Alexandre Millerand (; – ) was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister ...

from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. His participation in

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

's cabinet at the start of the 20th century, alongside the Marquis de Galliffet, who had directed the repression of the 1871

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

, sparked a debate in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and in the

Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...

about the participation of socialists in

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

governments.

Biography

Early life and religion

Millerand was brought up in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, to Jean-François Millerand and Amélie-Mélanie Cahen of

Alsatian Jewish The history of the Jews in Alsace is one of the oldest in Europe. It was first attested to in 1165 by Benjamin of Tudela, who wrote about a "large number of learned men" in "Strasbourg, Astransbourg"; and it is assumed that it dates back to ar ...

origin, while his paternal family originated from

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

. Millerand was baptized in 1860, while his mother converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. However, Millerand later became an agnostic, even going as far as to participate in a civil marriage ceremony. He temporized later on letting his children being baptized as youth and he worked in favour of diplomatic links beetwen

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

and French Republic. His funerals were celebrated in the Roman Catholic rite at Sainte Jeanne d'Arc Church in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

Early activism

Born in

, he was educated for the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and was elected Secrétaire of the Conférence des avocats du barreau de Paris. He made his reputation through his defence, in company with Georges Laguerre, of Ernest Roche and

Duc-Quercy Antoine-Joseph Duc (11 May 1856 – April 1934), known as Duc-Quercy and sometimes called Albert Duc-Quercy, was a French journalist and militant socialist. He was involved in several strikes in the coal mining areas of Aveyron. He twice ran unsu ...

, the instigators of the

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

Decazeville Decazeville ( oc, La Sala) is a commune in the Aveyron department in the Occitanie region in southern France. The commune was created in the 19th century because of the Industrial Revolution and was named after the Duke of Decazes (1780–186 ...

in 1883. He then took Laguerre's place on

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

's newspaper, ''La Justice''. He was a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

between 1883 and 1905. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' in 1885 as a Radical Socialist. He was associated with Clemenceau and

Camille Pelletan Charles Camille Pelletan (28 June 1846 – 4 June 1915) was a French politician, historian and journalist, Minister of Marine in Emile Combes' ''Bloc des gauches'' (Left-Wing Blocks) cabinet from 1902 to 1905. He was part of the left-wing of th ...

as an arbitrator in the

Carmaux Carmaux (; oc, Carmauç) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. Industries The Compagnie minière de Carmaux has its origins in a coal mining concession granted in 1852 to Gabriel de Solages, which became the Compagnie min ...

strike (1892). He had long had the ear of the Chamber in matters of social legislation, and after the Panama scandals had discredited so many politicians, his influence grew. He was chief of the Independent Socialist faction, a group which then mustered sixty members. Until 1896, he edited their organ in the press, ''La Petite République''. His programme included the

collective ownership Collective ownership is the ownership of property by all members of a group. The breadth or narrowness of the group can range from a whole society to a set of coworkers in a particular enterprise (such as one collective farm). In the latter (narro ...

of the

means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...

and the international association of labour.

Government minister

In June 1899 he entered

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

's cabinet of "republican defence" as Minister of Commerce. In contrast to his earlier activism, he now limited himself to practical reforms, devoting his attention to the improvement of the merchant marine, to the development of trade, of technical education, of the postal system, and to the amelioration of the conditions of labour. Labour questions were entrusted to a separate department, the ''Direction du Travail'', and the pension and insurance office was also raised to the status of a "''direction''". In 1902, he did not join fellow independent socialist

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

in forming the Parti Socialiste Français, but in 1907 instead formed the small Independent Socialist Party, which became the

Republican-Socialist Party The Republican-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain-socialiste, PRS) was a French socialist political party during the French Third Republic founded in 1911 and dissolved in 1934. Founded by non-Marxist socialists who refused to join the ...

(PRS) in 1911. His influence with the

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

had already declined, for it was said that his departure from the true

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

tradition had disintegrated the movement. In 1909/1910, he served as Minister of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs. As labour minister, he was responsible for the introduction of a wide range of reforms, including the reduction in the maximum workday from 11 to 10 hours in 1904, the introduction of an 8-hour workday for postal employees, the prescribing of maximum hours and minimum wages for all work undertaken by public authorities, the bringing of workers' representatives into the Conseil supérieur de travail, the establishment of arbitration tribunals and inspectors of labour, and the creation of a labour section inside his Ministry of Commerce to tackle the problem of social insurance. The introduction of

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representatives on the ''Supreme Labour Council'', the organisation of local labour councils, and instructions to factory inspectors to put themselves in communication with the councils of the trade unions were valuable concessions to labour. He further secured the rigorous application of earlier laws devised for the protection of the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

. His name was especially associated with a project for the establishment of

old age pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

, which became law in 1905. In 1898, he became editor of ''La Lanterne''. Milleranc twice served as Minister of War, first from 1912 to 1913 and again, during the early stages of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, from 1914 to 1915.

Prime minister

Millerand continued to move to the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

, being appointed Prime Minister by the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

President,

Paul Deschanel Paul Eugène Louis Deschanel (; 13 February 1855, in Schaerbeek28 April 1922) was a French politician. He served as President of France from 18 February to 21 September 1920. Biography Paul Deschanel, the son of Émile Deschanel (1819–190 ...

. During his time as Prime Minister, a decree of February 1920 introduced the eight-hour day for seamen.

Presidency and later years

When Deschanel had to resign later in 1920 due to his mental disorder, Millerand emerged as a compromise candidate for President between the '' Bloc National'' and the remnants of the ''

Bloc des gauches The Lefts Bloc (french: Bloc des gauches, ) was a coalition of Republican political forces created during the French Third Republic in 1899 to contest the 1902 legislative elections. It initially supported Emile Combes's cabinet (June 1902-Ja ...

''. Millerand appointed Georges Leygues, a politician with a long career of ministerial office, as Prime Minister and attempted to strengthen the executive powers of the Presidency. This move was resisted in the Chamber of Deputies and the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

, and Millerand was forced to appoint a stronger figure,

Aristide Briand Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...

. Briand's appointment was welcomed by both left and right, although the Socialists and the left wing of the Radical Party did not join his government. However, Millerand dismissed Briand after just a year, and appointed the conservative republican

Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...

. Millerand was accused of favouring conservatives in spite of the traditional neutrality of French Presidents and the composition of the legislature. On 14 July 1922, Millerand escaped an assassination attempt by Gustave Bouvet, a young French

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

. Two years later, Millerand resigned in the face of growing conflict between the elected legislature and the office of the President, following the victory of the ''

Cartel des Gauches The Cartel of the Left (french: Cartel des gauches, ) was the name of the governmental alliance between the Radical-Socialist Party, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), and other smaller left-republican parties that ...

''.

Gaston Doumergue Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue (; 1 August 1863 in Aigues-Vives, Gard18 June 1937 in Aigues-Vives) was a French politician of the Third Republic. He served as President of France from 13 June 1924 to 13 June 1931. Biography Doumergue ca ...

, who was the president of the Senate at the time, was chosen to replace Millerand. Millerand died in 1943 at

, and was interred in the

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Passy) is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), ...

. He was awarded Serbian

Order of Karađorđe's Star The Order of Karađorđe's Star ( sr, Orden Karađorđeve zvezde, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Орден Карађорђеве звезде) is Serbia's highest civilian and military decoration. It originated in the Kingdom of Serbia, and was initial ...

Millerand's Ministry, 20 January 1920 – 24 September 1920

* Alexandre Millerand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs * André Joseph Lefèvre - Minister of War *

Théodore Steeg Théodore Steeg () (19 December 1868 – 19 December 1950) was a lawyer and professor of philosophy who became Premier of the French Third Republic. Steeg entered French politics in 1904 as a radical socialist, although his views were generally m ...

- Minister of the Interior *

Frédéric François-Marsal Frédéric François-Marsal (; 16 March 1874 – 20 May 1958) was a French Politician of the Third Republic, who served briefly as Prime Minister in 1924. Due to his premiership he also served for two days (11–13 June 1924) as the Acting Presi ...

- Minister of Finance *

Paul Jourdain Paul Léon Jourdain (28 October 1878 – 26 March 1948) was a French industrialist and politician who was a deputy from 1919 to 1927 and a senator from 1927 to 1944. He was Minister of Labor in 1919–21 and for a brief period in 1924. He was Min ...

- Minister of Labour * Gustave L'Hopiteau - Minister of Justice *

Adolphe Landry Michel Auguste Adolphe Landry (29 September 1874 – 30 August 1956) was a French demographer and politician. He was deputy and then senator for Corsica between 1910 and 1955. He was Minister of the Navy from 1920 to 1921, Minister of Public Edu ...

- Minister of Marine *

André Honnorat André Honnorat (10 December 1868 – 24 July 1950) was a French politician. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1910 to 1921, and as a member of the French Senate from 1921 to 1945, representing Basses-Alpes. Together with É ...

- Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts *

André Maginot André Maginot (; 17 February 1877 – 7 January 1932) was a French civil servant, soldier, and Member of Parliament. He is best known for his advocacy of the string of forts known as the Maginot Line. Early years, to World War I Maginot was ...

- Minister of War Pensions, Grants, and Allowances * Joseph Ricard - Minister of Agriculture *

Albert Sarraut Albert-Pierre Sarraut (; 28 July 1872 – 26 November 1962) was a French Radical politician, twice Prime Minister during the Third Republic. Biography Sarraut was born on 28 July 1872 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France. On 14 March 1907 Sarraut ...

- Minister of Colonies *

Yves Le Trocquer Yves Marie François Le Trocquer ( 4 October 1877 – 21 February 1938) was a French civil engineer, administrator and politician. After a career in public works projects he became a technical assistant to several government ministers. He administe ...

- Minister of Public Works *

Auguste Isaac Auguste Isaac (1849-1938) was a French politician. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1919 to 1924, representing Rhône. Minister of Industry and Commerce between 1920 and 1921, Isaac attacked the French fashion industry for i ...

- Minister of Commerce and Industry * - Minister of Liberated Regions

Gallery

File:Millerand.jpg, Young Alexandre Millerand in 1893. File:Jeanne Millerand 01.jpg, Jeanne Millerand, née Jeanne Levayer. File:Alexandre Millerand 1914.jpg, Alexandre Millerand as

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, 1914. File:Alexandre Millerand par Marcel Baschet.jpg, Portrait of Alexandre Millerand, 1921
(by Marcel Baschet).

Notes

References

* Endnotes: ** For his administration in the Waldeck-Rousseau cabinet see A. Lavy, L'Œuvre de Millerand (1902); ** his speeches between 1899 and 1907 were published in 1907 as ''Travail et travailleurs''.

External links