Minister of Police (France)

The Minister of Police (French: Ministre de la Police) was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of Police. It was a position in the Government of France from 1796 to 1818, briefly from 1852 to 1853 and no longer exists.

Minister of Police
Ministre de la Police
Longest serving
Joseph Fouché
Ministry of Police
StatusAbolished
Member ofGovernment
Term lengthNo fixed term
Formation2 January 1796
First holderPhilippe Antoine Merlin de Douai
Final holderCharlemagne de Maupas
Abolished21 June 1853
SuccessionMinister of Interior

History

The office was created on 2 January 1796 by taking police powers away from the Minister of Interior and giving them to the new Minister of Police. The move was motivated by an apparent overload of the Interior department.[1] The first minister, Philippe-Antoine Merlin, was appointed two days later, as Armand-Gaston Camus refused the office. The most famous minister was Joseph Fouché, whose service spanned over a decade.

It was a major French ministerial position under the Directory, Consulate, First Empire, and Restored Bourbon Dynasty. The position was merged into the Ministry of Interior in 1818, although it was briefly restored by Napoleon III in 1852.

Officeholders

First Republic
No. Portrait Name Term[lower-alpha 1] Government Head of State Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
Ministry established
[lower-alpha 2] Armand-Gaston Camus 2 January 1796
12 Nivôse Year IV		 4 January 1796
14 Nivôse Year IV		 2 days Directory Directory [2]
1 Philippe-Antoine Merlin 4 January 1796
14 Nivôse Year IV		 3 April 1796
14 Germinal Year IV		 90 days [3]
2 Charles Cochon de Lapparent 3 April 1796
14 Germinal Year IV		 16 July 1797
28 Messidor Year V		 1 year, 104 days [4]
3 Jean-Jacques Lenoir-Laroche 16 July 1797
28 Messidor Year V		 26 July 1797
8 Thermidor Year V		 10 days [5]
4 Jean-Marie Sotin 26 July 1797
8 Thermidor Year V		 13 February 1798
25 Pluviôse Year VI		 202 days [6]
5 Nicolas Dondeau 13 February 1798
25 Pluviôse Year VI		 16 May 1798
27 Floréal Year VI		 92 days [7]
6 Marie Jean François Philibert Lecarlier 16 May 1798
27 Floréal Year VI		 29 October 1798
8 Brumaire Year VII		 166 days [8]
7 Jean-Pierre Duval 29 October 1798
8 Brumaire Year VII		 23 June 1799
5 Messidor Year VII		 237 days [9]
8 Claude Sébastien Bourguignon 23 June 1799
5 Messidor Year VII		 20 July 1799
2 Thermidor Year VII		 27 days [10]
9 Joseph Fouché 20 July 1799
2 Thermidor Year VII		 18 May 1804
28 Floréal Year XII		 4 years, 303 days [11]
Consulate Napoléon Bonaparte

First Empire
No. Portrait Name Term Government Emperor Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
(9) Joseph Fouché
Duc d'Otrante		 18 May 1804 3 June 1810 6 years, 16 days Napoléon Napoléon I [lower-alpha 3]
10 Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Duc de Rovigo		 3 June 1810 3 April 1814 3 years, 304 days [12]

Restoration
No. Portrait Name Term Government King Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
11 Jules Anglès 3 April 1814 13 May 1814 40 days Provisional Government Louis XVIII [13]
12 Jacques Claude[lower-alpha 4]
Comte Beugnot		 13 May 1814 3 December 1814 244 days Restoration [14]

Hundred Days
No. Portrait Name Term Government Emperor Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
13 Joseph Fouché
Duc d'Otrante		 20 March 1815 23 June 1815 95 days Hundred Days Napoléon I [15]
14 Jean Pelet
Comte de la Lozère		 23 June 1815 7 July 1815 14 days [16]

Kingdom of France
No. Portrait Name Term Government King Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
15 Joseph Fouché
Duc d'Otrante		 9 July 1815 26 September 1815 79 days Talleyrand-Périgord Louis XVIII [17]
16 Élie Louis
Duc Decazes		 26 September 1815 29 December 1818 3 years, 94 days Richelieu

Second Republic
No. Portrait Name Term Government President Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
17 Charlemagne de Maupas 22 January 1852 21 June 1853 1 year, 150 days Napoléon II – III Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte [18]
Ministry disestablished

Notes
  1. Dates in italic correspond to the French Republican calendar, used between 1793 (and retroactively 1792) and 1805.
  2. Appointed, but refused.
  3. Remained in office at the proclamation of the Empire.
  4. As Director General of Police.

References
  1. Government of the French Republic (2 January 1796). "Decree on the creation of the Ministry of Police". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. Government of the French Republic (2 January 1796). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. Government of the French Republic (4 January 1796). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. Government of the French Republic (3 April 1796). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  5. Government of the French Republic (16 July 1797). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  6. Government of the French Republic (26 July 1797). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. Government of the French Republic (13 February 1798). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. Government of the French Republic (16 May 1798). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. Government of the French Republic (29 October 1798). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  10. Government of the French Republic (23 June 1799). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  11. Government of the French Republic (20 July 1799). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  12. Government of the French Empire (3 June 1810). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  13. Government of the Kingdom of France (3 April 1814). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  14. Government of the Kingdom of France (13 May 1814). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  15. Government of the French Empire (20 March 1815). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  16. Government of the French Empire (23 June 1815). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  17. Government of the Kingdom of France (9 July 1815). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  18. Government of the French Republic (22 January 1852). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
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