In France, universal suffrage was finally achieved for men in 1848. Women obtained it a century later, after the Second World War. Why this delay, when the Third Republic proclaimed itself to be progressive and egalitarian? The reasons were political: women were suspected of being under the influence of the Church and of voting for candidates chosen by it. Clearly, there was a great risk, for the Republicans, that women would vote against the Republic. But it was also feared that if women became too involved in politics, they would turn away from their role as mothers and caretakers of the home.