Jules Salvador Moch (15 March 1893, 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 ...

– 1 August 1985, in

Cabris Cabris is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department The following is a list of the 163 communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. The ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

) was a French politician.

Biography

Moch was born into a renowned French Jewish military family, the son of Captain

Gaston Moch Gaston Moch (6 March 1859 – 3 July 1935) was the secretary of the Esperantist ''Centra Oficejo'' and a member of the ''Lingva Komitato''. Moch was born in Saint-Cyr-l'École, Yvelines. He was the son of French Jewish Military officer, Col. J ...

and Rébecca Alice Pontremoli. His grandfather was Colonel

Jules Moch Jules Salvador Moch (15 March 1893, in Paris – 1 August 1985, in Cabris, Alpes-Maritimes) was a French politician. Biography Moch was born into a renowned French Jewish military family, the son of Captain Gaston Moch and Rébecca Alice Po ...

. His upbringing occurred during a growing socialist movement in France. He was in Polytechnique along with

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus ( , also , ; 9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. ...

. As an engineer ('' polytechnicien'') who took part in the

X-Crise Group The Groupe X-Crise (or ''X-Crise'') was a French technocratic movement created in 1931 as a consequence of the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash and the Great Depression. Formed by former students of the École Polytechnique (nicknamed "X"), it ...

, he was a socialist member of Parliament for

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

and then

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Under-secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

in prime minister

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 ...

's office (1937) and became

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

in 1938. During

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 ...

Moch was critical of the

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

government and was jailed but later was released. He joined and helped organise the Paris underground. He also helped other

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

activities in France. When the

Free French Naval Forces The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistice a ...

was organized, he rallied to

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 ...

in 1942 and participated in The

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

toward the Free French

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...

with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. After World War II, Moch was a member of the Consultative Assembly (1944) and of the two Constituent National Assemblies (1945–1946) and then of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

(1946–1958 and 1962–1967). He was eight times minister during the Fourth Republic: Public works and Transportation (1945–1947), Interior (1947–1950), Defence (1950–1951). As Transport Minister, he contributed to the rebuilding of railways, ports, road, navy and

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

. As Interior Minister, he had to deal with the communist-inspired great strikes in November 1947 and showed great firmness. In the Defence Ministry, he contributed to the modernisation of the army, organised French participation in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and the implementation of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. He also suggested and participated in the forming of the

Baghdad Pact The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...

for the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. He fought the Gaullist and Communist Parties during the Fourth Republic and was one of the leaders of the '' Troisième Force''. Hr was

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

from 1949 to 1950. He was France's delegate at the UN disarmament commission from 1951 to 1960. As

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Euro ...

of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he opposed the European Community of Defence, which was defeated by the National Assembly in 1954. His last ministerial post was in

Pierre Pflimlin Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin (; 5 February 1907 – 27 June 2000) was a French Christian Democrat politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the ...

's government in May 1958 where he played an important role in the May 1958 crisis of French Algeria, as Interior Minister. He left the

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 ...

in 1975. He was married to Germaine Picard, one of the first woman lawyers of France. She was also an active advocate of the

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

movement in France and Europe. Though other noted individuals lay claim, it is alleged that the name

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

was officially "coined" after a speech he made in 1948 over his concern on the growing rift that developed between the

of Western Europe and the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

Forces of Eastern Europe.

Publications

He has published: *''Confrontations'' (Doctrines – Déviations – Expériences – Espérances), Gallimard 1952 *''Yougoslavie, terre d'expérience'', éd. du Rocher, Monaco, 1953 *''Histoire du réarmement allemand depuis 1950'', Robert Laffont, 1954 *''Alerte, le problème crucial de la Communauté Européenne de défense'', Robert Laffont *''La folie des hommes'' (about the atomic bomb), Robert Laffont, 1954 *''En 1961, Paix en Algérie'', Robert Laffont *''Non à la force de frappe'', Robert Laffont, 1963 *''Le Front Populaire'', Perrin 1971 *''Rencontre avec Charles de Gaulle'', 1971 *''Une si longue vie'', témoignages, Robert Laffont, 1976 *''Le communisme jamais'', Plon 1978

Biography

*Eric Méchoulan has written a book: ''Jules Moch un socialiste dérangeant'', published by Bruylant. *Autobiography of Jules Moch: "Jules Moch" une si longue vie, published by Robert Laffont 1976, Paris

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moch, Jules 1893 births 1985 deaths Politicians from Paris Jewish French politicians French Section of the Workers' International politicians French interior ministers French Ministers of Defence French Ministers of Public Works Transport ministers of France Members of the 14th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic The Vichy 80 École Polytechnique alumni French Resistance members Jews in the French resistance French military personnel of World War II