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French Republic République française | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1944–1946 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" | |||||||||||||||||||
| Anthem: "La Marseillaise" | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Colonial empires in 1945. (France shown in blue) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Provisional government | ||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Algiers(de facto, 3 June – 31 August 1944) Paris (de jure;de facto from 31 August 1944) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | French | ||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Secular state In Alsace-Lorraine: Roman CatholicismCalvinism Lutheranism Judaism | ||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Tripartisme | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1944–1946 | Charles de Gaulle | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1946 | Félix Gouin | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1946 | Georges Bidault | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1946–1947 | Léon Blum | ||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||||||||||||
• Proclamation | 3 June 1944 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 June 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 August 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 25 August 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 March 1945 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 24 October 1945 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 27 October 1946 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1946 (including colonies) | 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1946 (including colonies) | 200,000,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | French franc | ||||||||||||||||||
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TheProvisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR;French:Gouvernement provisoire de la République française,GPRF) was theprovisional government ofFree France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following theliberation of continental France after OperationsOverlord andDragoon, and lasting until the establishment of theFrench Fourth Republic. Its establishment marked the official restoration and re-establishment of a provisional French Republic, assuring continuity with the defunctFrench Third Republic.
It succeeded theFrench Committee of National Liberation (CFLN), which had been the provisional government ofFrance in theoverseas territories and metropolitan parts of the country (Algeria and Corsica) that had been liberated by the Free French. As thewartime government of France in 1944–1945, its main purposes were to handle the aftermath of theoccupation of France andcontinue to wage war against Germany as one of the majorAllies.
Its principal mission (in addition to the war) was to prepare the ground for a new constitutional order that resulted in the Fourth Republic. It also made several important reforms and political decisions, such as grantingwomen the right to vote, founding theÉcole nationale d'administration and laying the grounds ofsocial security in France.
The PGFR was officially created by the CFLN on 3 June 1944, the day beforeCharles de Gaulle arrived in London from Algiers onWinston Churchill's invitation, and three days beforeD-Day.[1] The CFLN itself had been created exactly one year earlier through the uniting of de Gaulle's (Comité national français, orCNF) andHenri Giraud's organisations. Among its most immediate concerns were to ensure that France did not come underallied military administration, preserving the sovereignty of France and freeing allied troops for fighting on the front - something De Gaulle managed at an early stage through getting theCommissioners of the Republic recognised in liberated territories and throughdemonstrating popular support at an early stage.[2]
After theliberation of Paris on 25 August 1944, it moved back to the capital, establishing a new "national unanimity" government on 9 September 1944, includingGaullists, nationalists, socialists, communists and anarchists. Among its foreign policy goals was to secure aFrench occupation zone in Germany and apermanent UNSC seat. This was assured through a large military contribution onthe western front.
The GPRF set about raising new troops to participate in theadvance to the Rhine and theinvasion of Germany, using theFrench Forces of the Interior asmilitary cadres and manpower pools of experienced fighters to allow a very large and rapid expansion of theFrench Liberation Army (Armée française de la Libération). It was well equipped and well supplied despite the economic disruption brought by the occupation thanks toLend-Lease, and grew from 500,000 men in the summer of 1944 to over 1,300,000 byV-E day, making it the fourth largest Allied army in Europe.[3]
TheFrench 2nd Armoured Division, tip of the spear of theFree French forces that had participated in theNormandy Campaign and liberated Paris, went on toliberate Strasbourg on 23 November 1944, thus fulfilling theOath of Kufra made by its commanding officer GeneralLeclerc almost four years earlier. The unit under his command, barely abovecompany size when it had captured the Italian fort, had grown into a full-strength armoureddivision.
The spearhead of the FreeFrench First Army that hadlanded in Provence was theI Corps. Its leading unit, theFrench 1st Armoured Division, was the first Western Allied unit to reach theRhône (25 August 1944), theRhine (19 November 1944) and theDanube (21 April 1945). On 22 April 1945, it captured theSigmaringen enclave inBaden-Württemberg, where the last Vichy regime exiles, including MarshalPhilippe Pétain, were hosted by the Germans in one of the ancestral castles of theHohenzollern dynasty.
They participated in stoppingOperation Nordwind, the final German major offensive on the western front in January 1945, and in collapsing theColmar Pocket in January–February 1945, capturing and destroying most of the GermanXIXth Army.
At theHôtel de Ville, Paris on 25 August 1944, where theFrench Second Republic andFrench Third Republic had been declared, de Gaulle explicitly refused to declare a new republic.[4] WhenGeorges Bidault of theFrench Resistance said that de Gaulle could declare the restoration of the republic, the general replied that he could not, because the republic had never ceased to exist.[5] De Gaulle used his old office as a junior cabinet minister at the Ministry of War as symbol of the continuity between the pre- and post-Vichy governments. He refused to make a speech to open the first meeting of the provisional government in September 1944, stating that the republic continued but in reorganized form.[4]
Theoretically, France returned to the moment just before midnight on 17 June 1940 when Pétain took power.[6] The provisional government considered the Vichy regime (officially: "French State") to have been unconstitutional and all its actions therefore taken without legitimate authority and illegal. All "constitutional acts, legislative or regulatory" taken by the Vichy government, as well as decrees taken to implement them, were declared null and void by theOrdinance of 9 August 1944.[7]
However, since mass cancellation of all decisions taken by Vichy was impractical, it was decided that any repeal of specific ordinances or decrees was to be expressly acknowledged by the government. The 9 August ordinance only invalidated those it listed.[6] The ordinance provided that acts not expressly noted as nullified in the ordinance were to continue to receive "provisional application". Many acts were explicitly repealed, including all acts that Vichy had called "constitutional acts", all acts that discriminated against Jews, all acts related to so-called "secret societies" (e.g., Freemasons), and all acts that established special tribunals.[8]
While the criminal behavior of Vichy France was consistently acknowledged, this point of view denied any responsibility of the state of France, alleging that acts committed between 1940 and 1944 were unconstitutional acts devoid of legitimacy.[7][5] De Gaulle said that Vichy's actions were "null and void".[4] He and others emphasized the unclear conditions of the June 1940 vote granting full powers to Pétain, which was refused by the minority ofVichy 80.[9] In particular, coercive measures used by Pierre Laval have been denounced by those historians who hold that the vote did not, therefore, have constitutional legality. In later years, de Gaulle's position was reiterated by president Mitterrand.[10] "I will not apologize in the name of France. The Republic had nothing to do with this. I do not believe France is responsible", he said in September 1994.[11]Jacques Chirac, who became president in 1995, was the first French leader to accept collective guilt for Vichy's deeds, stating on the anniversary of the July 1942Vel' d'Hiv Roundup that France had committed an "irreparable" act.[5]
The GPRF was dominated by thetripartisme alliance between theFrench Communist Party (PCF), claiming itself to be theparti des 75,000 fusillés ("party of the 75,000shot") because of its role in theResistance, theFrench Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, socialist party) and theChristian democraticPopular Republican Movement (MRP), led byGeorges Bidault. This alliance between the three political parties lasted until theMay 1947 crisis during whichMaurice Thorez, vice-premier, and four other Communist ministers were expelled from the government, both in France and inItaly. Along with the acceptance of theMarshall Plan, refused by countries which had fallen under the influence of theUSSR, this marked the official beginning of theCold War in these countries.
It starteddecolonisation by recognising the independence of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam, but the refusal to includeCochinchina in the new state led to theFirst Indochina War.
Although the GPRF was active only from 1944 to 1946, it had a lasting influence, in particular regarding the enacting oflabour laws which were put forward by theNational Council of the Resistance, the umbrella organisation which united all resistance movements, in particular the communistFront National. TheFront National was the political front of theFrancs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP) resistance movement. In addition to de Gaulle's edicts granting, for the first time in France,right of vote to women in 1944, the GPRF passed various labour laws, including the 11 October 1946 act establishingoccupational medicine. It also appointedcommissioners to fulfill its aims.
Vichy loyalists were put on trial by the GPRF in legal purges (épuration légale), and a number were executed fortreason, among themPierre Laval, Vichy's prime minister in 1942–44. The MarshalPhilippe Pétain, "Chief of the French State" andVerdun hero, was also condemned to death but his sentence was commuted to life. Thousands of collaborators weresummarily executed by local Resistance forces in so-called "savage purges" (épuration sauvage).
Collaborationistparamilitary and political organizations, such as theMilice and theLegionary Order Service, were also disbanded.[8]
The provisional government also took steps to replace local governments, including governments that had been suppressed by the Vichy regime, through new elections or by extending the terms of those who had been elected no later than 1939.[12]
The provisional government resumed the project started in 1936 byJean Zay to create anational administration school (École nationale d'administration), which was founded on 9 October 1945, to ensurehigh-ranking civil servants of consistent high quality, as well as allow gifted people to reach these functions regardless of social origin.
The right to vote had been granted to women by the CFLN on 21 April 1944, and was confirmed by the GPRF with the 5 October 1944 decree. They went to the polls for the first time in thelocal elections of 29 April 1945.
It passed decisions aboutSocial Security (Sécurité sociale, decree of 19 October 1945), andchild benefits (law of 22 August 1946), laying the foundations of thewelfare state in France.
In thedirigist spirit, it created large state-owned companies, for instance by nationalisingRenault and founding electricity companyEDF and airlineAir France.
Another main objective of the GPRF underde Gaulle leadership was to give a voice to the people by organizing elections whichtook place on 21 October 1945. The polls saw the victory of theFrench Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), theFrench Communist Party (PCF) and thePopular Republican Movement (MRP), collecting three-quarters of the votes, andthe referendum had an outcome of 96% of voters in favour of abolishing theThird Republic. Becoming aconstituent assembly, the newly elected parliament was charged with drafting a constitution for a new fourth republic.
De Gaulle, favouring a stronger executive, resigned in disagreement with Communist ministers on 20 January 1946. A first draft constitution, supported by the left but denounced byde Gaulle and by centre and right-wing parties, was rejected by areferendum on 5 May 1946 resulting in the dissolution of parliament and the resignation ofde Gaulle's successorFélix Gouin of the SFIO.
A new election for aConstituent Assembly of 1946 [fr] washeld on 2 June 1946, marked by a strengthening of the MRP and the decline of the left. The constitutional project then shifted from pursuingunicameralism tobicameralism. Theconstitution of the Fourth Republic, established under the chairmanship ofGeorges Bidault (MRP), was finally adopted bythe 13 October 1946 referendum.
Following the elections for a newChamber of parliamentheld on 10 November 1946, formerPopular Front leaderLeon Blum became the Chairman of the last interim government on 16 December. One month later,Vincent Auriol succeeded Blum asPresident of the Republic, marking the entry into force of the institutions of the Fourth Republic.
| Portrait | Chairman | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | de Gaulle, CharlesCharles de Gaulle (1890–1970) | 3 June 1944 | 26 January 1946 | 1 year, 237 days | Independent | |
 | Gouin, FélixFélix Gouin (1884–1977) | 26 January 1946 | 24 June 1946 | 149 days | SFIO | |
 | Bidault, GeorgesGeorges Bidault (1899–1983) | 24 June 1946 | 28 November 1946 | 157 days | MRP | |
.jpg) | Auriol, VincentVincent Auriol (1884–1966) Acting | 28 November 1946 | 16 December 1946 | 18 days | SFIO | |
 | Blum, LéonLéon Blum (1872–1950) | 16 December 1946 | 22 January 1947 | 37 days | SFIO | |
Article 1: The form of the government of France is and remains the Republic. By law, it has not ceased to exist.
Article 2: The following are therefore null and void: all legislative or regulatory acts as well as all actions of any description whatsoever taken to execute them, promulgated in Metropolitan France after 16 June 1940 and until the restoration of the Provisional Government of the French Republic. This nullification is hereby expressly declared and must be noted.
Article 3. The following acts are hereby expressly nullified and held invalid: The so-called "Constitutional Law of 10 July 1940; as well as any laws called 'Constitutional Law';...
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