# Cabinet Dufaure I (France)

The First cabinet of Jules Dufaure was the 54th cabinet of France and the second of the Third Republic, seating from 19 February 1871 to 18 May 1873, headed by Jules Dufaure as Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Justice, under the presidency of Adolphe Thiers.

## History

The Government of National Defence, having led the republic during the Franco-Prussian War, signed the Armistice of Versailles which provided for new elections in the National Assembly to establish a more legitimate government.
The cabinet was formed following the Legislative elections of 1871, which saw a majority of royalists elected. Their initial project was a third Restoration of descendants of either the Bourbons or the Orléans; the Republic was merely seen at that time by royalists as a system of transition before the return of a constitutional monarchy.
However, Jules Dufaure succeeded in assembling a coalition of Opportunists, Legitimists, Orleanists and independent Liberals, while leaving Bonapartists, marginalized following the fall of the Second Empire, and Radicals, openly in favour of the pursuit of the war, out of the majority.
On 18 May 1873, Adolphe Thiers, wishing to reorganize the government and to make it more republican leaning, asked the cabinet to resign and tasked Jules Dufaure to form a new one, leading to the formation of the Cabinet Dufaure II.

## Actions

The main actions of the government were to deal with the Paris Commune and to end the Franco-Prussian War by conducting negotiations with Bismarck before signing the Treaty of Frankfurt and reducing the indemnity requested by Prussia to five billion francs.
It also supervised the reorganization of the French Army in order to provide it with manpower equivalent to that of the Prussian Army and to professionalize it, and finally dissolved the National Guard now seen as a major threat to the republic and the regular army.

## Composition

Vice-President of the Council of Ministers : Jules Dufaure :
| Portfolio | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| Minister of Justice | Jules Dufaure | 19 February 1871 | 18 May 1873 | Opportunist Republicans |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Jules Favre | 19 February 1871 | 2 August 1871 | Opportunist Republicans |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Charles de Rémusat | 2 August 1871 | 18 May 1873 | Centre-right |
| Minister of Interior | Ernest Picard | 19 February 1871 | 5 June 1871 | Centre-left |
| Minister of Interior | Félix Lambrecht | 5 June 1871 | 11 October 1871 | Centre-left |
| Minister of Interior | Auguste Casimir-Perier | 11 October 1871 | 6 February 1872 | Opportunist Republicans |
| Minister of Interior | Victor Lefranc | 6 February 1872 | 7 December 1872 | Opportunist Republicans |
| Minister of Interior | Eugène de Goulard | 7 December 1872 | 18 May 1873 | Orleanist |
| Minister of War | Adolphe Le Flô | 19 February 1871 | 5 June 1871 | Orleanist |
| Minister of War | Ernest de Cissey | 5 June 1871 | 18 May 1873 | Legitimist |
| Minister of Navy and Colonies | Louis Pothuau | 19 February 1871 | 18 May 1873 | Centre-left |
| Minister of Public Instruction | Jules Simon | 19 February 1871 | 18 May 1873 | Opportunist Republicans |
| Minister of Agriculture | Félix Lambrecht | 19 February 1871 | 5 June 1871 | Centre-left |
| Minister of Agriculture | Victor Lefranc | 5 June 1871 | 6 February 1872 | Opportunist Republicans |
| Minister of Agriculture | Eugène de Goulard | 6 February 1872 | 23 April 1872 | Orleanist |
| Minister of Agriculture | Pierre Teisserenc de Bort | 23 April 1872 | 18 May 1873 | Centre-left |
| Minister of Public Works | Roger de Larcy | 19 February 1871 | 7 December 1872 | Legitimist |
| Minister of Public Works | Oscar Bardi de Fourtou | 7 December 1872 | 18 May 1873 | Centre-right |
| Minister of Finance | Louis Buffet | 19 February 1871 | 25 February 1871 | Centre-right |
| Minister of Finance | Augustin Pouyer-Quertier | 25 February 1871 | 23 April 1872 | Centre-right |
| Minister of Finance | Eugène de Goulard | 23 April 1872 | 7 December 1872 | Orleanist |
| Minister of Finance | Léon Say | 7 December 1872 | 18 May 1873 | ALP |
| Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Interior | Marc-Antoine Calmon | 23 February 1871 | 7 December 1872 | Centre-left |
| Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Interior | Ernest Pascal | 9 April 1873 | 18 May 1873 | Bonapartist |
| Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of War | Charles Letellier-Valazé | 26 March 1873 | 18 May 1873 | Centre-left |