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| 1884–85 |
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| The French advance in Tonkin resulted in war with China and the downfall of the second Ferry ministry. | 1 |
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| 1886 |
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| Edouard Drumont's book Jewish France signaled the rise of modern anti-Semitism, attacking Jews for capitalism, radicalism, and other “modern problems.” | 2 |
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| 1886–89 |
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| THE BOULANGER CRISIS. Gen. Georges Boulanger, protégé of Georges Clemenceau, became minister of war in the Freycinet cabinet (Jan. 4, 1886), where he won popularity in the army through various reforms (improvement of soldiers' food and living conditions, and so on). Boulanger began to receive unsolicited electoral support in special elections for the Chamber of Deputies (1887). The government feared this support and assigned him to an obscure military outpost (Clermont-Ferrand). He resigned to continue his campaigns. Meanwhile, Daniel Wilson, the son-in-law of President Grévy, was discovered to have trafficked in medals of the Legion of Honor, and the so-called Wilson scandal forced Grévy from office (Dec. 2, 1887). | 3 |
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| 1888 |
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| Boulanger was elected to the chamber (April 15), where he initiated a campaign for constitutional revision, demanding dissolution of the chamber. He resigned and was returned in three constituencies simultaneously (Aug. 19). | 4 |
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| 1889, Jan. 27 |
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| Boulanger won in Paris, and the government feared he might march on the Elysée Palace and make himself dictator. The government prepared to try him for treason, but he fled into exile (April 8) and committed suicide (Sept. 30, 1891). | 5 |
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| June 24 |
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| A law protected abused and neglected children by removing them from their homes in cases of immorality. An 1898 law gave the judge the right to transfer guardianship to state institutions and punish the parents in cases of abuse. | 6 |
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| July 17 |
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| A law forbade multiple candidacies; the Republicans triumphed over the Boulangists in the 1889 elections. | 7 |
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