| Louis Adolph Thiers | |
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| In office February 22, 1836 – March 31, 1839 |
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| Preceded by | duc de Broglie |
| Succeeded by | Louis, comte Molé |
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| In office March 1, 1840 – October 29, 1840 |
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| Preceded by | Duc de Dalmatie |
| Succeeded by | Duc de Dalmatie |
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| In office August 31, 1871 – May 24, 1873 |
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| Preceded by | Louis Jules Trochu (interim) |
| Succeeded by | Patrice de Mac-Mahon |
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| Born | April 16, 1797 Marseille, France |
| Died | September 3, 1877 (aged 80) Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France |
| Nationality | French |
Louis-Adolphe Thiers (Marseille, April 16, 1797–September 3, 1877) was a French politician and historian. The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1836 ( MDCCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 1839 ( MDCCCXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Achille-Léonce-Victor-Charles 3rd duc de Broglie (28 November 1785&ndash26 January 1870 was a French statesman and Diplomat. Louis Mathieu comte Molé (24 January 1781 - 23 November 1855 was a French Statesman Biography Molé was born in Paris. The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duc de Dalmatie (29 March 1769 26 November 1851 the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman named Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duc de Dalmatie (29 March 1769 26 November 1851 the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman named The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected This is a list of Co-Princes of Andorra. The Principality of Andorra, in the Pyrenees Mountains on the French – Spanish border Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Louis Jules Trochu (12 March 1815 - 7 October 1896 was a French military leader and politician Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac-Mahon, 1st Duc de Magenta, Marshal of France (13 June 1808 - 17 October 1893 was a French Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom Year 1797 ( MDCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common For treaties with this name see Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (disambiguation Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the western This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom Year 1797 ( MDCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. See also History An historian is an individual who studies and writes about History, and is regarded as an Authority on it Thiers was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. Louis Philippe ( 6 October 1773 &ndash 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871. This article is about the Second Empire architectural style For France during the reign of Napoleon III of France, see Second French Empire The Paris Commune (La Commune de Paris was a Government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March (more formally from 26 March) to 28 May From 1871 to 1873 he served initially as Head of State (effectively a provisional President of France), then provisional President. The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected When, following a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly, his offer of resignation was accepted (he had expected a rejection) he was forced to vacate the office. A motion of no confidence (also vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a Parliamentary motion The French National Assembly. The other is the Senate ( “Sénat”) He was replaced as Provisional President by Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, who became full President of the Republic, a post Thiers had coveted, in 1875 when a series of constitutional laws officially creating the Third Republic were enacted. Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac-Mahon, 1st Duc de Magenta, Marshal of France (13 June 1808 - 17 October 1893 was a French The French Third Republic (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe
Contents |
Birth and early life
Thiers's maternal grandmother was the sister of Élisabeth Santi-Lomaca, mother of André Chénier, of Greek origins. André Marie Chénier ( October 30, 1762 &ndash July 25, 1794) was a French Poet, associated with the events of the Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία [1] His family was somewhat grandiloquently spoken of as "cloth merchants ruined by the Revolution", but it seems that at the actual time of his birth his father was a locksmith. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. Merchants function as professionals who deal with Trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves in order to produce Profit. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Locksmithing began as the science and art of making and defeating locks His mother belonged to the family of the Chéniers, and he was well educated, first at the lycée of Marseille, and then in the faculty of law at Aix-en-Provence. Chéniers is a commune in the Creuse department in central France. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Aix (ɛks or Aix-en-Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Ais de Provença in classical norm or Ais de Prouvènço in Mistralian norm to distinguish Here he began his lifelong friendship with Mignet, and was called to the bar at the age of twenty-three. François Auguste Alexis Mignet ( 8 May 1796 - 24 March 1884) was a French Historian. He had, however, little taste for law and much for literature; and he obtained an academic prize at Aix for a discourse on the marquis de Vauvenargues. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Luc de Clapiers marquis de Vauvenargues ( 6 August 1715 &ndash 28 May 1747) was a French Moralist, Essayist In the early autumn of 1821 Thiers went to Paris, and was quickly introduced as a contributor to the Constitutionnel. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city In each of the years immediately following his arrival in Paris he collected and published a volume of his articles, the first on the salon of 1822, the second on a tour in the Pyrenees. The Salon (Salon or rarely Paris Salon (French Salon de Paris) beginning in 1725 was the official Art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts The Pyrenees (Pirineos French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés He was put out of all need of money by the singular benefaction of Cotta, the well-known Stuttgart publisher, who was part-proprietor of the Constitutionnel, and made over to Thiers his dividends, or part of them. Priest or seminarian with censorjpg|thumb|Seminarian vested in a pleated Roman-style surplice with lace inserts holding a Thurible. Stuttgart (ˈʃtʊtgaɐ̯t is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Meanwhile, he became very well known in Liberal society, and he had begun the celebrated Histoire de la revolution française, which founded his literary and helped his political fame. The first two volumes appeared in 1823, the last two (of ten) in 1827. The book brought him little profit at first, but became immensely popular. The well-known sentence of Carlyle, that it is "as far as possible from meriting its high reputation", is in strictness justified, for all Thiers' historical work is marked by extreme inaccuracy, by prejudice which passes the limits of accidental unfairness, and by an almost complete indifference to the merits as compared with the successes of his heroes. Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881 was a Scottish essayist satirist and historian whose work was highly influential during the Victorian era. But Carlyle himself admits that Thiers is "a brisk man in his way, and will tell you much if you know nothing. " Coming as the book did just when the reaction against the Revolution was about to turn into another reaction in its favour, it was assured of success.
The July Monarchy of King Louis-Philippe
For a moment it seemed as if Thiers had definitely chosen the lot of a literary man, not to say of a literary hack. He even planned an Histoire générale. But the accession to power of the Polignac ministry in August 1829 made him change his plans, and at the beginning of the next year Thiers, with Armand Carrel, Mignet, Sautelet and others started the National, a new opposition newspaper. Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Armand Carrel ( May 8, 1800 &ndash July 25, 1836) was a French writer Le National was a French daily founded in 1830 by Adolphe Thiers, Armand Carrel, François-Auguste Mignet and the librarian-editor Auguste Thiers himself was one of the animators of the 1830 revolution, being credited with "overcoming the scruples of Louis Philippe," perhaps no Herculean task. Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. At any rate, he received his reward. He ranked as one of the Radical supporters of the new dynasty, in opposition to the party of which his rival François Guizot was the chief literary man, and Guizot's patron, the duc de Broglie, the main pillar. François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (4 October 1787 -12 September 1874 was a French Historian, Orator, and Statesman. Achille-Léonce-Victor-Charles 3rd duc de Broglie (28 November 1785&ndash26 January 1870 was a French statesman and Diplomat. At first Thiers, though elected deputy for Aix, received only subordinate posts in the ministry of finance. The field of finance refers to the concepts of Time, Money and Risk and how they are interrelated
After the overthrow of his patron Jacques Laffitte, he became much less radical, and after the troubles of June 1832 he was appointed to the ministry of the interior. Jacques Laffitte (24 October 1767&ndash26 May 1844 was a French banker and Politician. He repeatedly changed portfolios, but remained in office for four years, became president of the council and, in effect, Prime Minister, in which capacity he began his series of quarrels and jealousies with Guizot. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. At the time of his resignation in 1836 he was foreign minister and, as usual, favoured an energetic policy toward Spain, which he could not carry out. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
He travelled in Italy for some time, and it was not till 1838 that he began a regular campaign of parliamentary opposition, which in March 1840 made him president of the council and foreign minister for the second time. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A parliament is a Legislature, especially in those His policy of support for Muhammad Ali of Egypt in the Eastern crisis of that year led France to the brink of war with the other great powers. This article is about the leader of Egypt For other people named Muhammad Ali or Mehmet Ali see Muhammad Ali (disambiguation and Mehemet Ali (disambiguation This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. This resulted in his dismissal by the king, who did not wish for war. Thiers now had little to do with politics for some years, and spent his time on his Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire, the first volume of which appeared in 1845.
Though he was still a member of the chamber, he spoke rarely, till after the beginning of 1846, when he was evidently bidding once more for power as the leader of the opposition group of the Left Centre. Immediately before the February revolution he went to all but the greatest lengths, and when it broke out he and Odilon Barrot, the leader of the Dynastic Left, were summoned by the king; but it was too late. Camille Hyacinthe Odilon Barrot (19 September 1791 - 6 August 1873 was a French Politician. Thiers was unable to govern the forces he had helped to gather, and he resigned.
The Second Republic and the Second Empire
Under the Republic he took up the position of conservative republican, which he ever afterwards maintained, and he never took office. History Revolution of 1848 See also Mid-nineteenth century France The industrial population of the Faubourgs The Second French Empire or Second Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870 between the Second But the consistency of his conduct, especially in voting for Louis Napoleon as president, was often and sharply criticized, one of the criticisms leading to a duel with a fellow-deputy, Bixio. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President Nino Bixio ( 2 October 1821 - December 16, 1873) was an Italian soldier who fought for the Italian unification. He was arrested at the coup d'etat, was sent to Mazas, and then escorted out of France. The French Coup d'état of December 2nd 1851 staged by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (at the time President of the Second French Republic) ended in the successful dissolution But in the following summer he was allowed to return. His history for the next decade is almost a blank, his time being occupied for the most part on The Consulate and the Empire. It was not until 1863 that he re-entered political life, being elected by a Parisian constituency. For the seven years following he was the chief speaker among the small group of anti-Imperialists in the French chamber, and was regarded generally as the most formidable enemy of the Empire. While protesting against its foreign enterprises, he also harped on French loss of prestige, and so helped contribute to stir up the fatal spirit which brought on the war of 1870.
Collapse of the Empire and the Paris Commune
In the diplomatic crisis of 1870, Thiers was one of the few who strongly opposed war with Prussia, and was accused of lack of patriotism. Le Père Duchesne ( Old Man Duchesne or Father Duchesne) was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state But when France's armies suffered defeat after defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (all within a period of a few weeks), Thiers's earlier stance was vindicated. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 He urged early peace negotiations, and refused to take part in the new republican Government of National Defense, which was determined to continue the war. Le Gouvernement de la Défense Nationale, or The Government of National Defence, was the first Government of the Third Republic of France from September
In the latter part of September and the first three weeks of October, 1870 he went on a tour of Britain, Italy, Austria and Russia in the hope of obtaining an intervention, or at least some mediation. The mission was unsuccessful, as was his attempt to persuade Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck and the Government of National Defence to negotiate.
When the French government was finally forced to surrender, Thiers triumphantly re-entered the political scene. In national elections, he was elected in twenty-six departments; on 17 February 1871 Thiers was elected head of a provisional government, nominally "chef du pouvoir exécutif de la République en attendant qu'il soit statué sur les institutions de la France" (head of the executive power of the Republic until the institutions of France are decided). He succeeded in convincing the deputies that the peace was necessary, and on March 1 1871 it was voted for by a margin of more than five to one. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant
On 18 March, a major insurrection began in Paris after Thiers ordered the army to remove several hundred cannons in the possession of the Paris National Guard. Thiers evacuated his government and troops to Versailles. Parisians elected a radical republican and socialist city government on 26 March entitled the Paris Commune. The Paris Commune (La Commune de Paris was a Government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March (more formally from 26 March) to 28 May
Fighting broke out between government troops and the those of the Commune early in April. Neither side was willing to negotiate, and fighting continued throughout April and May in the city's suburbs. On 21 May, government forces broke through the city's defences, and a week of street fighting, known as 'la Semaine Sanglante' (Bloody Week) began. Thousands of Parisians were killed in the fighting or summarily executed by courts martial. Thiers has often been accused of ordering this massacre - probably the worst in Europe between the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution of 1917 - but more likely he washed his hands of a massacre carried out by the army, thinking that it was a 'lesson' that the insurgents deserved. Thiers insisted on using legal means to prosecute the thousands of prisoners taken by the army, and over 12,000 were tried by special courts martial; of these 23 were executed, and over 4,000 transported to New Caledonia, from where the last prisoners were amnestied in 1880. For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. This severe repression has always been blamed principally on Thiers, and has overshadowed his memory in France and more generally on the political Left.
The Third Republic
On August 30 Thiers became the provisional president of the as-yet undeclared republic. He held office for more than two years after this event. (See note 1)
His strong personal will and inflexible opinions had much to do with the resurrection of France; but the very same facts made it inevitable that he should excite violent opposition. He was a confirmed protectionist, and free trade ideas had made great headway in France under the Empire; he was an advocate of long military service, and the devotees of la revanche (the revenge) were all for the introduction of general and compulsory but short service. For the protectionist Australian political party from the 1880s to 1909 see Protectionist Party Free trade is a system in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions Both his talents and his temper made him utterly indisposed to maintain the attitude supposed to be incumbent on a republican president; and his tongue was never carefully governed. In January 1872 he formally tendered his resignation; and though it was refused, almost all parties disliked him, while his chief supporters, men like Charles de Rémusat, Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire and Jules Simon were men rather of the past than of the present. Charles François Marie Comte de Rémusat ( March 13, 1797 - June 6, 1875) was a French Politician and writer Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire ( August 19, 1805 &ndash November 24, 1895) was a French Philosopher, Journalist Jules François Simon (27 December 1814 - 8 June 1896 was a French statesman and Philosopher, and one of the leader of the Opportunist Republicans
The year 1873, a parliamentary year in France, was occupied to a great extent with attacks on Thiers, essentially by the royalist majority in the National Assembly, who suspected, correctly, that Thiers was putting the weight of his enormous popularity among the electorate at the service of a future republic, which he famously described as 'the government that divides us least'. In the early spring, regulations were proposed and, on April 13, carried, intended to restrict the executive, and especially the parliamentary, powers of the president, who was no longer to be allowed to speak in the Assembly. On April 27 a contested election in Paris, resulting in the return of a radical republican candidate, Barodet, was regarded as a grave disaster for the Thiers government, because it convinced the royalists that France was moving too far to the Left. The principal royalist leader, the Duc de Broglie, proposed a motion of no confidence in the government, which was carried by sixteen votes in a house of 704. Thiers at once resigned (May 24), expecting that he would have his resignation rescinded or that he would be immediately re-elected. Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned To his shock the resignation was accepted and a professional soldier, Marshal Patrice de MacMahon, was elected to the provisional presidency instead.
Last years
He survived, after his fall, for four years, continuing to sit in the Assembly and, after the dissolution of 1876, in the Chamber of Deputies, and sometimes, though rarely, speaking. Chamber of Deputies (la Chambre des députés was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries 1814–1848 He was also, on the occasion of this dissolution, elected senator for Belfort, which his exertions had saved for France; but he preferred the lower house, where he sat as of old for Paris. The Senate (Sénat is the Upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president. Belfort (Beffert is a town and commune of northeastern France, Préfecture (capital of the Territoire de Belfort On May 16, 1877, he was one of the "363" who voted for no confidence in the Broglie ministry (thus paying his debts), and he took a considerable part in organizing the subsequent electoral campaign as an ally of the Republicans. Events 1204 - Baldwin IX Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office But he was not to see its success, suffering a fatal stroke at St. Germain-en-Laye on 3 September. A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain For treaties with this name see Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (disambiguation Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the western Thiers had long been married, and his wife and sister-in-law, Mlle Félicie Dosne, were his constant companions; but he left no children and had had only one, a daughter who long predeceased him. He had been a member of the Academy since 1834. His personal appearance was remarkable, and not imposing, for he was very short, with plain features, ungainly gestures and manners, very near-sighted, and of disagreeable voice; yet he became (after wisely giving up an attempt at the ornate style of oratory) a very effective speaker in a kind of conversational manner, and in the epigram of debate he had no superior among the statesmen of his time except Lord Beaconsfield. Oratory is the art of (public speaking In ancient Greece and Rome, oratory was studied as a component of Rhetoric (that is composition and delivery An epigram is a short Poem, often with a clever twist at the end or a concise and witty statement Benjamin Disraeli 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS (born Benjamin D'Israeli; 21 December 1804 &ndash 19 April 1881 was
Thiers was by far the most gifted and interesting of the group of literary statesmen which formed a unique feature in the French political history of the 19th century. There are only two who are at all comparable to him, Guizot and Lamartine; and as a statesman he stands far above both. Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (Alphonse-Marie-Louis de Prat de Lamartine ( October 21, 1790 - February 28, 1869) was a French Nor is this eminence merely due to his great opportunity in 1870; for Guizot might under Louis Philippe have almost made himself a French Robert Walpole, at least a French Palmerston, and Lamartine's opportunities after 1848 were, for a man of political genius, unlimited. Robert Walpole 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 &ndash 18 March 1745 known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a "Lord Palmerston" and "Henry Temple" redirect here But both failed; Lamartine almost ludicrously, whereas Thiers, under difficult conditions, achieved a striking if not a brilliant success. But even when the minister of a constitutional monarch his intolerance of interference or joint authority, his temper at once imperious and devious, his inveterate inclination towards underhand rivalry and cabals for power and place, showed themselves unfavourably. His constant tendency to inflame the aggressive and chauvinistic spirit of his country was not based on any sound estimate of the relative power and interests of France, and led his country more than once to the verge of a great calamity. In opposition, both under Louis Philippe and under the empire, and even to some extent in the last four years of his life, his worst qualities were always evident. But with all these drawbacks he conquered and will retain a place in what is perhaps the highest, as it is certainly the smallest, class of statesmen: the class of those to whom their country has had recourse in a great disaster, who have shown in bringing her through that disaster with constancy, courage, devotion and skill and have been rewarded by as much success as the occasion permitted. A statesman or stateswoman or statesperson is usually a Politician or other notable figure of State who has had a long and respected career in
As a man of letters Thiers is very much smaller. An intellectual (from the adjective meaning "involving thought and reason" is a person who tries to use his or her Intelligence and analytical thinking, He has not only the fault of diffuseness, which is common to so many of the best-known historians of his century, but others as serious or more so. The charge of dishonesty is one never to be lightly made against men of such distinction as his, especially when their evident confidence in their own infallibility, their faculty of ingenious casuistry, and the strength of will which makes them (unconsciously, no doubt) close their minds to all inconvenient facts and inferences. Dishonesty is a word which in common usage may be defined as the act or to act without honesty a lack of probity to cheat lying or being deliberately deceptive lacking in Casuistry (ˈkæʒuːɨstri is an Applied ethics term referring to case-based Reasoning. But it is certain that from Thiers' treatment of the men of the first revolution to his treatment of the Battle of Waterloo, constant, angry and well-supported protests against his unfairness were not lacking. In the Battle of Waterloo (Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo Belgium Although his research was undoubtedly wide-ranging, its results are by no means always accurate, and even his admirers find inconsistencies in his style. These characteristics reappear (accompanied, however, by frequent touches of the epigrammatic power above mentioned, which seems to have come to Thiers the orator or journalist easier than to the historian) in his speeches, which after his death were collected in many volumes by his widow. Sainte-Beuve, whose notices of Thiers are generally kind, says of him, "M. Saint Beuve redirects here For the eponymous saint see Beuve Abbess of Saint Pierre de Reims. Thiers sait tout, tranche tout, parle de tout," and this omniscience and "cocksureness" (to use the word of a British Prime Minister contemporary with this prime minister of France) are perhaps the chief pervading features both of the statesman and the man of letters.
His histories, in many different editions, and his speeches, as above, are easily accessible; his minor works and newspaper articles have not, we believe, been collected in any form. Several years after his death appeared Deux opuscules (1891) and Melanges inedits (1892), while Notes et souvenirs, 1870-73, were published in 1901 by "F. D. ", his sister-in-law and constant companion, Mlle Dosne. Works on him, by Laya, de Mazade, his colleague and friend Jules Simon, and others, are numerous.
Trivia
Thiers was the only French President born in 18th century. His two predecessors - Emperor Napoleon III (who served previously as President of the 2nd Republic from 1848 to 1854), and Interim President Louis Jules Trochu were born in 19th century (Bonaparte in 1808 and Trochu in 1825). Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President Louis Jules Trochu (12 March 1815 - 7 October 1896 was a French military leader and politician
Notes
[1] A republic was declared on 4 September 1870 following the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 However, it only acquired a republican constitution five years later. Hence, Thiers initially was not president but "Head of the Executive Power" (Chef du Pouvoir Exécutif). Though formally made "President of the Republic", historians disagree as to whether to regard Thiers as President of the Third Republic or President of a provisional republic, given that the constitutional structures of the Third Republic, and the creation of a constitutionally-based President of the Third Republic, and even legislative mention of the word 'republic' only occurred in a series of laws passed in 1875 and known as the 'Constitution of 1875'. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation
[2] Karl Marx described him in The Civil War in France as follows:
"Thiers, that monstrous gnome, has charmed the French bourgeoisie for almost half a century, because he is the most consummate intellectual expression of their own class corruption. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. Before he became a statesman, he had already proved his lying powers as an historian. The chronicle of his public life is the record of the misfortunes of France. Banded, before 1830, with the republicans, he slipped into office under Louis Philippe by betraying his protector Lafitte, ingratiating himself with the king by exciting mob riots against the clergy, during which the church of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois and the Archbishop's palace were plundered, and by acting the minster-spy upon, and the jail-accoucheur of the Duchess de Berry. The massacre of the republicans in the Rue Transnonian, and the subsequent infamous laws of September against the press and the right of association, were his work. Reappearing as the chief of the cabinet in March 1840, he astonished France with his plan for fortifying France . . . . . Thiers was consistent only in his greed for wealth and his hatred of the men that produce it. Having entered his first ministry, under Louis Philippe, poor as Job, he left it a millionaire. Jobe (/'dʒoʊb/; Arabic: أَيُّوبٌ,) is a character in the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible, as well as a prophet . . . . "
See also
- Fondation Dosne-Thiers, his mansion and library in Paris
External links
- Site listing links to the Third Republic
- Page on history of French flags with brief outline of formation of the Third Republic
- Works by Adolphe Thiers at Project Gutenberg
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Fondation Dosne-Thiers is a history museum and library located in the IXe arrondissement at 27 place St-Georges Paris, France. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
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