The Republican Party of Liberty (french: Parti républicain de la liberté, PRL) was a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

to right-wing French political party founded 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 ...

on 22 December 1945 by

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 ...

André Mutter André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

, Édouard Frédéric-Dupont and Jules Ramarony. It was the only significant right-wing conservative political party in the late 1940s. Key elements in this program were enacted, including the exclusion of the Communist Party from power, closer relations with the United States, and amnesty for Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

's supporters. It was absorbed by 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 ...

(CNI) in 1951.Vinen, 1993, The PRL's aim was to unite French conservatives, who had been totally discredited in 1944 due to the numbers of Vichy collaborators in their ranks, and the role they played during the interwar period.

Bernard Frank Bernard Frank (11 October 1929, in Neuilly-sur-Seine – 3 November 2006, in Paris) was a French journalist and writer. Early life Bernard Frank was raised in a comfortable family, where his father was a bank manager. After his baccalauréat ...

mocked "this right which suddenly discovered in itself a love for the Republic and liberty." The PRL's tentative approach failed, most conservative leaders trying to conserve their autonomy or to recreate parties of the Third Republic such as the Democratic Alliance, 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 ...

or the

Republican Social Party of French Reconciliation {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Republican Social Party of French Reconciliation (french: Parti républicain social de la réconciliation française, PRSRF) was a French political party founded in 1945 by former members of ...

(''Parti républicain social de la réconciliation française''). The PRL campaigned for a "no" vote in the May 1946 referendum on the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. It obtained 38 seats in the November 1946 legislative elections. The party was presided over by Michel Clemenceau (son of Georges), who obtained 60 votes out of 883 during the 1947 presidential election — under the Fourth Republic, the President was elected by members of the two chambers of Parliament, not by

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

. The PRL then obtained 11 Senators in the indirect elections for the Council of the Republic of 1948. After numerous internal dissensions, the PRL merged into the CNI in 1951, while some members joined 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 ...

Rally of the French People The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resign ...

Members

* Michel Clemenceau, President. * Robert Bertolaud * Édouard Barrachin *

Henry Bergasse Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portuga ...

* François Brigneau * Robert Bruyneel * Jean Crouzier * Édouard Frédéric-Dupont *

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 ...

Louis Jacquinot Louis Jacquinot (16 September 1898 – 14 June 1993) was a French lawyer and politician, and chief of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré's office. Jacquinot was born in Gondrecourt-le-Château (Meuse) in 1898. Entering parliament in 1932, he la ...

* Pierre July *

* Joseph Lecacheux * Jean Legendre * Pierre Montel *

Georges Pernot Auguste Alain Georges Pernot (6 November 1879 – 14 September 1962) was a conservative French lawyer and politician. He was a deputy and then a senator before and during World War II (1939–45). He was Minister of Public Works in 1929–30, Mini ...

* Jules Ramarony *

Paul Reynaud Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany. Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of ...

References

Right-wing parties in France Political parties established in 1945 Political parties disestablished in 1951 1945 establishments in France 1951 disestablishments in France {{France-party-stub

Members

Further reading

References