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 ...

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.

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

Foundation

Fourth Republic

Legacy

See also

References