France in the XX century
Material from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Current version (not tested)
Go to: navigation, Search
This article should be wikified.
Please design it according to the rules of article design.
The history of France in the XX century
Content
1 The Third French Republic 2 France in the First World War 3 France in the period between the two wars (1918-1939) 4 France during the Second World War 4.1 The Vichy regime (1940-1944)
5 The Fourth Republic (1946-1958) 6 The Fifth Republic 7 Bibliography
The Third French Republic[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The Third French Republic
The elections to the Chamber of Deputies, which took place in the spring of 1902, created a radical majority in the Chamber of Deputies.
The government no longer needed the support of various elements from different Republican parties: the policy of the cabinet of Valdek Russo was justified by the voters.
Nevertheless, on May 20, Waldeck Rousseau, quite unexpectedly, both for opponents and even for supporters, announced that his cabinet was resigning, considering its duties to pacify France fulfilled.
Attempts by the enemies of the cabinet to explain this resignation by discord in the cabinet itself turned out to be based on nothing.
With even less right, it was possible to look for the reason for the resignation in the outcome of the elections; there were 233 radicals and radical socialists in the chamber for 589 deputies, 62 government Republicans and 43 socialists who did not refuse to support the cabinet.
Thus, the government majority was secured and the resignation of the cabinet — for the first and only time in the history of the third republic — was certainly voluntary.
In the same month of May, the trip of the President of the republic, Lube, to St. Petersburg took place.
At the end of May, the French colony of Martinique was hit by a terrible eruption of a volcano that was considered extinct, and a strong earthquake that destroyed almost all the settlements of the island.
Up to 40 thousand people died.
On June 1, the summer session of the Parliament was opened.
The Chamber of Deputies elected the radical Leon Bourgeois to the post of president by a majority of 303 votes against 267 submitted for the former president, the opportunist Deschanel.
The formation of a new cabinet was entrusted to the radical Kombu.
He took the portfolio of internal affairs, and from the old cabinet he kept only the Minister of War, Gen. Andre and Foreign Minister Delcasse.
The other members of the cabinet: the Minister of Justice — Vallee, the Minister of the Sea Camille Peltan, the Minister of Commerce Truglio, Agriculture Mougaud, colonies Doumergue (all five are radicals, or socialist radicals), the Minister of Education Chaumier, Public Works Maruejul, the Minister of Finance — Rouvier (the last three are Republicans).
Delcasse and Rouvier represented the right wing of the Republican Party in the cabinet.
The Socialists to whom Millerand and Bodin belonged in the cabinet of Waldeck Rousseau were not represented in the new cabinet; nevertheless, they were part of the bloc of parliamentary parties that supported the cabinet of Combe and during the entire period of the cabinet's activity was a special parliamentary organization of parties built on a federal basis, with a permanent general committee.
The ministerial declaration promised the abolition of the Fallou law, income tax, two year military service, insurance of workers against old age and illness.
It declared war on nationalists and clerics, but did not concern the separation of church and state, but expressed only the intention to strictly apply the Waldeck Rousseau law on congregations.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church understood the ministry's declaration as a challenge and immediately began to mobilize its forces against the government.
In turn, the Government has already announced the closure of 135 schools of various congregations during June.
Congregations did not always obey voluntarily; their schools sometimes had to be closed with the help of armed force.
Later, similar measures were taken with greater caution, but still caused opposition and discontent.
Members of the congregations emigrated to Italy, to Belgium, and especially to Spain.
The government did not hesitate to dismiss officials for participating in hostile demonstrations; at the beginning of 1903, several generals and colonels were dismissed, whose wives and daughters took a demonstrative part in charity bazaars organized by spiritual congregations.
The French ambassador to St. Petersburg, Montebello, who was clerical, was recalled and replaced by Bompard, a supporter of the cabinet's policy.
The debates in the house more than once took on an extremely stormy character, but as a result, the government always received approval by a majority of 70-120 votes in the house and 50-70 votes in the Senate.
In November 1902, the north of France was engulfed by a huge strike in the coal mines, but the government, through peaceful intervention, managed to persuade both sides to make concessions and thereby end the strike.
At the end of 1902, the Ministry submitted to the Chamber of Deputies a draft law on teaching, which abolished the Fallou Law.
The right to open educational institutions was granted only to persons with a higher secular education (according to the Fallou law, secondary education was sufficient, regardless of whether it was secular or spiritual); control over teaching was granted to the secular authorities, who received the right to close educational institutions.
Persons opening an educational institution were required to declare that they did not belong to unauthorized congregations.
By virtue of the new law, up to 10,000 schools maintained by the clergy were subject to closure, with a total number of students: boys — 350,000 and girls — 580,000.
To fill the gap created in this way, the government had to take care of the immediate opening of completely new schools in 1921 and the expansion of several thousand old ones.
This imposed a burden of 50 million francs on tax payers.
at the same time and over 9 million annually, whereas previously the corresponding expenses fell on the church and monasteries.
In November 1903, Waldeck Rousseau opposed the government in the Senate, arguing that it was too harsh, regardless of the circumstances, to implement the law on congregations.
This speech delighted the opponents of the cabinet, but it did not have much influence; the government retained its majority in both chambers after it.
In July 1904, the law on teaching passed through both chambers and entered into force; the Fallou law finally fell.
In January 1905, the government passed through the chambers a ban on teaching the Law of God in the Breton language.
The government, however, did not dare to cancel the concordat, finding that the religious consciousness of the people was not yet at the proper height.
In September 1903, the opening of the monument to Renan in Treguier gave rise to clerical demonstrations: the troops were forced to drive away a significant crowd of people from the place of celebration.
In April 1904, crucifixes and other religious emblems were removed from the courts.
Russian Russian friendship, although Delcasse, an ardent supporter of the Franco Russian union, remained the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but the Franco Russian friendship cooled somewhat during the activities of the Combe cabinet.
France became closer to England and Italy.
During 1903, the Kings of English and Italian visited Paris; Loubet gave them a visit in London and Rome.
Loubet's trip to Rome (April 1904) was an act of not only international, but also ecclesiastical policy: he did not consider it necessary to visit the pope, and could not have done so due to the statement of the Roman curia that the simultaneous visit of the head of the church and the head of state, who deprived the pope of his rights, is possible only for a non orthodox sovereign.
In the visit of the King of Italy, in Rome, by the president of the French Republic, the curia saw an insult to itself and expressed its protest officially.
The French government responded by recalling its ambassador from the Vatican (May 1904).
Nevertheless, the pope delayed recalling his nuncio from Paris.
In July 1904, the pope dismissed two French bishops without obtaining the consent of the French government.
Then the entire staff of the French embassy was recalled from Rome, and the papal nuncio was informed that his stay in Paris no longer had any purpose.
Diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See were severed.
A number of episcopal and priestly chairs that had become vacant could not be replaced due to the impossibility of an agreement between the French government and the curia.
— The political rapprochement with Italy and England was completed by treaties on the peaceful arbitration of disputes between them; similar treaties were concluded with Spain, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.
Another agreement between France and England concerned colonial issues.
France has pledged not to demand the evacuation of Egypt by the British; England recognized that France has the right to protect peace and order in Morocco and provide the Moroccan Sultan with the necessary military and financial assistance; for the next 30 years, France and England should enjoy the same trading position in Egypt and Morocco; to ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Gibraltar, no coastal fortifications should be erected in a certain part of Morocco; in relation to fishing near Newfoundland, France refused the privileges granted to it by the Utrecht Peace; in Senegambia, however, the borders between French and English were corrected in favor of France in Siam, the Menam River is recognized as the border between the spheres of influence of England and France, and both powers have pledged not to annex Siam to themselves;
England refused to influence the customs legislation of Madagascar.
October 6, 1904 Spain recognized the Franco English agreement regarding Morocco.
In the agreement with England, no attention was paid to the interests of Germany, which has well known claims to Morocco.
At the end of 1904, as a result, disputes began between France and Germany, which somewhat shook Delcasse's position.
Meanwhile, the latter valued the rapprochement with Germany very much: he allowed the expulsion from France of the Alsatian Delsor, who came to Paris to organize rallies and give lectures on the Alsatian question.
The movement of the issue of income tax was slowed down by the Minister of Finance himself, who did not deviate in any way from the financial policy of previous cabinets; he declared the purchase of railway roads by the state untimely.
In 1903, the Dreyfus case was resumed.
His additional investigation was completed only in July 1906: the Court of Cassation overturned the verdict of the Rennes court, recognized Esterhazy as the author of the notorious bordereau and found it unnecessary to re examine the case, in view of which a special law passed through the chambers, Dreyfus and his supporter Colonel Piccard were restored to all their official rights.
This outcome of the case did not cause the previous irritation of passions: French nationalism, in its form, in which it was manifested in the Dreyfus case, no longer existed at that time.
In order to overthrow the government, a slanderous accusation of bribery was brought against Combe's son, who was acting as a private secretary under his father.
A systematic campaign was waged against the naval minister Peltan, led by one of his predecessors in the ministry, also a radical (but with a vividly nationalistic tinge), Locroy.
In this struggle, two opposing views on naval affairs were expressed in part: Peltan is a supporter of small military vessels (destroyers and counter — destroyers), Locroy battleships and cruisers (the Russian Japanese war irrefutably proved that Locroy was right in this dispute).
Locroy argued that Peltan weakens the navy both by disproportionately spending on small vessels, and by selecting employees, in which he considers the political beliefs of the appointees more than their suitability for the case.
There was a similar campaign against the Minister of War Andre, who undoubtedly contributed to the development of political informer among the army.
He was replaced by the radical socialist Berto.
The former minister in the cabinet of Waldeck Rousseau, the socialist Millerand, also took part in the agitation against the cabinet, accusing the government of forgetting social policy because of church policy.
From the combination of clerics and nationalists with socialists and radicals, a cohesive and strong opposition was formed.
At the opening of the parliamentary session in January 1905, some radicals nominated Paul Doumer, who belonged to the radical party, but participated in agitation against the cabinet, as a candidate for the post of president of the chamber.
Dumer was selected by 265 goals against 240 given to the ministry's candidate, Brisson.
A few days later, when discussing the general policy of the cabinet, it received an expression of approval by a majority of 289 votes to 279.
Dissatisfied with such an insignificant majority, Combe resigned (January 14, 1905), having held power for 2 years and 7 months.
On January 24, 1905, a new cabinet was formed.
It was headed by Rouvier, who remained the Minister of Finance.
From the former cabinet, Chaumier, who had changed the portfolio of public education to justice, Delcasse, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Bertaud, the Minister of War, entered the new one.
The new ministers were: Etienne, Minister of Internal Affairs.
del; Thomson, Minister of the Navy; Bienvenu Martin, Minister of Public Education and Worship; Dubief, Minister of Commerce, Posts and Telegraphs; Clumentel, Minister of the Colonies; Ryuo, Minister of Agriculture; Gauthier, Minister of Public Works.
Persons with a pronounced radical coloring (Combe, Peltant, Vallet, Doumergue) all, except Bertaud, left the cabinet; its left side was strengthened by the radical socialists Dubief and Bienvenu Martin and the radicals Ruo and Clumentel, but they did not have the most important portfolios in their hands.
In its first declaration, the Rouvier cabinet promised to continue Combe's policy in all essential matters.
The ecclesiastical policy of the government has changed very little, becoming perhaps a little more lenient.
The project of separation of church and state introduced by M v was only slightly different from the project proposed by Briand even earlier.
The essence of the law, promulgated at the end of 1905, is as follows: the republic does not recognize, does not pay for or subsidize any church.
Starting from January 1, 1906, the state budget of cults, as well as the expenses of departments and communities for them, are being destroyed.
During the year, the movable and immovable property of the church, with all the obligations that lie on them, are transferred to religious associations of believers.
Properties that previously belonged to the state, departments or communities are returned to them according to their affiliation, with an obligation to rent them out to associations of believers within a certain period of time.
Church servants who have served for at least 30 years and have reached the age of 60 are provided with a lifetime annual pension from state funds, in the amount of 3/4 of their previous salary; at a lower age and with a smaller number of years of service, a reduced pension is assigned.
Believers are allowed to organize associations that enjoy the freedom of religious worship.
The separation of church and state provoked attacks from two sides.
On the right, clerics attacked him for taking away a privileged position in the state from the church; they saw a violation of freedom of conscience in the termination of the dependence of the church on the state; clerics considered church property an inalienable property of the church and called the encroachment on them robbery.
On the left, from the socialist camp, the government was reproached for a lack of determination and consistency; it was pointed out that the so called church property was acquired by the church thanks to the state, and therefore can and should be considered public property.
— The law on insurance of persons living by earnings was not passed under the Rouvier cabinet; the income tax bill was not introduced by this cabinet at all.
The composition of the fleet was significantly increased, since in 1898 the German fleet was only 1/4 of the French, by 1908 it should already be 3/4, and in 1917 it should surpass it if France does not build 24 large warships.
— In February 1905, an international court of justice was sitting in Paris, examining the case of the sinking of British ships by a Russian squadron (see the Hull incident).
At the end of April, the English king visited Paris again, at the end of May and the beginning of June — the Spanish one, whose life was attempted by a Spanish anarchist who threw a bomb into his carriage.
The Tsushima disaster (May 15, 1905), having undermined Russian power at sea, turned out to be unprofitable for supporters of the Russophile policy.
On June 6, 1905, Rouvier took Delcasse's place, giving the finance portfolio to Merle.
Rouvier's task, as the Minister of Internal Affairs, was to settle the dispute with Germany.
The conference convened for this purpose met in Algeciras (in Spain) and in April 1906 worked out an act recognizing the sovereignty of the Moroccan Sultan, the inviolability of his possessions and the economic equality of the powers in Morocco.
In reality, however, the entire internal administration of Morocco was placed under the strictest control of the European powers.
The Sultan must appoint an officer recommended to him by the Swiss Government as the chief of Police.
- Dissatisfaction with the measures taken by the cabinet against the formation of syndicates by officials was expressed in the resignation of the Minister of War Berto.
He was replaced by Etienne; the portfolio of the Minister of the Interior passed to the Minister of Commerce Dubief, who was replaced by Truglio, a moderate Republican.
On February 19, 1906, the seven year term of the presidency of Loubet expired, who resolutely refused a secondary candidacy.
On January 17, President of the Senate Fallier was elected President of the Republic, receiving 449 votes against 379 given to the candidate of the right, President of the Chamber of Deputies Dumer.
Not only all the left wing Republicans and radicals (by the way, Brisson and Bourgeois) voted for Fallier, but also the socialists, with Jaures at the head.
On March 7, 1906, Rouvier resigned; the cabinet of the radical Sarrien took his place.
From the old cabinet, the Minister of War Etienne, the Minister of the Navy Thomson and the Minister of Agriculture of the RSO moved to the new one.
The color of the cabinet was given by the new Minister of Internal Affairs, a radical sociologist liszt Clemenceau, the famous destroyer of ministries, who for the first time accepted the ministerial portfolio, the Minister of Public Education — the independent socialist Aristide Briand (the main fighter for the separation of church and state); the Minister of Foreign Affairs — the radical Bourgeois; the Minister of Trade — the radical Dumergue (should not be confused with Dumer).
Sarrien himself, who took the justice portfolio for himself, stood politically as if in the center of the cabinet.
On the right side of the new cabinet members were the Minister of Finance Poincare, the Minister of Colonies Leig and the Minister of Public Works Bartou.
The cabinet included the most prominent people of the French parliament: it was repeatedly called the cabinet of chiefs.
The formation of this cabinet was the same movement to the left as the choice of Fallier.
His main task was to implement the law on Sunday rest, which in enterprises that do not allow it, can be replaced by rest on another day of the week.
This law aroused the strong discontent of the bourgeoisie; nevertheless, it came into force, although it was violated in some places.
When the Russian government applied for permission to place a new loan in France, there was a disagreement in the cabinet: Clemenceau was a strong opponent of the loan, but Poincare and Bourgeois stood for it, and the issue of the loan on the French money market was allowed in April 1906.
On May 6, 1906, elections to the Chamber of Deputies took place, which moved the center of parliamentary life significantly to the left.
Of the 8,900,000 votes cast, 970,000 party Socialists, 160,000 independent Socialists, 3,100,000 radical Socialists, and 850,000 radicals fell to the share of the party Socialists — in total, the left received 5,080,000 votes; the right, counting the progressives, did not collect 3,600,000 of them.
The United Socialists won 53 seats in the chamber, the radicals and radical Socialists — 360.
All the leaders of the left returned to the chamber, including Jules Gade, who was blackballed in 1898 and 1902; only Paul Lafargue failed again (in the fight against the independent socialist Millerand).
The right and the nationalists have lost many of their leaders (for example, Flourens, Rocha, Piu).
On June 19, the session of the Parliament opened; Brisson was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies.
The position of the right wing members of the cabinet was becoming difficult.
In October, Sarrien resigned due to the inability to reconcile differences in the cabinet.
The new Cabinet was formed by Clemenceau on October 26, 1906 Clemenceau, Thomson, Barthou, Ruo and Briand moved from the old office to the new one with the same portfolios.
The portfolio of justice was given to Guyot Dessin, the portfolio of foreign affairs Pichon, finance Callot, trade Doumergue, colonies Millies Lacroix (not to be confused with Ed. Locroy, ex. minister of the Navy), the War Ministry — General Piccard, who until then had not participated in parliamentary life, known for his role in the Dreyfus case.
A special Ministry of Labor and Social Events was re established, headed by Viviani.
Thus, there were two independent socialists in the cabinet (Briand and Viviani), three radical socialists (Clemenceau, Pichon and Doumergue), five radicals (Dessin, Callot, Piccard, Lacroix, Rouault) and two Republicans (Thomson and Barthou).
In the declaration of the Ministry read in the chambers on November 5, it was said that the Government would protect the peace, not forgetting, however, that peace between civilized peoples rests on military force.
In domestic politics, the Government will strengthen democracy; this will lead to the fact that individual cases of State power will take more moderate forms.
A draft reform of the military courts will be introduced: the consideration of crimes against the common law will be transferred to the general courts, and disciplinary proceedings will be provided with all the necessary guarantees.
The Government intends to implement the law on workers ' insurance, improve the laws on trade unions, and establish a progressive income tax.
In January 1907, Deputy Flandin introduced a draft law on the freedom of public assembly, which abolished the obligation to make a preliminary statement about an assembly to the police authorities; this project met with government support.
Russian Russian government's efforts to conclude a new loan in France were opposed by Clemenceau and Callot; the latter directly stated in the Chamber of Deputies that a Russian loan, not approved by the State Duma, is out of the question in France.
During the strikes, the cabinet at first showed a rare impartiality in France, but in 1907 it followed the path of its predecessors in this regard.
The desire to form syndicates that had manifested itself among the officials seemed dangerous to the cabinet for the correct course of the state machine; finding that the strikes of officials could not be equated with the strikes of workers, it began to persecute the syndicates of officials, especially teachers.
As a result, there was a strong cooling between the cabinet and the Socialists, who at the end of April 1907 moved into direct opposition to the cabinet; strong discontent was also revealed among the socialist and radical radicals.
France in the First World War[edit / edit wiki text]
French aerial photography of German positions, 1916
France was almost entirely occupied with its internal problems and paid very little attention to the threat of war.
However, the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 still caused alarm, and in In 1913, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff, convinced that Germany was preparing for war, had difficulty convincing the Chamber of Deputies to adopt a law on three year military service.
This law was opposed by the entire bloc of the left, especially the socialists, who, under the leadership of the famous Jean Jaures, were ready to call for a general strike to prevent mobilization.
They were sure that the German Socialists would do the same (although reports from Germany did not confirm this).
Meanwhile, the new president of the French Republic, Raymond Poincare, did everything possible to strengthen the position of France, and especially insisted on an alliance with Russia.
When the international situation became more complicated in the summer of 1914, he paid an official visit to Tsar Nicholas II.
Despite this, for the majority of the population, the war that broke out was a complete surprise.
France was saved from complete defeat during the massive German offensive thanks to the courage of the French troops during the retreat to the Marne and the offensive of the Russian army into East Prussia.
After that, both sides switched to positional forms of war.
This trench warfare lasted for four years.
In 1917, after the United States entered the war, the German army made a last desperate attempt to achieve victory through the last major offensive in France.
It achieved success, but the arrival of American troops, ammunition and food in Europe stopped the German offensive and weakened the morale of the German army.
The famous Marshal Ferdinand Foch, with the support of the Clemenceau government, led the Entente troops in a brilliant campaign that culminated in the expulsion of the Germans from France.
In Germany, which was close to the exhaustion of its resources, a revolution began and it requested an armistice, which was concluded on November 11, 1918.
Pigeon messenger car of the French army PMV
Peugeot 18CV armored car of the French army PMV
Bath car of the French army PMV
French armored train PMV
Projectile of the French heavy PMV gun of 400 mm caliber
France in the period between the two wars (1918-1939)[edit / edit wiki text]
The internal policy of France in the 1920s was largely determined by the unresolved problems that arose after the end of the war.
The two main directions were connected with the financial and foreign policy of the country, which was led by Raymond Poincare and Aristide Briand.
High military expenditures were covered by France at the expense of loans, which inevitably led to inflation.
Poincare counted on German reparations to keep the franc at least at the level of 1/10 of the pre war value, to cover the costs of restoring destroyed areas and to pay interest on loans to Great Britain and the United States.
However, the Germans did not want to fulfill their obligations.
Many even doubted the possibility of Germany paying large reparations.
Poincare, who did not share these doubts, in 1923 led troops into the Ruhr region.
The Germans resisted and capitulated only after the introduction of emergency measures.
British and American experts put forward the Dawes plan to finance reparations payments, mainly through American loans to Germany.
In the first half of the 1920s, Poincare enjoyed the support of the nationalist minded parliament elected in 1920.
But in the next elections of 1924, despite the split of the left forces into the warring Communist and Socialist parties (1920), the coalition of radical Socialists and Socialists (union of the Left) was able to win a majority of seats.
The new Chamber rejected the Poincare line along with his firm monetary policy in France and, in order to improve relations with Germany, brought first Edouard Herriot and then Briand to power.
Briand's plans to ensure peace in Europe apparently met with a favorable response from Gustav Stresemann, the Reich Chancellor and German Foreign Minister.
Stresemann initiated the conclusion of a guarantee pact on the inviolability of state borders in the Rhine region and on the preservation of the demilitarization of the Rhineland, which was reflected in the Locarno Treaties of 1925.
From the mid 1920s until his death in 1932, Briand led the foreign policy of France.
He made skillful and tireless attempts to establish relations with Germany as a basis for maintaining peace under the auspices of the League of Nations, although he knew that Germany was engaged in rearmament.
Briand was sure that France would never be able to stand up to Germany on its own without the support of its former allies or the League of Nations.
In the early 1930s, France was gripped by a deep economic crisis.
A mass labor movement unfolded in the country, and at the same time the threat from Nazi Germany increased.
Both the program of equal social security, which the working class insisted on, and the policy of effective rearmament to eliminate the threat from the remilitarized Germany rested on the need for an effective recovery of the French economy.
Moreover, in the 1930s, when production was declining all over the world, France would hardly have been able to achieve genuine international cooperation, which alone could have saved the country's economy from collapse.
The world crisis and its most serious consequence — unemployment — manifested themselves in France in the middle of 1934.
In the 1936 elections, the Popular Front won a decisive victory, partly because it seemed to be the only defense in the face of totalitarian right wing forces, but mainly because of the promise to improve the economic situation and carry out social reforms (similar to the New Course in the United States).
Socialist leader Leon Blum has formed a new government.
Hitler's rise to power initially had little impact on events in France.
However, his call for rearmament (1935) and the seizure of the Rhineland (1936) represented a direct military threat.
This radically changed the attitude of the French to foreign policy.
The left could no longer support the policy of rapprochement of both states, and the right did not believe in the possibility of military resistance.
One of the few concrete foreign policy measures of this period was the mutual assistance pact with the USSR, concluded by Pierre Laval in 1935.
Unfortunately, such an attempt to revive the long standing Franco Russian alliance to curb Germany was not crowned with success.
After the annexation of Austria (1938), Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia hand over the Sudetenland to Germany.
At the Munich Conference, France agreed to the partition of Czechoslovakia.
The French could take a decisive position at the conference, since it had non aggression agreements with both Czechoslovakia and the USSR.
However, the representative of France, Edouard Daladier, took a position similar to that of the English Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.
France during the Second World War[edit / edit wiki text]
In 1939, Britain began to rearm the army, but when Chamberlain opposed the German invasion of Poland and declared war on the aggressor (September 3, 1939), Daladier followed his example.
In the period from September 1939 to the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, France was inactive, so the confrontation with Germany acquired the character of a so called "strange war".
Morally and militarily, France was completely unprepared to repel the German attack in May 1940.
Within six fateful weeks, the Netherlands, Belgium and France were defeated, and British troops were expelled from mainland Europe.
Despite the military power of France, the defeat of this country was so sudden and complete that it defied any rational explanation.
Vichy Regime (1940-1944)[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Vichy Mode
The armistice agreement concluded on June 22, 1940, put an end to the fighting in France.
At the same time, the French General Charles de Gaulle spoke on the radio from London and called on all the French to unite to fight the invaders.
On July 11, the deputies of the parliament gathered in Vichy and handed over power to Marshal Philippe Petain.
The Vichy government held control over 2/5 of the country's territory (central and southern regions), while German troops occupied the entire north and the Atlantic coast.
The Vichy government lasted until the invasion of Anglo American troops in North Africa in November 1942.
After that, the Germans completely occupied France.
The Germans carried out a brutal policy in the occupied territory.
The resistance movement, initially weak, was significantly strengthened when the Germans began to export the French to Germany for forced labor.
Although the Resistance contributed to the liberation of France, the main role was played by the Allied combat operations that landed in Normandy in June 1944 and on the Riviera in August 1944 and reached the Rhine by the end of the summer.
The reconstruction of the country began, which took place under the leadership of General de Gaulle and the leaders of the Resistance, especially Georges Bidault and Guy Mollet, who represented the liberal Catholic and socialist organizations, respectively.
The leaders of the Resistance called for the creation of a new society based on brotherhood and general economic equality, while guaranteeing genuine individual freedom.
The Provisional Government has begun to implement a social development program based on a significant expansion of State property.
The implementation of all these principles greatly complicated the unstable financial system of the country To support it, it was necessary to restore, systematically develop and expand the industrial base of the economy.
The relevant plans were developed by a group of experts led by Jean Monnet.
The Fourth Republic (1946-1958)[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The Fourth Republic
In 1946, the Constituent Assembly adopted a draft of a new constitution that eliminated a number of shortcomings of the Third Republic.
General de Gaulle spoke in favor of establishing an authoritarian presidential regime.
The Communists (who, thanks to their active participation in the Resistance, now played an important role in the government) proposed a single Legislative Assembly.
However, the majority of voters considered that this plan was fraught with the threat of a communist conspiracy, and did not accept it in a general referendum.
In the second referendum, a compromise constitution was adopted, according to which a weak president and an advisory advisory upper house were supplemented by an influential National Assembly that controlled the activities of the government.
The similarity between the Fourth and Third Republics was obvious.
In 1947, the United States announced a comprehensive program of economic assistance (the Marshall Plan) in order to prevent the collapse of the economic and political structure of Europe and accelerate the reconstruction of its industry.
The United States provided assistance on the condition that the newly created Organization for European Economic Cooperation would mark the beginning of the integration of European states.
Meanwhile, the Cold War begins, and in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created by the United States to strengthen its position in Western Europe.
France took part in the general activities under the treaty, although this weighed heavily on the country's budget and depleted its military resources.
Thus, there was an insoluble conflict between the fulfillment of contractual obligations to NATO and the financial capabilities of France.
After the Second World War, the national liberation movement intensified in the countries of Southeast Asia, including the French protectorate of Indochina.
Although the provisional government of de Gaulle promised to grant political rights to all subjects, which was confirmed by the constitution of 1946, France supported the reactionary regime in Indochina, which opposed the forces of Vietnam, which had previously fought for the liberation of the country from Japanese invaders, and then received the support of China.
After the conclusion of the armistice in Korea, it became clear that France would have to evacuate its troops from Vietnam.
During this period, the Communists ' attempts to discredit American aid or refuse it intensified in France itself, and de Gaulle's party, the Union of the French People (RPF), wanting to protect the country from communism, sought power and a change in the state system.
In the general elections of 1951, the party political struggle reached its climax.
The Communists and Gaullists won a significant number of votes.
However, thanks to the change in the electoral law (the rejection of the proportional system of elections and the introduction of majority voting), the Republican parties that united before the elections in a bloc called the "Third Force" were able to win almost two thirds of the seats in the National Assembly.
This allowed them to form a coalition government.
Shortly after the complete defeat of the French army in Indochina, in the large scale battle of Dien Bien Phu, Pierre Mendes France was appointed the new prime minister.
A former financial expert with strong anti colonialist views, he conducted peace negotiations and in July 1954 signed the Geneva Agreements on ending the war in Indochina.
Although Mendes France had his own program, he immediately became involved in the struggle for the approval of the treaty on the organization of the European Defense Community (EOS) and for the inclusion of the FRG in its composition.
In France, the opponents of the revival of the German army were so influential that this treaty, inspired by the United States, was never ratified.
The failure of Mendes France, who supported the EOS project, caused hostility to it from the Republican People's Movement led by Georges Bidault.
As a result, the Government was forced to resign.
In the mid 1950s, unrest began in North Africa — Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria (the first two were considered French protectorates, and the last was an overseas department of France).
Tunisia gained independence in 1956, and Morocco in 1957.
The army, which had just returned from Indochina, was transferred to Algeria to repel terrorist attacks by the rebels of the National Liberation Front (FLN).
Although during the election campaign, Molle promised to conduct peace negotiations with the rebels, in the spring of 1956 he announced a general mobilization in the country to pacify Algeria by force.
Since Egypt supported the FLN, France in retaliation sent its troops to help Britain in its campaign in the Suez Canal zone in the fall of 1956.
By getting involved in this conflict, the French government lost the trust of the people and political prestige, and also significantly depleted the treasury.
The French army in Algeria, with the instigation and support of the Europeans, who made up 10% of the total population of this country, actually ceased to obey the government.
Although the major cities of Algeria managed to calm down, a wave of discontent was rising in France itself.
The fact that the army clearly exceeded its powers did not absolve the government from moral responsibility.
However, in the case of restoring order in the army, the country would lose its effective force and lose hope of victory.
Instigated by the Gaullist leaders, the army and the French colonists showed open disobedience to the government.
Violent rallies and demonstrations that unfolded in Algeria spread to Corsica, the metropolis was under the threat of civil war or a military coup.
Torn by contradictions, the Fourth Republic on June 2, 1958 transferred emergency powers to Charles de Gaulle — the only person who could save France.
The Fifth Republic[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The Fifth Republic
In 1958, the Constitution of the Fifth Republic was adopted, which expanded the rights of the executive branch.
General Charles de Gaulle became President.
By 1960, in the context of the collapse of the colonial system, most of the French colonies in Africa had gained independence.
In 1962, after a brutal war, Algeria gained independence.
Pro French Algerians moved to France, where they formed a rapidly growing Muslim minority.
Mass unrest of young people and students (the May 1968 events in France) caused by the aggravation of economic and social contradictions, as well as a general strike led to an acute state crisis.
Charles de Gaulle was forced to resign (1969).
I knew Mitterrand.
I deeply respect this man, I remember the advice he gave me when signing the French guarantees to Ukraine, which then renounced nuclear weapons: do not believe any promises from the outside, rely only on yourself.
This, I believe, is the recipe for French strategic independence, which the country has kept since the time of de Gaulle.
The original text (in Ukrainian)
I knew Mitterrand.
Gliboko povazhayu qiu lyudina, pamyatayu porada, yaku vin dav meni, pid I write the French guarantees of Ukraine, sho vid I was happy with the current vid nuclear zbro: do not be afraid of the same obitsyankam zzovni, pokladat lishe on yourself.
In my opinion, I am introducing a recipe for a French strategic independence, like a kraina zberiga z chas de Gaulle.
- Leonid Kuchma, [1]
Gaullist Georges Pompidou, who served as Prime Minister in 1962-1968, was elected the second president of the Fifth Republic in 1969.
In 1974, he was replaced by Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
From 1981 to 1995, the socialist Francois Mitterrand held the presidential post.
Since May 17, 1995, Jacques Chirac has become the President of the Republic.
After taking the post of president, Chirac focused the main efforts of his government on combating inflation and budget deficits by reducing public spending and social benefits.
In November 1995, the Prime Minister appointed by Chirac, one of the leaders of the ODA, Alain Juppe, announced a plan to eliminate the budget deficit and social insurance funds.
He proposed to increase taxes, reduce medical benefits, freeze the salaries of workers and employees of the public sector and cancel the pension benefits that they used.
Juppe proposed to close unprofitable state owned enterprises (primarily railways) or sell them to private ownership.
Juppe's plan met with vigorous opposition.
All the trade unions that united workers and employees of the public sector went on strike, which gradually covered the vast majority of employees of public services: railway workers, electricians, postal employees, metro staff.
They were joined by students who demanded an increase in education loans and job guarantees after graduation.
Mass demonstrations in support of the strikers took place in many cities.
In total, about 2 million people participated in strikes and demonstrations that lasted for almost a month.
The government had to cancel the Juppe plan; its popularity began to fall rapidly.
The 1997 elections.
Fearing that the decline in the popularity of the government could result in the defeat of the right in the upcoming parliamentary elections in 1998, Chirac decided to hold early elections while the right had not yet lost the confidence of the majority of voters.
In April 1997, Chirac dissolved the National Assembly and called early parliamentary elections.
They took place in June 1997, and, contrary to Chirac's calculations, the the victory was given to the socialists who acted in alliance with the communists.
The left wing parties, which promised to end unemployment, create 700,000 new jobs and reduce the working day to 35 hours a week, collected 42% of the votes, while the ODA and the SFD 36.2 %.
More than 25% of voters voted for the Socialists, and slightly less than 10% voted for the Communists.
The National Front, which stood alone, collected more than 15 % of the votes — the best result in its history — but since no party wanted to block it in the second round, only one National Front deputy entered the parliament.
Together with other left wing groups, the Socialists and Communists won a strong majority in parliament.
In the current situation, Chirac, following the example of Mitterrand, used the tactics of" coexistence " and appointed the leader of the Socialist Party Jospin as prime minister, the right wing president began to coexist with the left wing government and the left wing majority in parliament.
Jospin formed a left wing government consisting of socialists, left wing radicals and other left wing groups.
After a 13 year break, the Communists again joined it, receiving three secondary ministerial portfolios out of 27: the Minister of Industrial Equipment, Transport and Housing Construction; the Minister of Youth and Sports; the Deputy Minister for Tourism.
The main posts in the government were occupied by socialists.
Speaking with the government declaration, Jospin promised to guarantee women equal rights with men, to soften the legislation against immigrants, to increase the minimum wage, to make the transition to a 35 hour working week.
Soon, the minimum wage and allowances for schoolchildren were increased; the transition to a 35 hour working week began.
The economic development of France accelerated to 3-4 % per year, inflation decreased to 1 % per year.
In 1997, the volume of industrial production exceeded the level of 1974 by 55 % and more than five times exceeded the pre war level, but mass unemployment remained.
France continued to be an active member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Pact.
Since January 1, 1999, in France, as in other countries of the European Union, the European currency ("euro") entered into circulation — at first only in non cash payments.
In the summer of 1999, France took part in the NATO military operation against Serbia in Kosovo, although it was conducted without UN authorization.
On September 24, 2000, at the initiative of President Chirac, a referendum was held in France on reducing the term of office of the President from seven to five years.
The referendum did not arouse much interest among voters — almost 70% of them did not participate in the vote, setting a record of non participation in the elections.
73 % of those who voted supported limiting the term of office of the president to five years, and the new law on the terms of office of the president came into force.
The elections in May 2007 brought a victory in the second round to the leader of the Gaullist party, former Interior Minister (2002-2007) Nicolas Sarkozy.
In July 2008, President Sarkozy put forward a draft constitutional reform, which received the support of the Parliament.
This reform of the Constitution was the most significant during the existence of the Fifth Republic: amendments were made to 47 of the 89 articles of the document.
Bibliography[edit / edit wiki text]
When writing this article, we used material from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907).
France France in the topics Armed Forces • Science History of Gaul • The Middle Ages • Absolutism • The Great French Revolution • The Bourbon Restoration • The Third Republic • France in the XX century
Politics State system • Constitution • Foreign policy • Local self government • President of France • Social Policy Symbols Coat of Arms • Flag • Anthem • Symbols of the French Republic • Awards Economy Taxation • Currency • Transport • Post office (history and stamps) * Tourism (national parks • World Heritage) Geography Capital • Administrative division • Departments • Cities • Rivers • Population (French) • Overseas Possessions (colonies) Culture Languages • Education • Literature • Music • Architecture • Sport • Holidays • Cuisine • Cinema • Television Religion Catholicism • Islam • Protestantism Portal "France" • Project "France"
History of France Antiquity Prehistoric France * Antiquity • Roman Gaul (220 BC 481) Medieval France Merovingians (481-751 • * Carolingians (751-987) • Capetians (987-1328) • Valois (1328-1589) • Bourbons (1589-1792, 1814-1848) Pre revolutionary France The Kingdom of France • Italian Wars • States General of Modern France French Revolution (1789-1799 • * First Republic (1792-1804) • First Empire (1804-1814) • Bourbon Restoration (1814-1830) • July Monarchy (1830-1848) • Second Republic (1848-1852) • Second Empire (1852-1870 • * Paris Commune (1871) • Third Republic (1871-1940) • Vichy Regime (1940-1944) • Provisional Government (1944-1946) • Fourth Republic (1946-1958) • Fifth Republic (since 1958)
Source — "https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Франция in the XX century&oldid=74102814"
Category: History of France
Hidden categories: Wikipedia:Articles for wikification Materials of the ESBE
Navigation
Personal Tools
You did not introduce yourself to the system Discussion Contribution Create an account Log in
Namespaces
Article Discussion
Variants
Views
Read Edit Edit wiki text History
More
Search
Navigation
Title Page Heading Index A Z Selected articles Random article Current Events
Participation
Report a bug Community Portal Forum Recent edits New pages Help Donations
Tools
Links Here Related edits Special Pages Permanent link Page Information Quote Page
Print/Export
Create a book Download as PDF Printable version
In other languages
Add links
Last modified on this page: 17: 47, October 24, 2015.
The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license; in some cases, additional conditions may apply.
For more information, see Terms of use.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the non profit organization Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Contact us
Privacy Policy Wikipedia Description Disclaimer Developers Mobile Version
