The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (french: Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance or UDSR) was a French political party founded after the liberation of France from
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
and mainly active during the
Fourth Republic (1947–58). It was a loosely organised "cadre party" without mass membership. Its ideology was vague, including a broad diversity of different political convictions
with descriptions ranging from
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
via
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...
to
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 ...
. It was decidedly
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
and linked with the ''
Paix et Liberté
Paix et Liberté (, ''Peace and Liberty'') was an anti-communist movement that operated in France during the 1950s.
Founding
In response to the Stockholm Appeal for nuclear disarmament, Jean-Paul David, then Radical Socialist Party deputy mayor ...
'' ("Peace and Liberty") movement.
The UDSR was a founding member of the
Liberal International
Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...
in 1947.
Foundation
It was founded in 1945 by the non-Communist majority of the
resistance network, Movement of National Liberation. The project was to create a French labour party with all the former non-Communist
Resistance. However, this plan failed because of the rebirth 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) and the emergence of the new Christian-Democratic party
Popular Republican Movement
The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...
(MRP) and then of the
Gaullist
Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...
party,
Rally of the French People
The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle.
Foundation
The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resign ...
(RPF). Henceforth, the UDSR associated itself with the
Radical Party, who had been in government during most of the
Third Republic, in the
Rally of the Republican Lefts
The Rally of Republican Lefts (french: Rassemblement des gauches républicaines, RGR) was an electoral alliance during the French Fourth Republic composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the ...
(''Rassemblement des gauches républicaines'' or RGR), which presented itself as an alternative to the ''
tripartisme Tripartisme () was the mode of government in France from 1944 to 1947, when the country was ruled by a three-party alliance of communists, socialists and Christian democrats, represented by the French Communist Party (PCF), the French Section of the ...
'' alliance between the SFIO, the MRP and the
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 ...
(PCF).
Fourth Republic
Following the
May 1947 crisis
In the May 1947 crises (or exclusion crises), the Communists were excluded from government in Italy and France. The crises contributed to the start of the Cold War in Western Europe. In Italy
In Italy, the Christian Democracy (DC), led by Alcide ...
during which
Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947.
Pre-War
Thorez, ...
, Communist vice-premier, and four other PCF ministers left
Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 in La Rochelle – 14 October 1961 in Rodez) was a French statesman.
Biography
The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profession as a lawyer in Par ...
's government, the UDSR took part in the
Third Force coalition which gathered the centre-left and centre-right parties to face with the oppositions of the
PCF on the one hand, and of the
RPF on the other. It remained throughout the Fourth Republic a minor centrist political party which participated to the governments. Its president
René Pleven
René Pleven (; 15 April 1901 – 13 January 1993) was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR), a political party that was meant ...
was named president of the Council from 1951 to 1952, before being succeeded by
Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay (; 30 December 1891 – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1952 to 1953.
Life
Antoine Pinay was born on 30 December 1891 in Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise. He was a child ...
(
National Centre of Independents and Peasants
The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (''Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans'', CNIP) is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (the heir of the ...
, CNIP). But Pleven's leadership was eventually challenged by
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
who advocated a realignment to the Left, and took the lead in 1953.
In 1956 the UDSR participated in the centre-left coalition
Republican Front, headed by
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
, which won the legislative election. However, two years later, the UDSR imploded. Indeed, Pleven and the conservative wing approved
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
's come back during the
May 1958 crisis
The May 1958 crisis, also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacem ...
, in the midst of the
Algerian War
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
and threats of a coup d'état, and the institutions of the
Fifth Republic, contrary to Mitterrand who called the new Constitution a "permanent coup d'état."
Legacy
The UDSR survived until 1964, when it merged into Mitterrand's
Convention of Republican Institutions
The Convention of Republican Institutions (french: Convention des institutions républicaines, CIR) was a socialist and republican party in France led by François Mitterrand. The CIR, founded in early June 1964, transformed from a loosely organ ...
(CIR), which itself merged at the 1971
Epinay Congress
The Epinay Congress was the third national congress of the French Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), which took place on 11, 12 and 13 June 1971, in the town of Épinay-sur-Seine, in the northern suburbs of Paris. During this congress, n ...
into the new
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(PS), which until 2017 was the main left-wing party in France.
See also
*
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the Republicanism, republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of ...
References
{{Authority control
Defunct political parties in France
French Fourth Republic
Political parties in France
1945 establishments in France
Political parties established in 1945
1964 disestablishments in France
Political parties disestablished in 1964