Joseph Caillaux | |
|---|---|
_-_(photographie_de_presse)_-_(Agence_Rol).jpg) Caillaux in 1925 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 27 June 1911 – 11 January 1912 | |
| President | Armand Fallières |
| Preceded by | Ernest Monis |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Poincaré |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph-Marie-Auguste Caillaux (1863-03-30)30 March 1863 Le Mans, France |
| Died | 22 November 1944(1944-11-22) (aged 81) Mamers, France |
| Political party | Radical Party |
Joseph-Marie-Auguste Caillaux (French:[ʒozɛfmaʁioɡystkajo]; 30 March 1863 – 22 November 1944) was a French politician of theThird Republic. He was a leader of theFrench Radical Party and Minister of Finance, but his progressive views in opposition to the military alienated him from conservative elements. He was accused of corruption, but was cleared by a parliamentary commission. This political weakness strengthened the right wing elements in the Radical Party.[1]
The son ofEugène Caillaux, he studied law and attended lectures at theÉcole des Sciences Politiques. He entered the civil service in 1888 as an inspector of finance, and spent most of his official career inAlgiers. Standing as aRepublican candidate in the elections of 1898 for the department of theSarthe, in opposition to the Duc de la Rochefoucault-Bisaccia, he was elected to theChamber of Deputies by 12,929 votes to 11,737. He becameMinister of Finance in theWaldeck-Rousseau Cabinet, and after its fall it was not until theClemenceau Ministry of 1906 that he returned to office, once more with the portfolio of Finance.[2]During therevolt of the Languedoc winegrowers on 22 May 1907 Caillaux tabled[clarification needed] a bill on wine fraud. The text submitted to Parliament provided for an annual declaration of their harvest by wine growers, prohibition of second-cycle sweetening, and control and taxation of purchases of sugar.[3]
In 1911 he became prime minister. The leader of theRadicals, he favored a policy of conciliation with Germany during his premiership from 1911 to 1912, which led to the maintenance of the peace during theSecond Moroccan Crisis of 1911. He and his ministers were forced to resign on 11 January 1912, after it was revealed that he had secretly negotiated with Germany without the knowledge of PresidentArmand Fallières.[4]
Nevertheless, thanks to his undoubted qualities as a financier, he remained a great power in French politics. He fought theThree Years' Service bill with the utmost tenacity. Although that measure became law, it was he who finally, on the financial aspect of that bill, brought about the downfall of theBarthou Ministry in the autumn of 1913.[2]
While theEntente Cordiale was in effect, it was impossible for Caillaux to return to the position of prime minister, but he joined the succeedingDoumergue Cabinet as Minister of Finance. As a financial expert, he had long identified himself with a great and necessary reform in the fiscal policy of France—the introduction of the principle of an income tax. Throughout the winter of 1913, he campaigned for this principle. His advocacy of an income tax, and his uncertain and erratic championship of proletarian ideas, alarmed all the conservative elements in the country, and throughout the winter he was attacked with increasing vehemence from the platform and through the press.[2] Those attacks reached their highest point of bitterness in a series of disclosures in the newspaperLe Figaro of a more or less personal nature.
In 1914,Le Figaro started the publication of love letters that had been sent by Caillaux to his second wifeHenriette while he was still married to the first, Berthe Gueydan. In March 1914, Madame Caillaux in turn shot to deathGaston Calmette, the editor ofLe Figaro, and Caillaux resigned as Minister of Finance. In July 1914, Madame Caillaux was acquitted on the grounds that she committed acrime passionel.[2]
Caillaux became the leader of a peace party in the Assembly duringWorld War I. After a mission to South America, he returned in 1915, and at once began to lobby. He financed newspapers, and did everything he possibly could behind the scenes to consolidate his position. He became acquainted with theBolos and theMalvys of political and journalistic life. By the spring of 1917, he had become in the eyes of the public "l'homme de la défaite", the man who was willing to effect a compromise peace with Germany at the expense of Great Britain. However, the advent of Clemenceau to power killed all his hopes. This led to his arrest for treason in 1917.[5] After a long delay, he was convicted of high treason by the High Court of the Senate, and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, the term he had already served. He was also forbidden to reside in French territory for five years and deprived of civil rights for ten years.[2]
Again rehabilitated after World War I, Caillaux served at various times in the left wing governments of the 1920s.[6]
On 10 July 1940, Caillaux voted as a Senator in favour of granting the cabinet presided by MarshalPhilippe Pétain authority to draw up a new constitution, thereby effectively ending theFrench Third Republic and establishingVichy France.
Joseph Caillaux is interred in thePère Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
His political collaborators included the Nord region journalist and politicianÉmile Roche.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Caillaux, Joseph-Marie-Auguste".Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1911–1912 | Succeeded by |
