WI: The French Third Republic was indeed temporary

[Mort the Reaper]

When it was first established in 1870, few expected the French Third Republic to last very long. Since monarchists held a majority of seats, it was widely believed it would just be a temporary government until either a Legitimist or an Orléanist candidate was placed on the throne of France to replace Napoleon III after the fall of the Second French Empire. However, the "temporary" Third Republic outlasted enthusiasm for a new monarchy, and even though it was never fully accepted by the French people, it survived many crises, even if it was not restored following its dissolution in 1940. Very few people who saw its establishment could have predicted it would last nearly 70 years.

This raises the following question: what if the Third Republic really was temporary? How would it affect French history and that of the wider world?

 

[Rich Mullins]

When it was first established in 1870, few expected the French Third Republic to last very long. Since monarchists held a majority of seats, it was widely believed it would just be a temporary government until either a Legitimist or an Orléanist candidate was placed on the throne of France to replace Napoleon III after the fall of the Second French Empire. However, the "temporary" Third Republic outlasted enthusiasm for a new monarchy, and even though it was never fully accepted by the French people, it survived many crises, even if it was not restored following its dissolution in 1940. Very few people who saw its establishment could have predicted it would last nearly 70 years.

This raises the following question: what if the Third Republic really was temporary? How would it affect French history and that of the wider world?

It depends on what happens with the next government and succeeding governments. If there is a stable and successful monarchy which succeeds it, it's likely it will not be remembered fondly or may be barely remembered at all. On the other hand, if the monarchy falls decades later and is succeeded by a republic, it may be remembered more fondly like how the 1848-1849 German government was remembered during the Weimar Republic and presently.

 

[Night Gaul]

Would the Belle Époque still happen under a different form of government?

 

[Viking25]

It depends on what happens with the next government and succeeding governments. If there is a stable and successful monarchy which succeeds it, it's likely it will not be remembered fondly or may be barely remembered at all.

Would it even be considered a actual republic if it became a monarchy a couple months later? It would probably be retroactively called a regency

 

[Rich Mullins]

Would it even be considered a actual republic if it became a monarchy a couple months later? It would probably be retroactively called a regency.

True, if it became a monarchy a few months later. However, if it didn't become a monarchy for say 2 to 5 years, then it would probably be considered to be a republic.

 

[Wendell]

You'd need a massive crisis and/or agreement on a willing monarch who was palatable to post-revolutionary reality. That, or Boulanger pulls something off like in The New Kratocracy, a timeline on this board.