The Provisional Government was formed after three days of street fighting in Paris that ended in the abdication of King Louis Philippe I at noon on February 24.

The leaders of the government were selected by acclamation in two different meetings later that day, one at the Chamber of Deputies and the other at the Hôtel de Ville.

The second set of names, chosen at the Hôtel de Ville, came from a list made by the more radical republican paper La Réforme.

[1] Like its successor, the Executive Commission, the provisional government had a collective leadership, that exercised the power of head of state (French: Chief d'état) for all its duration.

The positions of power in the Provisional Government were mainly given to moderate republicans, although Étienne Arago was made Minister of Posts and Marc Caussidière became Prefect of Police.