Moral Order (France)

[3][4][1] After the monarchists' sweeping victory in the 1871 legislative elections on 8 February 1871, Adolphe Thiers was named "Head of the Executive Power of the French Republic," pending the peace agreement and the restoration of order.

[6] Under the leadership of the head of state, who officially received the title of President of the French Republic following the Rivet law on 31 August 1871,[7] the regime gradually moved towards conservative republicanism.

[1] In fact, monarchists, awaiting a claimant to the throne, avoided drafting a definitive constitution, and the provisional institutions evolved slowly,[1] while Republicans gained ground in each by-election.

[9] The balance broke on 27 April 1873, when Charles de Rémusat, Thiers' foreign minister, lost a by-election in Paris to Désiré Barodet, a radical mayor of Lyon supported by Léon Gambetta.

The Assembly, led by Duke Albert de Broglie, united royalist factions and harshly criticized Thiers, who, unable to respond due to procedural rules, resigned on 24 May 1873.

The crowd in front of the Corps législatif on the morning of 4 September 1870 , painting by Jacques Guiaud and Jules Didier .
Official portrait of Adolphe Thiers in 1871.
Adolphe Thiers depicted as an oenologist preparing the "1872 wine," symbolizing his attempt at political consolidation. Caricature by André Gill in L'Éclipse , 22 September 1872.