République and Patrie were authorized in the Fleet Law of 1900, which called for a total of six battleships.
The law was a reaction to the German 1898 Naval Law, which marked a significant expansion of the fleet under Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz.
Since Germany was France's primary enemy, a considerable strengthening of its fleet pressured the French parliament to authorize a similar program.
Louis-Émile Bertin, who had become the Directeur central des constructions navales (DCCN—Central Director of Naval Construction) in 1896, was responsible for preparing the new design.
Bertin had campaigned through the early 1890s for revisions to the battleships then being built, as he correctly determined that their shallow belt armor would render them vulnerable to flooding from hits above the belt that could dangerously destabilize the vessels.

Upon becoming the DCCN, Bertin was now in a position to advance his ideas on battleship construction.
In November 1897, he called for a battleship displacing 13,600 metric tons (13,400 long tons), a significant increase in size over earlier battleships, which would allow him to incorporate the more comprehensive armor layout he deemed necessary to defeat the latest generation of armor-piercing shells.
The new ship would be protected by a tall belt that covered much of the length of the hull, topped with a flat armored deck that created a large armored box, which was highly subdivided with watertight compartments to reduce the risk of uncontrollable flooding.

Detailed design work on the new ship continued for the next two years, as the design staff worked out the particulars of the ship.
The staff submitted a revised proposal on 20 April 1898, with displacement now increased to 15,000 t (15,000 long tons), which was on par with contemporary British designs.
To ensure passage through the Suez Canal, draft was limited to 8.4 m (28 ft) and the standard main armament of four 305 mm (12 in) guns in two twin-gun turrets was specified.
The naval command approved the submission, but requested alterations to the design, particularly to the arrangement of the secondary battery layout.
These proved difficult to incorporate, as the requested changes increased topweight, which necessitated reductions in armor thicknesses to keep the ship from becoming too top-heavy.
The navy refused to allow the reductions, however, and so further rearrangements were considered.

On 23 December, the designers evaluated a pair of proposals for the secondary gun turrets from Schneider-Creusot and the government-run Direction de l'artillerie (Artillery Directorate), and that from the latter was adopted for the new ship.
These were new two-gun turrets, which allowed for a greater number of the secondary weapons to be carried in turrets, which were more flexible mounts than traditional casemates.
Another meeting on 28 April 1899 settled on the final characteristics of the design, and on 29 May, Bertin was directed to alter the design to conform to the adopted specifications.
Final design work took another two months, and Bertin submitted the finalized version on 8 August.
After nearly a year of inaction, Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan, the Minister of the Navy approved the design on 10 July 1900, and on 9 December the parliament approved the 1900 Fleet Law that authorized a total of six ships.

The class, which is sometimes referred to as the Patrie class, was to have fulfilled the specified number of six new battleships, but developments abroad, particularly the construction of the British King Edward VII-class battleships, led to a re-design of the last four members of the class.
Foreign battleships began to carry a heavy secondary battery, such as the 9.2 in (230 mm) guns of the King Edward VIIs, which prompted an increase in French secondary batteries from 164.7 to 194 mm (6.48 to 7.64 in), producing the Liberté class, though these are sometimes considered to be a sub-class of the République class rather than a distinct class of its own.
Unfortunately for République and Patrie, they entered service shortly after the revoluti
République and Patrie were authorized in the Fleet Law of 1900, which called for a total of six battleships. The law was a reaction to the German 1898 Naval Law, which marked a significant expansion of the fleet under Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Since Germany was France's primary enemy, a considerable strengthening of its fleet pressured the French parliament to authorize a similar program. Louis-Émile Bertin, who had become the Directeur central des constructions navales (DCCN—Central Director of Naval Construction) in 1896, was responsible for preparing the new design. Bertin had campaigned through the early 1890s for revisions to the battleships then being built, as he correctly determined that their shallow belt armor would render them vulnerable to flooding from hits above the belt that could dangerously destabilize the vessels.
Upon becoming the DCCN, Bertin was now in a position to advance his ideas on battleship construction. In November 1897, he called for a battleship displacing 13,600 metric tons (13,400 long tons), a significant increase in size over earlier battleships, which would allow him to incorporate the more comprehensive armor layout he deemed necessary to defeat the latest generation of armor-piercing shells. The new ship would be protected by a tall belt that covered much of the length of the hull, topped with a flat armored deck that created a large armored box, which was highly subdivided with watertight compartments to reduce the risk of uncontrollable flooding.
Detailed design work on the new ship continued for the next two years, as the design staff worked out the particulars of the ship. The staff submitted a revised proposal on 20 April 1898, with displacement now increased to 15,000 t (15,000 long tons), which was on par with contemporary British designs. To ensure passage through the Suez Canal, draft was limited to 8.4 m (28 ft) and the standard main armament of four 305 mm (12 in) guns in two twin-gun turrets was specified. The naval command approved the submission, but requested alterations to the design, particularly to the arrangement of the secondary battery layout. These proved difficult to incorporate, as the requested changes increased topweight, which necessitated reductions in armor thicknesses to keep the ship from becoming too top-heavy. The navy refused to allow the reductions, however, and so further rearrangements were considered.
On 23 December, the designers evaluated a pair of proposals for the secondary gun turrets from Schneider-Creusot and the government-run Direction de l'artillerie (Artillery Directorate), and that from the latter was adopted for the new ship. These were new two-gun turrets, which allowed for a greater number of the secondary weapons to be carried in turrets, which were more flexible mounts than traditional casemates. Another meeting on 28 April 1899 settled on the final characteristics of the design, and on 29 May, Bertin was directed to alter the design to conform to the adopted specifications. Final design work took another two months, and Bertin submitted the finalized version on 8 August. After nearly a year of inaction, Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan, the Minister of the Navy approved the design on 10 July 1900, and on 9 December the parliament approved the 1900 Fleet Law that authorized a total of six ships.
The class, which is sometimes referred to as the Patrie class, was to have fulfilled the specified number of six new battleships, but developments abroad, particularly the construction of the British King Edward VII-class battleships, led to a re-design of the last four members of the class. Foreign battleships began to carry a heavy secondary battery, such as the 9.2 in (230 mm) guns of the King Edward VIIs, which prompted an increase in French secondary batteries from 164.7 to 194 mm (6.48 to 7.64 in), producing the Liberté class, though these are sometimes considered to be a sub-class of the République class rather than a distinct class of its own. Unfortunately for République and Patrie, they entered service shortly after the revoluti
République-class battleship