André Tardieu | |
|---|---|
 Tardieu in 1928 | |
| Prime Minister Of France | |
| In office 20 February 1932 – 3 June 1932 | |
| President | |
| Preceded by | Pierre Laval |
| Succeeded by | Édouard Herriot |
| In office 2 March 1930 – 13 December 1930 | |
| President | Gaston Doumergue |
| Preceded by | Camille Chautemps |
| Succeeded by | Théodore Steeg |
| In office 2 November 1929 – 21 February 1930 | |
| President | Gaston Doumergue |
| Preceded by | Aristide Briand |
| Succeeded by | Camille Chautemps |
| Acting President Of France | |
| In office 7 May 1932 – 10 May 1932 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Joseph Doumer |
| Succeeded by | Albert LeBrun |
| Personal details | |
| Born | André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu (1876-09-22)22 September 1876 Paris,France |
| Died | 15 September 1945(1945-09-15) (aged 68) |
| Political party |
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André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu (French:[ɑ̃dʁetaʁdjø]; 22 September 1876 – 15 September 1945) was three timesPrime Minister of France (3 November 1929 – 17 February 1930; 2 March – 4 December 1930; 20 February – 10 May 1932) and a dominant figure of French political life in 1929–1932. He was a moderate conservative with a strong intellectual reputation, but became a weak prime minister at the start of the worldwideGreat Depression.[1]
Tardieu's paternal grandmother was the composer and pianistCharlotte Tardieu. Andre Tardieu was a graduate of the eliteLycée Condorcet. He was accepted by the even more prestigiousÉcole Normale Supérieure, but instead entered the diplomatic service. Later, he left the service and became famous as foreign affairs editor of the newspaperLe Temps. He founded the conservative newspaperL'Echo National in association withGeorges Mandel.
In 1914, Tardieu was elected to theChamber of Deputies from thedépartement ofSeine-et-Oise, as a candidate of the center-rightDemocratic Republican Alliance (Alliance Démocratique – AD). He retained this seat till 1924. From 1926 to 1936, he represented thedépartement ofTerritoire de Belfort.
WhenWorld War I broke out, Tardieu enlisted in the army and served before he was wounded and invalided home in 1916. He then returned to politics. He served asGeorges Clemenceau's lieutenant in 1919 during theParis Peace Conference and as Commissioner for Franco-American War Cooperation. On 8 November 1919, he becameMinister of Liberated Regions, administeringAlsace andLorraine, and served until Clemenceau's defeat in 1920.
In 1926, Tardieu returned to government asMinister of Transportation underRaymond Poincaré. In 1928, he moved toMinister of the Interior, continuing under Poincaré's successorAristide Briand.
In November 1929, Tardieu himself succeeded Briand asPrésident du Conseil (Prime Minister) and remained Interior Minister. Though generally considered a conservative, he introduced a program of welfare measures, including public works, social insurance, and free secondary schooling, and he encouraged modern techniques in industry. On 11 March 1932, legislation was passed that established universal family allowances for all wage earners in business and industry with at least two children.
He hoped to replace the old ideological standoff between the right and left to a more relevant division based on the modern economy. He argued that "a more dynamic capitalism would dry up the Marxism of the working classes."[2] The goal of his leadership was prosperity. When the Great Depression began in 1929, his goal was to evade a depression in France, which worked for several years. According to Monique Clague, "An obstinate deflationist throughout the thirties Tardieu would clearly not have given France a new deal." In the election of 1932 "he acknowledged the responsibility of the modern state for curing unemployment, but, devoted to the Poincaré franc, he would have sacrificed employment to the maintenance of the gold standard."[3]
Tardieu was displaced from both offices for ten days in February–March 1930 byRadicalCamille Chautemps, but he returned until December. He was thenMinister of Agriculture in 1931,Minister of War in 1932, and again Prime Minister (this time, alsoMinister of Foreign Affairs), from 20 February to 3 June 1932, until his coalition was defeated in the May elections.
As Prime Minister, Tardieu served for three (7–10 May 1932) days as the Acting President of the French Republic, between the assassination ofPaul Doumer and the election ofAlbert Lebrun.
He was briefly aMinister of State without portfolio in 1934.
His later political activity was largely concerned with containing and responding to German expansion.
In his two-volume bookLa Révolution à refaire, Tardieu criticized the French parliamentary system.
Some of his books include:
Changes
Media related toAndré Tardieu at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Liberated Regions 1919–1920 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Transportation 1926–1928 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of the Interior 1928–1930 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1929–1930 | |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1930 | Succeeded by |
| Minister of the Interior 1930 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1931–1932 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of War 1932 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1932 | Succeeded by |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs 1932 | ||
| New office | Minister of State 1934 | Succeeded by |
