Gaullist Party

In France, the term Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claims to transcend the left–right divide in a similar way to populist republican parties elsewhere such as Fianna Fáil in Republic of Ireland, the Justicialist Party in Argentina, and the African National Congress in South Africa. In the past, some Gaullist voters saw themselves as leaning towards the political left, a view ascribed to the once-leading Gaullist André Malraux. Most of Charles de Gaulle's own followers leaned towards the political right, christian democratic or national conservative. Consequently, left-leaning voters started showing less support again after Malraux's death in 1976, as figures of the Gaullist left (like Jacques Chaban-Delmas) were gradually marginalised. Under its various names and acronyms, the Gaullist Party has been the dominant organisation of the French right since the beginning of the Fifth Republic (1958). Author of the L'Appel of 18 June 1940, and founder and leader of the Free French Forces, General Charles de Gaulle is the symbol of the French Resistance to the Nazi occupation and the Vichy government. Yet, based in London, then in Algiers, he was forced to compromise with the domestic Resistance movements dominated by various political forces (such as the Communists). In 1944, while France was liberated, De Gaulle presided over the provisional government composed of Communists, Socialists, and Christian Democrats. Because De Gaulle refused to create a great political party unifying the non-Communist Resistance, a lot of parties re-emerged. The Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP) seemed to be the closest to De Gaulle. The provisional government implemented policies inspired by the programme of the National Council of Resistance: nationalization of banks and some industrial companies (for example Renault), and the development of a Welfare State. However, it was divided about the way forward for political institutions and the constitution for the Fourth Republic.

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Related concepts (5)

Vichy France

Vichy France (Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State (l'État français), was the French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy. Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under the harsh terms of the 1940 armistice with Nazi Germany, it adopted a policy of collaboration.

Gaullist Party

Provisional Government of the French Republic

The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (GPRF)) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation of continental France after Operations Overlord and Dragoon, and lasting until the establishment of the French Fourth Republic. Its establishment marked the official restoration and re-establishment of a provisional French Republic, assuring continuity with the defunct French Third Republic.