The Popular Liberal Action (, ALP), simply called Liberal Action (), was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

that represented

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

supporters of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, 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, after the Fall of France durin ...

. It operated in the

center-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

, primarily to oppose the left-wing Republican coalition led by

Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republicanism, Republican politician who served for three years as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, ...

and

Émile Combes Émile Justin Louis Combes (; 6 September 183525 May 1921) was a French politician and freemason who led the Bloc des gauches, Lefts Bloc (French: ''Bloc des gauches'') cabinet from June 1902 to January 1905. Career Émile Combes was born on 6 ...

who pursued an

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

agenda designed to weaken the Catholic Church, especially its role in education. The ALP between 1901-1914 had its best election in 1902, with 78 deputies. It built a nationwide newspaper and propaganda network, had excellent funding. There were 1200 local committees, with 200,000 dues paying members in 1906.

History

The Liberal Action was founded in 1901 by

Jacques Piou Jacques Piou (1838-1932) was a French lawyer and politician. Early life Jacques Piou was born on 6 August 1838 in Angers, France.Albert de Mun Adrien Albert Marie, Comte de Mun (, 28 February 18416 October 1914), was a French political figure, nobleman, journalist, and social reformer of the nineteenth century. Born into a noble family de Mun joined the French army at a young age serv ...

, former monarchists who switched to republicanism at the request of Pope

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

. From the Churches perspective, its mission was to express the political ideals and new social doctrines embodied in Leo's 1891 encyclical "

Rerum Novarum ''Rerum novarum'', or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, passed to all Catholic patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, which addressed the condi ...

". ''Action libérale'' was the parliamentary group from which the political party emerged, adding the word ''populaire'' ("popular") to signify this expansion. Membership was open to everyone, not just Catholics. It sought to gather all the "honest people" and to be the melting pot sought by Leo XIII where Catholics and moderate Republicans would unite to support a policy of tolerance and social progress. Its motto summarized its program: "Liberty for all; equality before the law; better conditions for the workers." However, the "old republicans" were few, and it did not manage to regroup all Catholics, as it was shunned by monarchists, Christian democrats, and

Integrist In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism () is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues the principle that the Catholic faith should be the basis of public law and public policy within civil society, wherever the ...

s. In the end, it recruited mostly among the liberal-Catholics (

). The party was drawn into battle from its very beginnings (its first steps coincided with the beginning of the Combes ministry and its anticlerical combat policy), as religious matters were at the heart of its preoccupations. It defended the Church in the name of liberty and common law. Fiercely fought by the ''

Action française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

'', the movement declined from 1908, when it lost the support of Rome. Nevertheless, the ALP remained until 1914 the most important party on the right. All but forgotten during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

because of the ''

Union sacrée The Sacred Union (, ) was a political truce in the French Third Republic in which the left-wing agreed during World War I not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made ...

'', it re-emerged in 1919, with only its administrators, but still exerting an important moral influence on the Catholic electors. In 1919, the ''Action libérale populaire'' joined the ''Bloc national''. After that, it sought to regroup, most notably in 1923 and 1927, but to no avail. The ''Action libérale populaire'' played an important historical role by integrating into political life the ''

Catholiques ralliés The Ralliement refers to the policy adopted by some Roman Catholic Church, Catholics in France to support the French Third Republic following the publication of the papal encyclical ''Au milieu des sollicitudes'' on February 16, 1892, by Pope Leo ...

'' and by being the first political party, right of center, to organize itself under a "modern" scheme. A new attempt started in 1924 with the Popular Democratic Party.

Notable members

, first vice-president *

Amiral de Cuverville Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of th ...

, vice-president * duc d'Estissac, vice-president * Baron

Xavier Reille Xavier or Xabier may refer to: Place * Xavier, Spain People * Xavier (surname) * Xavier (given name) * Francis Xavier (1506–1552), Catholic saint ** St. Francis Xavier (disambiguation) * St. Xavier (disambiguation) * Xavier (footballer, born ...

Camille Guyot de Villeneuve Camille may refer to: Fictional entities * a Power Rangers Jungle Fury character * Camille Wallaby, a character in Alfred Hedgehog * a character from ''League of Legends'' video game voiced by Emily O'Brien Films *'' Camille (1912 film)'', a s ...

Hyacinthe de Gailhard-Bancel Hyacinthe de Gailhard-Bancel (1 November 1849 – 22 March 1936) was a French politician, lawyer, and pioneer of agricultural syndicalism. He was (1899–1910, 1912–1924). Biography Born on 1 November 1849 in Allex, Gailhard-Bancel was grand ...

Henri Bazire Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * H ...

* Henri-Constant Groussau *

Louis Hébert Louis Hébert (; c. 1575 – 25 January 1627) is widely considered the first European apothecary in the region that would later become Canada, as well as the first European to farm in said region. He was born around 1575 at 129 de la rue Sa ...

* comte Ferri de Ludre * Paul Lerolle * marquis de l'Estourbeillon * Jean Plichon * Emmanuel de Las-Cases *

Léonce de Castelnau Léonce is a French unisex given name. People with the name Léonce include: *Léonce (actor) (1823–1900), French actor and singer *Léonce Bekemans (born 1950), Belgian economist and scholar *Léonce-Henri Burel (1892–1977), French cinematog ...

* Xavier de la Rochefoucauld *

Émile Driant Émile Augustin Cyprien Driant (11 September 1855 – 22 February 1916) was a French writer, politician, and army officer. He was the first high-ranking casualty of the Battle of Verdun during World War I. Biography Born at Neufchâtel-sur-Ais ...

* Denys Cochin * Paul Dussaussoy

Electoral results

{, class=wikitable , - , colspan=6,

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 Bourb ...

, - ! Election year ! # of
overall votes ! % of
overall vote ! # of
overall seats won ! +/– ! Leader , - !

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's ...

, 1,350,581 (#3) , 16.00 , , , , - !

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, 1,238,048 (#3) , 14.05 , , , , - !

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

, 737,616 (#6) , 8.65 , , , , - !

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

, 956,261 (#4) , 11.34 , , , {{center,

Jacques Piou Jacques Piou (1838-1932) was a French lawyer and politician. Early life Jacques Piou was born on 6 August 1838 in Angers, France.online
* Partin, Malcolm. ''Waldeck-Rousseau, Combes, and the Church: the Politics of Anticlericalism, 1899-1905'' (1969) * Phillips, Charles S. ''The church in France, 1848-1907'' (1936). * Sabatier, Paul. ''Disestablishment in France'' (1906
online
Defunct political parties in France Political parties of the French Third Republic Catholic political parties Political parties established in 1901 Political parties disestablished in 1919 1901 establishments in France 1919 disestablishments in France Ralliement (Catholicism in France)