French Fourth Republic
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 08:57, 5 July 2010 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | :''[[French]], [[republic]]'' | ||
| - | [[Jacques-Louis David]] was effectively a [[dictator of the arts]] under the [[French Republic]]. | ||
| - | == Monarchy to Republic == | + | The '''Fourth Republic''' was the [[republicanism|republican]] government of [[France]] between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican [[Constitution of France|constitution]]. It was in many ways a revival of the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]], which was in place before [[World War II]], and suffered many of the same problems. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946. |
| - | The monarchy ruled France until the [[French Revolution]], in 1789. [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] and his wife, [[Marie Antoinette]], were executed (in 1793), along with thousands of other French citizens. After a series of short-lived governmental schemes, [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] seized control of the Republic in 1799, making himself [[First Consul]], and later [[Emperor]] of what is now known as the [[First French Empire|First Empire]] (1804–1814). In the course of [[Napoleonic Wars|several wars]], his armies conquered most of continental Europe, with members of the [[Bonaparte]] family being appointed as monarchs of newly established kingdoms. | + | |
| - | Following Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 at the [[Battle of Waterloo]], the French monarchy was re-established, but with new constitutional limitations. In 1830, a [[July Revolution|civil uprising]] established the [[constitutional monarchy|constitutional]] [[July Monarchy]], which lasted until 1848. The short-lived [[French Second Republic|Second Republic]] ended in 1852 when [[Napoleon III of France|Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte]] proclaimed the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]]. Louis-Napoléon was unseated following defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War|Franco-Prussian war]] of 1870 and his regime was replaced by the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]]. | + | The Fourth Republic oversaw an era of great economic growth in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social institutions and industry after the war, and was largely responsible for the development of the institutions of European unity which changed the continent permanently. Some attempts were made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government. Additionally, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding [[decolonization]]. As a result, the Fourth Republic collapsed and a ''coup d'état'' subsequently legitimized by a referendum led to the establishment of the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]], which was introduced on 5 October 1958. |
| - | + | ||
| - | France had [[French colonial empire|colonial possessions]], in various forms, since the beginning of the 17th century until the 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, its [[Global Empire|global]] overseas colonial empire was the second largest in the world behind the [[British Empire]]. At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 square kilometres (4,767,000 sq mi) of land. Including [[metropolitan France]], the total area of land under French [[sovereignty]] reached 12,898,000 square kilometres (4,980,000 sq mi) in the 1920s and 1930s, which is 8.6% of the world's land area. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | France was a victorious nation in [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. The human and material losses in the first war exceeded largely those of the second, even though only a minor part of its territory was occupied during World War I. The interbellum phase was marked by a variety of social reforms introduced by the Popular Front government. Following the [[Germany|German]] ''[[blitzkrieg]]'' campaign in World War II [[metropolitan France]] was divided in a [[German occupation of France during World War II|occupation zone in the north]] and [[Vichy France]], a puppet regime loyal to Germany, in the south. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] was established after World War II and, despite spectacular economic growth (les [[Trente Glorieuses]]), it struggled to maintain its political status as a dominant [[Nation-state|nation state]]. France attempted to hold on to its [[colonial empires|colonial empire]], but soon ran into trouble. The half-hearted 1946 attempt at regaining control of [[French Indochina]] resulted in the [[First Indochina War]], which ended in French defeat at the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] in 1954. Only months later, France faced a new, even harsher [[Algerian War|conflict]] in [[Algeria]]. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The debate over whether or not to keep control of Algeria, then home to over one million [[Pied-noir|European settlers]], wracked the country and nearly led to civil war. In 1958, the weak and unstable Fourth Republic gave way to the [[Fifth French Republic|Fifth Republic]], which contained a strengthened Presidency. In the latter role, [[Charles de Gaulle]] managed to keep the country together while taking steps to end the war. The Algerian War and Franco-French civil war that resulted in the capital [[Algiers]], was concluded with peace negotiations in 1962 that led to Algerian independence. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | In recent decades, France's reconciliation and cooperation with [[Germany]] have proved central to the political and economic integration of the evolving [[European Union]], including the introduction of the [[euro]] in January 1999. France has been at the forefront of the European Union member states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to create a more unified and capable European Union political, defence, and security apparatus. The French electorate voted against ratification of the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Constitutional Treaty]] in May 2005, but the successor [[Treaty of Lisbon]] was [[Treaty of Lisbon#Ratification|ratified]] by Parliament in February 2008. | + | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946.
The Fourth Republic oversaw an era of great economic growth in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social institutions and industry after the war, and was largely responsible for the development of the institutions of European unity which changed the continent permanently. Some attempts were made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government. Additionally, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding decolonization. As a result, the Fourth Republic collapsed and a coup d'état subsequently legitimized by a referendum led to the establishment of the Fifth Republic, which was introduced on 5 October 1958.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "French Fourth Republic" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
