Third French Kingdom (Our Place in the Sun)

The Third French Kingdom, officially the Third Kingdom of France (French: La Troisième Royaume de France), also known as Orléanist France, is a constitutional monarchy situated in western Europe and one of the largest member states of the European Union. It was established in 1925 after the adoption of the Royal Constitution. It came into being as the result of a coup launched by French Army Chief of Staff Charles Mangin against Frossard’s government in response to the proposal of a “socialist constitution.” The coup was sponsored by the French military and supported by the growing French far right, among which, support for a monarchist revival had exploded in the wake of World War I. The monarchist movement soon began to fracture, with street fighting breaking out between the Bonapartist supporters of Napoleon V and the Orléanist supporters of Philippe VIII. This conflict continued until the assassination of Napoleon V by an anarchist in 1924, following which the monarchist movement united around Philippe VIII and the idea of a constitutional monarchy which would end the corruption and inefficiency of the third republic.

Mangin’s government officially maintained the third republic, but quickly devolved into a military dictatorship with Mangin at the helm. Upon Mangin’s death on 12 May 1925, France entered a brief period of political turmoil, culminating in the constitutional referendum of 15 May 1925, in which the French people approved the Orléanist Restoration and the creation of a constitutional monarchy. Philippe VIII was crowned King of the French on 28 May following the official adoption of the Royal Constitution.

World War I & Mangin's Dictatorship (1917-1925)
After the French defeat in World War I and subsequent national humiliation of France via the Treaty of Brühl, French politics quickly came to be dominated by radicalism and extremist ideologies. The far left SFIO and the far right Action Française rapidly grew in popularity. When the Treaty of Brühl was presented to the French on 16 May 1918, Prime Minister Clemenceau issued his resignation, refusing to sign the treaty and be complicit in what he saw as the complete and utter humiliation of France. In the elections that followed, SFIO candidate Ludovic-Oscar Frossard became Prime Minister. Frossard formally apologized to the German government for the war and asked for a more lenient treaty, promising not to interfere with German plans for post-war Europe.

Frossard’s approach backfired in multiple ways. Within days of assuming office, he had lost the support of the French people, who saw his apology as a betrayal of France, and had failed to stop the German government from imposing the Treaty of Brühl on France. On 27 June, the Germans issued an ultimatum to the new government, demanding signature of the treaty within 24 hours under threat of a second invasion of France. The next day, Frossard’s government signed the treaty, but he refused the resign as prime minister despite widespread protests throughout the country. On October 1, he proposed a new “socialist constitution” and the creation of a Fourth Republic. In response, Commander-in-Chief Charles Mangin led a military coup against Frossard, deposing him and stripping parliament of its powers. The coup was met with generally positive reactions throughout France, as the communists were bitterly disappointed with Frossard’s handling of the situation and the anti-communist far right saw the coup as the rescue of France from a communist takeover.

The popularity of Mangin’s government further increased in the following months when he negotiated an agreement with the Germans to end the occupation of the northeast after ten years, setting an official end-date for 1 January 1928. After this point, however, Mangin’s popularity steadily declined and Action Française became dominated by the Bonapartist and Orleanist factions, both calling for the revival of the French monarchy, but supporting different monarchs. The Mangin government continued to stagnate and the nation showed no real signs of recovery in any area. As the communist movement continued to shrink due to active government oppression and terror attacks at the hands of La Cagoule, Action Française became the only viable alternative to the republicans and Manginists.

Action Française, previously united in spite of its internal disagreements, fractured in 1923 over the question of what monarch to support. The majority supported the Orleanist claimant Philippe VIII, but a large minority supported Napoleon V Bonaparte. Street fights between the two factions, as well as incidents involving the military police, became commonplace and gradually worsened before reaching a peak in November 1924. On 9 November 1924, Napoleon V was stabbed and killed in Marseille. The Bonapartists quickly placed the blame on the Orleanists, but a week later it was revealed that the killer had been an anarchist radical. The two factions then united around Philippe VIII, believing a united effort to be their best course of action against the Mangin dictatorship, as well as the communist and anarchist threat.

Founding (1925-1926)
Well aware of the political developments of recent years, Philippe VIII had expressed his willingness to accept the throne and restore the monarchy, should the French public desire it. He had been traveling the country throughout 1923 and 1924, delivering speeches and denouncing the Manginist government. He narrowly avoided death by a government assassin in June 1924 and only became more bold in his activities as a result, drawing widespread support from hardline monarchists as well as the general public.

On 9 March 1925, Mangin suddenly became seriously ill and was diagnosed with appendicitis, and had also apparently suffered a stroke. Rumors began to circulate that he was poisoned, though this claim was never definitively proven. As it became apparent that he would not recover, government officials began drawing up plans to reform the government after his death. Under immense pressure from the public, the government drafted a proposal for a restoration of the Orleanist monarchy and the adoption of a new constitution. This proposal quickly gained traction among the French public. Upon Mangin’s death on 12 May 1925, a referendum was held, in which the majority of the French public approved the creation of a constitutional monarchy and the adoption of the 1925 Royal Constitution. After a brief period of political turmoil, Philippe VIII was formally crowned King of the French on 28 May, after the official enactment of the new constitution a week prior.

Interwar Period
Before he was able to accomplish much, Philippe VIII died on 28 March 1926. Upon his death, his cousin, Jean I, became the new king and oversaw a brief period of economic recovery before the Great Depression. The French placed the blame for the economic collapse on the Germans, and Jean I’s early reign was characterized by a period of anti-German fervor and defiance of German hegemony over Europe. During this time, France secretly adopted a policy of rejection of the Treaty of Brühl, including military rearmament supported by the United States and the remilitarization of the northeast.