First ministry of Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Richelieu

First Richelieu ministry
Cabinet of France
Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Richelieu
Date formed	26 September 1815
Date dissolved	29 December 1818
People and organisations
Head of state	Louis XVIII of France
Head of government	Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Richelieu
History
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 privilege 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.

Ministers

Portfolio	Holder		Party
President of the Council of Ministers		The Duke of Richelieu	None
Ministers
Minister of Foreign Affairs		The Duke of Richelieu	None
Minister of the Interior		The Count of Vaublanc	Ultras
Minister of Justice		The Marquis Barbé-Marbois	None
Minister of War		Marshal Henri Clarke	None
Minister of Finance		Louis-Emmanuel Corvetto	None
Minister of the Navy and Colonies		The Viscount Dubouchage	None
Minister of Police		Élie Decazes	Constitutional

Changes

On 7 May 1816:

Portfolio	Holder		Party
Minister of the Interior		Joseph Lainé	Constitutional
Minister of Justice		Charles Dambray	None

On 19 January 1817:

Portfolio	Holder		Party
Minister of Justice		The Baron Pasquier	Constitutional

On 23 June 1817:

Portfolio	Holder		Party
Minister of the Navy and Colonies		Marshal Marquis of Saint-Cyr	None

On 12 September 1817:

Portfolio	Holder		Party
Minister of War		Marshal Marquis of Saint-Cyr	None
Minister of the Navy and Colonies		Louis-Mathieu Molé	Constitutional

On 7 December 1818:

Portfolio	Holder		Party
Minister of Finance		Antoine Roy	Constitutional

Sources

• Muel, Léon (1891). Gouvernements, ministères et constitutions de la France depuis cent ans: Précis historique des révolutions, des crises ministérielles et gouvernementales, et des changements de constitutions de la France depuis 1789 jusqu'en 1890 ... Marchal et Billard. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
• Robert, Adolphe; Cougny, Gaston (1891). "Charles, Henry DAMBRAY". Dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1789 à 1889. Retrieved 2014-04-14.