| French Republic République française |
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| Motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, brotherhood) |
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| Anthem La Marseillaise |
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| Green: Fourth French Republic
Lime: French possessions |
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| Capital | Paris | ||||
| Language(s) | French | ||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic | ||||
| President | |||||
| - 1947–1954 | Vincent Auriol | ||||
| - 1954–1959 | René Coty | ||||
| Prime Minister | |||||
| - 1947 | Paul Ramadier | ||||
| - 1958–1959 | Charles de Gaulle | ||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | ||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||
| - Established | 14 October 1946 | ||||
| - Disestablished | 4 October 1958 | ||||
| Currency | French Franc | ||||
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. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946.
The Fourth Republic saw an era of great economic growth in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social institutions and industry after the war, and played an important part in the development of the process of European integration which changed the continent permanently. The greatest accomplishments of the Fourth Republic were in social reform and economic development. In 1946, the government established a comprehensive social security system that assured unemployment insurance, disability and old-age pensions, and medical care to all citizens.[1].
Some attempts were also made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government – there were 20 governments in ten years. Additionally, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding decolonization. As a result, the Fourth Republic collapsed and what some critics considered to be a de facto coup d'état, subsequently legitimized by a referendum on 5 October 1958, led to the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1959.
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After the liberation of France, the Vichy government was dissolved and the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) was instituted. With most of the political class discredited and containing many members who had more or less collaborated with the enemy, Gaullism and Communism became the most popular political forces in France.
Charles de Gaulle led the GPRF from 1944 to 1946. Meanwhile, negotiations took place over the proposed new Constitution, which was to be put to a referendum. De Gaulle advocated a presidential system of government, and criticized the reinstatement of what he pejoratively called "the parties system". He resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by Félix Gouin (SFIO). Ultimately only the PCF and the SFIO supported the draft Constitution, which envisaged a form of government based on unicameralism; but this was rejected in the referendum of May 5, 1946.
For the 1946 elections, the Rally of the Republican Lefts (Rassemblement des gauches républicaines), which encompassed the Radical-Socialist Party, the UDSR and other conservative parties, unsuccessfully attempted to oppose the MRP-SFIO-PCF alliance. The new Constituent Assembly included 166 MRP deputies, 153 PCF deputies and 128 SFIO deputies, giving the Tripartite alliance an absolute majority. Georges Bidault (MRP) replaced Félix Gouin as the head of government.
A new draft of the Constitution was written, which this time proposed the establishment of a bicameral form of government. Léon Blum (SFIO) headed the GPRF from 1946 to 1947. After a new legislative election in June 1946, the Christian-Democrat Georges Bidault assumed leadership of the cabinet. Despite de Gaulle's so-called discourse of Bayeux of June 16, 1946 in which he denounced the new institutions, the new draft was approved by the French people, with 53% of voters voting in favor (with a abstentionrate of 31%) in the October 13, 1946 referendum. This culminated in the establishment in the following year of the Fourth Republic, an arrangement in which executive power essentially resided in the hands of the President of the Council. The President of the Republic was given a largely symbolic role, although he remained chief of the Army and as a last resort could be called upon to resolve conflicts.
The intention of Constitutional text's writers was to rationalize the parliamentary system. In this, the ministers were accountable to the legislative body, the French National Assembly), but some constitutional measures were introduced in order to protect the cabinet and to reinforce the authority of the President of the Council, who lead the cabinet. The goal of the constituents was to reconcile parliamentary democracy and ministerial stability.
For instance, according to the Constitution, the President of the Council was the leader of the executive branch. The President of the French Republic, elected by the Parliament (the National Assembly and the Council of the Republic), played a symbolic role. His main power was to propose a President of the Council. This one was elected by the National Assembly before to form his cabinet. In this, in the cabinet, only the President of the Council could invoke the legitimacy of the parliamentary vote.
Also, he was the only member of the executive power to provoke a vote of confidence in the National Assembly (in the Third Republic, any minister could provoke a vote of confidence). The cabinet could be dismissed if the absolute majority of National Assembly's members voted against the cabinet. Finally, the National Assembly could be dissolved after two ministerial crisis in the legislature.
However, these constitutional measures did not work. In January 1947, after his election by the National Assembly and the nomination of his ministers, President of the Council Paul Ramadier provoked a vote of confidence in order to verify the Assembly approved the composition of his cabinet. He introduced a custom: the double election, which waekened his authority over the cabinet. Besides, the cabinets dismissed bt only a plurality (not the absolute majority) of the National Assembly voting against the cabinet. Consequently, these ministerial crisis were not take into account into the calculation for the release of the dissolution. The habits of the Third Republic were come back at full speed and the regim was characterized by a strong ministerial instability.
The Fourth Republic was victim of the political context. The split of the Three-parties alliance in spring 1947, the departure of Communist ministers, Gaullist opposition, and the new proportional representation did not create the conditions of a ministerial stability. Governemental coalitions were composed of a patchwork of undisciplined centre-left and centre-right parties. Finally, the Fourth Republic faced with the collapse of the French colonial empire.
The creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was first proposed by French foreign minister Robert Schuman and French economic theorist Jean Monnet on 9 May 1950 as a way to prevent further war between France and Germany. Though the United Kingdom was invited, its Labour government, then preparing for a re-election fight, did not join the initiative.[2] It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed France, Italy and the three Benelux states: Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Between these states the ECSC would create a common market for coal and steel. The ECSC was governed by a 'High Authority', checked by bodies representing governments, MPs and an independent judiciary.
The ECSC was superseded, on 25 March 1957, by the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (which would, in 1993, become the European Union through the Treaty of Maastricht).
Rebellion in Algeria began soon after Indochinese independence. The government was initially successful in containing the rebellion, but the torture methods used by French military and security forces caused an enormous scandal when made public. The use of conscription also made the war extremely socially divisive. While French forces were victorious from a strictly military point of view, a large section of the public questioned the morality of maintaining colonies by force.
The instability and ineffectiveness of the Fourth Republic came to a head in the Algiers crisis of 1958, when the current government suggested that it would negotiate with the Algerian nationalists. Right-wing elements in the French Army, led by General Jacques Massu, seized power in Algiers and threatened to conduct a parachute assault on Paris unless Charles de Gaulle was placed in charge of the Republic.[3] De Gaulle did so under the precondition that a new constitution would be introduced creating a powerful presidency in which a sole executive, the first of which was to be De Gaulle, ruled for seven-year periods. These changes were introduced and the Fifth Republic was born.
| Prime Minister | Starting | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Ramadier | 22 January 1947 | SFIO |
| Robert Schuman | 24 November 1947 | MRP |
| André Marie | 26 July 1948 | Radical |
| Robert Schuman | 5 September 1948 | MRP |
| Henri Queuille | 11 September 1948 | Radical |
| Georges Bidault | 28 October 1949 | MRP |
| Henri Queuille | 2 July 1950 | Radical |
| René Pleven | 12 July 1950 | UDSR |
| Henri Queuille | 10 March 1951 | Radical |
| René Pleven | 11 August 1951 | UDSR |
| Edgar Faure | 20 January 1952 | Radical |
| Antoine Pinay | 8 March 1952 | CNIP |
| René Mayer | 8 January 1953 | Radical |
| Joseph Laniel | 27 June 1953 | CNIP |
| Pierre Mendès-France | 18 June 1954 | Radical |
| Edgar Faure | 23 February 1955 | Radical |
| Guy Mollet | 31 January 1956 | SFIO |
| Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury | 12 June 1957 | Radical |
| Félix Gaillard | 6 November 1957 | Radical |
| Pierre Pflimlin | 13 May 1958 | MRP |
| Charles de Gaulle | 1 June 1958 | UNR |