In January 1871, France was forced to surrender to the Germans, ending the Franco-Prussian War. With their surrender, a long period of French domination of Europe ended.
From the ashes of Napoleon III’s Second Empire, rose the Third Republic where democratic reforms such as regulating working conditions, creating free elementary schools and separating church and state were made.
In 1896, women received control of their own wages. A French Union for Women’s Suffrage was founded though women couldn’t vote until after World War II.
In the 1900s, government support for the Church ended. Schools were made public and payments to clergy ended. There was now freedom for all religions.
By 1914, France was the largest democratic country in Europe, with a constitution that protected basic rights.
For further reading, refer to this history study leaflet: Division and Democracy in France from Monet.k12.ca.us.