The Provisional Consultative Assembly (french: Assemblée consultative provisoire) was a governmental organ of
Free France
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
that operated under the aegis of the
French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) and that represented the resistance movements, political parties, and territories that were engaged against Germany in the Second World War alongside the Allies.
Established by ordinance on 17 September 1943 by the CFLN, it held its first meetings in
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...
, at the Palais Carnot (the former headquarters of the Financial Delegations), between 3 November 1943 and 25 July 1944. On 3 June 1944, it was placed under the authority of the
Provisional Government of the French Republic
The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; french: Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (''GPRF'')) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberatio ...
(GPRF), which succeeded the CFLN. Restructured and expanded after the
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, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance.
Nazi Germany inv ...
, it held sessions in Paris at the
Palais du Luxembourg
The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...
between 7 November 1944 and 3 August 1945.
Background
In North Africa, where most of the population had been gained at the expense of Pétain and Vichy and where the administration, the army, the censors and the press were full of Pétainists,
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 ...
and the
French Committee of National Liberation
The French Committee of National Liberation (french: Comité français de Libération nationale) was a provisional government of Free France formed by the French generals Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle to provide united leadership, orga ...
were frequently challenged by Anglo-Saxon diplomats about their legitimacy as local representatives.
Consequently, it was deemed important to nourish in the colonies the anti-Vichy sentiment which was stifled in France: hostility to the German occupiers and their collaborators. It was necessary to bring out representatives of the resistance and all parties and unions uncompromised by
collaborationism
Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory".
The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...
.
Representative body
In order to ensure the best possible representation of the French people, four categories of members were assigned as delegates to the Consultative Assembly: delegates from the
Resistance in
metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
, from the
overseas
Overseas may refer to:
* ''Overseas'' (album), a 1957 album by pianist Tommy Flanagan and his trio
*Overseas (band), an American indie rock band
* "Overseas" (song), a 2018 song by American rappers Desiigner and Lil Pump
* "Overseas" (Tee Grizzley ...
Resistance, from the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and from the General Councils of territories of Free France (Algeria and overseas territories). Their numbers were modified over the course of the sessions. The ordinance of 6 December 1943, increased the delegation from 84 to 102 representatives. Lists and directories drawn up according to the minutes of the Assembly
registered deaths, as well as , which makes it difficult to ascertain the exact number of delegates present
in Algiers until July 1944.
After the Provisional Government (GPFR) was transferred to
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. Si ...
, the number of delegates and the composition of the Consultative Assembly were profoundly modified, in an ordinance of 11 October 1944. By an ordinance of 11 October 1944, the number of delegates was fixed at 248; they were seated from 7 November 1944. The ordinance of 22 June 1945 added a fifth category of membership, reserved for prisoners and deportees returning from Germany: 47 members were appointed in July. They were seated for only a short time, the provisional assembly breaking up on 3 August 1945 to make way for the institutional process of electing constituent deputies. At that point the assembly had 295 members.
Portfolio
Legislative
* Consultations at the initiative of the
French Committee of National Liberation
The French Committee of National Liberation (french: Comité français de Libération nationale) was a provisional government of Free France formed by the French generals Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle to provide united leadership, orga ...
(CFLN):
** The CFLN was required to consult the Assembly on its draft ordinances.
** The opinions of the Assembly had to be mentioned in the references of the adopted texts.
* Consultations at the initiative of the Assembly (Opinions)
** The opinions initiated by the assembly, by 2/3 of its members, were to be mentioned in the references of the reform proposals addressed to the CFLN.
Political
During the interventions of the commissioners (ministers) before the Assembly, it was possible for Assembly members to question and challenge them. In this way, the Assembly created a political pressure center on the committee. Thus, even though it was composed of appointed members and was purely consultative, the assembly demonstrated great independence, as well as a strong capacity for criticism and pressure on the CFLN.
Entry into service
The Consultative Assembly held its first session at the Palais Carnot in Algiers on 3 November 1943. The first consequence of its inauguration was a reconstitution of the French National Liberation Committee (CFLN) on 9 November 1943, taking into account the distribution of the different groups in the Assembly, and also without General
Henri Giraud
Henri Honoré Giraud (18 January 1879 – 11 March 1949) was a French general and a leader of the Free French Forces during the Second World War until he was forced to retire in 1944.
Born to an Alsatian family in Paris, Giraud graduated from ...
, whose co-presidency of the CFLN had been abolished by an order of 2 October 1943. General de Gaulle was thus in sole control. In this capacity, he addressed the inaugural session of the Assembly.
Reestablishment of democratic principles
In his speech, de Gaulle gave the body his imprimatur, as providing a means of representing the people of France as democratically and legally as possible under difficult and unparalleled circumstances, until such time as democracy could once again be restored:
As an indication of the importance he attached to it, de Gaulle participated in about twenty sessions of the Consultative Assembly in Algiers. On 26 June 1944, he came to report on the military situation after the D-Day landings, and on 25 July, he was present at its last session on African soil before its move to Paris.
See also
*
Brazzaville Conference
The Brazzaville Conference (french: Conférence de Brazzaville) was a meeting of prominent Free French leaders held in January 1944 in Brazzaville, the capital of French Equatorial Africa, during World War II.
After the Fall of France to Nazi Ge ...
*
Allies of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the Declaration by United Nations, United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during the World War II, Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis ...
*
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 ...
*
Clandestine press of the French Resistance
The clandestine press of the French Resistance was collectively responsible for printing flyers, broadsheets, newspapers, and even books in secret in France during the German occupation of France in the Second World War. The secret press was use ...
*
Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II
*
Empire Defense Council
The Empire Defense Council (also called Council of Defense of the Empire, from french: Conseil de défense de l'Empire) was the embodiment of Free France which constituted the government from 1940 to 1941. Subsequently, this role was assumed ...
*
Foreign policy of Charles de Gaulle
The Foreign policy of Charles de Gaulle covers the diplomacy of Charles de Gaulle as French leader 1940–46 and 1958–1969, along with his followers.
Status of France 1940-44
Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his top aides Foreign Minister A ...
*
Foreign relations of Vichy France
*
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 ...
*
French Colonial Empire
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
*
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 ...
*
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...
*
German occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
*
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, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance.
Nazi Germany inv ...
*
List of French possessions and colonies
From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...
*
List of Governors-General of French Equatorial Africa
*
Provisional Government of the French Republic
The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; french: Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (''GPRF'')) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberatio ...
*
Pursuit of Nazi collaborators
*
Vichy France
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 t ...
*
Zone libre
The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered b ...
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
* .
* .
* Emmanuel Choisnel, ''L'Assemblée consultative provisoire (1943-1945) Le sursaut républicain'', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2007. 418 p.
* Michèle Cointet, ''Histoire des 16. Les premières femmes parlementaires en France'', Fayard, 2017. 211 p.
*
*
External links
Site de l'Assemblée nationale sur cette page d'histoire et ses membresListe des membres des Assemblées consultatives provisoires
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1943 in France
1944 in France
Antisemitism in France
French Ministers of Overseas France
French people of World War II
French Resistance
German occupation of France during World War II
Jewish French history
May 1941 events
Military history of France during World War II
Vichy France
World War II political leaders
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