The Popular Liberal Action (french: Action libérale populaire, ALP), simply called Liberal Action (), was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

that represented

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

supporters of the

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 19 ...

. It operated in the center-right, primarily to oppose the left-wing Republican coalition led by

Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His father, René W ...

and

Émile Combes Émile Justin Louis Combes (; 6 September 183525 May 1921) was a French statesman and freemason who led the Bloc des gauches's cabinet from June 1902 to January 1905. Career Émile Combes was born in Roquecourbe, Tarn. He studied for the pri ...

who pursued an

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

agenda designed to weaken the Catholic Church, especially its role in education. The ALP between 1901 in 1914 had its best election in 1902, with 78 deputies. It built a nationwide newspaper and propaganda network, had excellent funding. There were 1200 local committees, with 200,000 dues paying members in 1906, giving at the strong space of any French political party.

History

The Liberal Action was founded in 1901 by Jacques Piou and

Albert de Mun Adrien Albert Marie, Comte de Mun (, 28 February 18416 October 1914), was a French political figure and Social Reformer of the nineteenth century. Biography Early years Albert was born at Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux, Seine-et-Marne, son of the Marqu ...

, former monarchists who switched to republicanism at the request of Pope

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

. From the Churches perspective, its mission was to express the political ideals and new social doctrines embodied in Leo's 1891 encyclical " Rerum Novarum". ''Action libérale'' was the parliamentary group from which the political party emerged, adding the word ''populaire'' ("popular") to signify this expansion. Membership was open to everyone, not just Catholics. It sought to gather all the "honest people" and to be the melting pot sought by Leo XIII where Catholics and moderate Republicans would unite to support a policy of tolerance and social progress. Its motto summarized its program: "Liberty for all; equality before the law; better conditions for the workers." However, the "old republicans" were few, and it did not manage to regroup all Catholics, as it was shunned by monarchists, Christian democrats, and

Integrist In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics withi ...

s. In the end, it recruited mostly among the liberal-Catholics ( Jacques Piou) and the Social Catholics (

). The party was drawn into battle from its very beginnings (its first steps coincided with the beginning of the Combes ministry and its anticlerical combat policy), as religious matters were at the heart of its preoccupations. It defended the Church in the name of liberty and common law. Fiercely fought by 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 fil ...

'', the movement declined from 1908, when it lost the support of Rome. Nevertheless, the ALP remained until 1914 the most important party on the right. All but forgotten during

World War I 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 ...

because of the ''

Union sacrée The Sacred Union (french: Union Sacrée, ) was a political truce in France in which the left-wing agreed, during World War I, not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge mad ...

'', it re-emerged in 1919, with only its administrators, but still exerting an important moral influence on the Catholic electors. In 1919, the ''Action libérale populaire'' joined the ''Bloc national''. After that, it sought to regroup, most notably in 1923 and 1927, but to no avail. The ''Action libérale populaire'' played an important historical role by integrating into political life the ''Catholiques ralliés'' and by being the first political party, right of center, to organize itself under a "modern" scheme.

Notable members

* Jacques Piou, Founding president *

, first vice-president *

Amiral de Cuverville Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

, vice-president * duc d'Estissac, vice-president * Baron

Xavier Reille Xavier or Xabier may refer to: Place * Xavier, Spain People * Xavier (surname) * Xavier (given name) * Francis Xavier (1506–1552), Catholic saint ** St. Francis Xavier (disambiguation) * St. Xavier (disambiguation) * Xavier (footballer, born ...

Camille Guyot de Villeneuve Camille may refer to: Fictional entities * a Power Rangers Jungle Fury character * Camille Wallaby, a character in Alfred Hedgehog * a character from ''League of Legends'' video game voiced by Emily O'Brien Films *''Camille (1912 film)'', a s ...

Hyacinthe de Gailhard-Bancel Hyacinthe de Gailhard-Bancel (1 November 1849 – 22 March 1936) was a French politician, lawyer, and pioneer of agricultural syndicalism. He was (1899–1910, 1912–1924). Biography Born on 1 November 1849 in Allex, Gailhard-Bancel was grand ...

Henri Bazire Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...

* Henri-Constant Groussau * Louis Hébert * comte Ferri de Ludre * Paul Lerolle * marquis de l'Estourbeillon * Jean Plichon * Emmanuel de Las-Cases * Léonce de Castelnau * Xavier de la Rochefoucauld * Émile Driant

Electoral results

{, class=wikitable , - , colspan=6, Chamber of Deputies , - ! Election year ! # of
overall votes ! % of
overall vote ! # of
overall seats won ! +/– ! Leader , - !

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world' ...

, 1,350,581 (#3) , 16.00 , , , , - !

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, 1,238,048 (#3) , 14.05 , , , , - !

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

, 737,616 (#6) , 8.65 , , , , - !

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, 956,261 (#4) , 11.34 , , , {{center, Jacques Piou

History

Notable members

Electoral results

Further reading