Charles de Freycinet | |
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![]() Freycinet (c. 1880) byNadar | |
Minister of War | |
In office 1 November 1898 – 18 February 1899 | |
Prime Minister | Charles Dupuy |
Preceded by | Charles Chanoine |
Succeeded by | Camille Krantz |
In office 3 April 1888 – 10 January 1893 | |
Prime Minister | Charles Floquet Pierre Tirard Himself Émile Loubet Alexandre Ribot |
Preceded by | François Logerot |
Succeeded by | Julien Loizillon |
Prime Minister of France | |
In office 17 March 1890 – 27 February 1892 | |
President | Sadi Carnot |
Preceded by | Pierre Tirard |
Succeeded by | Émile Loubet |
In office 7 January 1886 – 16 December 1886 | |
President | Jules Grévy |
Preceded by | Henri Brisson |
Succeeded by | René Goblet |
In office 30 January 1882 – 7 August 1882 | |
President | Jules Grévy |
Preceded by | Léon Gambetta |
Succeeded by | Charles Duclerc |
In office 28 December 1879 – 23 September 1880 | |
President | Jules Grévy |
Preceded by | William Waddington |
Succeeded by | Jules Ferry |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 28 December 1879 – 3 December 1886 | |
Prime Minister | Himself Henri Brisson |
Preceded by | Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour |
Succeeded by | Émile Flourens |
Minister of Public Works | |
In office 13 December 1877 – 28 December 1879 | |
Prime Minister | Jules Dufaure William Waddington |
Preceded by | Michel Graeff |
Succeeded by | Henri Varroy |
Member of the French Senate forSeine | |
In office 30 January 1876 – 11 January 1920 | |
Succeeded by | Louis Dausset |
Personal details | |
Born | (1828-11-14)14 November 1828 Foix,Ariège,France |
Died | 14 May 1923(1923-05-14) (aged 94) Paris,France |
Political party | Republican Union(1871–1885) Union of the Lefts(1885–1894) League of Patriots(1894–1923) |
Spouse | |
Education | École Polytechnique |
Profession | Engineer |
Signature | ![]() |
Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet (French:[ʃaʁldəfʁɛjsinɛ]; 14 November 1828 – 14 May 1923) was a French statesman who served four times as Prime Minister during theThird Republic. He also served an important term as Minister of War (1888–1893). He belonged to theModerate Republican faction.
He was elected a member of theAcademy of Sciences, and in 1890, the fourteenth member to occupy a seat in theAcadémie Française.
Freycinet was born atFoix (Ariège) of a Protestant family and was the nephew ofLouis de Freycinet, a French navigator and the grandson ofÉlisabeth-Antoinette-Catherine Armand,[1] a French pastellist. Charles Freycinet was educated at theÉcole Polytechnique. He entered government service as a mining engineer (seeX-Mines). In 1858 he was appointed traffic manager to theCompagnie de chemins de fer du Midi, a post in which he showed a remarkable talent for organization, and in 1862 returned to the engineering service, attaining in 1886 the rank of inspector-general. He was sent on several special scientific missions, including one to the United Kingdom, on which he wroteMémoire sur le travail des femmes et des enfants dans les manufactures de l'Angleterre (1867).[2]
In July 1870 theFranco-Prussian War started, which led to the fall of theSecond French Empire ofNapoleon III. On the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870, he offered his services toLéon Gambetta, was appointed prefect of the department ofTarn-et-Garonne, and in October became chief of the military cabinet. It was mainly Freycinet's powers of organization which enabled Gambetta to raise army after army to oppose the invading Germans. He revealed himself to be a competent strategist, but the policy of dictating operations to the generals in the field was not accompanied by happy results. The friction between him andGeneral d'Aurelle de Paladines resulted in theloss of the advantage temporarily gained atCoulmiers andOrléans, and he was responsible for the campaign in the east, which ended in the destruction of theArmée de l'Est ofCharles Denis Bourbaki.[2]
In 1871 he published a defence of his administration under the title ofLa Guerre en province pendant le siège de Paris. He entered the Senate in 1876 as a follower of Gambetta, and in December 1877 became Minister of Public Works in the cabinet ofJules Armand Stanislaus Dufaure. He passed agreat scheme for the gradual acquisition of the railways by the state and the construction of new lines at a cost of three milliards of francs, and for the development of the canal system at a further cost of one milliard. He retained his post in the ministry ofWilliam Henry Waddington, whom he succeeded in December 1879 as Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. He passed an amnesty for the Communards, but in attempting to steer a middle course (between the Catholics and the anti-clericalists) on the question of religious associations, he lost Gambetta's support, and resigned in September 1880.[2]
In January 1882 he again became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The reluctance of the French parliament to join Britain in thebombardment ofAlexandria was the death-knell of French influence inEgypt. He attempted to compromise by occupying theIsthmus of Suez, but the vote of credit was rejected in the Chamber by 417 votes to 75, and the ministry resigned. He returned to office in April 1885 as Foreign Minister inHenri Brisson's cabinet, and retained that post when, in January 1886, he succeeded to the premiership.[2]
He came to power with an ambitious programme of internal reform; but apart from settling the question of the exiled pretenders, his successes were chiefly in the sphere of colonial extension. In spite of his unrivalled skill as a parliamentary tactician, he failed to keep his party together, and was defeated on 3 December 1886. In the following year, after two unsuccessful attempts to construct new ministries, he stood for the Presidency of the Republic; but the radicals, to whom his opportunism was distasteful, turned the scale against him by transferring their votes toMarie François Sadi Carnot.[2]
In April 1888 he became Minister of War inCharles Floquet's cabinet – the first civilian since 1848 to hold that office. His services to France in this capacity were the crowning achievement of his life, and he enjoyed the conspicuous honour of holding his office without a break for five years through as many successive administrations – those of Floquet andPierre Tirard, his own fourth ministry (March 1890 – February 1892), and theÉmile Loubet andAlexandre Ribot ministries. The introduction of the three-years' service and the establishment of a general staff, a supreme council of war, and the army commands were all due to him. His premiership was marked by heated debates on the clerical question, and it was a hostile vote on his bill against the religious associations that caused the fall of his cabinet. He failed to clear himself entirely of complicity in thePanama scandals, and in January 1893 resigned the Ministry of War.[2]
In November 1898 he once again became Minister of War in theCharles Dupuy cabinet, but resigned office on 6 May 1899.[2]
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by | Minister of Public Works 1877–1879 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1879–1880 | Succeeded by |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 1879–1880 | Succeeded by | |
Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1882 | Succeeded by |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 1882 | ||
Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1885–1886 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1886 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of War 1888–1893 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1890–1892 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of War 1898–1899 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by — | Minister of State 1915–1916 | Succeeded by — |