1871 French legislative election

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8 February 1871 (1871-02-08)

1876 →

All 758 seats in the National Assembly
320 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Jules Grévy	Henri d'Orléans	Henri of Artois
Party	Republicans	Orléanists	Legitimists
Seats won	249	223	182

Prime Minister before election

Louis-Jules Trochu
Independent

Elected Prime Minister

Jules Dufaure
Independent

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.

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. 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


Party		Seats
Party		Won	By-election	Total
	Republicans	150	99	249
	Orléanists	214	9	223
	Legitimists	182	3	185
	Liberals	78	0	78
	Bonapartists	20	3	23
Total		644	114	758

Source: Rois et Presidents, Payot