René Waldeck-Rousseau
Encyclopedia
this gy was cool
Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (pjɛʁ valdɛk ʁuso; 2 December 1846 – 10 August 1904) was a French Republican
statesman
.
, Loire-Atlantique. His father, René Waldeck-Rousseau, a barrister
at the Nantes bar and a leader of the local republican party
, figured in the revolution of 1848 as one of the deputies returned to the Constituent Assembly
for Loire Inférieure.
The son was a delicate child whose eyesight made reading difficult, and his early education was therefore entirely oral. He studied law at Poitiers and in Paris, where he took his licentiate in January 1869. His father's record ensured his reception in high republican circles. Jules Grévy
stood sponsor for him at the Parisian
bar
. After six months of waiting for briefs in Paris, he decided to return home and to joined the bar of St Nazaire early in 1870. In September he became, in spite of his youth, secretary to the municipal commission temporarily appointed to carry on the town business. He organized the National Defence at St Nazaire, and himself marched out with his contingent, though they saw no active service owing to lack of ammunition, their private store having been commandeered by the state.
in 1871, he moved to the bar of Rennes
, and six years later was returned to the Chamber of Deputies
. In his electoral program he had stated that he was prepared to respect all liberties except those of conspiracy against the institutions of the country and of educating the young in hatred of the modern social order. In the Chamber he supported the policy of Léon Gambetta
.
The Waldeck
-Rousseau family was strictly Catholic in spite of its republican principles; nevertheless Waldeck-Rousseau supported the Jules Ferry laws on public, laic and mandatory education, enacted in 1881–1882. In 1881 he became minister of the interior
in Gambetta's grand ministry. He further voted for the abrogation of the law of 1814 forbidding work on Sundays and fast days, for compulsory service of one year for seminarists and for the re-establishment of divorce. He made his reputation in the Chamber by a report which he drew up in 1880 on behalf of the committee appointed to inquire into the French judicial system.
He was chiefly occupied with the relations between capital and labour, and had a large share in securing the recognition of trade unions in 1884. He became again minister of the interior in the Jules Ferry
cabinet of 1883–1885, when he gave proof of great administrative powers. He sought to put down the system by which civil posts were obtained through the local deputy, and he made it clear that the central authority could not be defied by local officials. Waldeck-Rousseau also deposed the 27 May 1885 act establishing penal colonies
, dubbed "Law on relegation of recidivist
s", along with Martin Feuillée. The law was supported by Gambetta and his friend, the criminologist Alexandre Lacassagne
.
Waldeck-Rousseau had begun to practise at the Paris bar in 1886, and in 1889 he did not seek re-election to the Chamber, but devoted himself to his legal work. The most famous of the many noteworthy cases in which his cold and penetrating intellect and his power of clear exposition were retained was the defense of Gustave Eiffel
in the Panama scandals
of 1893.
In 1894 he returned to political life as senator for the department of the Loire
, and next year stood for the presidency of the republic against Félix Faure
and Henri Brisson
, being supported by the Conservatives, who were soon to be his bitter enemies. He received 184 votes, but retired before the second ballot to allow Faure to receive an absolute majority. During the political crisis of the next few years he was recognized by the Opportunist Republicans
as the successor of Jules Ferry and Gambetta, and at the crisis of 1899 on the fall of the Charles Dupuy
cabinet he was asked by President Émile Loubet
to form a government.
After an initial failure he succeeded in forming a coalition cabinet of "Republican Defense", supported by the Radical-Socialists and the Socialist
s, which included such widely different politicians as the Socialist Alexandre Millerand
and the General de Galliffet
, dubbed the "repressor of the Commune
". He himself returned to his former post at the ministry of the interior, and set to work to quell the discontent with which the country was seething, to put an end to the various agitations which under specious pretences were directed against republican institutions (far-right leagues, Boulangist crisis, etc.), and to restore independence to the judicial authority. His appeal to all republicans to sink their differences before the common peril met with some degree of success, and enabled the government to leave the second court-martial of Alfred Dreyfus
at Rennes an absolutely free hand, and then to compromise the affair by granting a pardon to Dreyfus. Waldeck-Rousseau won a great personal success in October by his successful intervention in the strikes at Le Creusot.
With the condemnation in January 1900 of Paul Deroulède
and his nationalist followers by the High Court the worst of the danger was past, and Waldeck-Rousseau kept order in Paris without having recourse to irritating displays of force. The Senate was staunch in support of Waldeck-Rousseau, and in the Chamber he displayed remarkable astuteness in winning support from various groups. The Amnesty Bill, passed on 19 December, chiefly through his unwearied advocacy, went far to smooth down the acerbity of the preceding years. With the object of aiding the industry of wine-producing, and of discouraging the consumption of spirits and other deleterious liquors, the government passed a bill suppressing the octroi
duties on the three "hygienic" drinks—wine, cider and beer. The act came into force at the beginning of 1901.
But the most important measure of his later administration was the Associations Bill of 1901. Like many of his predecessors, he was convinced that the stability of the republic demanded some restraint on the intrigues of the wealthy religious bodies. All previous attempts in this direction had failed. In his speech in the Chamber, Waldeck-Rousseau recalled the fact that he had tried to pass an Associations Bill in 1882, and again in 1883. He declared that the religious associations were now being subjected for the first time to the regulations common to all others, and that the object of the bill was to ensure the supremacy of the civil power. The royalist bias given to the pupils in the religious seminaries was undoubtedly a principal cause of the passing of this bill; and the government took strong measures to secure the presence of officers of undoubted fidelity to the republic in the higher positions on the staff. His speeches on the religious question were published in 1901 under the title of Associations et congregations, following a volume of speeches on Questions sociales (1900).
As the general election of 1902
approached all sections of the Opposition united their efforts under the Bloc des gauches
, and the name of Waldeck-Rousseau served as a battle-cry for one side, and on the other as a target for abuse. The result was a decisive victory for republican stability. With the defeat of the machinations against the republic, Waldeck-Rousseau considered his task ended, and on 3 June 1902 he resigned office, having proved himself the "strongest personality in French politics since the death of Gambetta." He emerged from his retirement to protest in the Senate against the construction put on his Associations Bill by Émile Combes
, who refused in mass the applications of the teaching and preaching congregations for official recognition.
Changes
----
Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (pjɛʁ valdɛk ʁuso; 2 December 1846 – 10 August 1904) was a French 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...
statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
.
Early life
Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in NantesNantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, Loire-Atlantique. His father, René Waldeck-Rousseau, a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
at the Nantes bar and a leader of the local republican party
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...
, figured in the revolution of 1848 as one of the deputies returned to the Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
for Loire Inférieure.
The son was a delicate child whose eyesight made reading difficult, and his early education was therefore entirely oral. He studied law at Poitiers and in Paris, where he took his licentiate in January 1869. His father's record ensured his reception in high republican circles. Jules Grévy
Jules Grévy
François Paul Jules Grévy was a President of the French Third Republic and one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans faction. Given that his predecessors were monarchists who tried without success to restore the French monarchy, Grévy is seen as the first real republican President of...
stood sponsor for him at the Parisian
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. After six months of waiting for briefs in Paris, he decided to return home and to joined the bar of St Nazaire early in 1870. In September he became, in spite of his youth, secretary to the municipal commission temporarily appointed to carry on the town business. He organized the National Defence at St Nazaire, and himself marched out with his contingent, though they saw no active service owing to lack of ammunition, their private store having been commandeered by the state.
Under the Third Republic
In 1873, following the establishment 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...
in 1871, he moved to the bar of Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, and six years later was returned to 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.*...
. In his electoral program he had stated that he was prepared to respect all liberties except those of conspiracy against the institutions of the country and of educating the young in hatred of the modern social order. In the Chamber he supported the policy of Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
.
The Waldeck
Waldeck
-Places:* Waldeck Castle, a medieval fortress/castle in Germany* Waldeck, Hesse, a town in Hesse* Waldeck or Waldeck-Pyrmont, a principality in the German Empire and German Confederation, and a state in the Weimar Republic, named after the above castle and town* Waldeck, Bavaria, a village in the...
-Rousseau family was strictly Catholic in spite of its republican principles; nevertheless Waldeck-Rousseau supported the Jules Ferry laws on public, laic and mandatory education, enacted in 1881–1882. In 1881 he became minister of the interior
Minister of the Interior (France)
The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
in Gambetta's grand ministry. He further voted for the abrogation of the law of 1814 forbidding work on Sundays and fast days, for compulsory service of one year for seminarists and for the re-establishment of divorce. He made his reputation in the Chamber by a report which he drew up in 1880 on behalf of the committee appointed to inquire into the French judicial system.
He was chiefly occupied with the relations between capital and labour, and had a large share in securing the recognition of trade unions in 1884. He became again minister of the interior in the Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
cabinet of 1883–1885, when he gave proof of great administrative powers. He sought to put down the system by which civil posts were obtained through the local deputy, and he made it clear that the central authority could not be defied by local officials. Waldeck-Rousseau also deposed the 27 May 1885 act establishing penal colonies
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
, dubbed "Law on relegation of recidivist
Recidivism
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior...
s", along with Martin Feuillée. The law was supported by Gambetta and his friend, the criminologist Alexandre Lacassagne
Alexandre Lacassagne
Alexandre Lacassagne was a French physician and criminologist who was a native of Cahors. He was the founder of the Lacassagne school of criminology, based in Lyon and influent from 1885 to 1914, and main rival to Lombroso's Italian school.- Biography :He studied at the military school in...
.
Waldeck-Rousseau had begun to practise at the Paris bar in 1886, and in 1889 he did not seek re-election to the Chamber, but devoted himself to his legal work. The most famous of the many noteworthy cases in which his cold and penetrating intellect and his power of clear exposition were retained was the defense of Gustave Eiffel
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...
in the Panama scandals
Panama scandals
The Panama scandals was a corruption affair that broke out in the French Third Republic in 1892, linked to the building of the Panama Canal...
of 1893.
In 1894 he returned to political life as senator for the department of the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
, and next year stood for the presidency of the republic against Félix Faure
Félix Faure
Félix François Faure was President of France from 1895 until his death.-Biography:Félix François Faure was born in Paris, the son of a small furniture maker...
and Henri Brisson
Henri Brisson
Eugène Henri Brisson was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France for a period in 1885-1886 and again in 1898.-Biography:He was born at Bourges , and followed his father’s profession of advocate. Having made his mark in opposition during the last days of the empire, he was appointed...
, being supported by the Conservatives, who were soon to be his bitter enemies. He received 184 votes, but retired before the second ballot to allow Faure to receive an absolute majority. During the political crisis of the next few years he was recognized by the Opportunist Republicans
Opportunist Republicans
The Opportunist Republicans , also known as the Moderates , were a faction of French Republicans who believed, after the proclamation of the Third Republic in 1870, that the regime could only be consolidated by successive phases...
as the successor of Jules Ferry and Gambetta, and at the crisis of 1899 on the fall of the Charles Dupuy
Charles Dupuy
Charles Alexandre Dupuy was a French statesman, three times prime minister.-Biography:He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a professor of philosophy in the provinces, he was appointed a school inspector, thus obtaining a...
cabinet he was asked by President Émile Loubet
Émile Loubet
Émile François Loubet was a French politician and the 8th President of France.-Early life:He was born the son of a peasant proprietor and mayor of Marsanne . Admitted to the Parisian bar in 1862, he took his doctorate in law the next year...
to form a government.
After an initial failure he succeeded in forming a coalition cabinet of "Republican Defense", supported by the Radical-Socialists and the Socialist
History of the Left in France
The Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main political parties, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International , created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties...
s, which included such widely different politicians as the Socialist 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...
and the General de Galliffet
Gaston Alexandre Auguste, Marquis de Galliffet
Gaston Alexandre Auguste, Marquis de Galliffet, Prince de Martignes , was a French general, best known for having taken part in the repression of the 1871 Paris Commune...
, dubbed the "repressor of the Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
". He himself returned to his former post at the ministry of the interior, and set to work to quell the discontent with which the country was seething, to put an end to the various agitations which under specious pretences were directed against republican institutions (far-right leagues, Boulangist crisis, etc.), and to restore independence to the judicial authority. His appeal to all republicans to sink their differences before the common peril met with some degree of success, and enabled the government to leave the second court-martial of Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
at Rennes an absolutely free hand, and then to compromise the affair by granting a pardon to Dreyfus. Waldeck-Rousseau won a great personal success in October by his successful intervention in the strikes at Le Creusot.
With the condemnation in January 1900 of Paul Deroulède
Paul Déroulède
- Early life :Déroulède was born in Paris. He was published first as a poet in the magazine Revue nationale, with the pseudonym "Jean Rebel". In 1869 he produced, at the Théâtre Français, a one-act drama in verse named Juan Strenner.- Military career :...
and his nationalist followers by the High Court the worst of the danger was past, and Waldeck-Rousseau kept order in Paris without having recourse to irritating displays of force. The Senate was staunch in support of Waldeck-Rousseau, and in the Chamber he displayed remarkable astuteness in winning support from various groups. The Amnesty Bill, passed on 19 December, chiefly through his unwearied advocacy, went far to smooth down the acerbity of the preceding years. With the object of aiding the industry of wine-producing, and of discouraging the consumption of spirits and other deleterious liquors, the government passed a bill suppressing the octroi
Octroi
Octroi is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption.-Antiquity:Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in Roman times as vectigalia...
duties on the three "hygienic" drinks—wine, cider and beer. The act came into force at the beginning of 1901.
But the most important measure of his later administration was the Associations Bill of 1901. Like many of his predecessors, he was convinced that the stability of the republic demanded some restraint on the intrigues of the wealthy religious bodies. All previous attempts in this direction had failed. In his speech in the Chamber, Waldeck-Rousseau recalled the fact that he had tried to pass an Associations Bill in 1882, and again in 1883. He declared that the religious associations were now being subjected for the first time to the regulations common to all others, and that the object of the bill was to ensure the supremacy of the civil power. The royalist bias given to the pupils in the religious seminaries was undoubtedly a principal cause of the passing of this bill; and the government took strong measures to secure the presence of officers of undoubted fidelity to the republic in the higher positions on the staff. His speeches on the religious question were published in 1901 under the title of Associations et congregations, following a volume of speeches on Questions sociales (1900).
As the general election of 1902
French legislative election, 1902
Legislative elections were held in France on 27 April and 11 May 1902.This was a success for the Left Block which was composed by alliance between Socialists, Radicals, and the left-wing of the old Opportunist Republicans which merged after the Affaire Dreyfus crisis, to save the parlementary form...
approached all sections of the Opposition united their efforts under the Bloc des gauches
Bloc des gauches
The Bloc des gauches , aka Bloc républicain was a coalition of Republican political forces created during the French Third Republic in 1899 to contest the 1902 legislative elections...
, and the name of Waldeck-Rousseau served as a battle-cry for one side, and on the other as a target for abuse. The result was a decisive victory for republican stability. With the defeat of the machinations against the republic, Waldeck-Rousseau considered his task ended, and on 3 June 1902 he resigned office, having proved himself the "strongest personality in French politics since the death of Gambetta." He emerged from his retirement to protest in the Senate against the construction put on his Associations Bill by Émile Combes
Émile Combes
Émile Combes was a French statesman who led the Bloc des gauches's cabinet from June 1902 – January 1905.-Biography:Émile Combes was born in Roquecourbe, Tarn. He studied for the priesthood, but abandoned the idea before ordination. His anti-clericalism would later lead him into becoming a...
, who refused in mass the applications of the teaching and preaching congregations for official recognition.
Publication of speeches
His speeches were published as Discours parlementaires (1889); Pour la République, 1883–1903 (1904), edited by H Leyret; L'État et la liberté (1906); and his Plaidoyers (1906) were edited by H Barboux. See also H Leyret, Waldeck-Rousseau et la Troisième République (1908).Waldeck-Rousseau's Ministry, 22 June 1899 – 7 June 1902
- Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau – President of the CouncilPresident of the Council of MinistersThe official title President of the Council of Ministers, or Chairman of the Council of Ministers is used to describe the head of government of the states of Italy and Poland, and formerly in the Soviet Union, Portugal, France , Spain , Brazil , and Luxembourg...
and Minister of the InteriorMinister of the Interior (France)The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
and WorshipMinister of Worship (France)The Minister of Worship is a cabinet member in the Government of France responsible for overseeing the French government's relationship with religions... - Théophile DelcasséThéophile DelcasséThéophile Delcassé was a French statesman.-Biography:He was born at Pamiers, in the Ariège département...
– Minister of Foreign AffairsMinister of Foreign Affairs (France)Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for... - Marquis de Gallifet – Minister of WarMinister of Defence (France)The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....
- Joseph CaillauxJoseph CaillauxJoseph-Marie–Auguste Caillaux was a major French politician of the Third Republic. The leader of the Radicals, he favored a policy of conciliation with Germany during his premiership from 1911 to 1912, which led to the maintenance of the peace during the Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911...
– Minister of FinanceMinister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (France)The Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment , or Minister of Finance for short, is one of the most prominent positions in the cabinet of France after the Prime Minister.... - Ernest MonisErnest MonisAntoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis was a French politician of the Third Republic, deputy of Gironde from 1885 to 1889 and then senator of the same department from 1891 to 1920...
– Minister of JusticeMinister of Justice (France)The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice , a top-level cabinet position in the French government. The current Minister of Justice is Michel Mercier... - Jean-Marie de Lanessan – Minister of Marine
- Georges LeyguesGeorges LeyguesGeorges Leygues was a French politician of the Third Republic. During his time as Minister of Marine he worked with the navy's chief of staff Henri Salaun in unsuccessful attempts to gain naval re-armament priority for government funding over army rearmament such as the Maginot Line.He was born...
– Minister of Public Instruction and Fine ArtsMinister of National Education (France)The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the... - Jean Dupuy – Minister of AgricultureMinister of Agriculture (France)The Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing of France is the governmental body charged with regulation and policy, for agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food.The department is headquartered in Hotel Villeroy, at No...
- Albert Decrais – Minister of ColoniesMinister of Overseas FranceThe Minister of Overseas France is a cabinet member in the Government of France responsible for overseeing French overseas departments and territories .The position is currently held by Brice Hortefeux, who is also the Minister of the Interior...
- Pierre Baudin – Minister of Public WorksMinister of Public Works (France)The Minister of Public Works was a cabinet member in the Government of France. Formerly known as "Ministre des Travaux Publics" , in 1870, it was largely subsumed by the position of Minister of Transportation. Since the 1960s, the positions of Minister of Public Works has reappeared, often...
- Alexandre MillerandAlexandre MillerandAlexandre 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...
– Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and TelegraphsMinister of Commerce and Industry (France)The Minister of Commerce and Industry was a cabinet member in the Government of France.The position was sometimes combined with Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones...
Changes
- 20 May 1900 – Louis AndréLouis AndréLouis André was France's Minister of War from 1900 until 1904. Loyal to the laïque Third Republic, he was anti-Catholic, militantly anticlerical, a Freemason and was implicated in the Affaire Des Fiches, a scandal in which he received reports from Masonic groups on which army officers were...
succeeds Gallifet as Minister of WarMinister of Defence (France)The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....
.
See also
- History of the Left in FranceHistory of the Left in FranceThe Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main political parties, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International , created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties...
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