Front popular

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The expression Front populaire (French for popular front ) denotes the government of the united left French parties, which came to power at the time of the Third Republic in 1936 and is closely linked to the person of the then Prime Minister Léon Blum .

prehistory

The Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935, the advocacy of the right-wing parties for Italy, but above all the threatening rise of fascism in Europe, the predominance of which was Nazi Germany at that time , led to a rapprochement between the left-wing parties Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière (SFIO) and Parti communiste français (PCF). When the Parti radical withdrew its support from the government, the formation of a popular front government made up of socialists and communists was the logical consequence. The partners announced a joint program on January 12, 1936. A final obstacle before the May 1936 elections was overcome with the merger of the CGT and CGTU unions . After the election victory, large parts of the population were initially very happy. But the hope that a new government would be formed immediately was not fulfilled. According to the constitution, Léon Blum, Prime Minister-designate, waited for the official end of the legislative period. This led to massive expressions of discontent in the left camp, which ultimately led to mass strikes. When the new government was formed on June 5, 1936, the economy was almost paralyzed. This forced employers to make fundamental concessions to the workers' representatives, especially to the CGT. This included the recognition of the trade unions, the establishment of works councils, the right to strike, a considerable wage increase and the right to vacation.

Popular Front Government

The government made up of socialists and radicals ('Front populaire') did not have any PCF ministers; this had only agreed to support the cabinet in parliament. The government implemented further improvements in the area of labor law : in 1936 it introduced the 40-hour week and statutory vacation entitlement for the first time in history . For many French people there was paid vacation for the first time in the summer of 1936. The government also began to nationalize the Banque de France , the railways (creation of the SNCF ) and the arms industry. In terms of monetary policy , the Blum government met fierce opposition. The devaluation of the franc just passed the legislature; the hoped-for stabilization of the currency soon proved to be a failure. In February 1937, the government felt compelled to suspend further reform projects for the time being.

Foreign policy also became a burden on the Popular Front government. Initially, Blum had openly supported the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War . However, after consultation with the British government, things turned around. At Blum's initiative, a non-interference agreement was signed, to which Great Britain, France, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany all joined. As Italy and Germany continued to support Francisco Franco , the alliance effectively weakened the Republican side. The PCF then withdrew its support from the government, initially on foreign policy. Domestically and financially, too, the fronts began to harden. Defense Minister Édouard Daladier , supported by Blum, aimed to increase defense spending. Among other things, to finance these projects, Blum demanded complete freedom of action in financial policy. A corresponding law failed at the Senate; This was the reason for the end of the Blum government and the Popular Front government.

The Popular Front governments tried to give the colonized peoples a higher standard of living and more political freedom through political and social reforms in the colonies . The socialist Marius Moutet was appointed head of the Colonial Ministry and in this position released thousands of political prisoners throughout the colonial empire, improved conditions in prisons, invalidated colonial police dossiers and set up local jurors in local courts. In French Indochina alone , Vietnamese prisoners were released in 2028. The then triggered domestic reform movement (" Indochinese Congress ") was banned again a year later after it had been infiltrated by the Vietnamese communists.

An effective public test case was the use of 1936 in Berlin , held the Olympic Games and in the special protest People's Olympiad in Barcelona . While the socialists as the opposition had clearly announced their rejection of the Berlin Games and had campaigned for participation in the People's Olympiad, they now made equal funds available in parliament for both and left it to the associations and athletes to choose one or the other to decide. The boycott of the 1936 Olympic Games by France could have been a signal that the world is not willingly accepting all the acts of the National Socialists.

The cabinets

In order to understand French domestic and foreign policy during these years, it would seem helpful to list the prime ministers or governments from 1933 to 1940:

literature

  • Jérémie Berthuin, Life is ours! General strike and factory occupations in France in 1936 and Heiko Grau-Maiwald, Days of Hope. The Popular Front in France. In: Holger Marcks & Matthias Seiffert (eds.): The great strikes - episodes from the class struggle. Unrast-Verlag, Münster 2008, pp. 64–72, ISBN 978-3-89771-473-1 .
  • Stefan Martens: From World War I to the end of the Vichy regime (1914–1944). In: Ernst Hinrichs (ed.): Little history of France . Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2005, pp. 396–398.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bruce J. Lockhart, William J. Duiker: Historical Dictionary of the Vietnam War. Oxford, 2006, p. 317.
  2. ^ Martin Thomas: The French Empire Between the Wars: Imperialism, Politics and Society. Manchester University Press, 2005, pp. 290/291.
  3. ^ Francoise Hache: The workers' sport in France: two turning points: 1936 and 1981. Arnd Krüger , James Riordan (ed.): The international workers' sport: the key to workers' sport in 10 countries. Pahl-Rugenstein, Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-7609-0933-7 , pp. 64-81 (= sport, work, society. Volume 23).
  4. ↑ Monique Berlioux : Des Jeux et des Crimes. 1936. Le piège blanc olympique. Biarritz 2007, ISBN 978-2-7588-0002-6 .