Popular Republican Movement
Encyclopedia
The Popular Republican Movement (Mouvement Républicain Populaire or MRP) was a French Christian democratic
party
of the Fourth Republic
. Its leaders included Georges Bidault
, Robert Schuman
, Paul Coste-Floret
, Pierre-Henri Teitgen
and Pierre Pflimlin
.
Mac-Mahon, following the 16 May 1877 crisis
. Mac-Mahon wanted a monarchic restoration. After his resignation in 1879, the Republicans held the legislative and executive powers.
The Catholic Church was mistrustful about Republic and ideas of the French Revolution
, as the popular sovereignty which questioned the superiority of the spiritual over the temporal power. For this reason, it supported all the conservative governments of the 19th century, notably Mac-Mahon and his policy of "moral order".
In 1892, in his encyclical Au Milieu Des Sollicitudes, Pope Leo XIII advised the French Catholics to rally the Republic. The previous year, another encyclical, Rerum novarum denounced the capitalistic society and the socialist ideology, and advocated creation of Catholic popular organizations. In 1894, students founded Le Sillon (The Furrow). Its leader, Marc Sangnier, militated for spiritual values, democracy and social reforms. It represented the progressive wing of the French Catholicism. But it was dissolved in 1910 by an order of the papacy.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many organizations appeared: the Christian Workers Youth, the Christian Agricultural Youth, and the French Confederation of Christian Workers. In 1924, the Popular Democratic Party (Parti démocrate populaire or PDP) was founded but it remained a small centre-right party. However, the Christian Democratic ideas rose in intellectual circles. Emmanuel Mounier
founded the review Esprit
(mind or spirit) which denounced fascism and passivity of the Western democracies. In the paper L'Aube (the dawn), Francisque Gay and Georges Bidault
shared similar theses. These circles participated actively to the anti-Nazi
underground Resistance
during the Second World War.
. This project failed. The SFIO Socialist Party was refounded and people from the Christian resistance movement founded the Popular Republican Movement. It claimed its loyalty to de Gaulle, who led the provisional government composed of Communists, Socialists and Christian-Democrats. At the November 1945 legislative election
, the MRP was second (23.9%) after the French Communist Party
(PCF) but ahead the SFIO.
The MRP benefited from the absence of real right-wing challengers to rally the conservative electorate. Indeed, among the three largest parties, it was the only one that was not Marxist
. Furthermore, it appeared the closest to de Gaulle. It supported the reforms decided by the provisional government and inspired by the program of the National Council of Resistance written during the war: nationalization of banks and industrial companies such as Renault
, the Welfare State
. That's why it was defined as a "centrist party with right-wing voters but a left-wing policy".
Nevertheless, the MRP disagreed with the institutional ideas of De Gaulle. This one advocated a strong executive power, autonomous towards Parliament, seeking the national interest while the particular interests would be represented by the parties in Parliament. Yet, in the French Republican culture, democracy and parliamentary sovereignty are inseparable. Wanting to achieve the complete integration of the Catholicism in the Republic, the MRP supported the principle of the parliamentary democracy against De Gaulle.
Relations with De Gaulle deteriorated. In January 1946, the president of the provisional government resigned in protest at the restoration of the "parties regime". The MRP ministers chose to stay in government. Nevertheless, the party called on voters to reject the proposed constitution in May 1946, fearing the election of a pro-Communist regime. After that, the MRP became the largest party in parliament after the June 1946 legislative election
(28.2%) and Bidault took charge of the cabinet. In October 1946, the MRP, together with the SFIO and the PCF, presented a new proposed constitution. It was approved despite De Gaulle's call for a "no" vote. One year later, a Gaullist party was founded under the name of Rally of the French People
(Rassemblement du peuple français or RPF).
The MRP became a mainstay of the Fourth Republic
. It was allied with the Socialists and the Communists in the Three-parties
alliance until spring 1947. Then, it joined the Third Force
that brought together center-left and center-right parties against the Communists on the one hand and the Gaullists on the other hand. Two Christian Democrats led the cabinet: Georges Bidault
(June-December 1946, October 1949-July 1950) and Robert Schuman
(November 1947-July 1948, August-September 1948) who presented
, as Foreign Minister, plans for what would become the European Community. Indeed, European unification was an important part of the MRP platform.
, it lost half of its 1946 voters (12.6%).
Furthermore, due to its propensity for integrating conservative politicians sometimes compromised by their association with Vichy, it was sardonically nicknamed the "Machine à Ramasser les Pétainistes" ("Machine for collecting Pétainists").
The MRP also dominated French foreign and colonial policies during most of the later 1940s and 1950s. Along with the French Socialist Party, it was the most energetic supporter in the country of European integration. It was also a strong backer of NATO and of close alliance with the United States, making it the most "Atlanticist" of French political parties.
Its leaders, especially Georges Bidault and Paul Coste-Floret (foreign and colonial ministers respectively in several French coalition governments) were primary architects of France's hard-line colonial policies that culminated in long insurgencies in Vietnam
(1946-1954) and Algeria
(1954-1962), as well as a series of smaller insurrections and political crises elsewhere in the French Empire. The MRP eventually divided over the Algerian question in the late 1950s (with Bidault being an avid supporter of the OAS
).
After the 13 May 1958 crisis, the party supported De Gaulle's return and called for approval of the constitution of the Fifth Republic
. It participated in the government of national unity behind De Gaulle, then broke with him in 1962 over his opposition to extending European economic integration into the realm of political integration. Besides, it was against presidentialization and de Gaulle's scorn towards Parliament.
and the MRP suffered a serious electoral defeat.
In 1963, Jean Lecanuet
took the leadership in order to renew the party's image. He was a candidate at the 1965 presidential election
and was third (15%) behind De Gaulle and the left-wing represented by François Mitterrand
. Then he created the Democratic Centre
, which came from the merger of MRP members with the National Center of Independents and Peasants (CNIP). The MRP itself disbanded in 1967, while some historical personalities of the party (such as Maurice Schumann
) joined the Gaullist party Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic.
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
of the Fourth Republic
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...
. Its leaders included Georges Bidault
Georges Bidault
Georges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions before he joined the Organisation armée secrète.-Early life:...
, Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
, Paul Coste-Floret
Paul Coste-Floret
Paul Coste-Floret was a French politician. He was born and died in Montpellier, France.- Biography :Professor on the faculty of Algiers, he engaged in the French Resistance. He advised André Philip and director of the cabinet of François de Menthon...
, Pierre-Henri Teitgen
Pierre-Henri Teitgen
Pierre-Henri Teitgen was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Made prisoner of war in 1940, he played a major role in the French Resistance....
and Pierre Pflimlin
Pierre Pflimlin
Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin was a French Christian democratic politician who served as the penultimate Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the crisis of that year.-Life:...
.
Origins of the French Christian Democracy
In 1876, for the first time, the majority of the House of Deputies was Republican. One year later, they won the 1877 elections against PresidentFrench Presidential elections under the Third Republic
French Presidential elections under the Third Republic involved the election of the President of France by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate...
Mac-Mahon, following the 16 May 1877 crisis
16 May 1877 crisis
The 16 May 1877 crisis was a constitutional crisis in the French Third Republic concerning the distribution of power between the President and the legislature. When the Royalist President Patrice MacMahon dismissed the Opportunist Republican Prime Minister Jules Simon, parliament on 16 May 1877...
. Mac-Mahon wanted a monarchic restoration. After his resignation in 1879, the Republicans held the legislative and executive powers.
The Catholic Church was mistrustful about Republic and ideas of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, as the popular sovereignty which questioned the superiority of the spiritual over the temporal power. For this reason, it supported all the conservative governments of the 19th century, notably Mac-Mahon and his policy of "moral order".
In 1892, in his encyclical Au Milieu Des Sollicitudes, Pope Leo XIII advised the French Catholics to rally the Republic. The previous year, another encyclical, Rerum novarum denounced the capitalistic society and the socialist ideology, and advocated creation of Catholic popular organizations. In 1894, students founded Le Sillon (The Furrow). Its leader, Marc Sangnier, militated for spiritual values, democracy and social reforms. It represented the progressive wing of the French Catholicism. But it was dissolved in 1910 by an order of the papacy.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many organizations appeared: the Christian Workers Youth, the Christian Agricultural Youth, and the French Confederation of Christian Workers. In 1924, the Popular Democratic Party (Parti démocrate populaire or PDP) was founded but it remained a small centre-right party. However, the Christian Democratic ideas rose in intellectual circles. Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
founded the review Esprit
Esprit (magazine)
Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
(mind or spirit) which denounced fascism and passivity of the Western democracies. In the paper L'Aube (the dawn), Francisque Gay and Georges Bidault
Georges Bidault
Georges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions before he joined the Organisation armée secrète.-Early life:...
shared similar theses. These circles participated actively to the anti-Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
underground Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
during the Second World War.
Foundation and height of the MRP
In 1944, some prominent French politicians wanted to rally all the non-Communist Resistance behind Charles De GaulleCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
. This project failed. The SFIO Socialist Party was refounded and people from the Christian resistance movement founded the Popular Republican Movement. It claimed its loyalty to de Gaulle, who led the provisional government composed of Communists, Socialists and Christian-Democrats. At the November 1945 legislative election
French legislative election, 1945
A legislative election was held in France on 21 October 1945 to elect a constituent assembly to draft a constitution for a Fourth French Republic. 79.83% of voters participated. Women and soldiers were allowed to vote...
, the MRP was second (23.9%) after 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) but ahead the SFIO.
The MRP benefited from the absence of real right-wing challengers to rally the conservative electorate. Indeed, among the three largest parties, it was the only one that was not Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
. Furthermore, it appeared the closest to de Gaulle. It supported the reforms decided by the provisional government and inspired by the program of the National Council of Resistance written during the war: nationalization of banks and industrial companies such as Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
, the Welfare State
Welfare State
The Welfare State is a commitment to health, education, employment and social security in the United Kingdom.-Background:The United Kingdom, as a welfare state, was prefigured in the William Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness...
. That's why it was defined as a "centrist party with right-wing voters but a left-wing policy".
Nevertheless, the MRP disagreed with the institutional ideas of De Gaulle. This one advocated a strong executive power, autonomous towards Parliament, seeking the national interest while the particular interests would be represented by the parties in Parliament. Yet, in the French Republican culture, democracy and parliamentary sovereignty are inseparable. Wanting to achieve the complete integration of the Catholicism in the Republic, the MRP supported the principle of the parliamentary democracy against De Gaulle.
Relations with De Gaulle deteriorated. In January 1946, the president of the provisional government resigned in protest at the restoration of the "parties regime". The MRP ministers chose to stay in government. Nevertheless, the party called on voters to reject the proposed constitution in May 1946, fearing the election of a pro-Communist regime. After that, the MRP became the largest party in parliament after the June 1946 legislative election
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...
(28.2%) and Bidault took charge of the cabinet. In October 1946, the MRP, together with the SFIO and the PCF, presented a new proposed constitution. It was approved despite De Gaulle's call for a "no" vote. One year later, a Gaullist party was founded under the name of Rally of the French People
Rally of the French People
The Rally of the French People was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle.-Foundation:...
(Rassemblement du peuple français or RPF).
The MRP became a mainstay of the Fourth Republic
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...
. It was allied with the Socialists and the Communists in the Three-parties
Three-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 until spring 1947. Then, it joined 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...
that brought together center-left and center-right parties against the Communists on the one hand and the Gaullists on the other hand. Two Christian Democrats led the cabinet: Georges Bidault
Georges Bidault
Georges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions before he joined the Organisation armée secrète.-Early life:...
(June-December 1946, October 1949-July 1950) and Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
(November 1947-July 1948, August-September 1948) who presented
Schuman Declaration
The Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 was a governmental proposal by then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman to create a new form of organization of States in Europe called a supranational Community. Following the experiences of two world wars, France recognized that certain values such as...
, as Foreign Minister, plans for what would become the European Community. Indeed, European unification was an important part of the MRP platform.
A gradual decline
With the creation of the Gaullist RPF and the reconstruction of the conservative right in the National Center of Independents and Peasants (Centre national des indépendants et paysans or CNIP), the MRP faced challengers to represent the right-wing electorate. At the 1951 legislative electionFrench 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...
, it lost half of its 1946 voters (12.6%).
Furthermore, due to its propensity for integrating conservative politicians sometimes compromised by their association with Vichy, it was sardonically nicknamed the "Machine à Ramasser les Pétainistes" ("Machine for collecting Pétainists").
The MRP also dominated French foreign and colonial policies during most of the later 1940s and 1950s. Along with the French Socialist Party, it was the most energetic supporter in the country of European integration. It was also a strong backer of NATO and of close alliance with the United States, making it the most "Atlanticist" of French political parties.
Its leaders, especially Georges Bidault and Paul Coste-Floret (foreign and colonial ministers respectively in several French coalition governments) were primary architects of France's hard-line colonial policies that culminated in long insurgencies in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
(1946-1954) and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
(1954-1962), as well as a series of smaller insurrections and political crises elsewhere in the French Empire. The MRP eventually divided over the Algerian question in the late 1950s (with Bidault being an avid supporter of the OAS
Organisation armée secrète
The Organisation de l'armée secrète was a short-lived, French far-right nationalist militant and underground organization during the Algerian War . The OAS used armed struggle in an attempt to prevent Algeria's independence...
).
After the 13 May 1958 crisis, the party supported De Gaulle's return and called for approval of the constitution of the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
. It participated in the government of national unity behind De Gaulle, then broke with him in 1962 over his opposition to extending European economic integration into the realm of political integration. Besides, it was against presidentialization and de Gaulle's scorn towards Parliament.
Faced with the Gaullist hegemony
When De Gaulle proposed a referendum on presidential election by universal suffrage, the MRP took part in the "coalition of the no". De Gaulle dissolved the National AssemblyFrench National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
and the MRP suffered a serious electoral defeat.
In 1963, Jean Lecanuet
Jean Lecanuet
Jean Adrien François Lecanuet was a French centrist politician. He was born to a family of modest means, and gravitated towards literature during his studies. He received his diploma at the age of 22, becoming the youngest agrégé in France...
took the leadership in order to renew the party's image. He was a candidate at the 1965 presidential election
French presidential election, 1965
The 1965 French presidential election was the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage of the Fifth Republic. It was also the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage since the Second Republic in 1848. It was won by incumbent president Charles de Gaulle who resigned...
and was third (15%) behind De Gaulle and the left-wing represented by 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...
. Then he created the Democratic Centre
Democratic Centre (France)
Democratic Centre was a French Christian-Democratic and centrist party. It existed from 1966 to 1976 when it merged with another party into the Centre of Social Democrats.- History :...
, which came from the merger of MRP members with the National Center of Independents and Peasants (CNIP). The MRP itself disbanded in 1967, while some historical personalities of the party (such as Maurice Schumann
Maurice Schumann
Maurice Schumann was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou in the 1960s and 1970s...
) joined the Gaullist party Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic.
Presidents
- 1944-1949: Maurice SchumannMaurice SchumannMaurice Schumann was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou in the 1960s and 1970s...
- 1949-1952: Georges BidaultGeorges BidaultGeorges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions before he joined the Organisation armée secrète.-Early life:...
- 1952-1956: Pierre-Henri TeitgenPierre-Henri TeitgenPierre-Henri Teitgen was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Made prisoner of war in 1940, he played a major role in the French Resistance....
- 1956-1959: Pierre PflimlinPierre PflimlinPierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin was a French Christian democratic politician who served as the penultimate Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the crisis of that year.-Life:...
- 1959-1963: André Colin
- 1963-1965: Jean LecanuetJean LecanuetJean Adrien François Lecanuet was a French centrist politician. He was born to a family of modest means, and gravitated towards literature during his studies. He received his diploma at the age of 22, becoming the youngest agrégé in France...
Electoral results
- 1945 legislative electionFrench legislative election, 1945A legislative election was held in France on 21 October 1945 to elect a constituent assembly to draft a constitution for a Fourth French Republic. 79.83% of voters participated. Women and soldiers were allowed to vote...
: 23,9% - June 1946 legislative electionFrench legislative election, June 1946Legislative elections were held in France on 2 June 1946 to elect the second post-war National Assembly designated to prepare a new Constitution...
: 28,2% - November 1946 legislative electionFrench legislative election, November 1946Legislative 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....
: 25,9% - 1951 legislative electionFrench legislative election, 1951Legislative 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...
: 12,6% - 1956 legislative election: 11,0%
- 1958 legislative electionFrench legislative election, 1958- National Assembly by Parliamentary Group:...
: 9,1% - 1962 legislative electionFrench legislative election, 1962- National Assembly by Parliamentary Group:...
: 9,1%
See also
- Ligue de la jeune RépubliqueLigue de la jeune RépubliqueThe Young Republic League was a French political party created in 1912 by Marc Sangnier, in continuation of Le Sillon, Sangnier's Christian social movement which was disavowed by the Pope Pius X...
founded in 1912 by Marc Sangnier