View source for French Fourth Republic

{{Short description|Government of France from 1946 to 1958}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = French Republic
| common_name            = French
| native_name            = {{native name|fr|République française}}
| flag                   = Flag of France
| image_flag             = Flag of France.svg
| other_symbol           = <div style="padding:0.3em;">[[File:Great Seal of France.svg|100px|Obverse]] [[File:Great Seal of France (reverse).svg|100px|Reverse]]</div>
| other_symbol_type      = [[Great Seal of France|Great Seal]]:
| national_motto         = "{{lang|fr|[[Liberté, égalité, fraternité]]}}"
| englishmotto           = "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
| national_anthem        = "[[La Marseillaise]]"<br><div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">[[File: La Marseillaise Rouget de Lisle Musique de la Garde Républicaine.ogg]]</div>
| image_map              = France (1945-1949).png
| image_map_alt          = 
| image_map_caption      = {{plainlist | style = padding-left: 0. 6em; text-align: left; |
* {{Legend|#177b35|France}}
* {{Legend|#4c9f5e|French protectorates}}
* {{Legend|#75c379|French occupation zones in Germany and Austria}}
}}
| image_map2             = Colonization 1945 Spanish script.png
| image_map2_caption     = Colonial empires in 1945. (France shown in blue) 
| capital                = [[Paris]]
| coordinates            = {{Coord|48|51|N|2|21|E|type:city}}
| largest_city           = capital
| languages_type         = Official language
| languages              = [[French language|French]]
| religion               = [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State|Secular state]]{{efn|Excluding Alsace-Moselle}}
In [[Concordat in Alsace-Moselle|Alsace-Moselle]]:
*[[Roman Catholicism]]
*[[Calvinism]]
*[[Lutheranism]]
*[[Judaism]]
| demonym                = French
| government_type        = [[Unitary parliamentary republic]]
| title_leader           = [[President of France|President]]
| leader1                = [[Vincent Auriol]]
| year_leader1           = 1947–1954
| leader2                = [[René Coty]]
| year_leader2           = 1954–1958
| title_deputy           = [[Prime Minister of France|Prime Minister]]
| deputy1                = [[Paul Ramadier]]
| year_deputy1           = 1947 <small>(first)</small>
| deputy2                = [[Charles de Gaulle]]
| year_deputy2           = 1958 <small>(last)</small>
| legislature            = [[French Parliament|Parliament]]
| upper_house            = {{nowrap|[[Council of the Republic (France)|Council of the Republic]]}}
| lower_house            = [[National Assembly (French Fourth Republic)|National Assembly]]
| currency               = {{plainlist}}
*[[French franc]]
*[[Algerian franc]]
{{endplainlist}}
| today                  = [[France]]<br />[[Algeria]]
<!--Historical events-->| era                    = {{plainlist}}
* [[Decolonisation of Africa]]
* [[Decolonisation of Asia]]
* [[Cold War]]
{{endplainlist}}
| event_pre              = [[October 1946 French constitutional referendum|Constitutional referendum]]
| date_pre               = 13 October 1946
| event_start            = [[French Constitution of 27 October 1946|Constitution]] adopted
| date_start             = 27 October
| year_start             = 1946
| event1                  = [[First Indochina War]]
| date_event1             = 19 December 1946
| event2                 = [[Malagasy Uprising]]
| date_event2            = 29 March 1947
| event3                 = [[Korea War|French intervention in Korea]]
| date_event3            = 29 July 1950 - 27 July 1953
| event4                 = [[Algerian War]]
| date_event4            = 1 November 1954
| event5                 = De facto end of [[French India]]
| date_event5            = 1 November 1954
| event6                 = [[Austrian State Treaty]]
| date_event6            = 15 May 1955
| event7                 = [[Cameroon War]]
| date_event7            = 22 May 1955
| event8                 = [[Saar Treaty]]
| date_event8            = 27 October 1956
| event9                 = [[Suez Crisis]]
| date_event9            = 29 October – 7 November 1956
| event10                 = [[Ifni War]]
| date_event10            = 23 November 1957 – 30 June 1958
| event11                 = [[May 1958 crisis in France|May crisis]]
| date_event11            = 13 May 1958
| event12                 = [[1958 French constitutional referendum|Constitutional referendum]]
| date_event12            = 28 September 1958
| event_end              = [[Constitution of France|New constitution]] adopted
| date_end               = 4 October
| year_end               = 1958
| p1                     = Provisional Government of the French Republic
| flag_p1                = Flag of France.svg
| s1                     = Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic
| flag_s1                = Flag of Algeria.svg
| s2                     = French Fifth Republic
| flag_s2                = Flag of France.svg
| s3                     = French Community
| flag_s3                = Standard of the French Community.svg
| iso3166code            = omit<!-- Historical countries which ceased to exist prior to the 1970s don't have ISO-3166 codes. It is incorrect to show the ISO-3166 of some modern successor country which happens to have mostly the same territory. We need this to stop the Template from doing that. -->
| stat_year1             = 1946 (including colonies)
| stat_area1             = 14,200,000
| stat_pop1              = 200,000,000
}}

The '''French Fourth Republic''' ({{langx|fr|Quatrième république française}}) was the [[republic]]an [[government of France|government]] of [[France]] from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution of 13 October 1946. Essentially a reestablishment and continuation of the [[French Third Republic]] which governed from 1870 during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] to 1940 during [[World War II]], it suffered many of the same problems which led to its end. The French Fourth Republic was a [[parliamentary republic]].

Despite political dysfunction, the Fourth Republic saw an era of great [[economic growth]] in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social [[institution]]s and [[manufacturing|industry]] after World War II, with assistance from the United States through the [[Marshall Plan]]. It also saw the beginning of the [[rapprochement]] with France's longtime enemy [[West Germany|Germany]], which led to Franco-German co-operation and eventually to the [[European Union]].

The new constitution made some attempts to strengthen the [[executive (government)|executive branch of government]] to prevent the unstable situation before the war, but instability remained and the French Fourth Republic saw frequent changes of government – there were 21 administrations in its 12-year history. Moreover, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding [[decolonization]] of the numerous remaining [[List of French possessions and colonies|French colonies]]. After a series of crises culminating in the [[May 1958 crisis in France|Algerian crisis of 1958]], the French Fourth Republic collapsed. [[France during World War II|Wartime]] leader [[Charles de Gaulle]] returned from retirement to preside over a transitional administration empowered to design a new [[Constitution of France|French constitution]]. The Fourth Republic was dissolved on 5 October 1958 following a public [[1958 French constitutional referendum|referendum]] which established the current [[French Fifth Republic]] with a strengthened [[President of France|presidency]].

== Founding of the Fourth Republic ==
{{Main|Tripartisme|Third Force (France)}}

After the [[liberation of France]] in 1944, the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] was dissolved and the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]] ({{langx|fr|Gouvernement provisoire de la République française}}, GPRF), also known as the [[French Committee of National Liberation]],{{dubious|reason=The GPRF is the successor org to the French Committee of NL, they are not synonyms.|date=February 2021}} was instituted after a unanimous request of the [[Provisional Consultative Assembly]] to be properly represented.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=O. R. |title=The Fourth Republic of France |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1951 |location=London |pages=4 |asin=B0006DAIX0}}</ref> With most of the political class discredited and containing many members who had more or less collaborated with Nazi Germany, [[Gaullism]] and [[communism]] became the most popular political forces in France.

[[Charles de Gaulle]] led the GPRF from 1944 to 1946. Meanwhile, negotiations took place over the proposed new constitution, which was to be put to a referendum. De{{nbsp}}Gaulle advocated a presidential system of government, and criticized the reinstatement of what he pejoratively called "the parties system". He resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by [[Felix Gouin]] of the [[French Section of the Workers' International]] ({{lang|fr|Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière}}, SFIO). Ultimately only the [[French Communist Party]] ({{lang|fr|Parti communiste français}}, PCF) and the socialist SFIO supported the draft constitution, which envisaged a form of government based on [[unicameralism]]; but this was rejected in the [[May 1946 French constitutional referendum|referendum of 5 May 1946]].

For the [[June 1946 French legislative election|1946 elections]], the [[Rally of Left Republicans]] ({{lang|fr|Rassemblement des gauches républicaines}}, RGR), which encompassed the [[Radical Party (France)|Radical-Socialist Party]], the [[Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance]] and other conservative parties, unsuccessfully attempted to oppose the [[Christian democracy|Christian democrat]] and socialist [[Popular Republican Movement|MRP]]–SFIO–PCF alliance. The new [[constituent assembly]] included 166 MRP deputies, 153 PCF deputies and 128 SFIO deputies, giving the tripartite alliance an absolute majority. [[Georges Bidault]] of the MRP replaced Felix Gouin as the head of government.

A new draft of the Constitution was written, which this time proposed the establishment of a [[bicameralism|bicameral]] form of government. [[Leon Blum]] of the SFIO headed the GPRF from 1946 to 1947. After a new legislative election in June 1946, the Christian democrat Georges Bidault assumed leadership of the [[Government of France|Cabinet]]. Despite De{{nbsp}}Gaulle's so-called [[discourse of Bayeux of 16 June 1946]] in which he denounced the new institutions, the new draft was approved by 53% of voters voting in favor (with an abstention rate of 31%) in the [[October 1946 French constitutional referendum|referendum held on 13 October 1946]] and the [[French Constitution of 27 October 1946|Constitution of 27 October 1946]] came into force two weeks later{{efn|The question of the legal effective date of the [[French Constitution of 27 October 1946|Constitution]] is debated. It was adopted by the National Constituent Assembly on 29 September 1946, approved by referendum 13 October, promulgated by Georges Bidault, President of the Provisional Government on 27 October, and published in the [[Journal officiel de la République française]] the next day. Some, like [[Louis Favoreu]], say it became effective "in successive stages" ({{lang|fr|"par paliers"}}); others, adhering to article 98, section 2 of the Constitution, say it became effective on 24 December 1946, the date of the first [[Council of the Republic (France)|Council of the Republic]].}} as the Fourth Republic, in an arrangement in which executive power essentially resided in the hands of the [[Prime Minister of France|President of the Council]] (the prime minister). The [[President of France|President of the Republic]] was given a largely symbolic role, although he remained chief of the [[French Army]] and as a last resort could be called upon to resolve conflicts.

After the expulsion of the Communists from the governing coalition, France joined the [[Cold War]] against Stalin, as expressed by becoming a founding member of [[NATO]] in April 1949.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=John W. |title=France, the Cold War and the Western Alliance, 1944–49: French Foreign Policy and Post-War Europe |date=1990}}</ref> France now took a leadership position in unifying western Europe, working closely with [[Konrad Adenauer]] of West Germany. [[Robert Schuman]], who was twice Prime Minister and at other times Minister of Finance and Foreign Minister, was instrumental in building post-war European and trans-Atlantic institutions. A devout Catholic and anti-Communist, he led France to be a member of the [[European Communities]], the [[Council of Europe]] and NATO.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fimister |first=Alan |title=Robert Schuman: Neo-Scholastic Humanism and the Reunification of Europe |date=2008}}</ref>

== Trente Glorieuses ==
{{main|Les Trente Glorieuses|Economic history of France#From 1944}}
''Les Trente Glorieuses'' ('The Glorious Thirty') was the high prosperity in the 30 years from 1945 to 1975. In 1944, De{{nbsp}}Gaulle introduced a [[dirigiste]] economic policy, which included substantial state control over a capitalist economy, which was followed by 30 years of unprecedented growth.{{Sfn|Gordon|2017|pp=189-199}}

The wartime damage was extensive, and large reparations from defeated Germany did not happen. The United States helped revive the French economy with the [[Marshall Plan]] (1948–1951), giving France $2.3 billion with no repayment. France was the second largest recipient after Britain. The total of all American grants and credits to France from 1946 to 1953 amounted to $4.9 billion.<ref>[[U.S. Bureau of the Census]]. [http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1954.zip ''Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1954''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103074856/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1954.zip |date=3 January 2017 }}, Table 1075, p. 899. (1955) [Online edition: see file 1954-08.pdf]</ref> It provided urgently needed funding for modernizing transport systems, electricity generation, and basic industries including cement, coal, and steel. The plan required a modernization of French industrial and managerial systems, free trade, and friendly economic relations with West Germany.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Esposito |first=Chiarella |title=America's Feeble weapon: Funding the Marshall Plan in France and Italy, 1948–1950 |date=1994 |publisher=Greenwood}}</ref>

The French economy grew rapidly like economies of other developed countries within the framework of the Marshall Plan such as [[West Germany]], [[Italy]], and [[Japan]]. These decades of economic prosperity combined high productivity with high average wages and high consumption, and were also characterised by a highly developed system of social benefits.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hanley |first1=D. L. |title=Contemporary France: Politics and Society Since 1945 |last2=Kerr |first2=A. P. |last3=Waites |first3=N. H. |publisher=Routledge |year=1984 |isbn=0-415-02522-2 |edition=2nd |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> According to various studies, the real purchasing power of the average French worker's salary went up by 170% between 1950 and 1975, while overall private consumption increased by 174% in the period 1950-1974.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ardagh |first=John |title=The New France: A Society in Transition 1945-1977 |edition=3rd |author-link=John Ardagh}}</ref> The French standard of living, which had been damaged by both [[World War]]s, became one of the world's highest. The population also became far more urbanized; many rural [[departments of France|départements]] experienced a population decline while the larger metropolitan areas grew considerably, especially that of [[Paris]]. Ownership of various household goods and amenities increased considerably,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Berstein |first1=Serge |title=The Pompidou years, 1969–1974 |last2=Bernstejn |first2=Sergej Natanovič |last3=Rioux |first3=Jean-Pierre |date=13 March 2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521580618 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_GyhQAJeOZoC&pg=PA153 153] |ol=OL36924M}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Angresano |first=James |title=French welfare state reform: idealism versus Swedish, New Zealand and Dutch |year=2007 |isbn=9781843312673 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_LDBUBZujhcC&pg=PA175 175] |publisher=Anthem Press |ol=11904151M}}</ref><ref name="google">{{Cite book |last1=Forsé |first1=M. |title=Recent Social Trends in France, 1960–1990 |last2=Jaslin |first2=J. P. |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780773563230 |ol=34450323M}}</ref> while the wages of the French working class rose significantly as the economy became more prosperous. As noted by the historians [[Jean Blondel]] and [[Donald Geoffrey Charlton]] in 1974,

{{Blockquote|If it is still the case that France lags in the number of its telephones, working-class housing has improved beyond recognition and the various 'gadgets' of the consumer society–from television to motor cars–are now purchased by the working class on an even more avid basis than in other Western European countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blondel |first1=Jean |title=Contemporary France: Politics, Society, and Institutions |last2=Charlton |first2=Donald Geoffrey}}</ref>}}

The worldwide [[1973 oil crisis]] slowed down its explosive growth. Thus, the mid-1970s marked the end of the period. [[Thomas Piketty]] describes the Trente Glorieuses as an exceptional "catch up" period following the world wars. He cites statistics showing that normal growth in wealthy countries is about 1.5–2%, whereas in Europe growth dropped to 0.5% between 1913 and 1950, and then "caught up" with a growth rate of 4% between 1950 and 1970, until settling back to 1.5–2% from 1970 onward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piketty |first=Thomas |title=[[Capital in the Twenty-First Century]] |date=2014 |publisher=Belknap Press |isbn=978-0674430006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674430006/page/123 123–125] |ol=32602533M |author-link=Thomas Piketty}}</ref>

== Indochina and Tunisia ==
{{History of France}}
Public opinion polls showed that in February 1954, only 7% of the French people wanted to continue [[First Indochina War|the fight]] in [[French Indochina|Indochina]] against the Communists, led by [[Ho Chi Minh]] and his [[Viet Minh]] movement.{{Sfn|Larkin|1997|pages=240-241}}

[[Pierre Mendès France]] was a [[Radical Party (France)|Radical Party]] leader who was Prime Minister for eight months in 1954–55, working with the support of the Socialist and Communist parties. His top priority was ending the war in Indochina, which had already cost 92,000 dead, 114,000 wounded and 28,000 captured in the wake of the humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] in early May 1954.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Windrow |first=Martin |title=The French Indochina War 1946–54 |date=2013 |publisher=Osprey Publishing}}</ref>

At the [[Geneva Conference (1954)]], he made a deal that gave the Viet Minh control of Vietnam north of the 17th parallel, and allowed him to pull out all French forces. That left [[South Vietnam]] standing alone. However, the United States moved in and provided large-scale financial, military and economic support for South Vietnam.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christensen |first=Thomas J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1v2pqaOmuEC&pg=PA123 |title=Worse Than a Monolith: Alliance Politics and Problems of Coercive Diplomacy in Asia |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1400838813 |pages=123–125 |access-date=1 July 2015 |archive-date=22 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422001216/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1v2pqaOmuEC&pg=PA123#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Mendès France next came to an agreement with [[Habib Bourguiba]], the nationalist leader in Tunisia, for the independence of that colony by 1956, and began discussions with the nationalist leaders in Morocco for a French withdrawal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Werth |first=Alexander |title=The Strange History of Pierre Mendès France and the Great Conflict over French North Africa <!--London--> |date=1957}}</ref>

== Failure of the new parliamentary system ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2025}}
The intention of the new Constitution's authors was to rationalize the [[parliamentary system]]. [[Minister (government)|Ministers]] were accountable to the legislative body, the [[National Assembly (French Fourth Republic)|French National Assembly]], but some measures were introduced in order to protect the Cabinet and to reinforce the authority of the Prime Minister of France, who led the Cabinet. The goal of the new constitution was to reconcile [[parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] with ministerial stability.

For instance, under the new Constitution, the President of the Council was the leader of the executive branch (Prime Minister of France). The President of the French Republic, elected by the Parliament (the National Assembly and the [[Council of the Republic (France)|Council of the Republic]]), played a symbolic role. His main power was to propose a Prime Minister, who was subject to election by the National Assembly before forming a Cabinet. Only the Prime Minister could invoke a parliamentary vote on legitimacy of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister was also the only member of the executive able to demand a [[Motion of no confidence|vote of confidence]] from the National Assembly (in the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] any minister could call for a vote of confidence). The Cabinet could be dismissed if an [[supermajority#Majority of the entire membership|absolute majority]] of the National Assembly's members voted against the Cabinet. Finally, the National Assembly could be dissolved after two ministerial crises in the [[legislature]].

However, these constitutional measures did not work. In January 1947, after his election by the National Assembly and the nomination of his ministers, Prime Minister [[Paul Ramadier]] called for a vote of confidence in order to verify that the Assembly approved the composition of his Cabinet. This initiated a custom of double election, a vote for the Prime Minister followed by a vote of confidence in the chosen Cabinet, that weakened the Prime Minister's authority over the Cabinet. Cabinets were dismissed with only a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]] (not the absolute majority) of the National Assembly voting against the Cabinet. Consequently, these ministerial crises did not result in the dissolution of Parliament. Thus, as in the Third Republic, this regime was characterized by ministerial instability.

The Fourth Republic was also a victim of the political context. The split of the [[tripartisme|three-party]] alliance in spring 1947, the departure of Communist ministers, [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] [[opposition (parliamentary)|opposition]], and the new [[proportional representation]] did not create conditions for ministerial stability. [[Coalition government|Governmental coalitions]] were composed of an undisciplined patchwork of [[centre-left politics|center-left]] and [[center-right politics|center-right]] parties. Finally, the Fourth Republic was confronted with the collapse of the [[French colonial empire]].

== European countries ==
The creation of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] (ECSC) was first proposed by [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (France)|French foreign minister]] [[Robert Schuman]] and French economist [[Jean Monnet]] on 9 May 1950 as a way to prevent further war between France and [[Germany]]. Though the [[United Kingdom]] was invited, its [[Attlee ministry|Labour government]], then preparing for a re-election fight, did not join the initiative.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dell|first=Edmund|year=1995|title=The Schuman Plan and the British Abdication of Leadership in Europe|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=0198289677}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}.</ref> It was formally established in 1951 by the [[Treaty of Paris (1951)|Treaty of Paris]], signed by France, [[Italy]], [[West Germany]], [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]] and the [[Netherlands]]. Between these countries the ECSC would create a [[Single market|common market]] for coal and steel. The ECSC was governed by a 'High Authority', checked by bodies representing governments; representatives of the peoples of the member States<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) - Wikisource, the free online library. Article 20|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Treaty_establishing_the_European_Coal_and_Steel_Community_(ECSC)|access-date=14 October 2021|archive-date=24 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024174011/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Treaty_establishing_the_European_Coal_and_Steel_Community_(ECSC)|url-status=live}}</ref> (selected from each state's [[Member of parliament|Members of Parliament]]); and an [[judicial independence|independent judiciary]].

The [[Treaty of Paris (1951)|1951 Treaty of Paris]], which created the ECSC, was superseded on 25 March 1957 by the [[Treaty of Rome]], which established the [[European Economic Community]] (the forerunner to the [[European Union]], created in 1993 through the [[Maastricht Treaty]]).

== Algeria and collapse ==
The trigger for the collapse of the Fourth Republic was the [[May 1958 crisis|Algiers crisis of 1958]]. France was still a colonial power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of [[decolonization]]. [[French West Africa]], [[French Indochina]], and [[French Algeria]] still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the [[French Union]]. Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French-identifying population, saw rising pressure for separation from the {{lang|fr|[[Metropolitan France|Métropole]]}}. The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as the [[Pied-Noir|Pieds-Noirs]], who wanted to stay part of France, so the [[Algerian War]] became not just a [[Separatism|separatist]] movement but had elements of a [[civil war]].

Further complications came when a section of the French Army rebelled and openly backed the ''{{lang|fr|[[French Algeria#Algérie française|Algérie française]]}}'' movement to defeat separation. Revolts and riots broke out in 1958 against the French government in Algiers, but there were no adequate and competent political initiatives by the French government in support of military efforts to end the rebellion owing to party politics. The feeling was widespread that another debacle like that of Indochina in 1954 was in the offing and that the government would order another precipitous pullout and sacrifice French honour to political expediency. This prompted General [[Jacques Massu]] to create a French settlers' committee<ref name="JMO">{{Cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article818845.ece |title=Jacques Massu obituary |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=14 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214235852/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> to demand the formation of a new national government under General De{{nbsp}}Gaulle, who was a national hero and had advocated a strong military policy, nationalism and the retention of French control over Algeria. General Massu, who had gained prominence and authority when he ruthlessly suppressed Algerian militants, famously declared that unless General De{{nbsp}}Gaulle was returned to power, the French Army would openly revolt; General Massu and other senior generals covertly planned the takeover of Paris with 1,500 paratroopers preparing to take over airports with the support of [[French Air Force]] units.<ref name="JMO"/> Armoured units from [[Rambouillet]] prepared to roll into Paris.<ref name="crozier">{{cite journal |last1=Crozier |first1=Brian |last2=Mansell |first2=Gerard |date=July 1960 |title=France and Algeria |journal=[[International Affairs (journal)|International Affairs]] |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=310–321 |doi=10.2307/2610008 |jstor=2610008}}</ref>

On 24 May, French paratroopers from the Algerian corps landed on [[Corsica]], taking the French island in a bloodless action called {{lang|fr|[[Opération Corse]]}}.<ref name="JMO"/><ref name="crozier"/> [[Operation Resurrection]] would be implemented if De{{nbsp}}Gaulle was not approved as leader by the [[French Parliament]], if De{{nbsp}}Gaulle asked for military assistance to take power, or to thwart any organized attempt by the [[French Communist Party]] to seize power or stall De{{nbsp}}Gaulle's return.

De{{nbsp}}Gaulle, who had announced his retirement from politics a decade before, placed himself in the midst of the crisis, calling on the nation to suspend the government and create a new constitutional system. On 29 May 1958, French politicians agreed upon calling on De{{nbsp}}Gaulle to take over the government as prime minister. The French Army's willingness to support an overthrow of the constitutional government was a significant development in French politics. With Army support, De{{nbsp}}Gaulle's government terminated the Fourth Republic (the last parliament of the Fourth Republic voted for its dissolution) and drew up a new constitution proclaiming the [[French Fifth Republic]] in 1958.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== See also ==
* [[French Constitution of 27 October 1946]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Works cited ===

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Daniel A. |date=2017 |title=Full Speed Ahead? The Trente Glorieuses in a Rear View Mirror |journal=Contemporary European History |volume=26 |issue=1 |doi=10.1017/S0960777316000461 |pages=189–199}}
* {{Cite book |last=Larkin |first=Maurice |title=France since the Popular Front: Government and People 1936–1986 |date=1997 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=0-1987-3034-9 |ol=2527483M |author-link=Maurice Larkin}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Alexander |first1=Martin |last2=Keiger |first2=J. F. V. |date=June 2002 |title=France and the Algerian War: strategy, operations and diplomacy |url=https://www.routledge.com/rsc/downloads/France_and_the_Algerian_War_Strategy,_Operations_and_Diplomacy.pdf |journal=[[Journal of Strategic Studies]] |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=1–32 |doi=10.1080/01402390412331302635 |issn=0140-2390}}
* {{Cite book |last=Aron |first=Raymond |url=https://archive.org/details/francesteadfastc0000unse_r1l7 |title=France Steadfast and Changing: The Fourth to the Fifth Republic |date=1960 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge |ol=5798749M}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_l7s2 |title=Biographical Dictionary of French Political Leaders Since 1870 |date=1990 |publisher=Harvester Wheatsheaf |isbn=978-0-7108-1014-4 |editor-last=Bell |editor-first=David Scott |location=New York |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first2=Douglas |editor-last3=Morris |editor-first3=Peter}} 400 short articles by experts
* {{Cite book |last=Brogi |first=Alessandro |title=A Question of Self-Esteem: The United States and the Cold War Choices in France and Italy, 1944-1958 |date=2002 |publisher=[[Praeger Paperback|Praeger]] |isbn=978-0-275-97293-6 |series=International history |location=Westport, Conn. London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Matthew James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9ffptE_r4YC |title=A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria's Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-cold War Era |date=2002 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-514513-7 |location=Oxford; New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LEZ_iW5vAAC |title=Algeria: France's Undeclared War |date=2012 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280350-4 |location=Oxford; New York |oclc=767863693}} A scholarly history
* {{Cite journal |last1=Fontanela |first1=Jacques |last2=Hébert |first2=Jean-Paul |date=March 1997 |title=The end of the "French grandeur policy" |journal=Defence and Peace Economics |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=37–55 |doi=10.1080/10430719708404868 |issn=1024-2694|url=https://hal.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/hal-03322691/file/The%20end%20of%20the%20French%20Grandeur%20Policy.pdf }}
* {{Cite book |last=Giles |first=Frank |title=The Locust Years: The Story of the Fourth French Republic, 1946-1958 |date=1991 |publisher=[[Secker & Warburg]] |isbn=978-0-436-20022-9 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hitchcock |first=William I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBjU6QDz5PAC |title=France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy and the Quest for Leadership in Europe, 1944-1954 |date=1998 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-0-8078-2428-3 |series=The new Cold War history |location=Chapel Hill}}
* {{Cite book |last=Horne |first=Alistair |title=A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962 |date=1979 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-14-005137-7 |location=Harmondsworth}} classic narrative
* {{Cite book |last=Krasnoff |first=Lindsay Sarah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hHA-NQaQ9IC |title=The Making of Les Bleus: Sport in France, 1958-2010 |date=2013 |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |isbn=978-0-7391-7508-8 |location=Lanham (Md.)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lynch |first=Frances M. B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9QmGAgAAQBAJ |title=France and the International Economy: From Vichy to the Treaty of Rome |date=1997 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-14219-9 |series=Routledge explorations in economic history |location=London; New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=McMillan |first=James F. |title=Twentieth-Century France: Politics and Society in France 1898-1991 |date=1992 |publisher=[[Edward Arnold (publisher)|E. Arnold]] |isbn=978-0-340-52239-4 |location=London; New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=D. Bruce |url=https://archive.org/details/frenchcolonialmy0000mars |title=The French Colonial Myth and Constitution Making in the Fourth Republic |date=1973 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-01212-5 |location=New Haven}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nettelbeck |first=Colin W. |date=November 1998 |title=The Eldest Daughter and the ''Trente glorieuses'': Catholicism and national identity in postwar France |journal=Modern & Contemporary France |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=445–462 |doi=10.1080/09639489808456450 |issn=0963-9489}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nord |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyC7tl0ny40C |title=France's New Deal: From the Thirties to the Postwar Era |date=2012 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-1-4008-3496-9 |location=Princeton}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pickles |first=Dorothy Maud |title=France, the Fourth Republic: with a postscript describing the situation in June 1958 |date=1976 |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |isbn=978-0-8371-8089-2 |series=Routledge Revivals Ser |location=Westport, Conn}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Rioux |first1=Jean-Pierre |title=The Fourth Republic, 1944-1958 |last2=Rogers |first2=Godfrey |last3=Rioux |first3=Jean-Pierre |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Pr. [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-521-25238-6 |series=The Cambridge history of modern France |location=Cambridge}} Scholarly survey
* {{Cite journal |last=Soutou |first=Georges-Henri |date=December 2001 |title=France and the Cold War, 1944–63 |journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=35–52 |doi=10.1080/09592290108406225 |issn=0959-2296}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sowerwine |first=Charles |title=France Since 1870: Culture, Politics and Society |date=2001 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-0-333-65836-9 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Michael |title=France and the Construction of Europe, 1944-2007: The Geopolitical Imperative |date=2011 |publisher=[[Berghahn Books]] |isbn=978-0-85745-290-0 |series=Berghahn monographs in French studies |location=New York}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Trachtenberg |first=Marc |date=September 2011 |title=France and NATO, 1949–1991 |journal=[[Journal of Transatlantic Studies]] |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=184–194 |doi=10.1080/14794012.2011.593799 |issn=1479-4012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Philip Maynard |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsinpostwa0000will |title=Politics in Post-War France: Parties and the Constitution in the Fourth Republic |date=1958 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green and Co.]] |edition=2nd |location=London; New York; Toronto}}
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Philip Maynard |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.508998 |title=Crisis and Compromise Politics In The Fourth Republic |date=1964 |publisher=[[Longman, Green & Co.]] |edition=3rd |location=London}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikisource-inline|French Constitution of 1946|the constitution of the French Fourth Republic}}
* {{Commons category-inline|French Fourth Republic|the French Fourth Republic}}

{{Portal bar|France|Politics}}

{{France topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Liberation of France}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:French Fourth Republic| ]]
[[Category:Contemporary French history]]
[[Category:Former countries in French history|French Republic 4]]
[[Category:Former republics|France, Republic 4]]
[[Category:Government of France|Republic 4]]
[[Category:Republicanism in France]]
[[Category:1940s in France]]
[[Category:1950s in France]]
[[Category:1946 establishments in France]]
[[Category:1958 disestablishments in France]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1946]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1958]]