French Second Republic

The republican regime that governed France from 1848 until Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte’s coup in 1851. It introduced universal male suffrage and ended with the establishment of the Second Empire.

Constitution of 1848: The constitution that established France’s Second Republic, defining its legislature, presidency, and electoral system. Its separation of presidential and legislative authority shaped the regime’s central political conflict.
February Revolution of 1848: The uprising in Paris in February 1848 that overthrew King Louis-Philippe and established a provisional republic. It directly founded the regime and set its first leaders and priorities.
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte: The elected president of France from 1848 who seized power in 1851 and later ruled as Napoleon III. His ambition and popular appeal drove the coup that ended the Republic.
June Days uprising: An armed uprising by Parisian workers from 23 to 26 June 1848, suppressed by the French government. Its defeat fractured republican unity and exposed the conflict between social rights and public order.
Second French Empire: The authoritarian empire ruled by Napoleon III in France from 1852 until its defeat in 1870. It replaced the Republic after Louis-Napoléon consolidated power and became emperor.
President of the French Republic: The elected head of state of the French Republic, an office created under the 1848 constitution. Louis-Napoléon used this office’s direct popular mandate to challenge the Assembly.
July Monarchy: The constitutional monarchy that ruled France from 1830 until the revolution of February 1848. Its overthrow opened the path to republican government.
Alphonse de Lamartine: A French poet and politician who led the provisional government formed after the February Revolution of 1848. He defended the republic’s founding ideals and helped prevent a socialist flag from becoming its emblem.
French presidential election of 1848: The first direct presidential election in France, held in December 1848 and won by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. Its result gave Louis-Napoléon a popular mandate larger than any rival’s.
French Third Republic: The French republican regime established in 1870 that lasted until the German occupation of 1940. Its founders drew institutional lessons from the Second Republic’s presidential-legislative deadlock.

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