalism remained a gap between these long-time rivals (and indeed continues, to this day, to be a main criterion of distinction between the French left-wing and its right-wing).
In the constitutional field, the presidential system
was definitely rejected in favor of a parliamentary system
, and the right of dissolution of parliament
severely restricted, so much that it was never used again under the Third Republic. After the Vichy regime
, the Fourth Republic
(1946–1958) would again be founded on this parliamentary system, something which Charles de Gaulle
despised and rejected (le régime des partis). Thus, when general de Gaulle had the opportunity to come back to power in crisis of May 1958
, he designed a constitution which would restore the separation of powers
, strengthening the President. His 1962 reform to have the president elected by direct universal suffrage
(instead of being elected by deputies and senators) further increased his authority
. The constitution designed by de Gaulle for the Fifth Republic
(since 1958) specifically tailored his needs, but this specificity was also rested on the President's personal charisma
.
Even with de Gaulle's disappearance from the political scene a year after the May 68 crisis, little changed until the 1980s, when the various cohabitations
under President François Mitterrand
renewed the conflict between the presidency and the prime minister. Subsequently President Jacques Chirac
proposed to reduce the term of the presidency from seven to five years (the quinquennat
) to avoid any further "cohabitation" and thus conflict between the executive and legislative branches. This change was accepted by referendum in 2000
.
Constitutional crisis
A constitutional crisis is a situation that the legal system's constitution or other basic principles of operation appear unable to resolve; it often results in a breakdown in the orderly operation of government...
in the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
concerning the distribution of power between the President
French Presidential elections under the Third Republic
French Presidential elections under the Third Republic involved the election of the President of France by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate...
and the legislature. When the Royalist
Monarchism in France
Monarchism in France is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in France, which was abolished after the 1870 defeat against Prussia, arguably before that in 1848 with the establishment of the French Second Republic....
President Patrice MacMahon
Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta
Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac-Mahon, 1st Duke of Magenta was a French general and politician with the distinction Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1875 and as the first president of the Third Republic, from 1875 to 1879.-Early life:Born in Sully , in the...
dismissed the Opportunist Republican
Opportunist Republicans
The Opportunist Republicans , also known as the Moderates , were a faction of French Republicans who believed, after the proclamation of the Third Republic in 1870, that the regime could only be consolidated by successive phases...
Prime Minister Jules Simon
Jules Simon
Jules François Simon was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leader of the Opportunist Republicans faction.-Biography:Simon was born at Lorient. His father was a linen-draper from Lorraine, who renounced Protestantism before his second marriage with a Catholic Breton. Jules Simon...
, parliament on 16 May 1877 refused to support the new government and was dissolved by the President. New elections brought in an overwhelming victory for the Republicans. Thus, the interpretation of the 1875 Constitution
French Constitutional Laws of 1875
The Constitutional Laws of 1875 are the laws passed in France by the National Assembly between February and July 1875 which established the Third French Republic.The constitution laws could be roughly divided into three laws:...
as a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
prevailed over a presidential system
Presidential system
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
. The crisis ultimately sealed the defeat of the Royalist movement, and was instrumental in creating the conditions of the longevity of the Third Republic.
Background
Following the Franco-Prussian WarFranco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, the elections for the National Assembly had brought about a monarchist majority, divided into Legitimists
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
and Orleanist
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
s, which conceived the republican institutions created by the fall of Napoleon III in 1870 as a transitory state. Until the 1876 elections, the royalist movement dominated the legislature, thus creating the paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
of a Republic led by anti-republicans. The royalist deputies supported Marshal MacMahon, a declared monarchist of the legitimist party, as president of the Republic. His term was set to seven years – the time to find a compromise between the two rival royalist families.
In 1873, a plan to place Henri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...
, the head of the Bourbon branch supported by Legitimists, back on the throne had failed over the comte's intransigence. President MacMahon was supposed to lead him to the National Assembly and have him acclaimed as King. However, the Comte de Chambord rejected this plan in the white flag
White flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
manifesto of 5 July 1871, reiterated by an 23 October 1873 letter, in which he explained that in no case would he abandon the white flag, symbol of the monarchy (with its fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
), in exchange for the republican tricolor. Chambord's decision thus ruined the hopes of a quick restoration of the monarchy.
In 1875, Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
joined with the initiative of moderate Republicans Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
and Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
to vote for the constitutional laws of the Republic
French Constitutional Laws of 1875
The Constitutional Laws of 1875 are the laws passed in France by the National Assembly between February and July 1875 which established the Third French Republic.The constitution laws could be roughly divided into three laws:...
. The next year, the elections were won by the Republicans, although the end result was contradictory:
- in the SenateFrench SenateThe Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
, which gave disproportionate influence to rural areas, the majority was made up of monarchists, who had a majority of only one seat (151 against 149 Republicans) - in the Chamber of DeputiesFrench National AssemblyThe French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
, the overwhelming majority composed of republicans. - the president was MacMahon, an avowed monarchist.
Political crisis was thus inevitable. It involved a struggle for supremacy between the monarchist President and the republican Chamber of Deputies.
The crisis
The crisis was triggered by President MacMahon, who dismissed the moderate republican Jules SimonJules Simon
Jules François Simon was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leader of the Opportunist Republicans faction.-Biography:Simon was born at Lorient. His father was a linen-draper from Lorraine, who renounced Protestantism before his second marriage with a Catholic Breton. Jules Simon...
, head of the government, and substituted him with a new "Ordre moral" government led by the Orleanist Albert, duc de Broglie
Albert, 4th duc de Broglie
Jacques-Victor-Albert, 4th duc de Broglie was a French monarchist politician.-Biography:Albert de Broglie was born in Paris, France, the third child and eldest son of Victor, 3rd duc de Broglie, a liberal statesman of the July Monarchy, and Albertine, baroness Staël von Holstein, the fourth child...
. MacMahon favoured a presidential government, while the Republicans in the chamber considered the parliament as the predominant political organ, which decided the policies of the nation.
The Chamber refused to accord its trust to the new government. On 16 May 1877, 363 French deputies — among them Georges Clemenceau
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
, Jean Casimir-Perier
Jean Casimir-Perier
Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier was a French politician, fifth president of the French Third Republic.-Biography:He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier and the grandson of Casimir Pierre Perier, premier of Louis Philippe...
and Émile Loubet
Émile Loubet
Émile François Loubet was a French politician and the 8th President of France.-Early life:He was born the son of a peasant proprietor and mayor of Marsanne . Admitted to the Parisian bar in 1862, he took his doctorate in law the next year...
— passed a vote of no confidence (Manifeste des 363).
MacMahon dissolved the parliament
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
and called for new elections
French legislative election, 1877
The 1877 general election held to elect the third legislature of the 3rd Republic was held on 14 and 28 October 1877 after President Patrice de MacMahon dissolved the National Assembly, elected in 1876 to benefit the conservatives and royalists...
, which brought 323 Republicans and 209 royalists to the Chamber, marking a clear rejection of the President's move. MacMahon had either to submit himself or to resign, as had Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
famously called for: "When France will have let its sovereign voice
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
heard, then one will have to submit himself or resign" (se soumettre ou se démettre ) MacMahon thus appointed a moderate republican, Jules Armand Dufaure
Jules Armand Dufaure
Jules Armand Stanislas Dufaure was a French statesman.-Biography:Dufaure was born at Saujon, Charente-Maritime, and began his career as an advocate at Bordeaux, where he won a great reputation by his oratorical gifts. He abandoned law for politics, and in 1834 was elected deputy...
as president of the Council, and accepted Dufaure's interpretation of the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
:
- ministers are responsible to the Chamber of deputies (following the 1896 institutional crisis, the Senate obtained the right to control ministers)
- the right of dissolution of parliamentDissolution of parliamentIn parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
must remain exceptional. It would not be used again during the Third Republic; even Philippe PétainPhilippe PétainHenri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
did not dare to dissolve it in 1940.
Aftermath
The crisis sealed the defeat of the royalists. President MacMahon accepted his defeat and resigned in January 1879. The Comte de ChambordHenri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...
, whose intransigeancy had ruined the alliance between Legitimists and Orleanist
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
s, died in 1883, after which several Orleanists would rally to the Republic, quoting Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
' words according to which "the Republic is the form of government which divides [the French] the least". These newly rallied would become the first right-wing republicans of France — see René Rémond
René Rémond
-Biography:Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Rémond was the Secretary General of Jeunesses étudiantes Catholiques and a member of the International YCS Center of Documentation and Information in Paris, presently the International Secretariat of International Young Catholic Students The author of books on...
's classic distinction of the three right-wing families in France. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(1914–18), some of the independent radicals
Radicalism (historical)
The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...
and members of the right-wing of the late Radical-Socialist Party
Radical-Socialist Party (France)
The Radical Party , is a liberal and centrist political party in France. The Radicals are currently the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly, with 21 seats...
would ally themselves with these pragmatic
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
republicans, although anticlericalism remained a gap between these long-time rivals (and indeed continues, to this day, to be a main criterion of distinction between the French left-wing and its right-wing).
In the constitutional field, the presidential system
Presidential system
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
was definitely rejected in favor of a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
, and the right of dissolution of parliament
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
severely restricted, so much that it was never used again under the Third Republic. After the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, the Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
(1946–1958) would again be founded on this parliamentary system, something which Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
despised and rejected (le régime des partis). Thus, when general de Gaulle had the opportunity to come back to power in crisis of May 1958
May 1958 crisis
The May 1958 crisis was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence which led to the return of Charles de Gaulle to political responsibilities after a ten year absence...
, he designed a constitution which would restore the separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
, strengthening the President. His 1962 reform to have the president elected by direct universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
(instead of being elected by deputies and senators) further increased his authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
. The constitution designed by de Gaulle for the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
(since 1958) specifically tailored his needs, but this specificity was also rested on the President's personal charisma
Charismatic authority
The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as "resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him." Charismatic authority is one of three forms of authority laid out...
.
Even with de Gaulle's disappearance from the political scene a year after the May 68 crisis, little changed until the 1980s, when the various cohabitations
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
under President François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
renewed the conflict between the presidency and the prime minister. Subsequently President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
proposed to reduce the term of the presidency from seven to five years (the quinquennat
French constitutional referendum, 2000
A constitutional referendum was held in France on 24 September 2000. The proposals would result in the mandate of the President being reduced from seven years to five years in line with terms in office in other European countries...
) to avoid any further "cohabitation" and thus conflict between the executive and legislative branches. This change was accepted by referendum in 2000
French constitutional referendum, 2000
A constitutional referendum was held in France on 24 September 2000. The proposals would result in the mandate of the President being reduced from seven years to five years in line with terms in office in other European countries...
.
See also
- Cohabitation (government)Cohabitation (government)Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
- French Third RepublicFrench Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
(1871–1940) - France in the nineteenth centuryFrance in the nineteenth centuryThe History of France from 1789 to 1914 extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes:*French Revolution *French First Republic *First French Empire under Napoleon...
- Forms of government