Adolphe Thiers

Louis Adolphe Thiers (April 16, 1797–September 3 1877) was a French statesman and historian. Thiers was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871. From 1871 to 1873 he served initially as Chief of State (effectively a provisional President of France, then a full provisional President. When following a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly his offer of resignation was accepted (he had expected another rejection) and he was forced to vacate office. He was replaced as Provisional President by Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, who became full President of the Third Republic, a post Thiers had coveted, in 1875 when a series of Organic Laws officially creating the Third Republic were enacted.

The July Monarchy of King Louis-Philippe

For a moment it seemed as if the author had definitely chosen the lot of a literary man, not to say of a literary hack. He even planned an Histoire generale. But the accession to power of the Polignac ministry in August 1829 changed his projects, and at the beginning of the next year Thiers, with Armand Carrel, Mignet, and others started the National, a new opposition newspaper. Thiers himself was one of the souls of the actual revolution, being credited with "overcoming the scruples of Louis Philippe," perhaps no Herculean task. At any rate, he had 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. At first Thiers, though elected deputy for Aix, obtained only subordinate places in the ministry of finance.

Related Topics:
Polignac - 1829 - Armand Carrel - Louis Philippe - Herculean - François Guizot - Duc de Broglie - Finance

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After the overthrow of his patron Jacques Laffitte, he became much less radical, and, after the troubles of June 1832, was appointed to the ministry of the interior. He repeatedly changed his portfolio, but remained in office for four years, became president of the council and, in effect, Prime Minister, where he began his series of quarrels and jealousies with Guizot. At the time of his resignation in 1836 he was foreign minister and, as usual, wished for a spirited policy in Spain, which he could not carry out.

Related Topics:
Jacques Laffitte - 1832 - Prime Minister - 1836 - Spain

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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. 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 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.

Related Topics:
Italy - 1838 - Parliament - 1840 - Muhammad Ali - Egypt - 1845

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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 revolution of February 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. Thiers was unable to govern the forces he had helped to gather, and he resigned.

Related Topics:
1846 - Odilon Barrot

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