Parliamentary elections were held in
France on 24 May and 1 June 1869, with a second round on 6 and 7 June.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p673 These elections resulted in a victory for the regime of the
Second Empire, but the opposition strengthened its presence in the legislature. Nationwide, the regime won 55% of the vote. In
Paris, the opposition parties (mostly Republicans) won 75% of the vote; however, the regime won large majorities in the countryside.
Results
Subsequent rioting
On the nights of 8–9 June 1869, the worst rioting in fifteen years,
[Louis Girard (ed.), ''Les élections de 1869'', Paris, Marcel Rivière, 1960, p.430.] "the 'white overalls' riots",
erupted in several cities throughout France. In
Paris, on 8 June, demonstrators assembled on the
Boulevard Montmartre and sang the "
Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...
" (banned under the Second Empire until the
Franco-Prussian War); but that was over in an hour. In
Belleville the crowd destroyed gas street lamps and shop fronts before marching down the
Boulevard du Temple, where they attacked a police van, on their way to the
Place de la Bastille, where thirteen people were arrested before order was restored at 2 a.m. by the
sergents-de-ville (uniformed police). Many said that the police overreacted to the natural exuberance of the crowd at the favorable showing of liberal candidates in the election, and that the further disturbances on the 9th were in consequence. The crowds reached as far as the
Place du Carrousel on at least one night, disrupting a gala soirée at the
Tuileries Palace, although the
emperor remained impassive in the face of a stream of telegrams and
Émile Waldteufel's baton was steady.
On the 10th, the
Prefect of Police In France, a Prefecture of Police (french: Préfecture de police), headed by the Prefect of Police (''Préfet de police''), is an agency of the Government of France under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior. Part of the National Poli ...
issued a proclamation saying that such disturbances would no longer be tolerated. Cavalry and infantry units were brought in to patrol the streets. A total of 1,100 people were arrested and confined for a time in
Bicêtre fortress.
Similar disturbances took place on 8 June in
Bordeaux and
Arles, and on 9 June in
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
.
References
{{French elections
1869
Events
January–March
* January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan.
* January 5 – Scotland's oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded.
* January 20 – E ...
1869 elections in France
May 1869 events
June 1869 events