French Third Republic

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/french-third-republic

1. What kind of government does French Third Republic have?
2. How big is French Third Republic?
3. What is the period of governance?
4. What is the constitutional basis?
5. What was the French Third Republic and when did it start?
6. Why did the French Third Republic become the longest lasting government in France?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What kind of government does French Third Republic have?Parliamentary republic
2. How big is French Third Republic?Approximately 13,500,000 km² (second largest globally)
3. What is the period of governance?September 4, 1870 – July 10, 1940
4. What is the constitutional basis?Established by the Constitutional Laws of 1875
5. What was the French Third Republic and when did it start?The French Third Republic was a government that began on September 4, 1870 after France was defeated in the Franco‑Prussian War. It was originally a provisional government but lasted for seventy years.
6. Why did the French Third Republic become the longest lasting government in France?Because the royalists could not agree on a king, the provisional republic stayed in power and became the longest lasting regime since the Ancien Régime.

Ancien Régime: The political and social system in France before the Revolution of 1789, characterized by absolute monarchy.
Legitimists: A faction of French royalists who supported the claim of the elder Bourbon line to the throne.
Orléanists: A faction of French royalists who supported the claim of the House of Orléans, descended from Louis Philippe I.
Seize Mai Crisis: A constitutional crisis in 1877 where President MacMahon attempted to dismiss a republican government, ultimately failing.