THIERS, ADOLPHE (1797-1877). A French statesman and historian. horn at Marseilles April 15, 1797. He was distinguished as a student at the lyetse, and in 1815 he went to Aix to study law. There he formed a friendship with Miguet, the historian, in company with whom, after he had taken his degree as advocate (1818). he set off for Paris. Obtaining an introduction to Lafitte. he was enrolled among the contributors to the ronstitutionnel, then the leading Liberal organ. Ilk vigorous articles attracted atten tion to the young writer and won him a place in the most brilliant circles of the opposition. His Ilistoire de In ri'rolution francuise (1823 'e) gave him high rank as an historian. In January, 1830. he, with Mignet and Armand Carrel, established an able opposition paper, the National. Thiers in this journal waged unrelent ing war against the Polignae Administration, whose publication of the celebrated Ordinances of July brought on the Revolution of 1830. Under the new Government of Louis Philippe Thiers was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, where he quickly made his mark as a debater, was appointed to a secretaryship in the Department of Finance, and in October, 1832, was made Minister of the interior. During the next four years he acted as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Commerce and Public Works, and Minister of Foreign Affairs under various chiefs —Soult. Gesrard, Alortier, and Broglie. His views with time became more conservative, and he repressed with severity the democratic uprisings against the new Government. In February, 1836, he became president of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, but in August retired the King refused to approve his plan for intervention in Spain and became the leader of the opposition. In Marche 1840, he again assumed the Premiership and the of Foreign Affairs. He wished to support Mehe met Ali (q.v.) in his struggle against the Sultan, thus seeking to carry out the Napoleonic idea of a controlling influence by France in Syria and Egypt. He therefore refused to enter the alliance of Western powers formed for the preser vation of the Ottoman Empire. (See QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE.) When _Mehemet Ali was driven out of Syria, the popular irritation in France. fos tered by Thiers, was great, but Louis Philippe refused to countenance armed interference, just. as he had done in the Spanish matter, and ac cepted Thiers's resignation in October, 1840. The next five years Thiers spent in travel and in work upon his second history, L'histoirc du consulat et de rempire (1845-62). After 1846 he again became active in political affairs, and appeared more frequently in the Chamber as an eloquent spokesman of the opposition. In the Revolution of 1848 his part was that of a Moderate friendly to the Republic. He was banished after the coup d'istat of 1851, but after a short residence abroad was permitted to return to Paris in 1852.
Thiers entered the Corps I.gislatif in 1863, and became the leader of the Liberal opposition, assailing the Imperial policies in a series of masterly speeches. He eloquently opposed the war with Prussia and predicted the defeat of France. After the collapse of the Empire he became the brains of the rehabilitation of France. He undertook diplomatic journeys to England, Rus sia, Austria, and Italy, on behalf of France— a self-imposed mission in which he was unsuc cessful, but by which he acquired the gratitude of his countrymen. After the capitulation of Paris Thiers was elected to the National As sembly by twenty-six constituencies, and on, February 17. 1871. became 'chief of the executive power' in the provisional Government. and as such negotiated the treaty of peace with Ger many. Upon the outbreak of the war of the Commune (q.v.) Thiers took swift and energetic measures for the suppression of the movement. On August 31, 1871, the National Assembly con ferred upon him the title of President of the Republic, making his tern of office three years. Thiers, contrary to the expectations of the monarchical parties. became convinced of the need of a republican form of government, and in November, 1872, sent to the National Assem bly a message urging the necessity of formu lating an organic instrument of government for the Republic. The Clericals and Monarchists thereupon decided upon his fall, and as the result of a vote of censure passed on the Ministry, Thiers resigned May 24, 1S73. He retired from public life for some time, but in 1876 was elected from Paris to the Chamber of Deputies, exercising his influence to the last in the defense of the Re public against the plots of the Monarchists.
Thiers was perhaps the most influential po litical leader France has produced. His fig ure was small, his appearance far from impres sive, and his early attempts at oratory are said to have been ridiculous, but when he adopted the rapid, incisive style adapted to his personality he became one of the most effective speakers in France. course as a statesman was guided by an intense love of country bordering on Chau vinism, and the conviction that the political power should reponse in the hands of the middle class whose interests and tastes he so well represented. His histories are merely brilliant eulogies of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic ideals. He was elected a member of the Academy in 1834. Among the studies and sketches of Thiers may be noted Franck, Vie de M. Thiers (Paris. 1877) ; Mazade, Monsieur Thiers, einquante anuses, d'h i s f oi re contemporaine (lb.. 18841 ; Remusat, A. Thicrs (ib., 1889; Eng. trans.. Lon don, 1892) ; Simon, Le gouvernement de if. Thiers, 1871-73 (Paris, 1878; Eng. trans., New York, 1879) ; Goff, The Life of Louis Adolphe Thiers (trans. from the unpublished manuscript by Theodore Stanton, New York, 1879).