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The question of the number of civil servants is a recurring theme in French political life. It is a debate that first arose with the introduction of a republican regime between 1877 and 1914, and regularly resurfaces with each economic crisis. However, a historical analysis shows that the debate has been based not on any financial or economic research, but rather on academic and political positions. The argument that there were too many civil servants in France was put forward, without any of the necessary statistics required to reach such a conclusion. The claim that there were too many civil servants encouraged the development of a critical view of the republic and an analysis of French society, in particular the place of the middle classes. Civil servants were a thorn in the side of the political class, right or left, because their numbers meant the establishment of a state that is diff?cult to control.