Adolphe Thiers

Who was Adolphe Thiers?

Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. He was a leading historian of the French Revolution, with a multivolume history that argued that the republicanism of the Revolution was the central theme of modern French history.

Thiers served as a prime minister in 1836, 1840 and 1848. He was a vocal opponent of Emperor Napoleon III, who reigned 1848–71. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to power and his suppression of the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871 killed thousands of Parisians. From 1871 to 1873 he served initially as Head of State, then President. He lost power in 1873 to Patrice de Mac-Mahon, Duke of Magenta.