The nomination of mayors under the French Third Republic constituted a process of appointing mayors by the executive power in France during the early years of this republic. The modalities and scope of application were defined by a series of successive laws, including the Law of Picard of April 1871, the Law of Mayors of January 1874, and the Municipal Law of August 12, 1876.
The selection of mayors by the central authority was first implemented under the First Empire, and its subsequent contours were modified by subsequent regimes. In 1871, the Third Republic saw the nomination of mayors voted on by a National Assembly initially favorable to local liberties. However, Adolphe Thiers was able to secure the necessary consent in the context of communal uprisings. In 1874, the conservative majority extended it to suppress resistance to the policy and prevent the electoral ascendance of the Republicans. In 1876, there was a final return to the 1871 consensus. Ultimately, the laws of March 28, 1882, and April 5, 1884, reverted to the principle of mayoral election by the municipal council. However, the government Republicans' mistrust of what they deemed excessive decentralization resulted in the continued state control over municipal elected officials.
From the Empire to the National Defense
The precedent for nomination was established at an early date. Following the creation of municipalities and the establishment of the election of municipal officers by the decrees of December 1789, which occurred during the French Revolution, the nomination of mayors by the central authority was implemented by the law of February 17, 1800 (28 pluviôse year VIII), which occurred during the First Empire. The contours of this process then varied according to the successive regimes of the Restoration, the July Monarchy, and the Second Republic.
Following the coup d'état of December 2, 1851, the nomination of all mayors was implemented by decree from March 1852. This was following a draft law prepared by the State Council of the Second Republic in 1850, which had been designed to continue the nomination process. The municipal law of May 5, 1855, reaffirmed the nomination policy while acknowledging the necessity for the mayor to govern in consultation with the municipal council. In a tentative reversal of the 's legislation, the local electoral law of June 1865 indicated that mayors should be appointed within the elected municipal council. Ultimately, the law of July 22, 1870, stipulated that mayors and their deputies must be chosen within the municipal councils, a provision effective for the municipal elections of August 1870.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Sedan, the restoration of the French Republic on September 4, 1870, witnessed the ascendance of a government comprising Republican parliamentarians, spearheaded by Jules Favre, who were staunch proponents of the universal suffrage espoused in the 1848 Revolution. Consequently, from the inception of the Government of National Defense, the organization of elections commenced, as it was believed that this would prove to be the most efficacious method for restoring civil harmony domestically and peace externally. On September 16, 1870, a decree established the date for the election of municipal councilors as September 25. Two days later, the government issued a decree that a municipal election would also take place in Paris, under the same conditions as the rest of the French municipalities. However, the leaders of the National Defense were disillusioned when it became evident that Bismarck was not engaged in hostilities with the Empire but with France. As a result, the elections were subsequently postponed indefinitely. The municipal councils, which had been dissolved by the government upon its formation, were replaced by provisional municipalities chosen by the executive power. These mayors were appointed among Republicans, allowing them to gain local influence. However, in response to protests from defenders of municipal liberties, particularly notable Parisians, the National Defense leaders authorized to elect mayors and deputies of the arrondissements. This appeasement measure was a precursor to the outbreak of the Paris Commune. Ultimately, following the signing of the 1871 armistice, the National Assembly was elected on February 8, 1871.
Practice and Legislation of Mayor Nomination from 1871 to 1882
Law of Picard (1871)
To resume the preparation of municipal elections, which had been interrupted by the Government of National Defense, Interior Minister Ernest Picard submitted a draft law on their organization to the Assembly on March 23, 1871. However, between September 1870 and March 1871, there had been a profound shift in the political balance of power, with the election of a majority of monarchist parliamentarians and the appointment of Adolphe Thiers as president of the Republic. The Picard Law was therefore largely based on the law of July 3, 1849, which had been voted by the Party of Order, of which Thiers was already one of the leaders. The law provided that communes with more than 6,000 inhabitants would have their mayor appointed by the executive, while the municipal council of other communes would have full latitude to elect theirs. Thiers, maintaining the Bonapartist distrust of municipal liberties, saw in them a revolutionary danger; the monarchists, for their part, were divided. Many provincial notables were attached to decentralization and local liberties, showing themselves to be more liberal than Thiers.
On March 31, 1871, , a deputy and the rapporteur of the parliamentary commission tasked with examining the project, delivered favorable conclusions. Nevertheless, an unanticipated coalition from the center to the left voted in favor of the amendment proposed by Agénor Bardoux, , and Amable Ricard. These centrists secured the right for all communes to elect their mayor, appealing to the instinctive repulsion of many colleagues against the authoritarianism of the Second Empire. However, the parliamentary commission did not concede defeat, and submitted an additional provision on its behalf, temporarily appointing mayors and deputies in all departmental and arrondissement capitals and all communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The communes affected by these restrictions—excluding Paris—numbered 460.
In addition to the deliberations of the Assembly, civil unrest was occurring in major French cities following the establishment of the Paris Commune. Consequently, when Thiers addressed the Assembly on April 8, 1871, he made specific reference to the assault led by against the insurgents of the Marseille Commune three days earlier:
In his speech, Thiers placed the Assembly in a position where they would have to either approve the Paris provision or face his resignation. By doing so, he forced the hand of parliamentarians who were aware that he was indispensable for negotiations with Bismarck. As a result, he was able to reconstitute an alliance that was united by the goal of maintaining social order. This alliance ultimately led to victory, with the majority making "the sacrifice of their decentralizing sympathies", according to Gabriel Hanotaux. The law about municipal elections was ultimately enacted on April 14, 1871. Paris was accorded a distinctive status, with an elected municipal council and mayors and deputies appointed for the arrondissements. Subsequently, the election of politician Désiré Barodet as resulted in the enactment of the law of April 4, 1873, which abolished the central mayoralty of Lyon, due to concerns about potential agitations similar to those witnessed during the Lyon Commune.
Law of Mayors (1874)
A law of resistance The inclination of the monarchist notables for decentralization subsequently diminished. This was observed by on March 26, 1873, a date that preceded the overthrow of Thiers by a mere few days: "The current of opinions changes quickly. At that time , we were struck by the mistakes of the past; today, we are much more concerned about the dangers threatening the future; hence, our ardor for reforms and decentralization has greatly diminished." Thus, the coalition prepared measures to temper universal suffrage in the face of Republican and Bonapartist dangers. The "mayors' law" sought to hinder the Republicans' conquest of municipalities: reverting to authoritarian Empire practices, it provided for the president's appointment of mayors and deputies of departmental, arrondissement, or canton capitals; and their appointment by the prefect for other communes. Additionally, mayors could be appointed outside the municipal council. The government presented this law as temporary "until the vote on the organic municipal law."
During the parliamentary debate, Pierre Baragnon, Secretary of State for the Interior, advanced the government's position on the proposed legislation. In a notable intervention, he stated: "France must move forward!" His superior, Albert de Broglie, explained: "I am convinced it is impossible to leave ministers, prefects, and sub-prefects responsible for enforcing laws when they cannot freely choose or dismiss the agents they are forced to use." Opposing them, jurist , Deputy of the Republican Left, defended public liberties; denouncing a law that aimed to transform mayors into "sub-sub-prefects", he urged Republicans to oppose the government's actions because they had "everything to gain from liberty: it is our best ally, our best guide." Louis Blanc added, exclaiming: "What they want are 72,000 electoral agents wearing the municipal sash!" This conflict illustrated the ambiguity introduced since the French Revolution by combining mayors' municipal prerogatives and functions delegated by the central administration to communes, making them de facto "agents of the government."
The "Law of Mayors" was enacted on January 24, 1874, with a vote of 359 to 318. This narrow margin indicated the internal divisions within the conservative majority, as Marshal MacMahon had been elected with 390 votes. Among the dissenters was the Marquis de Franclieu, who had submitted a preliminary question on January 8, 1874, requesting that the debate be postponed until the organic municipal law was discussed. This legitimist representative expressed concern about the potential damage of governmental arbitrariness and proposed ensuring social order by establishing municipal elections with the election of municipal councils by corporative vote and free election of the mayor by the council.
The "Combat Government" and the mayors
On January 22, 1874, Baragnon distributed a circular from the Broglie cabinet requesting that prefects utilize revocation against mayors who opposed the Moral Order policy. In this circular, the Duke of Broglie reaffirmed his intention to combat the demagoguery exhibited by the Republican Party. "A regrettable outcome has irrevocably discredited the system of electing mayors by municipal councils. The selections made by municipal councils, influenced by partisan considerations, have frequently resulted in individuals who, due to their incompetence, background, or personal shortcomings, have undermined the integrity of the positions they have assumed. Consequently, we have witnessed the transformation of some major cities' municipalities into centers of demagoguery. This firm stance resulted in the replacement of numerous officials, with several hundred revocations pronounced, including those against individuals of a moderate left-center persuasion, such as (mayor of ), Charles-Victor Rameau (mayor of Versailles), and Jules Siegfried (deputy mayor of Le Havre). In the Nord department, the cities of Roubaix, Cambrai, and Dunkirk were affected by these administrative measures. To replace the mayors who had been revoked, the Duke of Broglie notably selected former mayors from the Second Empire, to extend the conservative majority to Bonapartists.