René Pleven
Encyclopedia
René Pléven was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic
. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
(UDSR), a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement. He served as prime minister several times in the early 1950s, where his most notable contribution was the introduction of the Pleven Plan
, which called for a European Defense Community between France, Italy, West Germany
, and the Benelux
countries.
on 15 April 1901 as the son of a commissioned officer and director of studies at the Special Military School of St. Cyr
. After studying law at the University of Paris
, he failed the exam for the financial corps of the civil service, so he decided to move to the United States, Canada, and Great Britain to work there. He rose to the become a telephone company executive. In 1934, he married Anne Bompard.
's Free French Forces
, which resisted the Nazi-allied French Vichy Regime. Pleven helped rally support for Free France in the country's African colonies, Chad, Cameroon, Gabon and Congo. Returning to London, where de Gaulle and his forces were exiled, in 1941, he became national commissioner for the economy, finance, the colonies and foreign affairs of the French National Committee. In this role, he presided over a 1944 conference in Brazzaville
, which opted for a more liberal policy towards the colonies and ultimately spurred the region's independence movements.
(UDSR) serving as the party's president from 1946 to 1953. The party was positioned between the Radical Socialists and the Socialists, favoring limited industrial nationalization
and state controls. He then held several Cabinet posts, most notably Defense Minister from 1949 to 1950. In July 1950 he became the country's Prime Minister, as power was shifting to the right. A vehement supporter of European integration, he pushed the ratification of the Schuman Plan for European integration creating the European Coal and Steel Community
as Prime Minister. He had to face opposition from both left and right to push it through, but he collected enough votes in parliament by promising to increase farm loans and to lower taxes for low-income groups. After three days and two nights of debate, the treaty was ratified. He served until February 1951 and then again from August 1951 to January 1952, resigning over disagreements about budget deficits.
He then became Defense Minister again. His proposal for a European Defense Community, in which to integrate a re-armed Germany, known as the Pleven Plan
, was defeated by the Gaullists, communists, and socialists. He also advocated a hard hand in defending French colonial rule
in Indochina
. In 1953, he resigned as chairman of the UDSR after his party supported the Vietnam peace talks. Being Minister of Defense from 1952 to 1954, he was responsible when the French lost the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
initiating the crumbling of French hegemony in the whole region. In 1957, President René Coty
offered him to become Prime Minister again, but he turned down. Instead, he became the Fourth Republic
's last Foreign Minister in 1958.
In 1966, Pleven's wife died. He had had two daughters, Françoise and Nicole, with her. From 1969 to 1973, he served as Minister of Justice. Losing re-election as legislator in 1973, he became president of a regional development council in his native Brittany
. He died of heart failure on 13 January 1993.
Changes:
French Fourth Republic
The French 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...
. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...
(UDSR), a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement. He served as prime minister several times in the early 1950s, where his most notable contribution was the introduction of the Pleven Plan
Pleven plan
The Pleven Plan was a plan proposed in 1950 by the French premier at the time, René Pleven, created mainly by Jean Monnet to create a supranational European Army as part of a European Defence Community.-Text of the Pleven Plan:...
, which called for a European Defense Community between France, Italy, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, and the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
countries.
Early life
René Pleven was born in RennesRennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
on 15 April 1901 as the son of a commissioned officer and director of studies at the Special Military School of St. Cyr
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
. After studying law at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, he failed the exam for the financial corps of the civil service, so he decided to move to the United States, Canada, and Great Britain to work there. He rose to the become a telephone company executive. In 1934, he married Anne Bompard.
Wartime
Immediately after the breakout of the Second World War, he was in charge of encouraging the construction of aircraft for the Allies in the United States and of purchasing planes for France. As late as 1939, Pleven stated that he "Politics do not interest me," but then a year later, he joined Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
, which resisted the Nazi-allied French Vichy Regime. Pleven helped rally support for Free France in the country's African colonies, Chad, Cameroon, Gabon and Congo. Returning to London, where de Gaulle and his forces were exiled, in 1941, he became national commissioner for the economy, finance, the colonies and foreign affairs of the French National Committee. In this role, he presided over a 1944 conference in Brazzaville
Brazzaville
-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...
, which opted for a more liberal policy towards the colonies and ultimately spurred the region's independence movements.
Postwar years
After France's liberation, he was the Minister of the Economy and Finance in the provisional government. After the war, Pleven was elected a legislator from the Côtes-du-Nord department. In 1946, he broke with Charles de Gaulle and founded the Democratic and Socialist Union of the ResistanceDemocratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...
(UDSR) serving as the party's president from 1946 to 1953. The party was positioned between the Radical Socialists and the Socialists, favoring limited industrial nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
and state controls. He then held several Cabinet posts, most notably Defense Minister from 1949 to 1950. In July 1950 he became the country's Prime Minister, as power was shifting to the right. A vehement supporter of European integration, he pushed the ratification of the Schuman Plan for European integration creating the European Coal and Steel Community
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
as Prime Minister. He had to face opposition from both left and right to push it through, but he collected enough votes in parliament by promising to increase farm loans and to lower taxes for low-income groups. After three days and two nights of debate, the treaty was ratified. He served until February 1951 and then again from August 1951 to January 1952, resigning over disagreements about budget deficits.
He then became Defense Minister again. His proposal for a European Defense Community, in which to integrate a re-armed Germany, known as the Pleven Plan
Pleven plan
The Pleven Plan was a plan proposed in 1950 by the French premier at the time, René Pleven, created mainly by Jean Monnet to create a supranational European Army as part of a European Defence Community.-Text of the Pleven Plan:...
, was defeated by the Gaullists, communists, and socialists. He also advocated a hard hand in defending French colonial rule
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
. In 1953, he resigned as chairman of the UDSR after his party supported the Vietnam peace talks. Being Minister of Defense from 1952 to 1954, he was responsible when the French lost the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
initiating the crumbling of French hegemony in the whole region. In 1957, President René Coty
René Coty
René Jules Gustave Coty was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president under the French Fourth Republic.-Early life and politics:...
offered him to become Prime Minister again, but he turned down. Instead, he became the Fourth Republic
Fourth Republic
Fourth Republic may refer to:* French Fourth Republic * Fourth Republic of the Philippines * Fourth Republic of South Korea * The Fourth Republic of Niger...
's last Foreign Minister in 1958.
In 1966, Pleven's wife died. He had had two daughters, Françoise and Nicole, with her. From 1969 to 1973, he served as Minister of Justice. Losing re-election as legislator in 1973, he became president of a regional development council in his native Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. He died of heart failure on 13 January 1993.
First ministry (12 July 1950 – 10 March 1951)
- René Pleven – President of the Council
- Robert SchumanRobert SchumanRobert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
– Minister of Foreign Affairs - Guy MolletGuy MolletGuy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956–1957.-Early life and World War II:...
– Minister for the Council of Europe - Jules MochJules MochJules Salvador Moch was a French politician.-Biography:...
– Minister of National Defense - Henri QueuilleHenri QueuilleHenri Queuille was a French Radical politician prominent in the Third and Fourth Republics. After World War II, he served three times as Prime Minister.He was the son of a noblewoman.-First ministry :...
– Minister of the Interior - Maurice Petsche – Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
- Edgar FaureEdgar FaureEdgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
– Minister of Budget - Jean-Marie Louvel – Minister of Commerce and Industry
- Paul BaconPaul BaconPaul Bacon was a French politician.During World War 2, Bacon was active in the French Resistance. He was a member of Georges Bidault's National Liberation Movement, and distributed a manifesto about trade unionism in December 1940. Bacon was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943.After the war, Bacon...
– Minister of Labour and Social Security - René MayerRené MayerRené Mayer was a French Radical politician of the Fourth Republic who served briefly as Prime Minister during 1953. He led the Mayer Authority from 1955 to 1958.-Mayer's Ministry, 8 January – 28 June 1953:*René Mayer – President of the Council...
– Minister of Justice - Gaston DefferreGaston DefferreGaston Defferre was a French socialist politician.-Biography:Lawyer and member of the French Section of the Workers' International political party, he was a member of the Brutus Network, a Resistance Socialist group during World War II...
– Minister of Merchant Marine - Pierre-Olivier Lapie – Minister of National Education
- Louis JacquinotLouis JacquinotLouis Jacquinot was a French lawyer and politician, and chief of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré's office.Jacquinot was born in Gondrecourt-le-Château in 1898. Entering parliament in 1932, he later served for a short time as under-secretary of state for home affairs in Paul Reynaud's cabinet...
– Minister of Veterans and War Victims - Pierre PflimlinPierre PflimlinPierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin was a French Christian democratic politician who served as the penultimate Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the crisis of that year.-Life:...
– Minister of Agriculture - François MitterrandFrançois MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
– Minister of Overseas France - Antoine PinayAntoine PinayAntoine Pinay |Rhône]], France – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:As a young man, Pinay fought in World War I and injured his arm so that it was paralyzed for the rest of his life....
– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism - Pierre SchneiterPierre SchneiterFrançois Charles Pierre Schneiter was a French politician.Pierre Schneiter was born in Reims, elder son of Charles Albert Schneiter, a vintner, and Jeanne Marie Alice Sart. Charles Schneiter's father was a watchmaker from Bern, whose ancestors had come from Bavaria. Pierre's only sibling François ...
– Minister of Public Health and Population - Eugène Claudius-Petit – Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning
- Charles Brune – Minister of Posts
- Albert Gazier – Minister of Information
- Jean Letourneau – Minister of Relations with Partner States
- Paul GiacobbiPaul GiacobbiPaul Giacobbi is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Haute-Corse department, and is a member of the Radical Party of the Left.-References:...
– Minister without Portfolio
Second Ministry (11 August 1951 – 20 January 1952)
- René Pleven – President of the Council
- Georges BidaultGeorges BidaultGeorges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions before he joined the Organisation armée secrète.-Early life:...
– Vice President of the Council and Minister of National Defense - René MayerRené MayerRené Mayer was a French Radical politician of the Fourth Republic who served briefly as Prime Minister during 1953. He led the Mayer Authority from 1955 to 1958.-Mayer's Ministry, 8 January – 28 June 1953:*René Mayer – President of the Council...
– Vice President of the Council and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs - Robert SchumanRobert SchumanRobert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
– Minister of Foreign Affairs - Charles Brune – Minister of the Interior
- Pierre CourantPierre CourantPierre Courant was a French politician. He belonged first to the Independent Republicans and then to the National Centre of Independents and Peasants ....
– Minister of Budget - Jean-Marie Louvel – Minister of Industry
- Paul BaconPaul BaconPaul Bacon was a French politician.During World War 2, Bacon was active in the French Resistance. He was a member of Georges Bidault's National Liberation Movement, and distributed a manifesto about trade unionism in December 1940. Bacon was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943.After the war, Bacon...
– Minister of Labour and Social Security - Edgar FaureEdgar FaureEdgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
– Minister of Justice - André Morice – Minister of Merchant Marine
- André MarieAndré MarieAndré Marie was a French Radical politician who served as Prime Minister during the Fourth Republic in 1948.-Biography:...
– Minister of National Education - Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Veterans and War Victims
- Paul Antier – Minister of Agriculture
- Louis JacquinotLouis JacquinotLouis Jacquinot was a French lawyer and politician, and chief of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré's office.Jacquinot was born in Gondrecourt-le-Château in 1898. Entering parliament in 1932, he later served for a short time as under-secretary of state for home affairs in Paul Reynaud's cabinet...
– Minister of Overseas France - Antoine PinayAntoine PinayAntoine Pinay |Rhône]], France – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:As a young man, Pinay fought in World War I and injured his arm so that it was paralyzed for the rest of his life....
– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism - Paul Ribeyre – Minister of Public Health and Population
- Eugène Claudius-Petit – Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning
- Joseph LanielJoseph LanielJoseph Laniel was a French conservative politician of the Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsuccessful candidate for the French Presidency, a post won by René Coty...
– Minister of Posts - Robert BuronRobert BuronRobert Buron was a French politician and Minister of Finance from 20 January 1955 to 23 February 1955 and Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism during Charles de Gaulle's third term from 9 June 1958 to 8 January 1959.Buron was born in Paris, where he also died. He was kidnapped during...
– Minister of Information - Pierre PflimlinPierre PflimlinPierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin was a French Christian democratic politician who served as the penultimate Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the crisis of that year.-Life:...
– Minister of Commerce and External Economic Relations - Jean Letourneau – Minister of State
- Maurice Petsche – Minister of State
- Henri QueuilleHenri QueuilleHenri Queuille was a French Radical politician prominent in the Third and Fourth Republics. After World War II, he served three times as Prime Minister.He was the son of a noblewoman.-First ministry :...
– Minister of State
Changes:
- 16 September 1951 – Minister of State Maurice Petsche dies.
- 4 October 1951 – Joseph LanielJoseph LanielJoseph Laniel was a French conservative politician of the Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsuccessful candidate for the French Presidency, a post won by René Coty...
becomes a Minister of State. Roger Duchet succeeds Laniel as Minister of Posts. - 21 November 1951 – Camille LaurensCamille LaurensCamille Laurens is a French writer and winner of the Prix Femina, 2000, for Dans ces bras-là.-References:...
succeeds Antier as Minister of Agriculture.