French Third Republic

The French Third Republic (French: Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe République) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 24 February, 1923, after the outbreak of the French Civil War following the Great War which led to the formation of the Socialist Republic of France.

Great War
On June 28th 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo by a member of the Serbian nationalist Black Hand. One month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after the Austrian demands were partially rejected by the Serbian government and Germany rallied to the side of Austria-Hungary. Eventually Russia, a strong ally to the French Republic, declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany, setting in motion the collision of the various geopolitical and military alliances formed in the buildup to the Great War. Determined to settle a score born on January 18th, 1871 in the Palace of Versailles. France would see firsthand how much Germany had prepared for war, being barely able to prevent a German advance on Paris by routing them west in Belgium in a race to the sea, which would see the beginning of trench warfare in Europe.

The war for France in Africa proved to be a costly endeavor, due to the widespread revolts in Niger and French Sudan by Berber rebels. Following the Defense of Verdun and the failure to defend Chemins des Dames, Georges Clemenceau, Chief of the Council of Ministers, called for various renewed offensives against the forces of the Central Powers in 1918. Despite the hopes of the French military, France was unable to break through the German lines. In the spring of 1919, German advances finally broke the front of the Franco-British armies near Amiens, though the front temporarily stabilized with various local counter-offensives proving to be successful.

Treaty of Versailles
Despite this relief from German advancement, morale had plummeted to an all-time low and revolt among the troops seemed all more likely, though further unrest was calmed by General Pétain. Eventually in early 1919, weariness with the war brought further revolt among the soldiers, this time Pétain couldn’t alleviate their unrest and the Entente frontline collapsed into a steady German advance on Paris. The situation deteriorated further with the SFIO initiating strikes all across France to protest their situation in the war. To prevent a full-on occupation of Paris, and with it a full revolution, France agreed to a ceasefire with the Central Powers to begin negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles, which would be signed by French diplomats in July.

Post-war instability
As a result of their loss in the war France reformed itself, largely modeled on the unstable Russian Provisional Government, a dualistic power-structure was set up with the Bolshevik French left and the French government on the other hand. Due to the end of the war, France has begun to face new problems as the government becomes stretched to its limit to handle them. The Chamber of Deputies proved to face strained function between the bickering of the French right and the forces of the PCF and their allied socialists.WIP

Politics
WIP

Foreign policy
WIP

Decline and collapse
WIP