Cabinet Dufaure I (France)

The First cabinet of Jules Dufaure is the 54th cabinet of France and the second of the Third Republic, seating from 19 February 1871[1] to 18 May 1873,[2] headed by Jules Dufaure as Vice-President of the Council of Ministers[3] and Minister of Justice, under the presidency of Adolphe Thiers.

Cabinet Dufaure I

54th Cabinet of France
The cabinet at the end of 1872.
Date formed19 February 1871 (1871-02-19)
Date dissolved18 May 1873 (1873-05-18)
People and organisations
President[lower-alpha 1]Adolphe Thiers
Head of governmentJules Dufaure
Member parties
Status in legislatureMajority
580 / 638 (91%)
Opposition parties
History
Election(s)1871 legislative election
PredecessorNational Defence
SuccessorDufaure II

History
National Assembly following the elections of 8 February 1871.

The Government of National Defence, having led the republic during the Franco-Prussian War, signed the Armistice of Versailles which provided for new elections in the National Assembly to establish a more legitimate government.[4]

The cabinet was formed following the Legislative elections of 1871, which saw a majority of royalists elected.[5] Their initial project was a third Restoration of descendants of either the Bourbons or the Orléans;[6] the Republic was merely seen at that time by royalists as a system of transition before the return of a constitutional monarchy.

However, Jules Dufaure succeeded in assembling a coalition of Opportunists, Legitimists, Orleanists and independent Liberals, while leaving Bonapartists, marginalized following the fall of the Second Empire,[6] and Radicals, openly in favour of the pursuit of the war, out of the majority.

On 18 May 1873, Adolphe Thiers, wishing to reorganize the government and to make it more republican leaning, asked the cabinet to resign and tasked Jules Dufaure to form a new one, leading to the formation of the Cabinet Dufaure II.[2]

Actions

The main actions of the government were to deal with the Paris Commune[7] and to end the Franco-Prussian War by conducting negotiations with Bismarck before signing the Treaty of Frankfurt and reducing the indemnity requested by Prussia to five billion francs.[5]

It also supervised the reorganization of the French Army in order to provide it with manpower equivalent to that of the Prussian Army and to professionalize it,[8] and finally dissolved the National Guard now seen as a major threat to the republic and the regular army.[9]

Composition
Vice-President of the Council of Ministers : Jules Dufaure
Portfolio[lower-alpha 2] Name Took office Left office Party Ref.
Minister of Justice Jules Dufaure19 February 187118 May 1873Opportunist Republicans[1]
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jules Favre19 February 18712 August 1871Opportunist Republicans[1]
 Charles de Rémusat2 August 187118 May 1873Centre-right[10]
Minister of Interior Ernest Picard19 February 18715 June 1871Centre-left[1]
 Félix Lambrecht5 June 187111 October 1871Centre-left[11]
 Auguste Casimir-Perier11 October 18716 February 1872Opportunist Republicans[12]
 Victor Lefranc6 February 18727 December 1872Opportunist Republicans[13]
 Eugène de Goulard7 December 187218 May 1873Orleanist[14]
Minister of War Adolphe Le Flô19 February 18715 June 1871Orleanist[1]
 Ernest de Cissey5 June 187118 May 1873Legitimist[11]
Minister of Navy and Colonies Louis Pothuau19 February 187118 May 1873Centre-left[1]
Minister of Public Instruction Jules Simon19 February 187118 May 1873Opportunist Republicans[1]
Minister of Agriculture Félix Lambrecht19 February 18715 June 1871Centre-left[1]
 Victor Lefranc5 June 18716 February 1872Opportunist Republicans[11]
 Eugène de Goulard6 February 187223 April 1872Orleanist[13]
 Pierre Teisserenc de Bort23 April 187218 May 1873Centre-left[15]
Minister of Public Works Charles de Larcy19 February 18717 December 1872Legitimist[1]
 Oscar Bardi de Fourtou7 December 187218 May 1873Centre-right[16]
Minister of Finance Louis Buffet19 February 187125 February 1871Centre-right[1]
 Augustin Pouyer-Quertier25 February 187123 April 1872Centre-right[17]
 Eugène de Goulard23 April 18727 December 1872Orleanist[15]
 Léon Say7 December 187218 May 1873ALP[16]
Undersecretary of State
for the Ministry of Interior		 Marc-Antoine Calmon23 February 18717 December 1872Centre-left[18]
 Ernest Pascal9 April 187318 May 1873Bonapartist[19]
Undersecretary of State
for the Ministry of War		 Charles Letellier-Valazé26 March 187318 May 1873Centre-left[20]

Notes
  1. Titled Chief of the Executive Power of the French Republic from 17 February 1871 to 31 August 1871.
  2. Order of the list corresponds to the order of appointment.

References
  1. Government of the French Republic (19 February 1871). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. Government of the French Republic (18 May 1873). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  3. Government of the French Republic (2 September 1872). "Decree appointing the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  4. Fortescue, William (2000). The Third Republic in France 1870-1940: Conflicts and Continuities. Routledge. p. 11. ISBN 0-415-16944-5. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  5. Fortescue, William (2000). The Third Republic in France 1870-1940: Conflicts and Continuities. Routledge. p. 12. ISBN 0-415-16944-5. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. Fortescue, William (2000). The Third Republic in France 1870-1940: Conflicts and Continuities. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-415-16944-5. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. Schmidt, Martin E. (1974). Alexandre Ribot: Odyssey of a Liberal in the Third Republic. Martinus Nijhoff. p. 12. ISBN 978-90-247-1639-5. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  8. Grubb, Alan (1996). The Politics of Pessimism: Albert de Broglie and Conservative Politics in the Early Third Republic. Associated University Presses. p. 75. ISBN 0-87413-575-3. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  9. Ollier, Edmund (1871). Cassell's History of the War Between France and Germany, 1870-1871, Volume 2. Cassell, Petter & Galpin. p. 530. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  10. Government of the French Republic (2 August 1871). "Decree appointing the Minister of Foreign Affairs". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  11. Government of the French Republic (5 June 1871). "Decree appointing the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of War". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  12. Government of the French Republic (11 October 1871). "Decree appointing the Minister of Interior". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  13. Government of the French Republic (6 February 1872). "Decree appointing the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Agriculture". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  14. Government of the French Republic (7 December 1872). "Decree appointing the Minister of Interior". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  15. Government of the French Republic (23 April 1872). "Decree appointing the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  16. Government of the French Republic (7 December 1872). "Decree appointing the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Works". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  17. Government of the French Republic (25 February 1871). "Decree appointing the Minister of Finance". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  18. Government of the French Republic (23 February 1871). "Decree appointing an Undersecretary of State". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  19. Government of the French Republic (9 April 1873). "Decree appointing an Undersecretary of State". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  20. Government of the French Republic (26 March 1873). "Decree appointing an Undersecretary of State". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
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