# Jules Ferry laws establish free primary education (1881)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1881-jules-ferry-laws-establish-free-primary-education
Location: France

Republican reforms made public primary schooling free and expanded secular education. Within the broader Third Republic period, The Third Republic survived war, the Commune, constitutional crises and fierce ideological conflict. It expanded mass schooling and empire, faced the Dreyfus Affair, fought World War I and entered the troubled interwar era. At this point in the timeline, the relevant governing authority is Jules Grévy (President of the French Republic). Jules Ferry laws establish free primary education mattered because cultural and intellectual institutions helped shape French identity and France’s influence beyond its borders. The event is positioned here so visitors can read it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion, culture and France’s wider international setting.

## Why it matters
Jules Ferry laws establish free primary education mattered because cultural and intellectual institutions helped shape French identity and France’s influence beyond its borders.

Ruler at the time: [Jules Grévy](https://history-france.com/rulers/jules-grevy)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Jules Ferry laws establish free primary education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Jules+Ferry+laws+establish+free+primary+education&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Jules Ferry laws establish free primary education](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Jules+Ferry+laws+establish+free+primary+education)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)