FRANCE 



2305 



FRANCE 



sway, and in 1852 he was able, by a sudden 

 seizure of power, to have himself proclaimed 

 emperor. Millions of votes confirmed his 

 move, and the Second Empire was launched. 

 For the events of the period see NAPOLEON III. 



The growth of the Prussian power was 

 watched by the French and especially by the 

 emperor with increasing uneasiness, which 

 reached its climax in 1870 when the vacant 

 throne of Spain was offered to a Hohenzollern 

 (German) prince. The demands which France 

 made at this time so incensed Germany that 

 war succeeded (see FRANCO-GERMAN WAR), the 

 results of which might have been foreseen. 



Germany had been preparing for just such 

 a struggle for years, while the resources of 

 France, on the other hand, were at a low ebb; 

 and in a comparatively short time France suf- 

 fered a complete and intensely humiliating 

 defeat. Germany demanded so great an in- 

 demnity that it felt assured France would be 

 crushed for a half century, but the Germans 

 were paid within ten years. Alsace and Lor- 

 raine were also demanded by Germany, and 

 the French never forgot this seizure (see 

 ALSACE-LORRAINE) . 



Immediately on receipt of the news of the 

 defeat of Sedan, Napoleon III was deposed 

 and France was declared a republic. 



The Third Republic. After a period of civil 

 war and of humiliation, during which the Ger- 

 man troops occupied Paris, a stable govern- 

 ment was established, and Thiers was chosen 

 President. He resigned in 1873 and Marshal 

 MacMahon succeeded him, and two years later 

 the present constitution of France was adopted. 

 MacMahon resigned in 1879, and Jules Grevy 

 was chosen his successor. Two years later 

 France adopted its active colonial policy, first 

 Tunis and then Madagascar being reduced to 

 the rank of dependencies, or colonies, and this 

 policy of expansion was pushed in the Far 

 East, in Indo-China. 



Reflected in 1885, Grcvy resigned in 1887, 

 and Sadi Carnot became President. During 

 his administration there took place a serious 

 attempt of the radicals, the Orleanists and the 

 Bonapartists, united under General Boulanger, 

 to overthrow the republic. "Marianne," how- 

 ever, as the republic is called half in affection 

 and half in good-natured contempt, was saved 

 by Boulanger's loss of popularity. Carnot's 

 administration also saw another sensation 

 the failure of the Panama Canal scheme, and 

 the subsequent prosecution of a number of 

 men high in public life (see PANAMA CANAL). 

 145 



In 1894 Carnot was assassinated by an Italian 

 anarchist, and Casimir-Perier was chosen to fill 

 his place. He resigned in less than a year, and 

 was succeeded by Felix Faure, during whose 

 administration was begun the far-famed Drey- 

 fus case (see DREYFUS, ALFRED), which threat- 

 ened the very existence of the republic. This 

 was continued under Emile Loubet, who was 

 chosen President on the death of Faure in 

 1899. His administration was marked by the 

 bill which separated Church and State (see 

 subhead Religion, above), by the strengthen- 

 ing of cordial relations with Italy and Russia 

 and by an English-French agreement in 1904 

 which brought the two nations into closer touch 

 than they had been in years. 



Loubet was succeeded in 1906 by Fallieres, 

 and during his administration conflict with 

 Germany seemed imminent because of oppos- 

 ing colonial interests, but Poincare, the prime 

 minister, was strong enough to avoid the crisis. 

 Poincare became President in 1913, and soon 

 after he took office it became evident that 

 relations between France and Germany were 

 becoming more and more strained. A law was 

 passed to increase the size of the French army, 

 but before it could be made thoroughly effec- 

 tive the long-looked-for break had come 

 the War of the Nations had commenced, with 

 an apparent cause quite apart from the inter- 

 ests of France. 



The military movements, as well as the 

 other significant features of that Titanic strug- 

 gle are treated in the article WAR OF THE 

 NATIONS; it remains here but to record a few 

 points which relate especially to France. Most 

 evident from the first was the loyalty of all 

 classes to the government. Socialists, whose 

 opposition to war had been feared; royalists, 

 who had been looked upon as enemies of the 

 republic, all responded eagerly to the call for 

 troops. Even the priests, who had been ren- 

 dered hostile by the withdrawal of state aid 

 from the Church, showed a conspicuous loy- 

 alty, and thousands of priests joined the col- 

 ors. It was tacitly assumed that Alsace and 

 Lorraine were again to become French, in 

 event of victory over the Teutonic powers: 

 this actually occurred, soon after the armistice 

 was signed, in November, 1918. The French 

 also received for a term of years the Saar coal 

 fields, to compensate the country for the losses 

 entailed by German occupation of the French 

 coal area throughout most of the war. J.A.A.J. ' 



Consult Vizetelly's Republican France: Her 

 Presidents, Statesmen and Policy; Poincarfi's 



