Date formed 26 September 1815 Head of state Louis XVIII of France | Date dissolved 29 December 1818 | |
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Head of government Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Richelieu Predecessor Ministry of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Successor Ministry of Jean-Joseph Dessolles | ||
The First ministry of Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Richelieu was formed on 26 September 1815 after the dismissal of the Ministry of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord by King Louis XVIII of France. It was dissolved on 29 December 1818 and replaced by the Ministry of Jean-Joseph Dessolles.
Formation and actions
After the resignation of Talleyrand, Louis XVIII designated the technocrat Duke of Richelieu to form a cabinet. The minister of the Richelieu ministry were Ultras and counter-revolutionaries hostile to Bonapartism and republicanism, and in the first phase of the ministry they actualized the legal terror called "Second White Terror", that caused the exile, the imprisonment or the execution of several revolutionaries.
After the election held in 1816, the new Parliament, led by a Doctrinaire majority, forced the resignation of several ministers, replaced with Doctrinaires and moderates. The reformed cabinet realised several important laws, like the "Saint-Cyr Law" (abolition of the nobility's priviledge in the army) and the "Lainé Law" (expansion of the suffrage and direct votation). However, after the partial-election of 1817, a new Liberal leftist group was formed in the Chamber of Deputies, composed by radicals like General Maximilien Foy and Abbot Henri Grégoire. There was also a rising rivality between Richelieu and his Minister Élie Decazes, a popular Doctrinaire. Finally, at the end of December 1818, Richelieu resigned after he lost the favour of the Ultras and the support of the Doctrinaires.