# Primary education made compulsory and secular (1882)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1882-primary-education-made-compulsory-and-secular
Location: France

Further Ferry laws entrenched compulsory secular schooling. 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). Primary education made compulsory and secular 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
Primary education made compulsory and secular 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 — Primary education made compulsory and secular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Primary+education+made+compulsory+and+secular&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Primary education made compulsory and secular](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Primary+education+made+compulsory+and+secular)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)