Rally of Republican Lefts
Encyclopedia
The Rally of Republican Lefts (Rassemblement des gauches républicaines or RGR) was an electoral alliance during the French Fourth Republic
composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals
, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
(UDSR) and several conservative groups. Headed by Jean-Paul David, founder of the anti-Communist movement Paix et Liberté
(Peace and Freedom), it was in fact a right-of-center conservative coalition, which presented candidates to the June 1946
, November 1946
, and 1951 legislative elections
. Despite its name, the coalition was on the right wing of French politics; for a long time, the French republican right has refused to call itself "right" since the right-wing in France has historically been associated with monarchism
(this practice is known as sinistrisme
). It was subsided by French employers, who saw in it the best defense against Communism and the defender of economic liberalism
, in a context marked by various nationalization
s supported by the French Communist Party
(PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the Gaullist movement. Employers conceived the RGR as such until at least the 1951 creation of the National Centre of Independents and Peasants
(CNIP) gathering independent conservative deputies. During the 1956 legislative campaign, it became a political party led by Edgar Faure
and Radicals who refused to join the Republican Front
coalition.
, and of the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
(Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance), which included René Pleven
and François Mitterrand
. The UDSR was a founding member of the Liberal International
in 1947. Others parties included:
alliance composed of the Communists
, the Socialists and the Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement
(MRP).
The Radical Party and the pre-war right-wing groups were considered jointly responsible for the 1940 collapse of the Third Republic
. In the same time, the attempt to gather the non-Communist Resistance in a new party, the UDSR, failed. In 1946, they formed a coalition to resist to the Three-parties alliance in the legislative elections.
They defined themselves as "left-wing republicans" whilst they opposed left-wing policies. Indeed, until the end of the 19th century, the French left was defined as republican
and the right as pro-monarchy
. Then, when the republic was no longer questioned, the conservative republican groups, who had sat at the center-left of the assemblies, moved to the right-wing seats, but they continued to consider themselves as left-wingers: this is known as sinistrisme
.
When the Communists were ejected from the government during the May 1947 crisis
, the RGR joined the government of the Third force
with the SFIO, the MRP, then the National Center of Independents and Peasants.
The RGR obtained 11.6% of the votes in 1946, 11,1% in 1951 and 3.9% of 1956 (most of the Radicals had decided to present themselves as members of the Republican Front
of Pierre Mendès France.)
In 1955, under the leaderships of Pierre Mendès France and François Mitterrand
, the Radical Party and the UDSR advocated left-wing policies and left the RGR. Their internal opponents pursued the RGR, which became a small center-right party led by Prime Minister Edgar Faure
and composed of Radicals expelled from the party. It disappeared in 1958, many Radicals joining again the Radical party while Jean-Paul David created the Parti libéral européen (European Liberal Party), which would eventually fusion in 1978 with the Parti Radical Valoisien.
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals
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...
, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...
(UDSR) and several conservative groups. Headed by Jean-Paul David, founder of the anti-Communist movement Paix et Liberté
Paix et Liberté
Paix et Liberté was an anti-communist movement that operated in France during the 1950s.-Founding:In response to the Stockholm Appeal , Jean-Paul David, then Radical Socialist Party deputy mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie and later Secretary General of the Rally of Republican Lefts , created Paix et...
(Peace and Freedom), it was in fact a right-of-center conservative coalition, which presented candidates to the June 1946
French legislative election, June 1946
Legislative elections were held in France on 2 June 1946 to elect the second post-war National Assembly designated to prepare a new Constitution...
, November 1946
French legislative election, November 1946
Legislative election was held in France on 10 November 1946 to elect the first National Assembly of the Fourth Republic. The electoral system used was proportional representation....
, and 1951 legislative elections
French legislative election, 1951
Legislative elections were held in France on 17 June 1951 to elect the second National Assembly of the Fourth Republic.After the Second World War, the three parties which took a major part in the French Resistance to the German occupation dominated the political scene and government: the French...
. Despite its name, the coalition was on the right wing of French politics; for a long time, the French republican right has refused to call itself "right" since the right-wing in France has historically been associated with monarchism
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
(this practice is known as sinistrisme
Sinistrisme
Sinistrisme is a neologism invented by Albert Thibaudet in Les idées politiques de la France . He referred to the progressive substitution of left wing parties by new, more radical parties, which in turn pushed each party towards the center Sinistrisme is a neologism invented by Albert Thibaudet in...
). It was subsided by French employers, who saw in it the best defense against Communism and the defender of economic liberalism
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
, in a context marked by various nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
s supported by the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the Gaullist movement. Employers conceived the RGR as such until at least the 1951 creation of the National Centre of Independents and Peasants
National Centre of Independents and Peasants
The National Centre of Independents and Peasants is a liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal political party in France, founded in 1949 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents with the...
(CNIP) gathering independent conservative deputies. During the 1956 legislative campaign, it became a political party led by Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
and Radicals who refused to join the Republican Front
Republican Front (France)
The Republican Front was a French center-left coalition which won the 1956 legislative election. In the context of the Algerian War, behind Pierre Mendès-France, it gathered the French Section of the Workers' International , the Radical Party, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance...
coalition.
Composition of the coalition
The RGR was largely composed of the Radical-Socialist Party, which had governed France during most of the Third RepublicFrench Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, and of the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...
(Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance), which included René Pleven
René Pleven
René Pléven was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance , a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement...
and François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
. The UDSR was a founding member of the Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
in 1947. Others parties included:
- Republican Social Party of French ReconciliationRepublican Social Party of French ReconciliationThe Republican Social Party of French Reconciliation was a French political party founded in 1945 by former members of François de La Rocque's French Social Party who wished to continue the pre-war PSF....
(Parti républicain social de la réconciliation française), founded by former members of Colonel de la Rocque's Parti Social Français (PSF) - Democratic Republican AllianceDemocratic Republican AllianceThe 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...
(Alliance Démocratique), main right-wing party during the interwar periodInterwar periodInterwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe.... - Democratic Socialist PartyDemocratic Socialist Party (France)The Democratic Socialist Party was a French socialist political party during the French Fourth Republic, founded in 1945 by members expelled from the French Section of the Workers' International following the Liberation of France for wartime collaboration with the German occupiers.The PSD's most...
(Parti socialiste démocratique) of Paul Faure, which gathered former SFIO members excluded from that party because of their CollaborationismCollaborationismCollaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,... - Independent RadicalsIndependent RadicalsThe 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...
(Radicaux indépendants), radicals refusing the Radical-Socialist Party alliance with the left-wing during the Cartel des gauchesCartel des GauchesThe Cartel des gauches was the name of the governmental alliance between the Radical-Socialist Party and the socialist French Section of the Workers' International after World War I , which lasted until the end of the Popular Front . The Cartel des gauches twice won general elections, in 1924 and...
, issued from a scission in 1928; the group is reconstituted at the Liberation by the mayor of Nice, Jacques MédecinJacques MédecinJacques Médecin was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist RPR, he served as mayor of the city of Nice from 1966 to 1990... - Republican-Socialist PartyRepublican-Socialist PartyThe 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...
(Parti républicain-socialiste) created by independent socialists who had refused the unification of the socialist movement in 1905 under the SFIO, which was, like the Independent Radicals, almost an empty shell by then.
Foundation
After World War II, France was governed by the Three-partiesThree-parties
The Three-Parties Alliance was a coalition which governed in France from 1944 to 1947, and was composed of the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Christian Democrat Popular Republican Movement , which to begin with contained the regrouped Gaullists...
alliance composed of the Communists
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
, the Socialists and the Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement
Popular Republican Movement
The Popular Republican Movement was a French Christian democratic party of the Fourth Republic...
(MRP).
The Radical Party and the pre-war right-wing groups were considered jointly responsible for the 1940 collapse of the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. In the same time, the attempt to gather the non-Communist Resistance in a new party, the UDSR, failed. In 1946, they formed a coalition to resist to the Three-parties alliance in the legislative elections.
They defined themselves as "left-wing republicans" whilst they opposed left-wing policies. Indeed, until the end of the 19th century, the French left was defined as republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
and the right as pro-monarchy
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
. Then, when the republic was no longer questioned, the conservative republican groups, who had sat at the center-left of the assemblies, moved to the right-wing seats, but they continued to consider themselves as left-wingers: this is known as sinistrisme
Sinistrisme
Sinistrisme is a neologism invented by Albert Thibaudet in Les idées politiques de la France . He referred to the progressive substitution of left wing parties by new, more radical parties, which in turn pushed each party towards the center Sinistrisme is a neologism invented by Albert Thibaudet in...
.
When the Communists were ejected from the government during the May 1947 crisis
May 1947 crisis
The May 1947 Crisis of Italy was when the Communist Party of Italy was thrown out of government. The Christian Democrats led by Alcide De Gasperi were becoming increasingly unpopular, and were afraid that the Left Coalition would take power....
, the RGR joined the government of the Third force
Third Force (France)
The Third Force was a French coalition during the Fourth Republic which gathered the French Section of the Workers' International party, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance centre-right party, the Radicals, the Christian democrat Popular Republican Movement and other centrist...
with the SFIO, the MRP, then the National Center of Independents and Peasants.
The RGR obtained 11.6% of the votes in 1946, 11,1% in 1951 and 3.9% of 1956 (most of the Radicals had decided to present themselves as members of the Republican Front
Republican Front (France)
The Republican Front was a French center-left coalition which won the 1956 legislative election. In the context of the Algerian War, behind Pierre Mendès-France, it gathered the French Section of the Workers' International , the Radical Party, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance...
of Pierre Mendès France.)
In 1955, under the leaderships of Pierre Mendès France and François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, the Radical Party and the UDSR advocated left-wing policies and left the RGR. Their internal opponents pursued the RGR, which became a small center-right party led by Prime Minister Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
and composed of Radicals expelled from the party. It disappeared in 1958, many Radicals joining again the Radical party while Jean-Paul David created the Parti libéral européen (European Liberal Party), which would eventually fusion in 1978 with the Parti Radical Valoisien.
See also
- Édouard DaladierÉdouard DaladierÉdouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
- Edgar FaureEdgar FaureEdgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
- Henri QueuilleHenri QueuilleHenri Queuille was a French Radical politician prominent in the Third and Fourth Republics. After World War II, he served three times as Prime Minister.He was the son of a noblewoman.-First ministry :...
- Jean MédecinJean MédecinJean Médecin was a French lawyer and politician. He was Mayor of Nice, France from 1928 to 1943 and from 1947 to 1965, and the father of Jacques Médecin, who succeeded him as mayor until 1990.- Before the war :...
- François MitterrandFrançois MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
- Émile MuselierÉmile MuselierEmile Henry Muselier was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces during World War II. He was responsible for the idea of distinguishing his fleet from that of Vichy France by adopting the Cross of Lorraine, which later became the emblem of all of the Free French...
- SinistrismeSinistrismeSinistrisme is a neologism invented by Albert Thibaudet in Les idées politiques de la France . He referred to the progressive substitution of left wing parties by new, more radical parties, which in turn pushed each party towards the center Sinistrisme is a neologism invented by Albert Thibaudet in...
- National Centre of Independents and PeasantsNational Centre of Independents and PeasantsThe National Centre of Independents and Peasants is a liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal political party in France, founded in 1949 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents with the...
(CNIP)