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| 1874, Dec. 23 |
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| The Roussel Law regulated the wet-nursing industry. Child labor legislation limited work for children over age 12 to 12 hours per day and allowed children only between ages 10 and 12 inclusive to work 6-hour days in specific circumstances. | 1 |
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| 1875 |
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| THE “CONSTITUTION OF 1875.” The constitution consisted of the Wallon amendment accepted on Jan. 30, the Law on the Organization of Public Powers (Feb. 25), the Law on the Organization of the Senate (Feb. 24), and the Law on the Relation of the Public Powers (July 16). | 2 |
| The Wallon amendment established the principle of a republic. The president would be elected by an absolute majority of the combined Senate and Chamber of Deputies for seven years. The president possessed the usual executive powers but each of his acts required the signature of the relevant minister. Ministers were declared responsible. The Senate was to have 300 members, 225 chosen for nine years through indirect election and 75 named by the National Assembly (later by the Senate). The Senate shared the right to initiate legislation (except finance laws) with the Chamber of Deputies, elected by universal male suffrage. | 3 |
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| 1877, May 16 |
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| SEIZE MAI CRISIS. The new Chamber of Deputies elected under the constitution consisted of a Republican majority, whereas the Senate remained conservative. MacMahon sought to obtain Republican support by appointing Republican prime ministers, Jules Dufaure (Feb. 1876) and Jules Simon (Dec. 1876). Simon proved unwilling to block Republican legislation on issues such as press laws, and MacMahon forced Simon to resign and then called on the Orléanist duke of Broglie to form a government. The duke received a vote of no confidence from the chamber, and MacMahon dissolved the chamber and called for new elections. The elections again returned a Republican majority, and, after the failure of both the Broglie and Rochebouët ministries, MacMahon was forced to retreat and name the Republican Jules Dufaure to the position (Dec. 13). | 4 |
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| 1879 |
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| Parti ouvrier français was established at the third congress of French workers (Marseilles). The congress adopted the minimalist program drawn up by Jules Guesde and opposed by the possibilists, led by Paul Brousse and Jean Allemane. The minimalist program called for radical reforms but only as agitation for a workers' revolution, whereas the possibilists wished to seek whatever legislation possible to improve the workers' situation and thus adopted a reformist position. The possibilists split with the Parti ouvrier at the St.-Étienne Congress (1882) and formed the Fédération des travailleurs socialistes français (1883). | 5 |
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| Jan 30 |
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| MacMahon resigned and was succeeded by Conservative Republican Jules Grévy. | 6 |
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