# Law separating Church and State (1905)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1905-law-separating-church-and-state
Location: France
Categories: main-event

The Republic established laïcité by ending state recognition and funding of most religious institutions. 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 Émile Loubet (President of the French Republic). Law separating Church and State mattered because it changed the legal or constitutional framework within which French institutions and citizens operated. 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
Law separating Church and State mattered because it changed the legal or constitutional framework within which French institutions and citizens operated.

Ruler at the time: [Émile Loubet](https://history-france.com/rulers/emile-loubet)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Law separating Church and State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Law+separating+Church+and+State&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Law separating Church and State](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Law+separating+Church+and+State)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)