Fourth Republic (France)
| French Republic | ||||||||||||
| République française | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
.png) Emblem
(unofficial) |
||||||||||||
|
Motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (French) "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood" |
||||||||||||
|
Anthem "La Marseillaise" |
||||||||||||
.png) Metropolitan France is shown in dark green, with the Saarland, under French administration until its accession to West Germany on New Year's Day 1957, depicted in light green
|
||||||||||||
| Capital | Paris | |||||||||||
| Languages | French | |||||||||||
| Religion |
Secular state (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) Roman Catholicism Calvinism Lutheranism Judaism (Alsace-Lorraine only) |
|||||||||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic | |||||||||||
| President | ||||||||||||
| • | 1947–1954 | Vincent Auriol | ||||||||||
| • | 1954–1959 | René Coty | ||||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||||
| • | 1947 | Paul Ramadier | ||||||||||
| • | 1958–1959 | Charles de Gaulle | ||||||||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | |||||||||||
| Historical era | ||||||||||||
| • | French constitutional referendum, October 1946 | 13 October 1946 | ||||||||||
| • | Promulgation of French Fourth Republic | 27 October 1946 | ||||||||||
| • | Battle of Dien Bien Phu | 13 March – 7 May 1954 | ||||||||||
| • | Bloody All-Saints' Day | 1 November 1954 | ||||||||||
| • | Treaty of Brussels | 17 March 1948 | ||||||||||
| • | Algiers putsch and May crisis | 13–29 May 1958 | ||||||||||
| • | French constitutional referendum, 1958 | 28 September 1958 | ||||||||||
| • | Promulgation of French Fifth Republic | 4 October 1958 | ||||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||||
| • | 1957 | 889,898 km2 (343,592 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Currency |
French franc (FRF) |
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
.svg)
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic that was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946.
The Fourth Republic saw an era of great economic growth in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social institutions and industry after World War II, and played an important part in the development of the process of European integration which changed the continent permanently. The greatest accomplishments of the Fourth Republic were in social reform and economic development. In 1946, the government established a comprehensive social security system that assured unemployment insurance, disability and old-age pensions, and health care to all citizens.
Some attempts were also made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government – there were 21 administrations in its 12-year history. Moreover, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding decolonization of the numerous remaining French colonies. After a series of crises, most importantly the Algerian crisis of 1958, the Fourth Republic collapsed. Wartime leader Charles de Gaulle returned from retirement to preside over a transitional administration that was empowered to design a new French constitution. The Fourth Republic was dissolved by a public referendum on 5 October 1958 which established the modern-day Fifth Republic with a strengthened presidency.
...
Wikipedia