The Rally of Republican Lefts (french: Rassemblement des gauches républicaines, RGR) was an electoral alliance during 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 ...

composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals, the

Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (french: Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance or UDSR) was a French political party founded after the liberation of France from German occupation and mainly active during the Fo ...

(UDSR) and several conservative groups. Headed by

Jean-Paul David Jean-Paul David, (14 December 1912 – 31 July 2007), was a French politician. He was mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie between 1947 and 1977 and deputy for Seine-et-Oise (later Yvelines). Youth and early career Son of Ernest-Henri David (municipal c ...

, founder of the anti-Communist movement (Peace and Freedom), it was in fact a right-of-center conservative coalition, which presented candidates to the

June 1946 The following events occurred in June 1946: June 1, 1946 (Saturday) *Penicillin first went on sale to the general public in the United Kingdom. The antibiotic had been made available at pharmacies in the United States beginning March 15, 1 ...

November 1946 The following events occurred in November 1946: November 1, 1946 (Friday) *In what the National Basketball Association (NBA) credits as its first game, the New York Knicks defeated the Toronto Huskies 68–66. The only game scheduled for the ...

, and 1951 legislative elections. Despite its name, the coalition was on the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

of French politics; for a long time, the French republican right has refused to call itself "right" since the right-wing in France has historically been associated with

monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

(this practice is known as ). It was subsidised by French employers, who saw in it the best defense against Communism and the defender of

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...

, in a context marked by various nationalizations supported by the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

(PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the

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 ...

movement. Employers conceived the RGR as such until at least the 1951 creation of the

National Centre of Independents and Peasants 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 ...

(CNIP) gathering independent conservative deputies. During the 1956 legislative campaign, it became a political party led by

Composition of the coalition

The RGR was largely composed of the Radical-Socialist Party, which had governed France during most of the Third Republic, and of the

(''Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance''), which included René Pleven and François Mitterrand. The UDSR was a founding member of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

in 1947. Others parties included: * Republican Social Party of French Reconciliation (''Parti républicain social de la réconciliation française''), founded by former members of Colonel de la Rocque's Parti Social Français (PSF) *

Democratic Republican Alliance The Democratic Alliance (french: Alliance démocratique, AD), originally called Democratic Republican Alliance (, ARD), was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta such as Raymond Poincaré, who would be presiden ...

(''Alliance Démocratique''), main right-wing party during the interwar period * Democratic Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste démocratique'') of Paul Faure, which gathered former SFIO members excluded from that party because of their

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 ...

* Independent Radicals (''Radicaux indépendants''), radicals refusing the Radical-Socialist Party alliance with the left-wing during the

Cartel des gauches The Cartel of the Left (french: Cartel des gauches, ) was the name of the governmental alliance between the Radical-Socialist Party, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), and other smaller left-republican parties that ...

, issued from a scission in 1928; the group is reconstituted at the Liberation by the mayor of Nice,

Jacques Médecin Jacques Médecin (5 May 1928 – 17 November 1998) was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist party RPR, he succeeded his father Jean Médecin as mayor of the city of Nice, serving from 1966 to 1990. Under suspicion of corruption, he fled ...

* Republican-Socialist Party (''Parti républicain-socialiste'') created by independent socialists who had refused the unification of the socialist movement in 1905 under the SFIO, which was, like the Independent Radicals, almost an empty shell by then.

Foundation

After World War II, France was governed by the

Three-parties Tripartisme () was the mode of government in France from 1944 to 1947, when the country was ruled by a three-party alliance of communists, socialists and Christian democrats, represented by the French Communist Party (PCF), the French Section of th ...

alliance composed of the

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 s ...

, the

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

and the Christian democratic

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). The Radical Party and the pre-war right-wing groups were considered jointly responsible for the 1940 collapse of the Third Republic. In the same time, the attempt to gather the non-Communist Resistance in a new party, the UDSR, failed. In 1946, they formed a coalition to resist to the Three-parties alliance in the legislative elections. They defined themselves as "

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

republicans" whilst they opposed left-wing policies. Indeed, until the end of the 19th century, the French left was defined as

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and the right as pro-

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

. Then, when the republic was no longer questioned, the conservative republican groups, who had sat at the center-left of the assemblies, moved to the right-wing seats, but they continued to consider themselves as left-wingers: this is known as ''

sinistrisme Sinistrisme () is a neologism invented by political scientist Albert Thibaudet in ''Les idées politiques de la France'' (1932) to explain the evolution and recombination of party systems, particularly in France, without substantial changes occ ...

''. When the Communists were ejected from the government during the

May 1947 crisis In the May 1947 crises (or exclusion crises), the Communists were excluded from government in Italy and France. The crises contributed to the start of the Cold War in Western Europe. In Italy In Italy, the Christian Democracy (DC), led by Alcide ...

, the RGR joined the government of the Third force with the SFIO, the MRP, then the

National Center of Independents and Peasants 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 ...

. The RGR obtained 11.6% of the votes in 1946, 11,1% in 1951 and 3.9% of 1956 (most of the Radicals had decided to present themselves as members of the Republican Front of

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...

.) In 1955, under the leaderships of

and François Mitterrand, the Radical Party and the UDSR advocated left-wing policies and left the RGR. Their internal opponents pursued the RGR, which became a small center-right party led by Prime Minister

Edgar Faure Edgar Jean Faure (; 18 August 1908 – 30 March 1988) was a French politician, lawyer, essayist, historian and memoirist who served as Prime Minister of France in 1952 and again between 1955 and 1956.Jean-Paul David Jean-Paul David, (14 December 1912 – 31 July 2007), was a French politician. He was mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie between 1947 and 1977 and deputy for Seine-et-Oise (later Yvelines). Youth and early career Son of Ernest-Henri David (municipal c ...

created the '' Parti libéral européen'' (European Liberal Party), which would eventually fusion in 1978 with the ''

Parti Radical Valoisien The Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste) is a Liberalism and radicalism in France, liberal and formerly Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in France, ...

''.

Composition of the coalition

Foundation

See also