If you look atFrance's political history, you'll notice that the country has changed its constitution many times. While the Fifth Republic may seem to be well established today, it is in fact the fruit of a long tradition ofinstitutional instability, born of major upheavals: revolutions, coups d'état, military defeats and regime crises. In each period of tension or rupture, the Constitution becomes the lever for a new beginning, for a refoundation of the rules of the political game.
It all really began in 1791 with the first French Constitution, born of the Revolution. It marked the end of absolutism and the birth of a constitutional monarchy. But events soon followed. The fall of the monarchy in 1792 gave rise to the First Republic and a succession of unstable constitutions. The highly democratic constitution of 1793 was never applied, while that of 1795 attempted to restore order after the Terror. Bonaparte's coup d'état in 1799 ushered in a new era with the Constitution of Year VIII, founding the Consulate and then the Empire.
In the 19th century, each return to monarchy or empire led to new constitutional charters, as under Louis XVIII and Louis-Philippe. In 1848, the Second Republic was proclaimed, with a Constitution modernizing institutions and introducing universal male suffrage. But Napoleon III's Second Empire quickly replaced it with an authoritarian regime.
It wasn't until 1875 that the Third Republic was established, with a more stable constitution based on parliamentarianism. This regime lasted until the Second World War. After the Liberation, the Fourth Republic, born in 1946, returned to a parliamentary logic, but had great difficulty governing, particularly during the Algerian war.
It was this crisis, in 1958, that led General de Gaulle to propose a new Constitution, adopted by referendum. The result was the Fifth Republic, with a strong executive and a president elected by universal suffrage from 1962 onwards. This model is still in place today, although it has undergone several revisions.
Each change to the French Constitution is a response to a particular context, often marked by a desire to overcome political stalemate or instability. It also reflects the complex relationship between the French and their institutions: demanding, critical and always ready to reinvent them.
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