Yvon Delbos (7 May 1885 – 15 November 1956) was a French Radical-Socialist Party politician and minister. Delbos was born in

Thonac Thonac () is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The area is notable for the Château de Losse and the cemetery contains the grave of Vietnamese Emperor Hàm Nghi. Population See also *Commune ...

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

, and entered a career as a journalist, and became a member of the Radical-Socialist Party. He subsequently served as Minister of Education (1925), Minister of Justice (1936), and notably as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

in the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

governments of Léon Blum and Camille Chautemps. In January 1937, unveiling a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate ...

, Delbos, in reply to

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 ...

's Reichstag speech of the previous day, emphasised the need for Franco-German understanding and for both countries to find new markets so that industrial expansion might replace rearmament. After representing France at the Nine-Power Conference at

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

on 3 November, he expounded French Foreign Policy in a debate in the Chamber on 18–19 November, emphasizing Anglo-French friendship and the necessity for its maintenance. Ten days later, he visited London with Chautemps to receive a report from Neville Chamberlain and Anthony Eden on the result of the Halifax-Hitler talks. Afterwards, he set out on a tour of the central and eastern European capitols, visiting

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

on 3 December,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

on 8 December, Belgrade on 12 December and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

on 15 December, in each case discussing the European situation with the ministers of the countries in question, and seeking to foster friendly relations with France. On 10 December 1937 it was announced that a plot to assassinate him at Prague had been discovered by the French Police and the prospective assailant was arrested. He was reappointed Foreign Minister in the reconstructed Chautemps government in the third week of January 1938 but was excluded from Léon Blum's cabinet in March 1938.Britannica 1938, p.196. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, he worked alongside his British counterpart Anthony Eden in fleshing out the policy of nonintervention.

References

Bibliography * Benoît Cazenave, ''Yvon Delbos'', in ''Hier war das Ganze Europa'', Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätte, Editions Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2004.

External links

* 1885 births 1956 deaths People from Dordogne Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Radical Party (France) politicians French Ministers of National Education Government ministers of France Members of the 13th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic 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 Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic French Senators of the Fourth Republic Senators of Dordogne École Normale Supérieure alumni French military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) {{France-politician-RPV-stub