Joseph Caillaux | |
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75th Prime Minister of France | |
In office 27 June 1911 – 11 January 1912 |
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Preceded by | Ernest Monis |
Succeeded by | Raymond Poincaré |
Personal details | |
Born | 30 March 1863 |
Died | 22 November 1944 | (aged 81)
Political party | None |
Joseph-Marie–Auguste Caillaux (French pronunciation: [ʒɔzɛf kajo]; 30 March 1863 Le Mans – 22 November 1944 Mamers) 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. He and his ministers were forced to resign On January 11, 1912, after it was revealed that he had secretly negotiated with Germany without the knowledge of President Fallieries.[1]
In 1914 he resigned as Minister of Finance after his wife Henriette shot Gaston Calmette, the editor of Le Figaro newspaper when he threatened to print a letter written by Caillaux that was political dynamite. She was acquitted, however, and Caillaux became the leader of a peace party in the Assembly during World War I. This led to his arrest and trial for treason in 1918. Again rehabilitated after the war, Caillaux served at various times in the left wing governments of the 1920s.
Joseph Caillaux is interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Ernest Monis |
Prime Minister of France 1911–1912 |
Succeeded by Raymond Poincaré |