Minister of Police (France)

Last updated

Minister of Police
Ministre de la Police
Fouche Joseph Duke of Otranto.jpg
Longest serving
Joseph Fouché
Ministry of Police
StatusAbolished
Member of Government
Term length No fixed term
Formation2 January 1796
First holder Philippe Antoine Merlin de Douai
Final holder Charlemagne de Maupas
Abolished21 June 1853
Succession Minister of Interior

The Minister of Police (French : Ministre de la 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.

Contents

History

The office was created on 2 January 1796 by taking police powers away from the Minister of Interior and giving them to the new Minister of Police. The move was motivated by an apparent overload of the Interior department. [1] The first minister, Philippe-Antoine Merlin, was appointed two days later, as Armand-Gaston Camus refused the office. The most famous minister was Joseph Fouché, whose service spanned over a decade.

It was a major French ministerial position under the Directory, Consulate, First Empire, and Restored Bourbon Dynasty. The position was merged into the Ministry of Interior in 1818, although it was briefly restored by Napoleon III in 1852.

Powers and functions

Officeholders

First Republic

No.PortraitNameTerm [a] GovernmentHead of StateRef.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
Ministry established
[b] Armand-Gaston Camus.jpg Armand-Gaston Camus 2 January 1796
12 Nivôse Year IV
4 January 1796
14 Nivôse Year IV
2 days Directory Directory [2]
1 Merlin de Douai par Delpech.jpg Philippe-Antoine Merlin 4 January 1796
14 Nivôse Year IV
3 April 1796
14 Germinal Year IV
90 days [3]
2 Cochon Lapparent Charles.png Charles Cochon de Lapparent 3 April 1796
14 Germinal Year IV
16 July 1797
28 Messidor Year V
1 year, 104 days [4]
3 Jean-Jacques Lenoir-Laroche.jpg Jean-Jacques Lenoir-Laroche 16 July 1797
28 Messidor Year V
26 July 1797
8 Thermidor Year V
10 days [5]
4 Blanco portrait.svg Pierre Jean-Marie Sotin de La Coindière 26 July 1797
8 Thermidor Year V
13 February 1798
25 Pluviôse Year VI
202 days [6]
5 Blanco portrait.svg Nicolas Dondeau 13 February 1798
25 Pluviôse Year VI
16 May 1798
27 Floréal Year VI
92 days [7]
6 Le Carlier d'Ardon, vers 1792.jpg Marie Jean François Philibert Lecarlier 16 May 1798
27 Floréal Year VI
29 October 1798
8 Brumaire Year VII
166 days [8]
7 Blanco portrait.svg Jean-Pierre Duval 29 October 1798
8 Brumaire Year VII
23 June 1799
5 Messidor Year VII
237 days [9]
8 Blanco portrait.svg Claude Sébastien Bourguignon 23 June 1799
5 Messidor Year VII
20 July 1799
2 Thermidor Year VII
27 days [10]
9 Joseph Fouche.png Joseph Fouché 20 July 1799
2 Thermidor Year VII
18 May 1804
28 Floréal Year XII
4 years, 303 days [11]
Consulate Napoléon Bonaparte

First Empire

No.PortraitNameTermGovernment Emperor Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
(9) Fouche Joseph Duke of Otranto.jpg Joseph Fouché
Duc d'Otrante
18 May 18043 June 18106 years, 16 days Napoléon Napoléon I [c]
10 Robert Lefevre 15.jpg Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Duc de Rovigo
3 June 18103 April 18143 years, 304 days [12]

Restoration

No.PortraitNameTermGovernment King Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
11 Jules Angles 1778-1828.jpg Jules Anglès 3 April 181413 May 181440 days Provisional Government Louis XVIII [13]
12 Jacques Claude, Comte Beugnot (circle of Louis Hersent).jpg Jacques Claude [d]
Comte Beugnot
13 May 18143 December 1814244 days Restoration [14]

Hundred Days

No.PortraitNameTermGovernment Emperor Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
13 Fouche Joseph Duke of Otranto.jpg Joseph Fouché
Duc d'Otrante
20 March 181523 June 181595 days Hundred Days Napoléon I [15]
14 Jean Pelet de la Lozere (1759-1842).jpg Jean Pelet
Comte de la Lozère
23 June 18157 July 181514 days [16]

Kingdom of France

No.PortraitNameTermGovernment King Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
15 Fouche Joseph Duke of Otranto.jpg Joseph Fouché
Duc d'Otrante
9 July 181526 September 181579 daysTalleyrand-Périgord Louis XVIII [17]
16 Elie Decazes.jpg Élie Louis
Duc Decazes
26 September 181529 December 18183 years, 94 daysRichelieu

Second Republic

No.PortraitNameTermGovernment President Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
17 Charlemagne de Maupas (1818-1888).jpg Charlemagne de Maupas 22 January 185221 June 18531 year, 150 days Napoléon IIIII Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte [18]
Ministry disestablished

Notes

  1. Dates in italic correspond to the French Republican calendar, used between 1793 (and retroactively 1792) and 1805.
  2. Appointed, but refused.
  3. Remained in office at the proclamation of the Empire.
  4. As Director General of Police.

References

  1. Government of the French Republic (2 January 1796). "Decree on the creation of the Ministry of Police". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. Government of the French Republic (2 January 1796). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. Government of the French Republic (4 January 1796). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. Government of the French Republic (3 April 1796). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  5. Government of the French Republic (16 July 1797). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  6. Government of the French Republic (26 July 1797). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. Government of the French Republic (13 February 1798). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. Government of the French Republic (16 May 1798). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. Government of the French Republic (29 October 1798). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  10. Government of the French Republic (23 June 1799). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  11. Government of the French Republic (20 July 1799). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  12. Government of the French Empire (3 June 1810). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  13. Government of the Kingdom of France (3 April 1814). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  14. Government of the Kingdom of France (13 May 1814). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  15. Government of the French Empire (20 March 1815). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  16. Government of the French Empire (23 June 1815). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  17. Government of the Kingdom of France (9 July 1815). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  18. Government of the French Republic (22 January 1852). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.