Feminism and the Third Republic

France is the home of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, yet women did not vote until 1945, many years later than their peers in other countries. In a country where civil rights had long been a rallying cry, women were not second-class citizens - they were not citizens at all. In this fascinating and ground-breaking study, Paul Smith assesses why Frenchwomen were repeatedly refused the rights of citizenship and examines the political relationships established by French feminists in order to achieve their goal: one woman, one vote.