Victor, 3 duke de Broglie

Victor, 3^e duke de Broglie (born Nov. 28, 1785, Paris—died Jan. 25, 1870, Paris) was a French politician, diplomat, and, from 1835 to 1836, prime minister, who throughout his life campaigned against reactionary forces.

Taken into the imperial council of state as auditeur in 1809, Broglie was sent by Napoleon on diplomatic missions to various countries as attaché. In June 1814, under the First Restoration, he was included in Louis XVIII’s Chamber of Peers. There, after the Hundred Days, he distinguished himself by his courageous defense of Marshal Ney, for whose acquittal he, alone of all the peers, both spoke and voted.

In politics under Louis XVIII and Charles X, Broglie identified himself with the Doctrinaires, a small but active group that advocated constitutional monarchy and was in charge of drafting the liberal press law adopted during Louis XVIII’s reign. In 1826 Broglie attacked the bills on primogeniture designed to prevent equal distribution of property among descendants.

After the July Revolution of 1830, the duc de Broglie was minister of education for a few months and later took office as minister for foreign affairs. His main efforts were directed toward establishing closer relations between France and Great Britain. He retired from office in April 1834. The following March he became prime minister and in this capacity passed strong measures against seditious activities. Resigning the prime ministership in February 1836, he held himself aloof from politics until 1848, though in May 1847 he was ambassador to London.

The Revolution of 1848 greatly disturbed the duc de Broglie because it represented for him the destruction of the principles of parliamentary rule. Elected deputy for Eure in May 1849 and as a member of the conservative group known as the “Burgraves,” he did his best to stem the tide of socialism and to avert the reaction in favour of autocracy. After the coup d’état of Dec. 3, 1851, he was one of the bitterest enemies of Napoleon III’s regime. From 1855 he was a member of the Académie Française. The last 20 years of his life were devoted chiefly to philosophical and literary pursuits. His writings include Vues sur le gouvernement de la France (1861), Écrits et discours, 3 vol. (1863), Le Libre Échange et l’impôt (1879; “Free Trade and Taxation”), and Souvenirs, 4 vol. (1885–88).