The Provisional government was the first government of the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic (french: Deuxième République Française or ), officially the French Republic (), was the republican government of France that existed between 1848 and 1852. It was established in February 1848, with the February Re ...

, formed on 24 February 1848 following the abolishment of the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...

by the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...

. The

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

was succeeded on 9 May 1848 by the Executive Commission.

Formation

The Provisional Government was formed after three days of street fighting in Paris that ended in the abdication of King

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

at noon on February 24. The leaders of the government were selected by acclamation in two different meetings later that day, one at the Chamber of Deputies and the other at the Hôtel de Ville. The first set of seven names, chosen at the Chamber of Deputies, came from the list of deputies made by the moderate republican paper ''Le National''. The second set of names, chosen at the Hôtel de Ville, came from a list made by the more radical republican paper ''

La Réforme ''La Réforme'' was a French political newspaper of the mid-19th century. Founded in Paris on 29 July 1843 by Alexandre Ledru-Rollin, the newspaper had a left-wing radical liberal republican editorial line, and published some early socialist ...

''. In addition to the first set of deputies it included three journalists and a representative of the workers. Later that evening the combined list was acclaimed at the Hôtel de Ville. The members of the new Provisional Government collectively acted as head of state. They included the former deputies Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure,

Alphonse de Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

Adolphe Crémieux Isaac-Jacob Adolphe Crémieux (; 30 April 1796 – 10 February 1880) was a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Justice under the Second Republic (1848) and Government of National Defense (1870–1871). He served as presiden ...

François Arago Dominique François Jean Arago ( ca, Domènec Francesc Joan Aragó), known simply as François Arago (; Catalan: ''Francesc Aragó'', ; 26 February 17862 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of t ...

, Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin, Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès and

Pierre Marie de Saint-Georges Alexandre-Pierre-Thomas-Amable Marie de Saint Georges (15 February 1795 – 28 April 1870), better known as Pierre Marie de Saint-Georges, was a French politician who served as French Head of State from 6 May until 28 June 1848. Marie was born i ...

. The three journalists were

Armand Marrast Armand Marrast (June 5, 1801, Saint-Gaudens–April 12, 1852, Paris) was a French politician and mayor of Paris. See also * List of presidents of the National Assembly of France * List of mayors of Paris The Mayor of Paris (french: Maire de ...

Louis Blanc Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc (; ; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French politician and historian. A socialist who favored reforms, he called for the creation of cooperatives in order to guarantee employment for the urban poor. Alt ...

(a socialist) and

Ferdinand Flocon Ferdinand Flocon (1 November 1800 – 15 March 1866) was a French journalist and politician who was one of the founding members of the Provisional Government at the start of the French Second Republic in 1848. He was Minister of Agriculture and Co ...

. The representative of the workers was

Alexandre Martin Alexandre Martin (27 April 1815 – 28 May 1895), nicknamed Albert l'Ouvrier ("Albert the Worker"), was a French socialist statesman of the French Second Republic. He was the first member of the industrial working class to be in French gover ...

, known as "Albert".

Ministers

Like its successor, the Executive Commission, the provisional government had a

collective leadership A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

, that exercised the power of head of state (french: Chief d'état) for all its duration. The positions of power in the Provisional Government were mainly given to moderate republicans, although

Étienne Arago Étienne Vincent Arago (9 February 1802 – 7 March 1892) was a French writer and politician, and co-founder (with Maurice Alhoy) of the newspaper ''Le Figaro''. Early life Arago was born in Perpignan, the youngest of the four Arago brothers. ...

was made Minister of Posts and

Marc Caussidière Marc Caussidière (; 18 May 1808 – 27 January 1861) was a significant personality of the French republican movement of the first half of the nineteenth century. Biography Caussidière was born in Geneva. Employed at Saint-Étienne, he too ...

became Prefect of Police. Alexandre Martin ("Albert"), Louis Blanc and Ferdinand Flocon did not get ministerial portfolios, and so had little power. The ministers were: ;Changes: * On 5 March 1848, Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès succeeded

Michel Goudchaux Michel Goudchaux (18 March 1797 – 27 December 1862) was a French banker and politician who was twice Minister of Finance during the French Second Republic. A firm Republican, he refused to accept the government of Napoleon III. Early years M ...

as Finance Minister. * On 20 March 1848, General Eugène Cavaignac succeeded Jacques Gerbais de Subervie was War Minister. * On 5 April 1848,

succeeded General Cavaignac as War Minister.

Key events

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Provisional Government of 1848, French French governments 1848 establishments in France 1848 disestablishments in France Cabinets established in 1848 Cabinets disestablished in 1848