1871 French legislative election

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 Moderate Republican 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

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. 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
	style="background-color:Template:Orleanist/meta/color;"|	Orléanists		33.5	214
	style="background-color:Template:Legitimist/meta/color;"|	Legitimists		28.5	182
Monarchist majority				62.0	396
		Moderate Republicans		17.5	112
		Liberals		11.4	72
		Radical Republicans		6.0	38
Republican opposition				34.9	222
style="background-color:Template:Bonapartist/meta/color;"|	Bonapartists			3.1	20
Total			unknown	100	638
Source: Quid 2006