French legislative election, 1919 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 1919 legislative election, the first election held after World War I, was held on 16 and 30 November 1919.

Proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

by department replaced the Two-round system

Two-round system

The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...

by arrondissements

Arrondissements of France

The 101 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts.The capital of an arrondissement/district is called a subprefecture...

in use since 1889. However, a provision of the system allowed a party to win all the seats in a certain constituency if it had won over 50% of all votes cast.

Campaign

The formation of electoral lists needed to take into account of three factors: on one hand, the tendency of the opinion to think that the Union sacrée needed to be prolonged in peacetime in order to solve the new problems of France of the post-war period; on the other hand, the refusal of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), then in crisis, to discuss the question of the Bolshevism. To preserve their unity, the Socialists decided in April 1919 not to conclude any agreement ahead of the legislative elections. This decision isolated the radicals, forced to give up a new alliance of the left, and allowed an aggressive campaign of the right and centre directed against the SFIO, accused of Bolshevism; finally, the persistence of partisan divisions within the right. The monarchists of Action française
Action Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...

were isolated, but the nationalists, the Catholics, and the "progressives" (who are in fact the moderate republicans from the pre-war period) brought together the moderate republicans of the center-right, gathered in several small organizations, all members of Democratic Alliance

Democratic Republican Alliance

The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...

, but rejected any possibility of an agreement with the radicals. The radicals were found stuck between the SFIO which hesitated between radicalization and the status quo, and a right more than ever anti-leftist.

Following complex negotiations, 324 lists were formed. The Socialists chose homogeneous lists, while the radicals divided between lists allied with the center-right and isolated lists. The lists of the Bloc National gathered the members of the Democratic Republican Alliance

Democratic Republican Alliance

The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...

, the progressives, the nationalists and the Catholics. Alexandre Millerand

Alexandre Millerand

Alexandre Millerand was a French socialist politician. He was President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924 and Prime Minister of France 20 January to 23 September 1920...

managed to gather around him a very broad coalition in his stronghold of the second sector of the Seine

Seine

The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...

by advocating a reinforcement of the presidential powers.

Results

The results were, except for the SFIO, which made gains, managing to run candidates in all constituencies; rather confusing. Radicals, particularly when they were isolated, tended to decline, and the victory of the Bloc National was without ambiguity: a blue wave hit the Chamber of deputies

Chamber of Deputies of France

Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...

, called the "blue horizon chamber", because of the great number of ex-World War I servicemen who sat there (44% of the total of the deputies). This victory would remain the largest victory of the right and the centre-right until the 1968 legislative election

French legislative election, 1968

- National Assembly by Parliamentary Group:...

. 60% of the deputies in this legislature were newly elected.

Popular vote

Summary of the popular vote in the 11 and 25 May 1919 Chamber of Deputies election results
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top colspan="2"|Alliance
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top colspan="2"|Party
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Abbr.
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
|-
|style="background-color:blue" rowspan="4"|
|align=left rowspan="4"|National Bloc

National Bloc (France)

The National Bloc was a center-right coalition in France which was in power from 1919 to 1924.- Elections of 1919 :Made up primarily of conservative right wing parties, such as the Fédération républicaine, Alliance démocratique, and Action libérale, the coalition had the support of various radical...

Republican Federation

The Republican Federation was the largest conservative party during the French Third Republic, gathering together the liberal Orleanists rallied to the Republic. Founded in November 1903, it rivalized with the more secular and centrist Alliance démocratique...

Republican Independents

The Independents and later Republican Independents was a French parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies of France during the French Third Republic between 1928 and 1940. The IR was composed of the most conservative members of the legislature, to the right of the Republican Federation...

Independent Radicals

The Independent Radicals were a center-right French political current during the French Third Republic, which refused the Radical-Socialist Party's alliance to the Left. It was formed after the fall of the first Cartel des gauches, in 1926. Starting in 1928, the group of the Independent Radicals...

Republican-Socialist Party

The Republican-Socialist Party was a French socialist political party during the French Third Republic, founded in 1911 and dissolved in 1934. It was founded by socialists who refused to join the SFIO founded in 1905. The PRS was a non-Marxist "reformist socialist" party located between the SFIO...

Independent Socialists (France)

The Independent Socialists were a French political movement and, at times, parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies of France during the French Third Republic. The movement was strong from 1880 till the fall of the Republic in 1940....

(Socialistes indépendants)
|align=right|PRS
|align=right|147,053
|align=right|1.80
|-
|style="background-color:gray"|
|colspan=5 align=left| Veterans (Anciens combattants)
|align=right|
|align=right|128,004
|align=right|1.57
|-
|style="background-color:gray"|
|colspan=5 align=left| Other parties
|align=right|Div
|align=right|87,963
|align=right|1.08
|-
|align=left colspan=7|Total
|align=right|
|align=right|100
|-
|colspan=9 align=left|Abstention: 29.78%
|}

Parliamentary Groups

Affiliation		Seats
Left Left-wing politics In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
	French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO)	68
Centre-Left
	Republican-Socialist Party Republican-Socialist Party The Republican-Socialist Party was a French socialist political party during the French Third Republic, founded in 1911 and dissolved in 1934. It was founded by socialists who refused to join the SFIO founded in 1905. The PRS was a non-Marxist "reformist socialist" party located between the SFIO... (PRS)	26
	Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (PRRRS)	86
Centre-Right
	Democratic Republican Left Democratic Republican Alliance The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...	93
	Republican and Social Action Republican and Social Action The Republican and Social Action was a French parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies of France during the French Third Republic between 1919 and 1924 founded by 46 members of the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance.-Fourth Republic:...	46
	Republicans of the Left Democratic Republican Alliance The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...	61
Right
	Democratic and Republican Union Democratic and Republican Union The Democratic and Republican Union was the parliamentary group of the conservative Republican Federation in the Chamber of Deputies of France during the French Third Republic ....	183
	Independents Republican Independents The Independents and later Republican Independents was a French parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies of France during the French Third Republic between 1928 and 1940. The IR was composed of the most conservative members of the legislature, to the right of the Republican Federation...	29
Non-inscrits Non-Inscrits Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament who do not sit in one of the recognized political groups....
		21
Total		613

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.