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Henri Queuille | |
|---|---|
 Queuille in 1945 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 10 March 1951 – 11 August 1951 | |
| President | Vincent Auriol |
| Preceded by | René Pleven |
| Succeeded by | René Pleven |
| In office 2 July 1950 – 12 July 1950 | |
| President | Vincent Auriol |
| Preceded by | Georges Bidault |
| Succeeded by | René Pleven |
| In office 11 September 1948 – 28 October 1949 | |
| President | Vincent Auriol |
| Preceded by | Robert Schuman |
| Succeeded by | Georges Bidault |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 March 1884 |
| Died | 15 June 1970(1970-06-15) (aged 86) |
| Party | Radical |
Henri Queuille (French:[ɑ̃ʁikœj]; 31 March 1884 – 15 June 1970) was a FrenchRadical politician prominent in theThird andFourth Republics. AfterWorld War II, he served three times asPrime Minister.[1]
Henri Queuille was born inNeuvic, where his father, who died when Queuille was 11, was a pharmacist and assistant mayor. He was educated at theschool in Tulle, then studied medicine inParis, where he befriendedGeorges Duhamel, also a medical student.
He returned to Neuvic as a general practitioner, and became active in local politics for theRadical-Socialist Party, being elected mayor of Neuvic in 1912 (he would remain mayor, except when removed by theVichy government 1941–1945, until 1965), a councillor for the Canton of Neuvic in 1913, and a member of theChamber of Deputies forUssel in 1914.
DuringWorld War I, Queuille served as a military hospital doctor. He saw service at theBattle of Verdun and theBattle of the Somme, and was awarded theCroix de Guerre in September 1916.
Having been elected a deputy in 1914, Queuille was re-elected at every election until he stood down in 1936, having become a senator for Corrèze in 1935. In local politics, he remained mayor of Neuvic, and additionally became president of the departmental council of Corrèze in 1921.
He first took ministerial office in 1920, as Under-Secretary for Agriculture. Appointed Minister for Agriculture in 1924, he held this post in numerous governments in the 1920s and 1930s. He also served as Minister for Public Health in 1930–31 and 1934–35, Minister for Post and Telecommunications in 1932, and Minister for Public Works in 1937–38, in which position he achieved the nationalisation of the railways, creating theSNCF.
Along with many other leading Radical-Socialist politicians, he was implicated in theStavisky affair involving the fraudulent financierAlexandre Stavisky, which forced the resignation of Prime MinisterCamille Chautemps in 1934.[2]
Queuille served as Minister for Supply in the government ofPaul Reynaud in 1940. As a senator, he was present at thevote in Vichy on 10 July 1940 which granted all government powers to MarshalPhilippe Pétain; Queuille abstained. He returned to Neuvic, where he was removed as mayor by the Vichy government in July 1941.
In 1942, theFrench Resistance leaderClaude Hettier de Boislambert, who passed through Neuvic while in hiding, informed Queuille that GeneralCharles de Gaulle considered it of great importance that Queuille should come round to the Free French cause. After a first failed attempt, Queuille gained passage toLondon in April 1943, on board anRAFLysander. A few days later, he broadcast an appeal to the Resistance on theBBC, intended for a rural French audience.
Queuille was appointed to de Gaulle'sFrench Committee of National Liberation based inAlgiers in November 1943, becoming its Vice-President, and became a minister of theProvisional Government of the French Republic on its formation in June 1944, sometimes presiding in the absence of General de Gaulle.
In the1945 legislative election, Queuille was defeated for the only time in his career. However, he returned as mayor of Neuvic, and to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946. He was a minister in every government from 1948 to 1954, leading the government three times (1948–49, 1950, 1951). The middle of his three governments was voted out after two days, the shortest government in French history. He also served as Vice-President of the government (1949–50, 1952–54), Minister of Public Works (1948), Minister for Finance (1948–49, during his first government) and Minister of the Interior (1950–51, spanning his second and third governments).
His governments wereThird Force coalitions, a centrist bloc opposed to both the Communists and the Gaullists. During his first term, he signed theNorth Atlantic Treaty establishingNATO. He also worked withRobert Schuman on the process of European integration.
Pierre Mendès France represented the left wing of the Radical-Socialist Party; Queuille was out of step with his politics. He left the government when Mendès France took the premiership in 1954, and left the Radical-Socialist Party in 1956 to found theRepublican Centre. During thecrisis of May 1958, Queuille opposed de Gaulle's formation of theFifth Republic, and campaigned against the adoption of the Fifth Republic's constitution. He did not stand in the1958 legislative election that followed.
Changes:
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1924–1925 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1926–1928 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1930 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Health 1930–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones 1932 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1932–1934 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Health and Physical Education 1934–1935 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Works 1937–1938 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1938–1940 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by (none) | Minister of Supply 1940 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by (none) | Minister of State 1948 | Succeeded by (none) |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Works, Transport and Tourism 1948 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1948–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs 1948–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Prime Minister of France 1949–1950 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1950 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of the Interior 1950–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1951 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by (none) | Minister of State 1951–1952 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Prime Minister of France 1952–1954 | Succeeded by (none) |
