HIS109Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 37: Franz Joseph I Of Austria, Kulturkampf, Universal Suffrage
Document Summary
Communal french government rejected the surrender of france after the franco-prussian war: radical working class leaders/socialists were elected to power. After government of adolphe thiers (d. 1877) submitted to humiliating german demands, effect of defeat had to be borne by the french government. Provisional government demanded the yield of the paris commune: commune refused and violence ensued, widespread murder of hostages and great deal of property destruction, arson and intimidation, french army entered paris and took back the capital. Humiliating loss of alsace and lorraine made the new republican government extremely unstable and unpopular. Model for the revolution ensured that the rest of the property owners would elect conservative republicans to the government. Republic lasted due to people not wanting it to succeed divided opposition meant the republic divided least. No one respected the state and scandals, corruption were rampant and removed dignity from the french state itself.
