Georges Monnet (12 August 1898, Aurillac,

Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (fren ...

– 9 December 1980) was a prominent socialist politician in 1930s France and a member of

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 ...

's war cabinet as Minister of Blockade. Preceding that, he was Minister of Agriculture in Léon Blum's government. He was decorated for his service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, receiving the Croix de Guerre.

Inter war

After fighting in the

, Monnet became head of a large farm in Picardy before moving on to politics and joining the

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 t ...

in 1928. Monnet was elected as a member of the French Chamber of Deputies in 1932 and again in 1936. In 1933, he joined the administrative board and became the permanent expert of the

SFIO The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a list of political parties in France, political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-da ...

for agricultural issues. He modernized the socialist doctrine by focusing it towards the goal of practical and immediate reforms to help small and medium-scale farms. As Minister of Agriculture in the first Léon Blum government, he used his land policy to defend small farmers through the control of agricultural prices.

Second World War

He opposed the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

in 1938 and ran a newspaper about Action for peace and socialism, which proposed a firm line against

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, although it was largely ignored by other prominent pro-appeasement socialists, such as Georges Bonnet. In

's cabinet, he became Minister of Blockade. Monnet indicated his disapproval of the French armistice after the fall of France in 1940; however, on 10 July 1940, during the vote to give 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 ...

full powers held at

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

, he did not vote against it but abstained. During the

Occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, he refused to compromise with Vichy but also to actively engage in the Resistance.

Post war

After the war, Monnet went to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to continue to play a political role. He became Counselor of the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subj ...

from 1947 to 1958. He was Minister of Agriculture under

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...

from 1959 to 1961 and personal adviser to the President (

) of Ivory Coast shortly after its independence from France, serving from 1961 to 1964.''The Caribbean'', Volume 13, Issue 1 - Volume 14, Issue 4 A few years later, he returned to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and became president of the National Agricultural Exhibition and Competition (CENECA).

Decorations

* Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 *Commander of the Legion of Honor *Commander of Agricultural Merit

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monnet, Georges 1898 births 1980 deaths People from Aurillac Politicians from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French Section of the Workers' International politicians French Ministers of Agriculture Members of the 14th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French military personnel of World War I Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur