Foreword, there are five republics in French history
In the history of the world, no country can be like France, less than two hundred years have undergone many changes in the political system, in the monarchy and the republican system between the two constantly changing hands, the republican system alone, it has been implemented five times, the formation of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth republics in French history, the official name of which is "French Republic", but in order to facilitate the division and study of French history, it is named the first, second, third, fourth and fifth republics of France.
Paris, the capital of France
What is a political system? There are several types
The political system refers to a political class such as a court, a political regime, a government, and the system used to rule a country, and the political systems that have been implemented in ancient and modern China and abroad are divided into several types, including the monarchy system, the republican system, the people's congress system, etc., and the monarchy system can be subdivided into the absolute monarchy system, the constitutional monarchy system, etc., and the republican system can be subdivided into the parliamentary republican system, the presidential republican system, etc.
In ancient history, almost all countries in the world practiced a monarchical system, and in modern and modern history, most countries in the world have gradually abolished the monarchical system and adopted a republican system, only a few countries have maintained the monarchy system to this day, and a few countries have implemented other types of political systems such as the people's congress system.
In pre-republican France, the Bourbons had absolute authoritarian power
The French monarchy dates back to the Frankish kingdom established by the Franks at the end of the 5th century AD, and in the middle of the 9th century AD, the Frankish kingdom was divided into three, becoming the West Frankish kingdom, the Middle Frankish kingdom, and the East Frankish kingdom, which laid the foundation for the territory of today's France, Italy, and Germany, so future generations usually regard the West Frankish kingdom as the beginning of the French monarchy.
After the Division of the Frankish Kingdom into three, French history has replaced several dynasties in accordance with the laws of the development of the history of the monarchical system. According to the division of French dynasties in later generations, they were carolingians, Capetians, Valois, and Bourbons. Before france adopted a republican system, the dynasty that ruled France was the Bourbon dynasty.
The Bourbon dynasty is well-known in European history, a transnational dynasty in which direct and collateral dynasties intermittently ruled France, Spain, Italy and other countries, and its rule over France was the most famous and powerful, because a king with outstanding civil and martial arts was born, who was revered as the Sun King Louis XIV.
Louis XIV is the third generation of The Bourbon Dynasty king of France, reigned for 72 years, is the longest reigning monarch in the history of the world with accurate records and verification, he has been prominent in his life, governing France into the richest and strongest country in Europe, and also developed the monarchical system to the peak, building the Palace of Versailles with extraordinary artistic achievements, etc. The phrase "transformation is the state" comes from his famous words, highlighting his great life, and is regarded by future generations as one of the greatest monarchs in French history, even European history, and even world history.
Unfortunately, the descendants of Louis XIV were not angry, the great-grandson Louis XV succeeded to his throne, and France declined under the rule of Louis XV, laying the foundation for the demise of the Bourbon dynasty. After the death of Louis XV, his grandson Louis XVI succeeded him to the throne, and the Bourbon dynasty came to an end under the rule of Louis XVI, and it was the famous French Revolution that overthrew the Bourbon dynasty. It was the French Revolution that gave birth to the First French Republic.
French Revolution
The First French Republic (1792-1804) was born out of the French Revolution
In 1789, the troubled French, unable to tolerate the decadent and incompetent rule of the Bourbon dynasty, launched the Great Revolution led by the Bourgeois Revolution, known in history as the French Revolution or the French Bourgeois Revolution. The angry French captured King Louis XVI's family and put them under house arrest.
Originally, the French did not intend to overthrow the Bourbon dynasty immediately, and wanted to negotiate with Louis XVI, hoping that he could accept the constitutional monarchy like the English king, but during the period of house arrest, his Queen Mary tried to find her mother,s holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg dynasty, to help suppress the revolution, which completely angered the French, so in 1792 AD, the French officially overthrew the Bourbon dynasty and abolished Louis XVI, and on September 22 of the same year, the French abolished the monarchy and implemented a republican system, and the French First Republic was established.
Unfortunately, the rule of the First French Republic over France was unstable, the internal discord among the ruling class, various problems arose, and in just a few years, there were many coups, including the Thermidorian coup, the Budgeon coup, the Fruit Moon Coup, the Fog Moon Coup, etc., all of which were named after the French republican calendar.
The French republican calendar divides the year into 12 months, each month has a name, for example, the second month of the republican calendar is the fog month, corresponding to october 22 to November 20 of the Gregorian calendar, and the coup that occurred during the fog month is called the fog moon coup.
On November 9, 1799, Napoleon, who had already emerged in the French First Republic, launched the Misty Moon Coup, seized supreme power, and established the supreme authority to administer the government.
The government lasted for 5 years, during which Napoleon, in addition to leading an army against the anti-French alliance that tried to extinguish the French Revolution, was actively preparing to ascend the throne and become emperor. On May 18, 1804, Napoleon ascended the throne as Emperor, abolished the republican system, switched to the monarchy, ended the First French Republic, established the French Empire, and he himself called Napoleon I.
Misty Moon Coup
The Second French Republic (1848-1852) was born of the February Revolution
The French Empire under Napoleon I conquered almost all of Europe, except for Britain and Russia, and the rest of the European countries were either direct territories of France or vassals of France. Unfortunately, Napoleon I returned with a great defeat in the conquest of Russia, laying the foundation for failure.
In 1814, the Sixth Coalition destroyed the French Empire, exiled Napoleon I, and helped restore the Bourbons. In 1815, Napoleon I made a comeback to rebuild the French Empire and overthrow the restored Bourbon Dynasty, but three months later he was defeated by the Seventh Coalition and exiled to death, and the Bourbon Dynasty was restored for the second time.
Whether it was the first or second Bourbon restoration, it was Louis XVI's younger brother Louis XVIii who became king, who learned from the demise of the Bourbon dynasty, accepted the constitutional monarchy, and finally stabilized the restored Bourbon rule over France. However, after the death of Louis XVIII, his brother Charles X hated the revolution and the bourgeoisie and restored absolute monarchy, which led to the July Revolution of 1830 AD and the complete end of Bourbon rule in France.
The July Revolution of 1830 gave birth to the Orléans Dynasty, a fully constitutional monarchy with only one king, Louis Philip I, but the bourgeoisie in power had thrown the French economy into a mess and lost the hearts and minds of the people. In this case, the bottom French overthrew the Orleans dynasty in 1848 AD, known as the February Revolution.
On the question of what kind of political system to implement, the French no longer believed in the monarchy, abolished the monarchy, and introduced a republican system, and the French Second Republic was born on November 4, 1848, and unlike the French First Republic, the head of state of the French Second Republic was the president, and the first and only president was Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon I.
Napoleon III
The French Third Republic (1870-1940) was indirectly spawned by the Franco-Prussian War
The lifespan of the Second French Republic was very short, only 4 years. During these four years, Napoleon III actively carried out the restoration of the French Empire, and he had high prestige and popularity in France. On December 2, 1852, Napoleon III abolished the republican system, restored the monarchy, and ascended the throne as emperor, ending the Second French Republic and restoring the French Empire.
Although the restored French Empire did not have the glory of the past, Napoleon III was very good at economics and ruled France very richly, but he was very ambitious and vainly tried to create achievements with his uncle Napoleon I, and as a result, he was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 AD. On September 4 of the same year, the French people completely despaired of the monarchy, agreed that the republican system was suitable for France, abolished the monarchy, and restored the republican system, which was the French Third Republic.
The French Fourth Republic (1946-1958) was born from the restoration of France during World War II
The French learned the lessons of the First and Second Republics, made many changes to the French Third Republic, and finally succeeded in making it a stable republic, and if it were not for the outbreak of World War II, the French Third Republic would have existed for a long time. On June 22, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded and overthrew the French Third Republic, establishing the so-called puppet government "Vichy France".
In 1945, France restored and established a provisional government, and on October 13 of the following year, the French Fourth Republic was established. With the lessons of the Second Republic, the French Fourth Republic enacted a constitution that severely limited the powers of the president.
Nazi Germany overthrew the French Third Republic
The French Fifth Republic (1958-present) was transformed from the French Fourth Republic
In the history that followed, the French increasingly felt the powerlessness of the Fourth Republic, so de Gaulle returned to the people's hearts and made a major revision of the constitution. On September 25, 1958, the newly amended Constitution was adopted, the Fourth French Republic ended, and the French Fifth Republic was established, which is today's France, with de Gaulle as the first president.
The biggest difference between the French Fifth Republic and the French Fourth Republic is that the power of the president belongs to the presidential republic. At this point, France's long and tortuous road to republicanism tended to be stable after the establishment of the French Fifth Republic, and it remains to this day.
The first President of the French Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle
To sum up, France's long and arduous road to republicanism
The above is the first in the history of France (September 22, 1792 - May 18, 1804), the second (November 4, 1848 - December 2, 1852), the third (September 4, 1870 - June 22, 1940), the fourth (October 13, 1946 - September 25, 1958), the Fifth Republic (September 25, 1958 - to the present), no country in the world can be like France. In less than 200 years, there have been many changes in the political system, which is a long and arduous republican road.
France's long and arduous road to republicanism
Resources:
General History of France
Towards a Republic (A Study on the Establishment of the Modern French Republic)
The Biography of Napoleon