Ce_sont_les_soviets_qui_tirent_les_ficelles_du_Front_populaire

French legislative elections to elect the 16th legislature of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...

were held on 26 April and 3 May 1936. This was the last legislature of the Third Republic and the last election before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 people vying for 618 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

. In the

Seine Department Seine was the former department of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. It is the only enclaved department of France at that time. Its prefecture was Paris and its INSEE number was 75. The Seine department was disbanded in 1968 ...

alone, there were 1,402 candidates. The Popular Front, composed of the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(SFIO), the Radical-Socialists, the

French Section of the Communist International The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

(SFIC), and miscellaneous leftists, won power from the broad Republican coalitions that had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis.

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...

became president of the council. Broad Republican coalitions had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis: Government Gaston Doumergue II (''Union Nationale'', 272 days), Government Flandin I (204 days), Government Bouisson (3 days) and Government Laval IV (229 days). For the first time, the Radical-Socialists were eclipsed on the left by the SFIO, while still keeping a considerable role in French politics.

Regional results

*The SFIC, predecessor of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

, doubled its score from 11 SFIC and 9 Union Ouvrière deputies in 1932 to 72 in 1936. The party made gains in industrialized suburbs and working-class areas of major cities. They also progressed in rural central and southwestern France (e.g.,

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

, Lot-et-Garonne) *The Radicals lost votes to the SFIO and SFIC, but also to the right. *The SFIO declined slightly. In working-class suburbs, the party declined, but it gained votes in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, to the dismay of the right. *Only 174 seats were elected in the first round, 424 were decided in a run-off. The right fared better in the second round.

Results

Popular Vote

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2", Alliance ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2", Party ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Abbr. ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % , - , style="background-color:red" rowspan="4", , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4", Popular Front , rowspan="4", 5,628,321 , rowspan="4", 57.17 , style="background-color:#E75480", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière'') , style="text-align:right;" , SFIO , style="text-align:right;" , 1,955,306 , style="text-align:right;" , 19.86 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000", , style="text-align:left;" ,

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

(''Parti communiste français'') , style="text-align:right;" , PCF , style="text-align:right;" , 1,502,404 , style="text-align:right;" , 15.26 , - , style="background-color:#FFBF00", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party The Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste) is a liberal and formerly social-liberal political party in France. It is also often referred to simply as the Radical Party (frenc ...

(''Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste'') , style="text-align:right;" , PRRRS , style="text-align:right;" , 1,422,611 , style="text-align:right;" , 14.45 , - , style="background-color:#DA7B8B", , style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous Left (''Divers gauche'') , style="text-align:right;" , DVG , style="text-align:right;" , 748,600 , style="text-align:right;" , 7.60 , - , style="background-color:blue" rowspan="3", , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3", Right and Centre , rowspan="3", 4,202,298 , rowspan="3", 42.68 , - , style="background-color:#0080FF", , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Alliance (''Alliance démocratique''),

Independent Radicals The Independent Radicals (french: Radicaux indépendants) were a centrist or conservative-liberal political current during the French Third Republic. It was slightly to the right of the more famous Radical-Socialist Party, and shared much of it ...

(''Radicaux indépendents''), Popular Democrats (''Démocrates populaires'') , style="text-align:right;" , AD-RI-PDP , style="text-align:right;" , 2,536,294 , style="text-align:right;" , 25.76 , - , style="background-color:#0000C8", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Republican Federation The Republican Federation (french: Fédération républicaine, FR) was the largest conservative party during the French Third Republic, gathering together the progressive Orléanists rallied to the Republic. Founded in November 1903, the party ...

(''Fédération républicaine''), Independents, Conservatives , style="text-align:right;" , FR , style="text-align:right;" , 1,666,004 , style="text-align:right;" , 16.92 , - , style="background-color:gray", , colspan=5 style="text-align:left;" , Other parties , style="text-align:right;" , Div , style="text-align:right;" , 16,047 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.16 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=7 , Total , style="text-align:right;" , 9,846,666 , style="text-align:right;" , 100 , - , colspan=9 style="text-align:left;" , Abstention: 17.75%

Parliamentary Groups

Parliamentary Groups on France-politique.fr
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References

External links

{{French elections

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

1936 elections in France