Popular Republican Union (1919

The Popular Republican Union (french: Union populaire républicaine, UPR) was a

Christian democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

party in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during the Third Republic. The UPR became the dominant party in

during the

Interwar era In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

. In

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

, the Lorrain Republican Union (URL) was considered the UPR's sister party. Founded in 1919, the UPR attracted most of the Alsatian adherents of the Catholic Centre Party in Alsace-Lorraine, formed since the mid-1890s, forming with 31% of the seats the strongest party in the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

of the former Alsace-Lorraine. Ideologically, the UPR was much more conservative than the social-Catholic Popular Democratic Party, but more moderate than the main French Catholic party, the

Republican Federation The Republican Federation (french: Fédération républicaine, FR) was the largest conservative party during the French Third Republic, gathering together the progressive Orléanists rallied to the Republic. Founded in November 1903, the party ...

. During the 1920s its members had largely sat in parliament among the

group. Considering this to have grown too

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

, French-nationalist and

centralist Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...

, they set up their own parliamentary group: the Republicans of the Centre (1932 to 1936) and the Independents of Popular Action (1936 to 1940). The UPR, URL, and PDP merged in 1946 to the create the

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). {{DEFAULTSORT:Popular Republican Union (1919-1946) Defunct political parties in France Political parties of the French Third Republic Christian democratic parties in Europe Right-wing parties in France Alsace independence movement Catholic political parties German diaspora political parties