La République de Bismarck, ou Origines allemandes de la Troisième République

Jacques Bainville's La République de Bismarck, ou Origines allemandes de la Troisième République (1905) argues that Otto von Bismarck supported French Republicanism. Bainville, a French political writer and historian, was a prominent conservative figure between the World Wars.1

The Third Republic of France was established in 1870 following the Franco-Prussian War. Despite initial monarchist dominance in the National Assembly, the republic endured, shaped by events like the repression of the Paris Commune and the divisive Dreyfus Affair in the 1890s. The Dreyfus Affair, concerning a Jewish army officer falsely accused of treason, deeply polarized French society and led to significant political and social reforms, including the separation of church and state in 1905. Bainville's work, written during this period, offers a perspective on the early influences on the French Republic.21