A History of the Third French RepublicWright, C. H. C. (Charles Henry Conrad)
History
A History of the Third French Republic
Wright, C. H. C. (Charles Henry Conrad)
France -- History -- Third Republic, 1870-1940
"L'ordre moral," such was the political catchword of the new
administration. Just what it meant was not very clear. In general,
however, it was obviously intended to imply resistance to radicalism
(republicanism) and the maintenance of a strictly conservative policy,
strongly tinged with clericalism.[5] The victors over M. Thiers had
revived their desire of a monarchical restoration and many of them hoped
that the maréchal de Mac-Mahon would shortly make way for the comte de
Chambord. But though an anti-republican he was never willing to lend
himself to any really illegal or dishonest manoeuvres, and his sense
of honor was of great help to him in his want of political competence.
So he did not prove the pliant tool of his creators, and his term of
office saw the definite establishment of the Republic.
The first Cabinet was led by the duc de Broglie who took the portfolio
of Foreign Affairs. The new Government was viewed askance by the
conquerors at Berlin, who disliked such an orderly transmission of
powers as an indication of national recovery and stability. Bismarck
even exacted new credentials from the French Ambassador. Meanwhile, the
Minister of the Interior, Beulé, proceeded to consolidate the authority
of the new Cabinet by numerous changes in the prefects of the
departments, turning out the "rascals" of Thiers's administration to
make room for appointees more amenable to new orders.
The time now seemed ripe for another effort to establish the monarchy
under the comte de Chambord. It culminated in the "monarchical campaign"
of October, 1873. The monarchical sympathizers were hand-in-glove with
the Clericals and for the most part coincided with them. The Royalists
were inevitably clerical if for no other reason than that monarchy and
religion both seemed to involve continuity, and the legitimacy of the
monarchy had always been blessed by the Church. The revolutionary
Rights of Man were held to be inconsistent with the traditional Rights
of God and the monarchy. Moreover, the founders of the third republic
had, with noteworthy exceptions like the devout Trochu, been mildly
anti-clerical. They were for the most part religious liberals and
deists, rarely atheists, but that was enough to array the bishops, like
monseigneur Pie of Poitiers, against them. Indeed, a quick religious
revival swept over the land, as was shown by numerous pilgrimages,
including one to Paray-le-Monial, home of the cult of the Sacred Heart.
France herself should be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, and the idea
was evolved, afterwards carried out, of the erection of the great votive
basilica of the Sacré Coeur on the heights of Montmartre.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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