They showed, first, that the present form of parliamentary democracy in France is being called into question from two sides; and though the victory of the parties representing tradition (more that of ...

The start of World War II, and Germany’s successful invasion of France, put an end to the Third Republic in 1940. Both world wars were over, the Great Depression was solidly in the past ...

followed by the bloody suppression of the Paris Commune at the hands of the republican French army. The Third Republic that emerged from these catastrophes was, in turn, challenged by reactionary ...

which helps explain the remarkable legitimacy of the French Third Republic, despite its instability on the surface. In sum, Karen Lauwers explores the paradoxes of the regime and how these were ...