Alexandre Ribot | |
|---|---|
 Ribot in 1913 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 20 March 1917 – 12 September 1917 | |
| President | Raymond Poincaré |
| Preceded by | Aristide Briand |
| Succeeded by | Paul Painlevé |
| In office 9 June 1914 – 13 June 1914 | |
| President | Raymond Poincaré |
| Preceded by | Gaston Doumergue |
| Succeeded by | René Viviani |
| In office 26 January 1895 – 1 November 1895 | |
| President | Félix Faure |
| Preceded by | Charles Dupuy |
| Succeeded by | Léon Bourgeois |
| In office 6 December 1892 – 4 April 1893 | |
| President | Sadi Carnot |
| Preceded by | Émile Loubet |
| Succeeded by | Charles Dupuy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexandre-Félix-Joseph Ribot (1842-02-07)7 February 1842 |
| Died | 13 January 1923(1923-01-13) (aged 80) |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Mary Weld Burch |
Alexandre-Félix-Joseph Ribot (French:[alɛksɑ̃dʁʁibo]; 7 February 1842 – 13 January 1923) was a French politician, four timesPrime Minister.
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Ribot was born on 7 February 1842, inSaint-Omer. After graduating from theUniversity of Paris, where he waslauréat of the faculty of law, he was admitted to the bar. He was secretary of theconference of advocates and one of the founders of theSociéte de legislation comparée. In 1875 and 1876, he was director of criminal affairs and secretary-general at the ministry of justice.[citation needed]
In 1877, he entered politics, becoming a member of the committee of legal resistance during theBroglie ministry; in 1878, he returned to the chamber as a moderate republican member forBoulogne, in his nativedépartement ofPas-de-Calais.[1]
His impassioned yet reasoned eloquence gave him an influence which was increased by his articles in theParlement in which he opposed violent measures against the unauthorized congregations. He devoted himself especially to financial questions, and in 1882 was reporter of the budget. He became one of the most prominent republican opponents of the Radical party, distinguishing himself by his attacks on the short-livedGambetta ministry. He refused to vote the credits demanded by theFerry cabinet for theTonkin expedition, and helpedGeorges Clemenceau overthrow the ministry in 1885. At the general election of that year he was a victim of the Republican rout in the Pas-de-Calais, and did not re-enter the chamber until 1887.[1]
After 1889, he sat for Saint-Omer. His fear of theBoulangist movement converted him to the policy of "Republican Concentration," and he entered office in 1890 asforeign minister in theFreycinet cabinet. He was named for his speeches and negotiation skills, such as in 1891, where his diplomacy led to theFranco-Russian Alliance. He retained his post inÉmile Loubet's ministry (February–November 1892), and on its defeat he became president of the council (prime minister), retaining the direction of foreign affairs. The government resigned in March 1893 over the refusal of the chamber to accept the Senate's amendments to the budget. On the election ofFélix Faure as president of the Republic in January 1895, Ribot was reappointed premier and minister of finance. On 10 June, he made the first official announcement of a definite alliance with Russia. On 30 October, due to mismanagement of theSecond Madagascar expedition, the government was defeated, and he, along with all other government officials, resigned.[1]
After the fall ofJules Méline's ministry in 1898, Ribot tried in vain to form a cabinet of "conciliation." Ar the end of 1898, he was elected president of the commission of education, where he advocated for secular education; religious teaching policies fromPierre Waldeck-Rousseau on the religious teaching congregations split the Republican party, and Ribot was among the seceders.
In 1902, Ribot was elected the minister of Foreign Affairs. While in tenue, he canceled the Egypt's debt to France, at the cost of accessing its natural resources.[1] It was likely backed by his personal motivations.[2]
An adversary to the anti-clericalCombes, he helped bring about the fall of his cabinet, on 13 January 1905. Though, he recognized its improvements from theConcordat of 1801, and supported itsAssociations culturelles.[1]
He was re-elected deputy for Saint-Omer in 1906, and the same year, he became a member of theAcadémie Française in succession to theduc d'Audiffret-Pasquier. He was already a member of the Academy of Moral and Political Science. In justification of his policy in opposition, he published in 1905 two volumes of hisDiscours politiques.[1]
On 3 January 1909, Ribot was elected a member of theFrench Senate, and in February 1910, he was offered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in theMonis cabinet, which he refused. After the formation of thePoincaré Government on 14 January 1912, Ribot took the place ofLéon Bourgeois as president of the committee appointed to deal with the Franco-German treaty, which he went on to help negotiate. In 1913, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the Republic, and on the fall ofLouis Barthou's Government was invited by Poincaré, who was now President, to form a Cabinet, which he refused. In 1914, he became, withJean Dupuy, leader of the Left Republican group which refused to accept the decisions of theRadical Socialist congress atPau in October 1913.[3]
On 9 June 1914, Ribot became Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, but ended on 10 June.[3]
On 27 August 1914, duringWorld War I, Ribot became Minister of Finance inViviani's Ministry of National Defence, an office which he retained when, on 28 October 1915,Aristide Briand succeeded Viviani as Prime Minister.[3]
On 7 February 1916, Ribot visited London and held a conference with the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Treasury. When Briand reconstituted his Cabinet in December 1916, Ribot retained his position. On the fall of the Briand Ministry, President Poincaré appointed him as Prime Minister. On 21 March, he declared his goals to be "to recover the provinces torn from us in the past, to obtain the reparations and guarantees due to France, and to prepare a durable peace based on respect for the rights and liberty of peoples". On 31 July, in a reply to the German ChancellorGeorg Michaelis, he admitted that in 1917 an agreement had been made withTsar Nicholas to erect the German territories on the left bank of theRhine into an autonomous state, but denied that there had been any question of their annexation to France.[3]
Following the decision to dismiss Interior MinisterLouis Malvy, his government resigned office on 2 September, but he accepted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in thePainlevé cabinet constituted six days later. He resigned office finally on 16 October, owing to the violent criticism of his refusal to fall into the "trap" of German peace offers.[3]
Ribot left politics, and died in Paris on 13 January 1923, aged 80.[4] TheLycée Alexandre Ribot grammar school isnamed for him.
Ribot's 1st Ministry, 6 December 1892 – 11 January 1893
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Changes
Ribot's 2nd Ministry, 11 January 1893 – 4 April 1893
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Ribot's 3rd Ministry, 26 January 1895 – 1 November 1895
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Ribot's 4th Ministry, 9 June 1914 – 13 June 1914
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Ribot's 5th Ministry, 20 March 1917 – 12 September 1917
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Changes
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ribot, Alexandre Félix Joseph".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 285.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Ribot, Alexandre Félix Joseph".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 32 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 274.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1890–1893 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1892–1893 | Succeeded by |
| Minister of the Interior 1893 | ||
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1895 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1895 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1914 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1914 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1914–1917 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1917 | Succeeded by |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs 1917 | Succeeded by | |
