"Démocratie" was laid down at the Arsenal de Brest shipyard on 1 May 1903, launched on 30 April 1904, and completed on 9 January 1908, over a year after the revolutionary British battleship entered service, which rendered the pre-dreadnoughts like "Démocratie" outdated before they were completed.Following her completion, she left Brest on 20 January and steamed south to Toulon, where she joined the 1st Division of the 1st Battle Squadron on 10 March, which included the battleships and .