1871 French legislative election

Legislative elections were held in France on 8 February 1871 to elect the first legislature of the French Third Republic, the unicameral National Assembly. The elections were held during a situation of crisis in the country, as following the Franco-Prussian War, 43 departments were occupied by Prussian forces. As a result, all public meetings were outlawed and Paris was the only city where an election campaign took place.

1871 French legislative election
February 8, 1871 (1871-02-08)
638 of 778 seats to the National Assembly
320 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Henri d'Orléans Henri of Artois Jules Grévy
Party Orleanist Legitimist Republican Left
Leader's seat Oise Not presented Jura
Seats won 214 182 112
Popular vote unknown unknown unknown
Percentage 33.5 28.5 17.5%
Prime Minister before election

Louis-Jules Trochu
Independent

 Elected Prime Minister

Jules Dufaure
Independent

The electoral law allowed candidates to run in more than one seat at a time. As a result, several candidates were elected in more than one seat, with Adolphe Thiers elected in 86 constituencies. A series of by-elections were subsequently held on 2 July to elect representatives for the 114 vacant seats.

This election saw the victory of monarchists (Legitimists and Orleanists), favourable to peace with the German Empire, with a large majority.

Results
 Summary of the 8 February election results
Parties and coalitions Votes % Seats
Orléanists 33.5 214
Legitimists 28.5 182
Monarchist majority 62.0 396
Republican Left 17.5 112
Centre-Left 11.4 72
Republican Union 6.0 38
Republican opposition 34.9 222
Bonapartists 3.1 20
Total unknown 100 638

Source: Quid 2006

References
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