The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, 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 Government ...

Foundation

The RPF was founded by

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

on 14 April 1947, one year after his resignation from the presidency of the provisional government and four months after the proclamation of the Fourth Republic. It advocated a constitutional revision establishing a presidential government. For de Gaulle, the "regime of the parties" which characterized the parliamentary system did not permit the advent of a strong and efficient state. However, in French Republican culture, democracy and parliamentary sovereignty were inseparable. De Gaulle was accused of wanting to establish a

Bonapartist Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

government, with himself as the single dominant ruler. As de Gaulle also opposed the parties on the basis that they served particular interests and divided the nation, he wanted the RPF to be a "rally," not a political party, and allowed members of other parties (except

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

and former

Vichy regime 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 ter ...

supporters) to join without compromising their other membership, but this hope was never realized. By 1948, the party counted half a million members, just behind the Communist Party. The RPF was able to gain the support of Maurrasien royalists (of the

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

), leftist republicans such as

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

, moderates,

Christian democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

such as

Edmond Michelet Edmond Michelet (8 October 1899 – 9 October 1970) was a French politician. He is the father of the writer Claude Michelet. On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes. It is consid ...

, radicals such as

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 ''d� ...

and

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...

, and even socialists and communists. Nevertheless, most of its voters came from the right-wing electorate.

Electoral record

The party enjoyed success in municipal elections (1947), capturing the cities of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

(with

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, and Nancy with over 35% of votes. In Paris in 1947, Pierre de Gaulle, the brother of the General, became President of the municipal council, a post similar to mayor. However, the RPF's performance in the Christian Democratic MRP strongholds of rural France was relatively mediocre. Parliamentarians hostile to the RPF delayed cantonal elections in the fear of another Gaullist breakthrough. The hostility of the media and the social events of 1947 limited the party's electoral success. The 1949 cantonal elections, albeit delayed in fear of an RPF breakthrough, produced another RPF victory (although smaller than the victory in the municipal elections). The 1951 election was a relative success for the RPF, but the electoral law (apparentements), created to favor the Third Force coalition (MRP, SFIO, RGR etc.) over the anti- Fourth Republic parties (RPF and the

), limited the Gaullist breakthrough. It obtained over 4 million votes (22.3%) and 117 seats. It had hoped for over 200 seats, which the apparentements that.

Political defeats

With only 117 seats, the RPF had little influence on decision making in the new Assembly. In 1952, 27 deputies voted in favor of

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 ...

's government before being excluded. Later, 45 other deputies left the Gaullist party. Following the loss of numerous cities, including

and

, in the 1953 municipal elections, the party's decline started. Many people blamed its defeats on an authoritarian party leadership. De Gaulle asked the Gaullist deputies to abandon the name "RPF", then in June 1953, five Gaullist deputies joined

Joseph Laniel Joseph Laniel (; 12 October 18898 April 1975) was a French conservative politician of the Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsuccessful ...

's government. In 1954, the vote of Gaullists and Communists lead to the defeat of the

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 Inner Six, six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and We ...

treaty. On 13 September 1955, the party was officially dissolved. The Gaullist deputies founded the

National Centre of Social Republicans The National Centre of Social Republicans (''Centre national des républicains sociaux'', CNRS), or Social Republicans (''Républicains sociaux'', RS), was a French Gaullist political party founded in 1954. The party succeeded the Rally of the F ...

without the backing of de Gaulle. Most would go on to form the

Union for the New Republic The Union for the New Republic (french: L'Union pour la nouvelle République, UNR), was a French political party founded on 1 October 1958 that supported Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle in the 1958 elections. History The UNR won 206 of 579 s ...

and help create the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Leadership

*1947–1951:

Jacques Soustelle Jacques Soustelle (3 February 1912 – 6 August 1990) was an important and early figure of the Free French Forces, a politician who served in the French National Assembly and at one time served as Governor General of Algeria, an anthropologist s ...

*1952–1954: Louis Terrenoire *1954–1955:

Jacques Foccart Jacques Foccart (31 August 1913 – 19 March 1997) was a French businessman and politician, best known as a chief adviser to President of France, French presidents on African affairs. He was also a co-founder of the Gaullist Party, Gaullist Servi ...

References

{{Authority control Charles de Gaulle 1947 establishments in France 1955 disestablishments in France Defunct political parties in France French Fourth Republic Political parties established in 1947 Political parties disestablished in 1955 Right-wing parties in France Right-wing populism in France

Foundation

Electoral record

Political defeats

Leadership

See also

References