The Third Republic of France - Part 2

In the first part, I have mentioned three of the main reasons for The Third Republic of France’s long-lasting rule. They were the simultaneous democratization and nation-building processes, republicanism gaining new meaning and adaptation of the masses to the national building process. 

Another action that strengthened the Republic was the celebration of heroes as part of a larger effort toward national reconciliation. Though the military hero was a particularly powerful symbol at the time, an essential component of revanche, he was by no means the only type of heroic ideal. The Third Republic's leader also promoted the cult of civilian heroes. In a dechristianization era, the rise of secular heroes was accompanied by a decline in religious heroes.

Republicans lauded political leaders Danton and Mirabeau, as well as writers Voltaire and Diderot. Poet Victor Hugo and savant Louis Pasteur emerged as contemporary national heroes during the early years of the Republic. Accordingly, the positivist ideology was popular along with scientists such as Darwin and intellectuals such as Comte at that time. It can be seen from all these that reason and science was some kind of guides of the republic during its developing phase. French intellectuals were given tremendous importance and started to get accustomed to their freedom of speech with the liberalization of the press laws in 1881. 

Lastly and maybe most importantly, the secularization of the state can be mentioned, supported by Jules Ferry who is a dominant, moderate political figure. Accordingly, the key issue here was education. As minister of education, Ferry had declared war on unauthorized religious orders and barred them from teaching as early as 1879. Primary schooling became free, compulsory, and non-denominational for both sexes until the age of 13 under laws passed in 1881 and 1882.

A subsequent law, enacted in 1886, attempted to republicanize the teaching profession by removing religious orders from state school classrooms and requiring teachers to hold a qualification from a state training school. Girls' education was a special target because republicans believed that in the battle for the minds of future generations, it was necessary to break the association of women away from traditional prejudices and superstitions—in other words, away from religious beliefs.

Other steps to encourage secularization of society included the restoration of divorce and, as previously mentioned in part 1, putting an end to the exemption from military service for seminary students. To this end, moderates were more cautious, aware of the Church's continued influence in many rural areas, and advocated only those reforms that were 'opportune' (earning them the moniker "opportunists").

So, acting carefully and consciously, though facing many opposing forces, we can say that the Third Republic formed itself a strong base with education, liberal rights, literacy and so on. Moreover, it was seen that what started as revolutionary French values became universal values at this period which are liberty, equality, and fraternity. Thus, I believe that thanks to all these developments, along with many more that I haven’t written about, the republic had its supporters and policies that had helped it live this long.

For references and further readings you can check:

James McMillan, "Consolidating the Republic: Politics 1880-1914," in J. McMillan (ed.), Modern France 1880-2002 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), pp.12-38.

Venita Datta, Birth of a National Icon: The Literary Avant-Garde and the Origins of the Intellectual in France (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999), pp.135-166.

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