View source for Alexandre Millerand

{{Short description|French lawyer and statesman (1859–1943)}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Millerand|Mitterrand (disambiguation)|Millerand Island}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Alexandre Millerand
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Alexandre Millerand (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Millerand in 1920
| office              = 12th [[President of France]]
| term_start          = 23 September 1920
| term_end            = 11 June 1924
| primeminister       = [[Georges Leygues]]<br />[[Aristide Briand]]<br />[[Raymond Poincaré]]<br />[[Frédéric François-Marsal]]
| predecessor         = [[Paul Deschanel]]
| successor           = [[Gaston Doumergue]]
| office1             = [[Prime Minister of France]]
| president1          = Raymond Poincaré<br />Paul Deschanel
| term_start1         = 20 January 1920
| term_end1           = 23 September 1920
| predecessor1        = [[Georges Clemenceau]]
| successor1          = Georges Leygues
| office2             = [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister2      = Himself
| term_start2         = 20 January 1920
| term_end2           = 23 September 1920
| predecessor2        = Georges Clemenceau
| successor2          = Georges Leygues
| office3             = [[Minister of Defence (France)|Minister of War]]
| primeminister3      = [[René Viviani]]
| term_start3         = 26 August 1914
| term_end3           = 29 October 1915
| predecessor3        = [[Adolphe Messimy]]
| successor3          = [[Joseph Gallieni]]
| primeminister4      = Raymond Poincaré
| term_start4         = 14 January 1912
| term_end4           = 12 January 1913
| predecessor4        = Adolphe Messimy
| successor4          = [[Albert Lebrun]]
| office5             = [[Minister of Public Works (France)|Minister of Public Works]], [[Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones|Posts and Telegraphs]]
| term_start5         = 24 July 1909
| term_end5           = 3 November 1910
| primeminister5      = Aristide Briand
| predecessor5        = [[Louis Barthou]]
| successor5          = [[Louis Puech]]
| office6             = [[Minister of Commerce (France)|Minister of Commerce, Industry]], [[Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones|Posts and Telegraphs]]
| term_start6         = 22 June 1899
| term_end6           = 7 June 1902
| primeminister6      = [[Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau]]
| predecessor6        = {{ill|Paul Delombre|fr}}
| successor6          = [[Georges Trouillot]]
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1859|02|10|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Paris]], [[Second French Empire|France]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1943|04|06|1859|02|10|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]], [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|Occupied France]]
| party               = [[French Socialist Party (1902)|French Socialist Party]]<br />{{small|(1902–1904)}}<br />[[Republican-Socialist Party]]<br />{{small|(1911–1912)}}<br />[[Miscellaneous Right|Independent]]<br />{{small|(1912–1940)}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Jeanne Millerand]]|1898|1943}}
| children            = Jean {{small|(1899–1972)}}<br />Alice {{small|(1902–80)}}<br />Jacques {{small|(1904–79)}}<br />Marthe {{small|(1909–75)}}
| alma_mater          = [[University of Paris]]
| profession          = [[Lawyer]], [[journalist]]
| signature           = Signature of Alexandre Millerand.svg
}}
'''Alexandre Millerand''' ({{IPA|fr|alɛksɑ̃dʁ milʁɑ̃|lang}}; {{Birth date|1859|2|10|df=y}} – {{Death date|1943|4|6|df=y}})<!--Per MOS, full dates in infobox need not be repeated in lede--> was a French [[politician]] who served as [[President of France]] from 1920 to 1924, having previously served as [[Prime Minister of France]] earlier in 1920. His participation in [[Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau|Waldeck-Rousseau]]'s cabinet at the start of the 20th century, alongside the [[Marquis de Galliffet]], who had directed the repression of the 1871 [[Paris Commune]], sparked a debate in the [[French Section of the Workers' International]] (SFIO) and in the [[Second International]] about the participation of socialists in [[bourgeois]] governments.

In 1912 Millerand was appointed as war minister in Poincaré's cabinet. He returned to the same post during the first year of World War I, helping set French war strategy. After Clemenceau's defeat in 1920, Millerand formed a cabinet and held both the premiership and the ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1920-1924 he served as president of France. He faced criticism for openly supporting conservative candidates in the 1924 elections and the left majority forced his resignation. Thereafter he played only a minor role in politics.<ref>Bell pp 291-292. </ref>

==Biography==
=== Early life and religion ===
Millerand was brought up in [[Paris]], to Jean-François Millerand and Amélie-Mélanie Cahen. His mother was of [[History of the Jews in Alsace|Alsatian Jewish]] origin, while his paternal family originated from [[Franche-Comté]].<ref name="amsy">{{cite book|title=Alexandre Millerand: The socialist years|author=Leslie Derfler|date=3 December 2018|page=3}}</ref>

Millerand was baptized in 1860, while his mother converted to [[Catholicism]].<ref name="amsy"/> However, Millerand later became an [[agnostic]], even going as far as to participate in a civil marriage ceremony. None of his children were baptized either.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7F6DwAAQBAJ&dq=Alexandre+Millerand+agnostic&pg=PA5|title=Alexandre Millerand: The socialist years|first=Leslie|last=Derfler|page=5|publisher=Mouton|date=1 April 1977|isbn=9783111509730 |accessdate=29 June 2022}}</ref>

===Early activism===
Born in [[Paris]], he was educated for the [[Bar (law)|bar]] and was elected Secrétaire of the [[Conférence des avocats du barreau de Paris]]. He made his reputation through his defence, in company with [[Jean Henri Georges Laguerre|Georges Laguerre]], of [[Ernest Roche]] and [[Duc-Quercy]], the instigators of the [[Strike action|strike]] at [[Decazeville]] in 1883. He then took Laguerre's place on [[Georges Clemenceau]]'s newspaper, ''La Justice''. He was a [[freemason]]<ref>Initiated in ""L'Amitiée Lodge"" on 21 May 1883 (Histoire de la Franc-maçonnerie en France - Faucher and Ricker 1967).</ref> between 1883 and 1905.

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the [[Seine (département)|Seine]] ''[[département in France|département]]'' in 1885 as a Radical Socialist. He was associated with Clemenceau and [[Camille Pelletan]] as an arbitrator in the [[Carmaux]] strike (1892). He had long had the ear of the Chamber in matters of social legislation, and after the [[Panama scandal]]s had discredited so many politicians, his influence grew.

He was chief of the Independent Socialist faction, a group which then mustered sixty members. Until 1896, he edited their newspaper, ''[[La Petite République]]''. His programme included the [[Public ownership|collective ownership]] of the [[means of production]] and the international [[Labor movement|association of labour]].

===Government minister===
[[File:Alexandre Millerand, par Nadar.jpg|thumb|left|Alexandre Millerand, by Paul Nadar, {{circa|1900}}]]
In June 1899 he entered [[Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau]]'s cabinet of "republican defence" as Minister of Commerce. In contrast to his earlier activism, he now limited himself to practical reforms, devoting his attention to the improvement of the merchant marine, to the development of trade, of technical education, of the postal system, and to the amelioration of the conditions of labour. Labour questions were entrusted to a separate department, the ''Direction du Travail'', and the pension and insurance office was also raised to the status of a "''direction''".

In 1902, he did not join fellow independent socialist [[Jean Jaurès]] in forming the [[French Socialist Party (1902)|Parti Socialiste Français]], but in 1907 instead formed the small Independent Socialist Party, which became the [[Republican-Socialist Party]] (PRS) in 1911. His influence with the [[far-left]] had already declined, for it was said that his departure from the true [[Marxism|Marxist]] tradition had disintegrated the movement.

In 1909/1910, he served as [[Minister of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs]].

As labour minister{{when|date=August 2020}}, he was responsible for the introduction of a wide range of reforms, including the reduction in the maximum workday from 11 to 10 hours in 1904, the introduction of an 8-hour workday for postal employees, the prescribing of maximum hours and minimum wages for all work undertaken by public authorities, the bringing of workers' representatives into the Conseil supérieur de travail, the establishment of arbitration tribunals and inspectors of labour, and the creation of a labour section inside his Ministry of Commerce to tackle the problem of social insurance.

The introduction of [[trade union]] representatives on the ''Supreme Labour Council'', the organisation of local labour councils, and instructions to factory inspectors to put themselves in communication with the councils of the trade unions were valuable concessions to labour. He further secured the rigorous application of earlier laws devised for the protection of the [[working class]]. His name was especially associated with a project for the establishment of [[Pension|old age pensions]], which became law in 1905. In 1898, he became editor of ''La Lanterne''.

Millerand twice served as Minister of War, first from 1912 to 1913 and again, during the early stages of [[World War I]], from 1914 to 1915.

===Prime minister===

Millerand continued to move to the [[Right-wing|right]], being appointed Prime Minister by the [[Conservatism|conservative]] President, [[Paul Deschanel]]. During his time as Prime Minister, a decree of February 1920 introduced the eight-hour day for seamen.

===Presidency and later years===
When Deschanel had to resign later in 1920 due to his mental disorder, Millerand emerged as a compromise candidate for President between the ''[[National Bloc (France)|Bloc National]]'' and the remnants of the ''[[Bloc des gauches]]''. Millerand appointed [[Georges Leygues]], a politician with a long career of ministerial office, as Prime Minister and attempted to strengthen the executive powers of the Presidency. This move was resisted in the Chamber of Deputies and the [[French Senate]], and Millerand was forced to appoint a stronger figure, [[Aristide Briand]]. Briand's appointment was welcomed by both left and right, although the Socialists and the left wing of the [[Radical Party (France)|Radical Party]] did not join his government.

However, Millerand dismissed Briand after just a year, and appointed the conservative republican [[Raymond Poincaré]].

Millerand was accused of favouring conservatives in spite of the traditional neutrality of French Presidents and the composition of the legislature. On 14 July 1922, Millerand escaped [[Attempted assassination of Alexandre Millerand|an assassination attempt]] by Gustave Bouvet, a young French [[anarchist]]. Two years later, on 11 June 1924, Millerand resigned in the face of growing conflict between the elected legislature and the office of the President, following the victory of the ''[[Cartel des Gauches]]''. [[Gaston Doumergue]], who was the president of the Senate at the time, was chosen on 13 June to replace Millerand.

[[Image:Tombe A. Millerand.jpg|thumb|upright|Millerand's grave in the [[Passy Cemetery]].]]
Millerand died in 1943 at [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]], and was interred in the [[Passy Cemetery]]. He was awarded Serbian [[Order of Karađorđe's Star]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Acović|first=Dragomir|title=Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima|year=2012|location=Belgrade|publisher=Službeni Glasnik|pages=643}}</ref>

==Millerand's Ministry, 20 January 1920 – 24 September 1920==
* Alexandre Millerand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
* [[André Joseph Lefèvre]] - Minister of War
* [[Théodore Steeg]] - Minister of the Interior
* [[Frédéric François-Marsal]] - Minister of Finance
* [[Paul Jourdain]] - Minister of Labour
* [[Gustave L'Hopiteau]] - Minister of Justice
* [[Adolphe Landry]] - Minister of Marine
* [[André Honnorat]] - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
* [[André Maginot]] - Minister of War Pensions, Grants, and Allowances
* [[Joseph Ricard]] - Minister of Agriculture
* [[Albert Sarraut]] - Minister of Colonies
* [[Yves Le Trocquer]] - Minister of Public Works
* [[Auguste Isaac]] - Minister of Commerce and Industry
* [[Émile Ogier]] - Minister of Liberated Regions

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Millerand.jpg|Young Alexandre Millerand in 1893.
File:Jeanne Millerand 01.jpg|[[Jeanne Millerand]], née Jeanne Levayer.
File:Alexandre Millerand 1914.jpg|Alexandre Millerand as [[Minister of Defence (France)|Minister of War]], 1914.
File:Alexandre Millerand par Marcel Baschet.jpg|Portrait of Alexandre Millerand, 1921<br>(by [[Marcel Baschet]]).
File:MarqueMillerand.svg|[[Presidential standard of France|Presidential standard]] of Alexandre Millerand.

</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Interwar France]]
* [[San Remo conference]]

==Notes==
{{more footnotes|date=November 2018}}
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Millerand, Alexandre}} Endnotes:
** For his administration in the Waldeck-Rousseau cabinet see A. Lavy, L'Œuvre de Millerand (1902);
** his speeches between 1899 and 1907 were published in 1907 as ''Travail et travailleurs''.

==Further reading==
* Jean-Philippe Dumas, Alexandre Millerand. Un combattant à l'Élysée, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2022.
* Jean-Louis Rizzo, Alexandre Millerand: socialiste discuté, ministre contesté et président déchu (1859-1943), Paris, L'Harmattan, 2013.
* Marjorie Milbank Farrar, Principled Pragmatist: The Political Career of Alexandre Millerand, New-York, Berg, 1991.
* Bell, David, et al. eds. ''Biographical dictionary of French political leaders since 1870'' (1990) pp. 291-292.
* {{cite book |last=Sowerine |first=Charles |year=2009|title=France since 1870: Culture, Politics and Society |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan|edition=2nd }}
* {{cite book |last=Cobban |first=Alfred |year=1990 |title=A History Of Modern France 1871-1962|volume=3 |publisher=Penguin Books}}
* ''The Encyclopædia Britannica'': a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 31 by [[Hugh Chisholm]]

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Millerand, Alexandre |year=1905 |short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Millerand, Alexandre |short=x}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/012264}}

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{{S-end}}

{{Heads of state of France}}
{{Heads of government of France}}
{{Foreign Ministers of France}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Millerand, Alexandre}}
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