Seize Mai (1877)
In early 1876, elections showed that Monarchists had a majority in the Senate, but Republicans had a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies (363-180). President MacMahon had to choose a Premier to head the Government. However, the Republicans were divided and MacMahon was a Conservative Monarchist who did not want to choose a Republican as Premier. MacMahon chose a Premier who as a dull man who was quickly dumped by the Chamber. Next he chose a Conservative Republican named Jules Simon. Then, MacMahon decided that Simon was too Republican and sent him a letter on May 16 practically ordering Simon to quit. Simon did so and set off the Crisis of May 16 (Seize Mai).
MacMahon next tried to make a Monarchist Premier, but the Republicans in the Chamber would not go along. When the Chamber refused, MacMahon dissolved the Chamber and called for new elections. These elections returned another large Republican majority. So, MacMahon appointed a General as Premier. The Chamber refused to accept him. This set in motion several plots by Monarchists and the Army to overthrow the Republic. MacMahon was not into coups d’etat and appointed a Republican as Premier. In 1879 he resigned when even rural areas voted Republican. A Republican finally replaced MacMahon.
This crisis produced a political problem in that it forever weakened the Presidency. The Presidents of the Third Republic are notoriously weak. None ever used his power again to dissolve a quarrelsome, do-nothing Chamber. Clemenceau said of voting for the Presidential Candidates, "I always vote for the most stupid."
What became a characteristic of the Third Republic was change. A single vote on a meaningless subject could bring the downfall of the government with the selection of new ministers and a Premier taking many days. Sometimes governments fell several times a month. From 1879 to 1940 this collapse and reforming process was almost constant. The same people in charge for over a year was very rare. Without a strong President to keep some sense of order, chaos, incompetence and corruption were common to the Third Republic.