Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain, better known as Philippe Pétain and Marshal Pétain, was a French general who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944, during World War II.
Jules François Simon was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans in the Third French Republic.
Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta, was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1875 and as President of France from 1875 to 1879.
Orléanist was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that century in France, three different phases of Orléanism can be identified:
Albert de Broglie, 4th Duke of Broglie was a French monarchist politician, diplomat and writer.
The Minister of Police was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of Police. It was a position in the Government of France from 1796 to 1818 and briefly from 1852 to 1853.
The Minister of the Armed Forces is the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, tasked with running the French Armed Forces. The minister is the third-highest civilian having authority over France's military, behind the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister. Based on the governments, they may be assisted by a minister or state secretary for veterans' affairs.
The Minister of War was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of War. It was a position in the Government of France from 1791 to 1947, replacing the position of Secretary of State for War and later being merged with the offices of Minister of the Navy and Minister of Air to form a new Minister of the Armed Forces.
The Minister of Information was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of Information. It was a position in the Government of France from 1938 to 1974 and no longer exists.
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 Moderate Republican prime minister Jules Simon, the parliament on 16 May 1877 refused to support the new government and was dissolved by the president. New elections resulted in the royalists increasing their seat totals, but nonetheless resulted in a majority 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 for the longevity of the Third Republic.
The Chief of the Army Staff is the military head of the French Army. The chief directs the army staff and acts as the principal advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on subjects concerning the Army. As such, they ensure the operational preparedness of their service branch, express their need for military and civilian personnel, and are responsible for maintaining the discipline, morale and conduct of their troops. Special responsibilities can be assigned to them in relation to nuclear safety.
The Chief of the Naval Staff is a French general officer, adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff for the French Navy and responsible to the Minister of the Armed Forces for preparing the Navy for its engagement. Since 1 September 2023, the Chief of the Naval Staff has been Admiral Nicolas Vaujour.
Events from the year 1873 in France.
Marie François Oscar Bardi de Fourtou was a French politician. Born into a bourgeois family, he served as Minister of Transport from 7 December 1872 to 18 May 1873. He also served as Minister of Interior and Minister of Public Instruction, in which he "carried out aggressively conservative policies by dismissing certain liberal professors and re-establishing censorship."
The Ministry of War was the Government of France department responsible for the French Army, the National Gendarmerie and until 1934, the French Air Force. It existed from 25 May 1791 to 31 October 1947, date to which it was merged with the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Air into the Ministry of Armed Forces. It was headed by the Minister of War, occasionally taking various titles.
The First cabinet of Jules Dufaure was the 54th cabinet of France and the second of the Third Republic, seating from 19 February 1871 to 18 May 1873, headed by Jules Dufaure as Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Justice, under the presidency of Adolphe Thiers.
The Second Cabinet of Jules Dufaure is the 55th cabinet of France and the third of the Third Republic, seating from 18 May 1873 to 25 May 1873, headed by Jules Dufaure as Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Justice, under the presidency of Adolphe Thiers.
The First Cabinet of Albert de Broglie is the 56th cabinet of France and the fourth of the Third Republic, seating from 25 May 1873 to 26 November 1873, headed by Albert de Broglie as vice-president of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, under the presidency of Patrice de MacMahon.
The Alleged military conspiracy of 1877, or attempted coup d'état, was a possible failed coup attempt in France during the May Sixteenth crisis. The aim of the conspirators - led by generals Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot and Gaëtan de Rochebouët - was to keep the Ordre moral government in power. Lacking the support of Marshal de Mac Mahon, who remained committed to the law, this military plot would have remained at the project stage. However, it was widely exploited by the Republicans to undermine the monarchists' credentials and stigmatize the social conservatism of the French army's leaders. In fact, between January 1878 and February 1879, the generals suspected of having taken part in the preparations for the putsch were purged, prompting Mac Mahon to resign.
The purge of the French Civil Service between 1879 and 1884, also known as the "revolution of jobs," refers to a series of political measures taken in France by the Republicans at the beginning of the Third Republic. These measures were designed to cleanse the administration, army, and judiciary of their most conservative members. This purge was not the first to be experienced by the regime; others had occurred in 1870, 1871, 1876, and 1877.
