Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as

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 i ...

for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a coalition of Gaullists ( RPF), moderate socialists ( UDSR), Christian democrats ( MRP) and liberal-conservatives (

CNIP 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 ...

). His main priority was ending the Indochina War, which had already cost 92,000 lives, with 114,000 wounded and 28,000 captured on the French side. Public opinion polls showed that, in February 1954, only 7% of the French people wanted to continue the fight to regain Indochina out of the hands of the Communists, led by

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

and his

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

movement. At the 1954 Geneva Conference, Mendès France negotiated a deal that gave the Viet Minh control of Vietnam north of the seventeenth parallel, and allowed him to pull out all French forces. He is considered one of the most prominent statesmen of the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the 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 the Third Re ...

Early life

Mendès France was born on 11 January 1907 in Paris, the son of a textile merchant from

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

. He was descended from Portuguese Jews who settled in France in the 16th century. He studied at the

École des sciences politiques , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and the Faculty of Law of Paris, graduating with a doctorate in law and becoming the youngest member of the Paris

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to se ...

in 1926, at age 19. In 1924, Mendès France joined the Radical Party, the traditional party of the French middle-class centre-left (not to be confused with the mainstream SFIO, often called the Socialist Party). He married Lili Cicurel, the niece of

Salvator Cicurel Salvator Cicurel (سليلفاتور شيكوريل3; March 1893 – 15 February 1975) was an Egyptian Olympic foil and epee fencer, and later the president of Cairo's Sephardi Jewish Community Council from 1946 until 1957. Personal life C ...

Third Republic and World War II

In 1932, Mendès France was elected member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for the

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.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 ...

appointed him Under Secretary of State for Finance. After the surrender of France to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he fled to

French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. I ...

with other army and air force units, but was arrested by the Vichy government authorities and imprisoned for desertion. He escaped and succeeded in reaching Britain, where he joined the

Free French forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

led by

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 Governm ...

. Mendès France later described his trial, conviction and subsquent escape in the famous documentary ''

The Sorrow and the Pity ''The Sorrow and the Pity'' (french: Le Chagrin et la Pitié) is a two-part 1969 documentary film by Marcel Ophuls about the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II. The film uses interviews with a Germ ...

''. During the latter years of the war, Mendès France served in the Free French Air Forces and flew in a dozen bombing raids. After the

Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Ger ...

in August 1944, he was appointed Minister for National Economy in the French provisional government by de Gaulle. He later headed the French delegation to the 1944

United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United ...

at Bretton Woods. Mendès France soon fell out with the Finance Minister,

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 mea ...

. Mendès France supported state regulation of wages and prices to control inflation, while Pleven favoured generally ''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

'' policies. When de Gaulle sided with Pleven, Mendès France resigned. Nonetheless, de Gaulle valued Mendès France's abilities, and appointed him as a director of the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers ...

, and as French representative to the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

Fourth Republic

In 1947, after democratic French politics resumed under the Fourth Republic, Mendès France was re-elected to the National Assembly. He first tried to form a government in June 1953, but was unable to gain the numbers in the Assembly. From 1950 he had been a consistent opponent of French colonialism, and by 1954 France was becoming hopelessly embroiled in major colonial conflicts: the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

and the

Algerian War of Independence 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 ...

. When French forces were defeated by the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

ese Communists at Dien Bien Phu in June 1954, the government of Joseph Laniel resigned, and Mendès France formed a government with Communist Party support. Mendès France immediately negotiated an agreement with

, the Vietnamese Communist leader. There was, he said, no choice but total withdrawal from

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and the Assembly supported him by 471 votes to 14. Nevertheless, nationalist opinion was shocked, and Roman Catholic opinion opposed abandoning the Vietnamese believers to Communism. A tirade of abuse, much of it

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, was directed at Mendès France.

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

, then a Poujadist member of the Assembly, described his "patriotic, almost physical repulsion" for Mendès France. Undeterred, Mendès France next came to an agreement with

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of ...

, the nationalist leader in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, for the independence of that colony by 1956, and began discussions with the nationalist leaders in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

for a French withdrawal. He also favoured concessions to the nationalists in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

; but the presence of a million ''

Pied-noir The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the vast majority of whom departed for mainland France as soon as Alger ...

s'' there left the colonial power no easy way to extricate itself from that situation. The future

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...

Bob Denard Robert Denard (born Gilbert Bourgeaud; 7 April 1929 – 13 October 2007) was a French soldier of fortune and mercenary. He served as the Military Leader of The Comoros twice with him first serving from 13 May 1978 to 15 December 1989 and agai ...

was convicted in 1954 and sentenced to fourteen months in prison for an assassination attempt against Mendès France.Obituary: Bob Denard
, BBC, 14 October 2007 Mendès France hoped that the Radical Party would become the party of modernization and renewal in French politics, replacing the SFIO. An advocate of greater

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

, he helped bring about the formation of the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

, and proposed far-reaching economic reform. He also favoured defence co-operation with other European countries, but the National Assembly rejected the proposal for a

European Defence Community The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unratified treaty signed on 27 May 1952 by the six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West German ...

, mainly because of misgivings about Germany's participation. His cabinet fell in February 1955. In 1956 he served as Minister of State in the cabinet headed by the SFIO leader

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Minist ...

, but resigned over Mollet's handling of the Algerian War, which was coming to dominate French politics. His split over Algeria with Edgar Faure, leader of the conservative wing of the Radical Party, led to Mendès France resigning as party leader in 1957.

Fifth Republic

Like most of the French left, Mendès France opposed de Gaulle's seizure of power in May 1958, when the mounting crisis in Algeria brought about a breakdown in the Fourth Republic system and the creation of a Fifth Republic. He led the ''Union of Democratic Forces'', an anti-

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 with ...

group, but in the November 1958 elections he lost his seat in the Assembly. After being expelled from the Radical Party, whose majority faction supported de Gaulle, in late 1959 he joined the Autonomous Socialist Party (PSA), a breakaway group from the SFIO. In April 1960, the PSA merged with several other groups to form the Unified Socialist Party (PSU). He made an unsuccessful bid to regain his seat in the National Assembly representing

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.De Gaulle Wins In France
. St. Petersburg Times. 19 November 1962 In 1967 he returned to the Assembly as a PSU member for the

events of May 1968 Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ha ...

, a position unusual for a politician of his age and status. One year later, Pompidou's socialist opponent in the presidential election of 1969,

Gaston Defferre Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956� ...

of the SFIO, designated him his preferred Prime Minister prior to the election. The two campaigned together in what was the first – and so far only – dual "ticket" in a French presidential election. Defferre gained only 5% of the vote and was eliminated in the election's first round. When

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 ...

formed a 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 ...

in 1971, Mendès France supported him, but did not attempt another political comeback. He lived long enough to see Mitterrand elected president.

Political career

;Governmental function *President of the Council of Ministers : 1954–1955. *Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1954–1955. *Minister of State : January–May 1956 (Resignation). ;Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' *Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

for

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

for

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Louviers Louviers () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In the area around Louviers, cut stones from the Paleolithic era have been fou ...

: 1935–1939 (Resignation) / 1953–1958 (Resignation). Reelected in 1953. *Municipal councillor of

Louviers Louviers () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In the area around Louviers, cut stones from the Paleolithic era have been fou ...

: 1935–1939 (Resignation) / 1953–1958 (Resignation). Reelected in 1953.

Mendès France's first Ministry, 19 June 1954 – 20 January 1955

* Pierre Mendès France – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Marie Pierre Koenig Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in ...

– Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces *

– Minister of the Interior * Edgar Faure – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning * Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of Commerce and Industry *

Eugène Claudius-Petit Eugène Claudius-Petit was a French politician. He participated in many governments under the Fourth Republic and was a proponent of Firminy Vert. He later added his pseudonym from the Resistance, "Claudius", to his name. Early life and care ...

– Minister of Labour and Social Security * Émile Hugues – Minister of Justice * Jean Berthoin – Minister of National Education *Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Veterans and War Victims * Roger Houdet – Minister of Agriculture * Robert Buron – Minister of Overseas France *

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde '' ...

– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism * Louis Aujoulat – Minister of Public Health and Population * Maurice Lemaire – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing *

Christian Fouchet Christian Fouchet (17 November 1911 – 11 August 1974) was a French politician. Biography He was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines. He was a graduate of the Ecole des sciences politiques. After Marshal Petain's request for an armistic ...

– Minister of Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs *

Guy La Chambre Guy La Chambre (June 5, 1898, in Paris – May 24, 1975) was a French politician. He served as Minister of Merchant Marine in 1934 and Minister of Air from 1938 until 1940. Life Guy La Chambre was born on June 5, 1898 into a prosperous f ...

– Minister of Relations with Partner States Changes *14 August 1954 – Emmanuel Temple succeeds Koenig as Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces. Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury succeeds Chaban-Delmas as interim Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism.

succeeds Lemaire as interim Minister of Reconstruction and Housing. *3 September 1954 – Jean Masson succeeds Temple as Minister of Veterans and War Victims. Jean-Michel Guérin de Beaumont succeeds Hugues as Minister of Justice. Henri Ulver succeeds Bourgès-Maunoury as Minister of Commerce and Industry.

succeeds Bourgès-Maunoury as Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism and Claudius-Petit as Minister of Reconstruction and Housing. Louis Aujoulat succeeds Claudius-Petit as Minister of Labour and Social Security. André Monteil succeeds Aujoulat as Minister of Public Health and Population. *12 November 1954 – Maurice Lemaire succeeds Chaban-Delmas as Minister of Reconstruction and Housing.

Mendès France's second Ministry, 20 January 1955 – 23 February 1955

* Pierre Mendès France – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs * Edgar Faure – Minister of Foreign Affairs * Jacques Chevallier – Minister of National Defense * Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of Armed Forces *

– Minister of the Interior * Robert Buron – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning * Henri Ulver – Minister of Commerce and Industry * Louis Aujoulat – Minister of Labor and Social Security * Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Justice * Raymond Schmittlein – Minister of Merchant Marine * Jean Berthoin – Minister of National Education * Jean Masson – Minister of Veterans and War Victims * Roger Houdet – Minister of Agriculture * Jean-Jacques Juglas – Minister of Overseas France *

– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism * André Monteil – Minister of Public Health and Population * Maurice Lemaire – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing *

– Minister of Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs *

– Minister of Relations with Partner States

Honours

National honours

* Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 The ''Croix de Guerre 1939–1945'' (English: War Cross 1939–1945) is a French military decoration, a version of the '' Croix de Guerre'' created on 26 September 1939 to honour people who fought with the Allies against the Axis forces at any ...

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 ...

Foreign honours

* : Grand Officer of the

Order of Leopold (Belgium) The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Le ...

* : Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite * : Gran Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles * : Grand Cordon of the

Order of Glory (Tunisia) The Order of Glory ( tr, İftihar Nişanı or ar, Atiq Nishan-i-Iftikhar) was a Tunisian honorary order founded in 1835 by Al-Mustafa ibn Mahmud the Bey of Tunisia. The order was awarded until the constitutional role of the Bey was abolished f ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes-France, Pierre 1907 births 1982 deaths Politicians from Paris Jewish French politicians 20th-century French Sephardi Jews French Freemasons French people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Free French Air Forces officers Radical Party (France) politicians Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians Prime Ministers of France French Foreign Ministers French Ministers of Finance Government ministers of France 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 (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 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Bretton Woods Conference delegates Jewish prime ministers Jewish socialists Sciences Po alumni University of Paris alumni French military personnel of World War II People of the First Indochina War French people of the Algerian War