Vincent Auriol
Encyclopedia
Vincent Jules Auriol was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic
from 1947 to 1954. He also served as interim President of the Provisional Government (head of state and government) from November to December 1946, making him one of only three people (with Charles de Gaulle
and Alain Poher
) who were heads of state of the French Republic on two separate occasions.
, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Auriol (1855—1933), a baker nicknamed Paul, and Angélique Virginie Durand (1862—1945). He earned a law degree at the Collège de Revel in 1904 and began his career as a lawyer
in Toulouse
. A committed socialist
, Auriol co-founded the newspaper Le Midi Socialiste in 1908; he was head of the Association of Journalists in Toulouse at this time.
In 1914, Auriol entered the Chamber of Deputies
as a Socialist Deputy for Muret
, a position he retained until 1942. He also served as Mayor of Muret from 3 May 1925 to 17 January 1947, and as a member of the Conseil Général of Haute-Garonne
from 1928 to 17 January 1947. In December 1920, after the breakup
of the SFIO, Auriol refused to join the newly created SFIC
and became one of the leaders of the new SFIO (the remaining socialist minority), along with Léon Blum
.
Auriol became the party's leading spokesman on financial issues. He chaired the Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies from 1924-1926. His first cabinet post was as Minister of Finance under Léon Blum
, in which Auriol controversially devalued the French franc
30% against the United States dollar
, leading to capital flight
and greater economic unease. This and Blum's proposals for greater regulatory restrictions on industry led to Blum's resignation as Premier
; in the next government, led by Camille Chautemps
, Auriol was made Minister of Justice
, then Minister of Coordination of Services of the Presidency of the Council in Blum's short-lived government in 1938. Édouard Daladier
's conservative
–Radical government formed on 10 April 1938 returned Auriol to the Chamber of Deputies.
Auriol was one of the 80 deputies who voted against
the extraordinary powers given to Prime Minister Philippe Pétain
on 10 July 1940 that brought about the Nazi
-backed Vichy government
. As a result, he was placed under house arrest
until he escaped to the French Resistance
in October 1942, and fought with the resistance for a year. Auriol fled to London in October 1943. He represented the Socialists at the Free French Consultative Assembly (organized by Charles de Gaulle
in Algiers
later that year). In July 1944, he represented France at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference
at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
. He was a Minister of State in de Gaulle's second provisional government.
, and was President of the assemblies. He lobbied for a "third force" between Communism
and Gaullism
. Auriol also led the French delegation to the United Nations
and was France's first representative on the United Nations Security Council
in 1946. He served as a Deputy for Haute-Garonne
in the National Assembly from 1946 until 31 December 1947. Meanwhile, the National Assembly elected him on 16 January 1947 as the first President of the Fourth Republic. Auriol was elected by a wide margin, receiving 452 votes (51.19%) against the 242 (27.41%) for the People's Republican Movement (MRP) candidate, Auguste Champetier de Ribes
.
As president, Auriol pursued a relatively weak presidency as there had been under the Third Republic, and attempted to reconcile political factions within France and warm relations between France and its allies. He was criticized for France's ailing economy and political turmoil in the postwar period, and the war in Indochina
. A series of debilitating strikes
were waged across France in 1947, initiated by the Confédération Générale du Travail
. The strikes escalated into violence in November of that year, leading, on 28 November, to the government deploying 80,000 French Army
reservist
s to face the "insurrection". The Communist Party
, who often supported the strikes, were expelled from the legislature in early December. The strikes ended on 10 December, but more would come in 1948, and again in 1953 in response to the Joseph Laniel
government's austerity
program.
Apart from the inconclusive war in Indochina, France's colonial empire
decayed under Auriol's presidency. Clashes in Morocco
, Madagascar
, Algeria
, and Tunisia
became more frequent; an Algerian independence movement, the Front de Libération Nationale
, was founded in 1951, in 1953 the French overthrew Mohammed V
, the Sultan of Morocco, after he demanded greater autonomy. France also waged a brutal war of repression in Madagascar, and imprisoned Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba
in 1952.
When Auriol's term as president expired, he did not run for a second, and was succeeded by René Coty
as President of France on 16 January 1954. Auriol commented on leaving office: "The work was killing me; they called me out of bed at all hours of the night to receive resignations of prime ministers" (there were eighteen different governments during his seven years as President.)
After his presidency, Auriol assumed the role of elder statesman, and wrote articles on political topics. Auriol became a member of the Constitutional Council of France
in 1958 at the establishment of the French Fifth Republic
; he resigned from the SFIO in the same year. He unsuccessfully lobbied against the constitution in the 1958 national referendum
, and resigned from his position on the Constitutional Council in 1960 to protest the growing power of Charles de Gaulle's presidency. In 1965, he endorsed François Mitterrand
for the Presidency.
On 1 January 1966, Vincent Auriol died in hospital in the 7th arrondissement of Paris and was buried at Muret
, Haute-Garonne
.
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...
from 1947 to 1954. He also served as interim President of the Provisional Government (head of state and government) from November to December 1946, making him one of only three people (with Charles de Gaulle
Charles 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....
and Alain Poher
Alain Poher
Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher was a French centrist politician, affiliated first with the Popular Republican Movement and later with the Democratic Centre. He served as a Senator for Val-de-Marne from 1946 to 1995. He was President of the Senate from 3 October 1968 to 1 October 1992 and, in that...
) who were heads of state of the French Republic on two separate occasions.
Early life and politics
Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-GaronneRevel, Haute-Garonne
Revel is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Location:Revel is situated about 35 miles east of Toulouse...
, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Auriol (1855—1933), a baker nicknamed Paul, and Angélique Virginie Durand (1862—1945). He earned a law degree at the Collège de Revel in 1904 and began his career as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. A committed socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, Auriol co-founded the newspaper Le Midi Socialiste in 1908; he was head of the Association of Journalists in Toulouse at this time.
In 1914, Auriol entered the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of deputies is the name given to a legislative body such as the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or can refer to a unicameral legislature.-Description:...
as a Socialist Deputy for Muret
Muret
Muret is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.It is an outer suburb of the city of Toulouse, even though it does not belong to Greater Toulouse, which it has declined to join...
, a position he retained until 1942. He also served as Mayor of Muret from 3 May 1925 to 17 January 1947, and as a member of the Conseil Général of Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...
from 1928 to 17 January 1947. In December 1920, after the breakup
Tours Congress
The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25—30 December 1920...
of the SFIO, Auriol refused to join the newly created SFIC
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
and became one of the leaders of the new SFIO (the remaining socialist minority), along with Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
.
Auriol became the party's leading spokesman on financial issues. He chaired the Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies from 1924-1926. His first cabinet post was as Minister of Finance under Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
, in which Auriol controversially devalued the French franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
30% against the United States dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
, leading to capital flight
Capital flight
Capital flight, in economics, occurs when assets and/or money rapidly flow out of a country, due to an economic event and that disturbs investors and causes them to lower their valuation of the assets in that country, or otherwise to lose confidence in its economic...
and greater economic unease. This and Blum's proposals for greater regulatory restrictions on industry led to Blum's resignation as Premier
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
; in the next government, led by Camille Chautemps
Camille Chautemps
Camille Chautemps was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic, three times President of the Council .-Career:Described as "intellectually bereft", Chautemps nevertheless entered politics and became Mayor of Tours in 1912, and a Radical deputy in 1919...
, Auriol was made Minister of Justice
Minister of Justice (France)
The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice , a top-level cabinet position in the French government. The current Minister of Justice is Michel Mercier...
, then Minister of Coordination of Services of the Presidency of the Council in Blum's short-lived government in 1938. Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
's conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
–Radical government formed on 10 April 1938 returned Auriol to the Chamber of Deputies.
Auriol was one of the 80 deputies who voted against
The Vichy 80
The Vichy 80 were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established an authoritarian regime known as Vichy France....
the extraordinary powers given to Prime Minister Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
on 10 July 1940 that brought about the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
-backed Vichy government
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. As a result, he was placed under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
until he escaped to the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
in October 1942, and fought with the resistance for a year. Auriol fled to London in October 1943. He represented the Socialists at the Free French Consultative Assembly (organized by Charles de Gaulle
Charles 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....
in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
later that year). In July 1944, he represented France at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference
United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference
The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, commonly known as the Bretton Woods conference, was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to regulate the international monetary and financial order after...
at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
Bretton Woods is an area within the town of Carroll, New Hampshire, USA, whose principal points of interest are three leisure and recreation facilities...
. He was a Minister of State in de Gaulle's second provisional government.
Postwar life and presidency
After World War II, Auriol served as Minister of State in de Gaulle's provisional government. He was also a member of the Constituent Assemblies which drafted the constitution of the short-lived French Fourth RepublicFrench 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...
, and was President of the assemblies. He lobbied for a "third force" between Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and Gaullism
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
. Auriol also led the French delegation to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and was France's first representative on the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
in 1946. He served as a Deputy for Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...
in the National Assembly from 1946 until 31 December 1947. Meanwhile, the National Assembly elected him on 16 January 1947 as the first President of the Fourth Republic. Auriol was elected by a wide margin, receiving 452 votes (51.19%) against the 242 (27.41%) for the People's Republican Movement (MRP) candidate, Auguste Champetier de Ribes
Auguste Champetier de Ribes
Auguste Champetier de Ribes was a French politician and jurist.A devout Catholic, he was an early follower of Albert de Mun and social Christianity. Wounded in the First World War, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the Basses-Pyrénées as a Christian democrat from 1924 to 1934...
.
As president, Auriol pursued a relatively weak presidency as there had been under the Third Republic, and attempted to reconcile political factions within France and warm relations between France and its allies. He was criticized for France's ailing economy and political turmoil in the postwar period, and the war in Indochina
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
. A series of debilitating strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
were waged across France in 1947, initiated by the Confédération Générale du Travail
Confédération générale du travail
The General Confederation of Labour is a national trade union center, the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.It is the largest in terms of votes , and second largest in terms of membership numbers.Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995-96 The General...
. The strikes escalated into violence in November of that year, leading, on 28 November, to the government deploying 80,000 French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
s to face the "insurrection". The Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
, who often supported the strikes, were expelled from the legislature in early December. The strikes ended on 10 December, but more would come in 1948, and again in 1953 in response to the Joseph Laniel
Joseph Laniel
Joseph 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...
government's austerity
Austerity
In economics, austerity is a policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to reduce their deficit spending while sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to...
program.
Apart from the inconclusive war in Indochina, France's colonial empire
French colonial empires
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
decayed under Auriol's presidency. Clashes in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Algeria
French rule in Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
, and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
became more frequent; an Algerian independence movement, the Front de Libération Nationale
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
, was founded in 1951, in 1953 the French overthrew Mohammed V
Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...
, the Sultan of Morocco, after he demanded greater autonomy. France also waged a brutal war of repression in Madagascar, and imprisoned Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba was a Tunisian statesman, the Founder and the first President of the Republic of Tunisia from July 25, 1957 until 7 November 1987...
in 1952.
When Auriol's term as president expired, he did not run for a second, and was succeeded by 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:...
as President of France on 16 January 1954. Auriol commented on leaving office: "The work was killing me; they called me out of bed at all hours of the night to receive resignations of prime ministers" (there were eighteen different governments during his seven years as President.)
After his presidency, Auriol assumed the role of elder statesman, and wrote articles on political topics. Auriol became a member of the Constitutional Council of France
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
in 1958 at the establishment of the French Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
; he resigned from the SFIO in the same year. He unsuccessfully lobbied against the constitution in the 1958 national referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
, and resigned from his position on the Constitutional Council in 1960 to protest the growing power of Charles de Gaulle's presidency. In 1965, he endorsed François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François 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...
for the Presidency.
On 1 January 1966, Vincent Auriol died in hospital in the 7th arrondissement of Paris and was buried at Muret
Muret
Muret is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.It is an outer suburb of the city of Toulouse, even though it does not belong to Greater Toulouse, which it has declined to join...
, Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...
.
Sources
- Scouting Round the World, John S. Wilson, first edition, Blandford Press 1959, p. 150 Biography on the French National Assembly's website French National Archives