François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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21st President of France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 21 May 1981 – 17 May 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Jacques Chirac | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand 26 October 1916 Jarnac, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 8 January 1996 Paris, France | (aged 79)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Resting place | Cimetière des Grands-Maisons, Jarnac | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Socialist (from 1971) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations |
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Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 4, including Jean-Christophe and Mazarine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relatives | Frédéric Mitterrand (nephew) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Website | Mitterrand Institute | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | French Third Republic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Branch/service | French Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service |
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François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand[a] (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former Socialist Party First Secretary, he was the first left-wing politician to assume the presidency under the Fifth Republic.
Due to family influences, Mitterrand started his political life on the Catholic nationalist right. He served under the Vichy regime during its earlier years. Subsequently he joined the Resistance, moved to the left, and held ministerial office several times under the Fourth Republic. Mitterrand opposed Charles de Gaulle's establishment of the Fifth Republic. Although at times a politically isolated figure, he outmanoeuvered rivals to become the left's standard bearer in the 1965 and 1974 presidential elections, before being elected president in the 1981 presidential election. He was re-elected in 1988 and remained in office until 1995.
Mitterrand invited the Communist Party into his first government, which was a controversial decision at the time. In the event, the Communists were boxed in as junior partners and, rather than taking advantage, saw their support erode. They left the cabinet in 1984. Early in his first term, he followed a radical left-wing economic agenda, including nationalisation of key firms and the introduction of the 39-hour work week, but after two years, with the economy in crisis, he somewhat reversed course. He instead pushed a socially liberal agenda with reforms such as the abolition of the death penalty, and the end of a government monopoly in radio and television broadcasting. He faced major controversy in 1985 after ordering the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace vessel docked in Auckland. Mitterrand’s foreign and defense policies built on those of his Gaullist predecessors, except as regards their reluctance to support European integration, which he reversed. His partnership with German chancellor Helmut Kohl advanced European integration via the Maastricht Treaty, and he reluctantly accepted German reunification. During his time in office, he was a strong promoter of culture and implemented a range of costly "Grands Projets". He was the first French President to appoint a female prime minister, Édith Cresson, in 1991. Mitterrand was twice forced by the loss of a parliamentary majority into "cohabitation governments" with conservative cabinets led, respectively, by Jacques Chirac (1986–1988), and Édouard Balladur (1993–1995). Less than eight months after leaving office, he died from the prostate cancer he had successfully concealed for most of his presidency.
Beyond making the French Left electable, Mitterrand presided over the rise of the Socialist Party to dominance of the left, and the decline of the once-mighty Communist Party. (As a share of the popular vote in the first presidential round, the Communists shrank from a peak of 21.27% in 1969 to 8.66% in 1995, at the end of Mitterrand's second term.)
Family
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand was born on 26 October 1916 in
Mitterrand's wife, Danielle Mitterrand (née Gouze, 1924–2011), came from a socialist background and worked for various left-wing causes. They married on 24 October 1944 and had three sons: Pascal (10 June – 17 September 1945), Jean-Christophe, born in 1946, and Gilbert, born on 4 February 1949. He also had two children as results of extra-marital affairs: an acknowledged daughter, Mazarine (born 1974), with his mistress Anne Pingeot,[6] and an unacknowledged son, Hravn Forsne (born 1988), with Swedish journalist Chris Forsne .[7]
François Mitterrand's nephew Frédéric Mitterrand is a journalist, Minister of Culture and Communications under Nicolas Sarkozy (and a supporter of Jacques Chirac, former French President), and his wife's brother-in-law Roger Hanin was a well-known French actor.
Early life
François Mitterrand studied from 1925 to 1934 in the Collège Saint-Paul in
Contrary to some reports, Mitterrand never became a formal member of the
When Mitterrand's involvement in these conservative nationalist movements was revealed in the 1990s, he attributed his actions to the milieu of his youth. He furthermore had some personal and family relations with members of the Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group in the 1930s.[9]
Mitterrand then served his
Second World War
François Mitterrand's actions during World War II were the cause of much controversy in France during the 1980s and 1990s.
Prisoner of War: 1940–1941
Mitterrand was at the end of his national service when the war broke out. He fought as an infantry sergeant and was injured and captured by the Germans on 14 June 1940.[12] He was held prisoner at Stalag IXA near Ziegenhain (today part of Schwalmstadt, a town near Kassel in Hesse). François Mitterrand became involved in the social organisation for the POWs in the camp.[citation needed] He claims this, and the influence of the people he met there, began to change his political ideas, moving him towards the left.[13] He had two failed escape attempts in March and then November 1941 before he finally escaped on 16 December 1941, returning to France on foot.[citation needed] In December 1941 he arrived home in the unoccupied zone controlled by the French. With help from a friend[citation needed] of his mother he got a job as a mid-level functionary of the Vichy government, looking after the interests of POWs. This was very unusual for an escaped prisoner, and he later claimed to have served as a spy for the Free French Forces.[14]
Work in France under the Vichy administration: 1941–1943
Mitterrand worked from January to April 1942 for the
François Mitterrand has been called a "Vichysto-résistant" (an expression used by the historian Jean-Pierre Azéma to describe people who supported Marshal Philippe Pétain, the head of the Vichy Regime, before 1943, but subsequently rejected the Vichy Regime).[16]
From spring 1942, he met other escaped POWs Jean Roussel , Max Varenne, and Dr. Guy Fric , under whose influence he became involved with the resistance. In April, François Mitterrand and Fric caused a major disturbance in a public meeting held by the collaborator Georges Claude. From mid-1942, he sent false papers to POWs in Germany[citation needed] and on 12 June and 15 August 1942, he joined meetings at the Château de Montmaur which formed the base of his future network for the resistance.[17] From September, he made contact with Free French Forces, but clashed with Michel Cailliau , General Charles de Gaulle's nephew (and de Gaulle's candidate to head-up all POW-related resistance organizations).[18] On 15 October 1942, François Mitterrand and Marcel Barrois (a member of the resistance deported in 1944) met Marshal Philippe Pétain along with other members of the Comité d'entraide aux prisonniers rapatriés de l'Allier (Mutual Assistance Committee for Repatriated POWs of the Allier Department).[19] By the end of 1942, François Mitterrand met Pierre Guillain de Bénouville, an old friend from his days with La Cagoule. Bénouville was a member of the resistance groups Combat and Noyautage des administrations publiques (NAP).
In late 1942, the non-occupied zone was invaded by the Germans. Mitterrand left the Commissariat in January 1943, when his boss Maurice Pinot , another vichysto-résistant, was replaced by the collaborator André Masson, but he remained in charge of the centres d'entraides. In spring 1943, along with Gabriel Jeantet, a member of Marshal Pétain's cabinet, and Simon Arbellot (both former members of La Cagoule), François Mitterrand received the Order of the Francisque (the honorific distinction of the Vichy Regime).
Debate rages in France as to the significance of this. When François Mitterrand's Vichy past was exposed in the 1950s, he at first denied having received the Francisque (some sources say he was designated for the award, but never received the medal because he went into hiding before the ceremony took place).[20] Socialist Resistance leader Jean Pierre-Bloch says that Mitterrand was ordered to accept the medal as cover for his work in the resistance.[21] Pierre Moscovici and Jacques Attali remain skeptical of Mitterrand's beliefs at this time, accusing him of having at best a "foot in each camp" until he was sure who the winner would be. They noted his friendship with René Bousquet and the wreaths he was said to have placed on Pétain's tomb in later years (see below) as examples of his ambivalent attitude.[22]
In 1994, while President of France, Mitterrand maintained that the roundup of Jews who were then deported to death camps during the war was solely the work of "Vichy France", an entity distinct from France: "The Republic had nothing to do with this. I do not believe France is responsible."[23] This position was rejected by President Jacques Chirac in 1995 who stated that it was time that France faced up to its past. He acknowledged the role of the state – "4,500 policemen and gendarmes, French, under the authority of their leaders [who] obeyed the demands of the Nazis" – in the Holocaust.[23] Chirac added that the "criminal madness of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French State".[24][25][26]
President Emmanuel Macron was even more specific as to the State's responsibility for the 1942 Vel' d'Hiv Roundup of 13,000 Jews for deportation to concentration camps. It was indeed "France that organized the roundup, the deportation, and thus, for almost all, death."[27][28] It was done by "French police collaborating with the Nazis", he said on 16 July 2017. "It is convenient to see the Vichy regime as born of nothingness, returned to nothingness. Yes, it’s convenient, but it is false. We cannot build pride upon a lie."[29][30]
Full engagement in resistance: 1943–1945
Mitterrand built up a resistance network[citation needed], composed mainly of former POWs. The POWs National Rally (Rassemblement national des prisonniers de guerre , RNPG) was affiliated with General Henri Giraud, a former POW who had escaped from a German prison and made his way across Germany back to the Allied forces. In 1943 Giraud was contesting with de Gaulle for the leadership of the French Resistance.
From the beginning of 1943, Mitterrand had contacts with a powerful resistance group called the Organisation de résistance de l'armée (ORA),[12] organised by former French military personnel. From this time on, François Mitterrand could act as a member of the ORA,[31] moreover he set up his own RNPG network with Pinot in February and he obtained funding for his own network. In March, François Mitterrand met Henri Frenay, who encouraged the resistance in France to support François Mitterrand over Michel Cailliau.[32] 28 May 1943, when François Mitterrand met with Gaullist Philippe Dechartre , is generally taken as the date François Mitterrand split with Vichy.[33] According to Dechartre, the meeting on 28 May 1943 was set up because "there were three movements [of Résistance:] […] the Gaullist, the communist, and one from support centers […] hence I was assigned the mission to prepare what would be called afterwards the merger [of the three movements]."[12]
During 1943, the RNPG gradually changed from providing false papers to information-gathering for
In November 1943 the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) raided a flat in Vichy, where they hoped to arrest François Morland, a member of the resistance.[36] "Morland" was François Mitterrand's cover name. He also used Purgon, Monnier, Laroche, Captain François, Arnaud et Albre as cover names. The man they arrested was Pol Pilven, a member of the resistance who was to survive the war in a concentration camp. François Mitterrand was in Paris at the time.
Warned by his friends, Mitterrand escaped to London aboard a
Mitterrand returned to France by boat via England. In Paris, the three Resistance groups made up of POWs (Communists, Gaullists, RNPG) finally merged as the POWs and Deportees National Movement (") by Jacques Paris and Jean Munier, who later hid out with François Mitterrand's father.
After a second visit to London in February 1944, Mitterrand took part in the liberation of Paris in August; he took over the headquarters of Commissariat général aux prisonniers de guerre (general office for POW, the ministry he was working for), immediately he took up the vacant post of secretary general of POWs. When de Gaulle entered Paris following the Liberation, he was introduced to various men who were to be part of the provisional government. Among them was François Mitterrand, when they came face to face, de Gaulle is said to have muttered: "You again!" He dismissed François Mitterrand 2 weeks later.
In October 1944 Mitterrand and
Fourth Republic
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2017) |
Rise in politics: 1946–54
After the war Mitterrand quickly moved back into politics. At the
In the
In May 1948 Mitterrand participated in the
As Overseas Minister (1950–1951), Mitterrand opposed the colonial lobby to propose a reform program. He connected with the left when he resigned from the cabinet after the arrest of Morocco's sultan (1953). As leader of the progressive wing of the UDSR, he took the head of the party in 1953, replacing the conservative René Pleven.
In June 1953 Mitterrand attended the coronation of
Senior minister during the Algerian War: 1954–58
As
The UDSR joined the
As Minister of Justice he was an official representative of France during the wedding of
Opposition during the Fifth Republic
Crossing the desert: 1958–64
In 1958, Mitterrand was one of the few to object to the nomination of
This attitude may have been a factor in Mitterrand's losing his seat in the
Also in that same year, on the Avenue de l'Observatoire in Paris, Mitterrand claimed to have escaped an assassin's bullet by diving behind a hedge, in what became known as the Observatory Affair.
Mitterrand visited China in 1961, during the worst of the Great Chinese Famine, but denied the existence of starvation.[47]
Opposition to De Gaulle: 1964–71
In the 1962 election, Mitterrand regained his seat in the National Assembly with the support of the PCF and the SFIO. Practicing left unity in Nièvre, he advocated the rallying of left-wing forces at the national level, including the PCF, in order to challenge Gaullist domination. Two years later, he became the president (chairman) of the General Council of Nièvre. While the opposition to De Gaulle organized in clubs, he founded his own group, the Convention of Republican Institutions (Convention des institutions républicaines, CIR). He reinforced his position as a left-wing opponent to Charles de Gaulle in publishing Le Coup d'État permanent (The permanent coup, 1964), which criticized de Gaulle's personal power, the weaknesses of Parliament and of the government, the President's exclusive control of foreign affairs, and defence, etc.
In 1965, Mitterrand was the first left-wing politician who saw the
De Gaulle was expected to win in the first round, but Mitterrand received 31.7% of the vote, denying De Gaulle a first-round victory. François Mitterrand was supported in the second round by the left and other anti-Gaullists: centrist
Mitterrand received 44.8% of votes in the second round and de Gaulle, with the majority, was thus elected for another term, but this defeat was regarded as honourable, for no one was really expected to defeat de Gaulle. François Mitterrand took the lead of a centre-left alliance: the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left (Fédération de la gauche démocrate et socialiste, FGDS). It was composed of the SFIO, the Radicals and several left-wing republican clubs (such the CIR of François Mitterrand).
In the legislative election of March 1967, the system where all candidates who failed to pass a 10% threshold in the first round were eliminated from the second round favoured the pro-Gaullist majority, which faced a split opposition (PCF, FGDS and centrists of Jacques Duhamel). Nevertheless, the parties of the left managed to gain 63 seats more than previously for a total of 194. The Communists remained the largest left-wing group with 22.5% of votes. The governing coalition won with its majority reduced by only one seat (247 seats out of 487).
In Paris, the Left (FGDS, PSU, PCF) managed to win more votes in the first round than the two governing parties (46% against 42.6%) while the
During the
Mitterrand was accused of being responsible for this huge legislative defeat and the FGDS split. In 1969, François Mitterrand could not run for the Presidency: Guy Mollet refused to give him the support of the SFIO. The left wing was eliminated in the first round, with the Socialist candidate Gaston Defferre winning a humiliating 5.1 percent of the total vote. Georges Pompidou faced the centrist Alain Poher in the second round.
Socialist Party leader: 1971–81
After the FGDS's implosion Mitterrand turned to the
In June 1972, Mitterrand signed the
At the 1974 presidential election, François Mitterrand received 43.2% of the vote in the first round, as the common candidate of the left. He faced Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in the second round. During the national TV debate, Giscard d'Estaing criticised him as being "a man of the past", due to his long political career. François Mitterrand was narrowly defeated by Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand receiving 49.19% and Giscard 50.81%.
In 1977, the Communist and Socialist parties failed to update the Common Programme, then lost the 1978 legislative election. While the Socialists took the leading position on the left, by obtaining more votes than the Communists for the first time since 1936, the leadership of François Mitterrand was challenged by an internal opposition led by Michel Rocard who criticized the programme of the PS as being "archaic" and "unrealistic". The polls indicated Rocard was more popular than François Mitterrand. Nevertheless, François Mitterrand won the vote at the Party's Metz Congress (1979) and Rocard renounced his candidacy for the 1981 presidential election.
For his third candidacy for presidency, Mitterrand was not supported by the PCF but only by the PS. François Mitterrand projected a reassuring image with the slogan "the quiet force". He campaigned for "another politics", based on the Socialist programme 110 Propositions for France,[51] and denounced the performance of the incumbent president. Furthermore, he benefited from divisions in the right-wing majority. He obtained 25.85% of votes in the first round (against 15% for the PCF candidate Georges Marchais), then defeated President Giscard d'Estaing in the second round, with 51.76%. He became the first left-wing politician elected President of France by universal suffrage.
Presidency
First term: 1981–1988
In the presidential election of 10 May 1981, François Mitterrand became the first socialist President of the Fifth Republic, and his government became the first left-wing government in 23 years. He named Pierre Mauroy as prime minister and organised a new legislative election. The Socialists obtained an absolute parliamentary majority, and four Communists joined the cabinet.
Economic policy
The beginning of his first term was marked by a left-wing
Old age pensions were raised by 300 francs per month to 1,700 francs for a single person and to 3,700 francs for a couple, while health insurance benefits were made more widely available to unemployed persons and part-time employees. Housing allocations for the low-paid were raised by 25% in 1981, and in the two years following May 1981 family allowances were increased by 44% for families with 3 children and by 81% for families with 2 children. In 1981, the purchasing power of social transfers went up by 4.5% and by 7.6% in 1982. In addition, the minimum wage (which affected 1.7 million employees) was increased by 15% in real terms between May 1981 and December 1982.[54]
Major efforts were made to improve access to housing and health care, while the government also attempted to tackle working-class under-achievement in schools by reinforcing the comprehensive system, modernising the curriculum and reducing
Mitterrand continued to promote the new technologies initiated by his predecessor Valéry Giscard d'Estaing: the TGV high speed train and the Minitel, a pre-World Wide Web interactive network similar to the web.[58] The Minitel and the Paris-Lyon TGV line were inaugurated only a few weeks after the election. In addition, Government grants and loans for capital investment for modernisation were significantly increased.[59]
François Mitterrand passed the first decentralization laws, the Defferre Act.
After two years in office, Mitterrand made a substantial u-turn in economic policies, with the March 1983 adoption of the so-called "tournant de la rigueur" (austerity turn). Priority was given to the struggle against inflation in order to remain competitive in the European Monetary System. Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of François Mitterrand's presidency from 1983 onwards.[60] Nevertheless, compared to the OECD average, fiscal policy in France remained relatively expansionary during the course of the two François Mitterrand presidencies.[61]
Social policy
In 1983, all members of the general pension scheme obtained the right to a full pension at the age of 60 payable at a rate of half the reference wage in return for 37.5 years contribution. The government agreed at the same time to improve the pension position of some public sector employees and to increase the real value of the minimum pension. In addition, later negotiations brought retirement at 60 years into the occupational schemes although the financial terms for doing so could only be agreed for a 7-year period. A comparison between 1981 and 1986 showed that the minimum state pension had increased by 64% for a couple and by 81% for one person. During that same period, family allowances had increased by 71% for three children and by 112% for two children. In addition, the single-parent allowance for mothers or fathers with one child had been increased by 103% and for two or more children by 52% for each child.
In order to mark the importance of the problems of the elderly, the government appointed a Secretary of State (attached to the Ministry of Social Affairs and National Solidarity) to carry special responsibility for them, and in an effort to try to relate policy to the felt needs of the elderly, it set up a central advisory committee to examine social policy from their point of view and carry out special studies and enquiries. This body became especially concerned with monitoring the attempts at coordination and encouraging policies which were aimed at helping the elderly stay at home instead of entering residential care.[55]
In the field of health care, some prescription charges were abolished, hospital administration was decentralised, workers' rights in the health service were reaffirmed, and equipment was provided for researchers.[62] From 1983 onwards, wage-earners who had contributed to a pension fund for 37.5 years became eligible to retire on a full pension. This right was extended to the self-employed in 1984 and to farmers in 1986. People who had retired at the age of 60 were, however, not initially eligible for reductions on public transport until they reached the age of 65. The qualifying age for these reductions was, however, reduced to 62 in 1985.[63] A number of illegal immigrants had their position regularized under the Socialists and the conditions pertaining to residence and work permits were eased. Educational programmes were implemented to help immigrant communities, while immigrants were allowed the right to free association. The Socialist government also opened up talks with the authorities in some of the main countries of origin, easing nationality rules in the public sector, associating representatives of migrant groups with public authority work, and established an Immigrants Council in 1984.
Although the income limit for allowances varied according to the position of the child in the family and the number of dependent children, these ceilings were made more favourable in cases where both parents were working or where a single parent was in charge and were linked to changes in wage levels. Those taking parental leave to care for three or more children (provided that they fulfilled the rules for eligibility) also received certain benefits in kind, such as a non-taxable, non-means-tested benefit and priority on vocational training courses. A new boost was also given to research into family problems including an interest in the effects of changing family structures, of women’s employment and the impact of local social policies on family life.[55] In addition, while a law on equal opportunities in employment was passed in July 1983 which prohibited all forms of unequal treatment regardless of the circumstances, together with providing for positive action plans to be established in major companies. In January 1984, a decree was made granting state aid to companies which implemented equality plans for staff.[64] That same year, a law was passed that gave the regional Caissess des Allocations Familiales the task of collecting unpaid alimony, initially for lone parents and subsequently for remarried or cohabiting mothers.[65]
In the field of education, more resources were devoted to the educational system, with the education budgets of 1982, 1983, and 1984 increased by approximately 4% to 6% per year above the rate of inflation. From 1981 to 1983, the corps of teachers was increased by 30,000.[66] Authorization was restored for a number of advanced undergraduate and graduate programmes which the previous centre-right minister Alice Saunier-Seité had rejected on grounds of economy and "rationalization" of resources.[67] Numerous initiatives were carried out such as the teaching of civics, the reintroduction of the teaching of French history and geography at the primary level, the introduction of new professional degrees, a partnership between schools and enterprises, and the introduction of computers in classrooms. Priority areas were set up in 1981 as part of a systematic effort to combat underachievement in schools, while technical education was encouraged. In addition, nursery education was expanded,[68] while efforts by the Socialists to promote joint research between industry and the research agencies increased the number of such contracts by a half each year between 1982 and 1985, with a 29% increase in joint patents.[69] The baccalauréat professionnel, introduced in 1985, enabled holders of a Brevet d'études professionnelles (or in some cases of a Certificat d’aptitude professionnelle) to continue for another two years and study for the baccalauréat.[70]
Several societal measures were ratified, such as the official decriminalization of homosexuality. The Minister of the Interior, Gaston Defferre, put an end to the registration of homosexuals, and the Communist Jack Ralite, Minister of Health, removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders.[71] The government also introduced the passage of the sexual majority to 15 years for all, abolishing the distinction, introduced in 1942, in the age of consent between homosexual and heterosexual relations.[72] Homosexual lifestyle ceased to be a clause for cancellation of a residential lease.[73]
Mitterrand abolished the death penalty as soon as he took office (via the Badinter Act), as well as the "anti-casseurs Act" which instituted collective responsibility for acts of violence during demonstrations. He also dissolved the Cour de sûreté, a special high court, and enacted a massive regularization of illegal immigrants. Tighter regulations on the powers of police to stop, search and arrest were introduced, and the "loi sécurité et liberté" (a controversial public order act) was repealed. In addition, the legal aid system was improved.[74]
In 1984, a law was passed to ensure that divorced women who were not in receipt of maintenance would be provided with assistance in recovering the shortfall in their income from their former husband. By 1986, particular attention was being focused on assisting women in single-parent families to get back into employment, in recognition of the growing problems associated with extra-marital births and marital breakdown. Parental leave was extended to firms with 100 employees in 1981 (previously, parental leave provision had been made in 1977 for firms employing at least 200 employees) and subsequently to all employees in 1984. From 1984 onwards, married women were obliged to sign tax returns, men and women were provided with equal rights in managing their common property and that of their children, and in 1985 they became responsible for each other’s debts.
Childcare facilities were also expanded, with the number of places in crèches rising steadily between 1981 and 1986.
Cultural policy
With respect to cultural policies, grants were allocated to non-profit associations and community cultural initiatives,
In terms of the theatre, some transfer of resources was made from the subsidy of the national theatres to the support for theatre companies which did not necessarily have an institutional home. A significant investment was made in music education with the creation of 5 new music schools in the departements and the revamping of the Conservatoire National de la Musique at Lyon, while the range and capacity of performance facilities in Paris was considerably increased, with the Cite Musicale de la Villette and the Opera de la Bastille allowing for specialist performance in a way that was lacking in Paris previously, and a 2,000 seat concert hall called le Zenith, which was designed primarily for rock music concerts but adapted for all uses.
The Socialists continued the policies of their predecessors with the Grand Louvre project and the opening of the Picasso Museum at the Hotel Sale, while the museum budget was quadrupled and particular sums were set aside for the first time for large regional projects including the establishment of a number of new museums in the provinces such as the Ecomuseum at Chartres and the Museum of Prehistory at Carnac. A Fonds Regional des Acquisitions was established to assist provincial museums in the purchase of works of art, while the state actively continued an existing policy of encouraging bequests in lieu of death duties.
Libraries and publishing benefited from new thinking and an injection of funds, while aid to authors and publishers was restructured and book prices were fixed once again, with the objective being to assist smaller publishing houses and specialist bookshops. The network of regional lending libraries was significantly reinforced, while financial assistance was provided for the export of French books. In addition, archaeology, ethnography and historical buildings and monuments all benefited from the general increase in resources.[55]
Domestic difficulties
The Left lost the 1983 municipal elections and the 1984 European Parliament election. At the same time, the Savary Bill, to limit the financing of private schools by local communities, caused a political crisis. It was abandoned and Mauroy resigned in July 1984. Laurent Fabius succeeded him, and the Communists left the cabinet.
In terms of foreign policy, Mitterrand did not significantly deviate from his predecessors and he continued nuclear weapons testing in the South Pacific in spite of protests from various peace and environmentalist organizations. In 1985, French agents sank the Greenpeace-owned ex-trawler Rainbow Warrior while it was docked in Auckland, New Zealand which the group had used in demonstrations against nuclear tests, whaling, and seal hunting. One Greenpeace member was killed, and when news broke of the event, a major scandal erupted that led to the resignation of Defense Minister Charles Hernu. France apologized with a subsequent payment of $8.16m reparations to Greenpeace in damages, NZ$13m to the New Zealand Government and a significant amount to the relatives of the deceased.[77][78][79]
First Cohabitation
Before the 1986 legislative campaign, proportional representation was instituted in accordance with the 110 Propositions. It did not prevent, however, the victory of the Rally for the Republic/Union for French Democracy (RPR/UDF) coalition. François Mitterrand thus named the RPR leader Jacques Chirac as Prime Minister. This period of government, with a President and a Prime Minister who came from two opposite coalitions, was the first time that such a combination had occurred under the Fifth Republic, and came to be known as "Cohabitation".[80]
Chirac mostly handled domestic policy while François Mitterrand concentrated on his "reserved domain" of foreign affairs and defence. However, several conflicts erupted between the two. In one example, Mitterrand refused to sign executive decrees of liberalisation, obliging Chirac to pass the measures through parliament instead. François Mitterrand also reportedly gave covert support to some social movements, notably the student revolt against the university reform (Devaquet Bill).[citation needed] Benefiting from the difficulties of Chirac's cabinet, the President's popularity increased.
With the polls running in his favour, François Mitterrand announced his candidacy in the 1988 presidential election. He proposed a moderate programme (promising "neither nationalisation nor privatization") and advocated a "united France," and laid out his policy priorities in his "Letter to the French People."[81] He obtained 34% of the votes in the first round, then faced Chirac in the second, and was re-elected with 54% of the votes. François Mitterrand thus became the first President to be elected twice by universal suffrage.
Second term: 1988–1995
Domestic policy
Following his re-election, he named Michel Rocard as prime minister, in spite of their poor relations. Rocard led the moderate wing of the PS and he was the most popular of the Socialist politicians. François Mitterrand decided to organize a new legislative election. The PS obtained a relative parliamentary majority. Four centre-right politicians joined the cabinet.
The second term was marked by the creation of the
But the second term was also marked by rivalries within the PS and the split of the Mitterrandist group (at the
Second Cohabitation
Disappointed with Rocard's apparent failure to enact the Socialists' programme, Mitterrand dismissed Michel Rocard in 1991 and appointed Édith Cresson to replace him. She was the first woman to become prime minister in France, but proved a costly mistake due to her tendency for making acerbic and racist public remarks. After the Socialists experienced heavy losses in the 1992 regional elections, Cresson resigned from office. Her successor Pierre Bérégovoy promised to fight unemployment and corruption but he could not prevent the catastrophic defeat of the left in the 1993 legislative election. The Socialist Party suffered a crushing defeat with the right-wing parties winning 485 seats to the left's 95. He killed himself on 1 May 1993.
Mitterrand named the former RPR Finance Minister
Overall, as President, Mitterrand maintained the "basic characteristic of a strong welfare base underpinned by a strong state." A United Nations Human Development report concluded that, from 1979 to 1989, France was the only country in the OECD (apart from Portugal) in which income inequalities did not get worse.[88] During his second term as president, however, the gap between rich and poor widened in France,[89] with both unemployment and poverty rising in the awake of the economic recession of 1991–1993.[90] According to other studies, though, the percentage of the French population living in poverty (based on various criteria) fell between the mid-Eighties and the mid-Nineties.[91][92]
Foreign policy
According to Wayne Northcutt, certain domestic circumstances helped shape Mitterrand's foreign policy in four ways: he needed to maintain a political consensus; he kept an eye on economic conditions; he believed in the nationalistic imperative for French policy; and he tried to exploit Gaullism and its heritage that is on political advantage.[93]
East/West relations
François Mitterrand supported closer European collaboration and the preservation of France's unique relationship with its former colonies, which he feared were falling under "Anglo-Saxon influence." His drive to preserve French power in Africa led to controversies concerning Paris' role during the Rwandan genocide.[94]
Despite Mitterrand's left-wing affiliations, the 1980s saw France becoming more distant from the
Nevertheless, Mitterrand was worried by the rapidity of the
France participated in the
European policy
He initially opposed further membership, fearing the Community was not ready and it would water it down to a free trade area.[97]
Mitterrand supported the
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was against a German reunification[99] and also against the then discussed Maastricht Treaty. When Kohl, then West German Chancellor, asked François Mitterrand to agree to reunification (France was one of the four Allies who had to agree to the
That year, he also established the
1990 speech at La Baule
Responding to a democratic movement in Africa after the 1989 fall of the
He also criticized interventionism in sovereign matters, which was according to him only another form of "
African heads of state themselves reacted to François Mitterrand's speech at most with indifference.
All in all, the La Baule speech has been said to be on one hand "one of the foundations of political renewal in Africa French speaking area", and on the other hand "cooperation with France", this despite "incoherence and inconsistency, like any public policy".[104]
Discovery of HIV
Controversy surrounding the discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was intense after American researcher Robert Gallo and French scientist Luc Montagnier both claimed to have discovered it. The two scientists had given the new virus different names. The controversy was eventually settled by an agreement (helped along by the mediation of Dr Jonas Salk) between President Ronald Reagan and François Mitterrand which gave equal credit to both men and their teams.[citation needed][105]
Apology to the Huguenots
In October 1985, to commemorate the tricentenary of the
Co-Prince of Andorra
On 2 February 1993, in his capacity as co-prince of
Death
Mitterrand died in Paris on 8 January 1996 at the age of 79 from prostate cancer, a condition he and his doctors had concealed for most of his presidency (see section on "Medical secrecy" below).[107] A few days before his death, he was joined by family members and close friends for a "last meal" that attracted controversy because, in addition to other gourmet dishes, it included the serving of roast ortolan bunting, a small wild songbird that is a protected species whose sale was and remains illegal in France.[108][109]
Funeral
The day of the funeral was declared a
François Mitterrand's grave is in Jarnac.
Former leaders and foreign delegations who attended François Mitterrand's funeral included:[111]
- Albanian President
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Prime Minister of Andorra
- Armenian President
- Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Thomas Klestil, President of Austria
- Gaidar Aliev, President of Azerbaijan
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Zahiruddin Khan, Former Minister of Industry
- Piatro Kravchanka, leader of Supreme Soviet of Belarus and former foreign minister
- King of the Belgians
- Elio Di Rupo, Vice-Prime Minister
- Jean-Luc Dehaene, Prime Minister of Belgium
- Queen Paola of Belgium[113]
- Nicéphore Soglo, President of Benin
- Yves Gaudeul, Ambassador of France in Bosnia[114]
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- José Sarney, Former president of Brazil and President of the Brazilian Senate
- Zhelyu Zhelev, President of Bulgaria
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- King Norodom Sihanouk
- Queen consort Norodom Monineath
- Benoît Bouchard, Canadian Ambassador to France and Canada[115]
- Brian Mulroney, Former Prime Minister of Canada
- Prime Minister of Quebec
- Louise Beaudoin, Minister of Culture and Communications[115]
- Sheila Copps, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Minister of Environment and Climate Change[115]
- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada[114]
- Claude Roquet, Delegate General of Quebec[115]
- Roméo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada[114]
- President of the Central African Republic
- Idriss Déby, President of Chad
- Gabriel Valdés Subercaseaux, President of the Senate of Chile
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- President of Congo
- Franjo Tudjman, President of Croatia
- Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
- Glafcos Clerides, President of Cyprus
- Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic
- Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, Prince consort of Denmark
- Queen of Denmark
- Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt
- Lennart Meri, President of Estonia
- Martti Ahtisaari, President of Finland
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Omar Bongo, President of Gabon
- Vice-President of Gambia, Sana B. Sabaly
- Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany
- Oskar Lafontaine Leader of the Social Democratic Party
- Roman Herzog, President of Germany
- Constantinos Stephanopoulos, President of Greece
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- President of Guinea-Bissau
- President of Haïti
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras
- Árpád Göncz, President of Hungary
- Vigdis Finnbogadottir, President of Iceland
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Irish Prime Minister
- Ezer Weizman, President of Israel
- Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel
- Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, President of Italy
- President of Côte d'Ivoire
- Noboru Takeshita, former Prime Minister of Japan
- Prince of Jordan
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Guntis Ulmanis, President of Latvia
- Elias Hrawi, President of Lebanon
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
- Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein
- Algirdas Brazauskas, President of Lithuania
- Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg
- Prime Minister of Luxembourg
- Joséphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg
- President of Mali
- Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, President of Malta
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Cassam Uteem, President of Mauritius
- José Ángel Gurría, Secretary of Foreign Affairs
- Prince of Monaco
- Mohammed VI of Morocco Crown Prince of Morocco
- Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia
- Javier Solana, Secretary General of NATO
- Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands
- Wim Kok, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- President of Niger
- Branko Crvenkovski,Prime Minister of North Macedonia
- Gro Harlem Bruntland, Prime Minister of Norway
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Minister of Defence (Pakistan)
- Yasser Arafat, President of Palestine
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Corazon Aquino, former President of the Philippines
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- António Guterres, Prime Minister of Portugal
- Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar
- Ion Iliescu, President of Romania
- Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia and his wife Naina Yeltsina
- Jean-Bernard Mérimée, ambassador
- Ibrahim Abdelaziz al Assaf, Minister of State
- Abdou Diouf, President of Senegal
- Michal Kováč, President of Slovakia
- Janez Drnovsek, Prime Minister of Slovenia
- Ali Mahdi Mohamed,President of Somalia
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Felipe González, Prime Minister of Spain
- King of Spain
- Sofia, Queen of Spain
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- King of Sweden
- Adolf Ogi, Former President of the Swiss Confederation[116]
- President of Togo
- Suleyman Demirel, President of Turkey
- Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine
- Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates
- Charles, Prince of Wales
- Prime Minister of United Kingdom
- Al Gore, Vice President of the United States
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ali Abdallah Saleh, President of Yemen
- Godfrey Mianda, Vice-President of Zambia
Prime ministers during presidency
As of 2022[update], François Mitterrand has had the most prime ministers during the regime of the 5th Republic.
Prime minister | from | to | Party | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pierre Mauroy | 1981 | 1984 | Socialist | |
Laurent Fabius | 1984 | 1986 | Socialist | The youngest PM since Decazes (39 years old) |
Jacques Chirac | 1986 | 1988 | RPR | First cohabitation of the Fifth Republic |
Michel Rocard | 1988 | 1991 | Socialist | |
Édith Cresson | 1991 | 1992 | Socialist | First female prime minister |
Pierre Bérégovoy | 1992 | 1993 | Socialist | |
Édouard Balladur | 1993 | 1995 | RPR | Second Cohabitation |
Controversies
Medical secrecy
Following his death, a controversy erupted when his former physician, Dr Claude Gubler, wrote a book called Le Grand Secret ("The Grand Secret") explaining that François Mitterrand had false health reports published since November 1981, hiding his cancer. François Mitterrand's family then prosecuted Gubler and his publisher for violating medical confidentiality.[citation needed]
Urba
The Urba consultancy was established in 1971 by the Socialist Party to advise Socialist-led communes on infrastructure projects and public works. The Urba affair became public in 1989 when two police officers investigating the Marseille regional office of Urba discovered detailed minutes of the organisation's contracts, which showed a division of proceeds between the party and elected officials. Although the minutes proved a direct link between Urba and corrupt payments to politicians, an edict from the office of François Mitterrand (even though he himself was listed as a recipient) prevented further investigation. The François Mitterrand election campaign of 1988 was directed by Henri Nallet, who then became Justice Minister and therefore in charge of the investigation at national level. In 1990 François Mitterrand declared an amnesty for those under investigation, thus ending the affair. Socialist Party treasurer Henri Emmanuelli was tried in 1997 for corruption offences, for which he received a two-year suspended sentence.[citation needed]
Wiretaps
From 1982 to 1986, François Mitterrand established an "anti-terror cell" installed as a service of the President of the Republic. This was an unusual set-up, since such law enforcement missions against terrorism are normally left to the
It took 20 years for the affaire to come before the courts because the instructing judge
The affair finally ended before the Tribunal correctionnel de Paris with the court's judgement on 9 November 2005. Seven members of the President's anti-terrorist unit were condemned and Mitterrand was designated as the "inspirator and essentially the controller of the operation."[119]
The court's judgement revealed that Mitterrand was motivated by keeping elements of his private life secret from the general public, such as the existence of his illegitimate daughter Mazarine Pingeot (which the writer Jean-Edern Hallier, was threatening to reveal), his cancer which had been diagnosed in 1981, and the elements of his past in the Vichy Régime which were not already public knowledge. The court judged that certain people were tapped for "obscure" reasons, such as Carole Bouquet's companion, a lawyer with family in the Middle East, Edwy Plenel, a journalist for Le Monde who covered the Rainbow Warrior story and the Vincennes Three affair, and the lawyer Antoine Comte. The court declared "Les faits avaient été commis sur ordre soit du président de la République, soit des ministres de la Défense successifs qui ont mis à la disposition de (Christian Prouteau) tous les moyens de l'État afin de les exécuter" (translation: these actions were committed following orders from the French President or his various Defence Ministers who gave Christian Prouteau full access to the state machinery so he could execute the orders) The court stated that François Mitterrand was the principal instigator of the wire taps (l'inspirateur et le décideur de l'essentiel) and that he had ordered some of the taps and turned a blind eye to others and that none of the 3000 wiretaps carried out by the cell were legally obtained.[120]
On 13 March 2007 the
The case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights, which gave judgement on 7 June 2007 that the rights of free expression of the journalists involved in the case were not respected.
In 2008 the French state was ordered by the courts to give Jean-Edern Hallier's family compensation.[123]
Rwanda
Paris assisted
Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
On 10 July 1985, the
On the twentieth anniversary of the sinking, it was revealed that François Mitterrand had personally authorised the mission.[126] Admiral Pierre Lacoste, the former head of the DGSE, made a statement saying Pereira's death weighed heavily on his conscience. Television New Zealand (TVNZ) also sought access to the court video recording hearing where two French agents pleaded guilty, which they won a year later.
Political career
President of the French Republic: 1981–1995. Reelected in 1988.
Governmental functions
- Minister of Veterans and War Victims: 1947–1948
- Secretary of State for Information: July–September 1948
- Secretary of State for Presidency of Council: 1948–1949
- Minister of Overseas and Colonies: 1950–1951
- Minister of State: January–March 1952
- Minister for Council of Europe: June–September 1953
- Minister of Interior: 1954–1955
- Minister of State, minister of Justice: 1956–1957
Elected positions
National Assembly of France
Member of the
Senate of France
Senator of
General Council
President of the General Council of Nièvre: 1964–1981 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1981). Reelected in 1967, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1979.
General councillor of Nièvre: 1949–1981 (resignation). Reelected in 1955, 1961, 1967, 1973, 1979.
Municipal Council
Mayor of Château-Chinon (Ville): 1959–1981 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1981). Reelected in 1965, 1971, 1977.
Political function
First Secretary (leader) of the Socialist Party: 1971–1981 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1981). Reelected in 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979.
From 1962 to 1964 and, again, from 1969 to 1971, he was the Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France.[127] In May 1987, Mitterrand was also the first French president to receive a representative of that organization at the Élysée Palace.[128]
Honours
France
- Grand Master of the Legion of Honour
- Grand Master of the Ordre national du Mérite
Foreign honours
- Mexico: Grand Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (October 19, 1981)
- Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (1982)
- Spain: Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1982)
- Finland: Collar of the Order of the White Rose (1982)
- Japan: Grand Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (1982)
- Niger: Grand Cross of the National Order (May 20, 1982)
- Senegal: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Lion (May 22, 1982)
- Austria: Grand star of merit for services rendered to the Republic (June 1982)
- Lebanon: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (1982)
- Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic (July 1982)
- Morocco: Grand Collar of the Order of Mohamed (1983)
- Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (1983)
- Burundi: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Republic (1983)
- Cameroon: Grand Cross of the Order of Valor (1983)
- Cameroon: Grand Cross of the Cameroonian Order of Merit
- Benin: Grand Cross of the National Order (1983)
- Togo: Grand Cross of the Order of Mono (1983)
- Tunisia: of the Order of the Republic (1983)
- Tunisia: Grand Cross of the Order of Independence (1983)
- Germany: Grand Cross, Special Class of the Order of Merit (1983)
- Iceland: Collar of the Order of the Falcon (April 12, 1983)
- Nepal: Collar of the Order of Ojaswi Rajanya (2 May 1983)
- San Marino: Collar of the Equestrian Order of San Marino (1983)
- Portugal: Grand Collar of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique (29 September 1983)
- United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1984).
- Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olaf (1984)
- Order of Saint-Charles(1984)
- Sweden: Knight of the Royal Order of Seraphim (May 11, 1984)
- Jordan: Order of Al-Hussein bin Ali
- Rwanda: Grand Cross of the Order of a Thousand Hills (1984)
- Syria: Grand Cross of the Umayyad Order (1984)
- Morocco: Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross (1985)
- Zaire: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Leopard (1985)
- Togo: National Order of Merit (1985)
- Indonesia: Star of the Republic of Indonesia (1986)
- Argentina: Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator San Martín (October 6, 1987)
- Peru: Grand Cross with Diamonds of the Order of the Sun (October 10, 1987)
- Portugal: Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty (28 October 1987)
- Djibouti: Dignitary of the Order of the Great Star of Djibouti (1987)
- Oman: Member First Class of the Order of the Sultanate of Oman (1989)
- Philippines: Collar of the Order of Sikatuna (July 11, 1989)
- Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of the Savior (1989)
- Hungary: Collar of the Hungarian Order of Merit
- Pakistan: Nishan Order (February 21, 1990)
- Czechoslovakia: Collar of the Order of the White Lion (1990)
- Venezuela: Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator (1990)
- Madagascar: Grand Cross of the National Order (1990)
- Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (1991)
- Luxembourg: Knight of the Order of the Golden Lion of the House of Nassau (1992)
- Latvia: 1st class with chain of the Order of the Three Stars (15 May 1992)
- United Kingdom: Royal Victoria Chain (1992)
- Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic (1993)
- Poland: Commander of the Military Order of Virtuti Militari (1993)
- South Korea: Grand Order of Mugunghwa, (1993)
- Yemen: Collar of the Order of the Republic (18 October 1993)
- South Africa: Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope (1994)
- Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Sovereign Order of St. John Malta
- Czech Republic: Collar of the Order of the White Lion (1999)
Vexillology and heraldry
- President François Mitterrand had chosen a tree half oak half olive-tree as symbol for his presidential flag.[131]
- President François Mitterrand received from King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden a coat of arms linked to the reception of the Order of the Seraphim, which reproduces this symbol.[132]
Notes
- ^ /ˈmiːtərɒ̃/ or /ˈmɪt-/ ⓘ,[1] US also /ˌmiːtɛˈrɒ̃, -ˈrɑːn(d)/;[2][3] French: [fʁɑ̃swa mɔʁis adʁijɛ̃ maʁi mit(ɛ)ʁɑ̃, - moʁ-] ⓘ.
References
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- ^ a b Pierre Péan, Une jeunesse française (biography on Mitterrand), p.23–35
- ^ Henry Rousso, Le Syndrome de Vichy, p.365
- ^ Lacouture, Jean. Mitterrand, une histoire de Français. éd. du Seuil, "Points". p. 46/48.
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- ^ Mitterrand, François (1996). Jacob, Odile (ed.). Mémoires interrompus (in French).
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- ^ reprinted in Politique I, in 1978.
- ^ Robert Belot in La Résistance sans De Gaulle, éd. Fayard, 2006, et Henry Rousso in l'Express n° 2871, du 13 juillet 2006.
- ^ Jean Lacouture, Mitterrand, une histoire de Français, op. cit., pp. 75/79 et Franz-Olivier Giesbert, François Mitterrand, une vie, éd. du Seuil, "Points", 1996, pp. 77/79
- ^ Pierre Péan, Une jeunesse française, op. cit., pp. 217/218 et Jean Lacouture, Mitterrand, une histoire de Français, op. cit., p. 81
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- ^ Jean Lacouture, Mitterrand, une histoire de Français, tome 1, p. 102
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Celui qui n'accepte pas la rupture avec l'ordre établi, avec la société capitaliste, celui là, il ne peut pas être adhèrent du Parti Socialiste.
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- ^ Reichart, Alexandre (2015). "French Monetary Policy (1981–1985), A Constrained Policy, between Volcker Shock, the EMS and Macroeconomic Imbalances Archived 29 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine". Journal of European Economic History. ISSN 0391-5115, 44(1), pp. 11–46.
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{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - . Quote: "Jacques Mitterrand, né en juin 1908 à Bourges, aurait eu cent ans cette année. Il a été Grand Maître du Grand Orient de France à deux reprises, en 1962-1964 et 1969-1971."
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Further reading
- Bell, David. François Mitterrand: A Political Biography (Polity, 2005).
- Bell, David S. "The Essence of Presidential Leadership in France: Pompidou, Giscard, Mitterrand, and Chirac as Coalition Builders." Politics & Policy 30#2 (2002): 372-396.
- Bell, David S. "François Mitterrand: the President as 'Political Artist'." in David S. Bell and John Gaffney, eds. The Presidents of the French Fifth Republic (2013): 136+
- Bell, David. Presidential Power in Fifth Republic France (2000) pp 149–74.
- Cogan, Charles. "Mitterrand, France, and NATO: the European transition." Journal of Transatlantic Studies (2011) 9#3 pp: 257–267.
- Cole, Alistair. François Mitterrand: A Study in Political Leadership, London, Routledge, 1994, ISBN 0-415-07159-3.
- Friend, Julius W. "François Mitterrand: All Sins Forgiven?." French Politics and Society (1996): 28–35. in JSTOR
- Friend, Julius Weis. Seven Years in France: François Mitterrand and the Unintended Revolution, 1981–1988 (Westview Press, 1989).
- Laughland, John. The Death of Politics: France Under Mitterrand (1994).
- Maclean, Mairi, ed. The Mitterrand Years: Legacy and Evaluation (1998), essays by experts.
- Ross, George. "Machiavelli Muddling Through: The Mitterrand Years and French Social Democracy." French Politics and Society (1995): 51–59. in JSTOR
- Ross, George, Stanley Hoffmann, and Sylvia Malzacher, eds The Mitterrand experiment: continuity and change in modern France (Oxford University Press, USA, 1987).
- Short, Philip. Mitterrand: A Study in Ambiguity, London, Bodley Head, 2014; published in the United States as A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand
- Tiersky, Ronald. Francois Mitterrand: a Very French President (2003)
- Wilsford, David, ed. Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: A Biographical Dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 323–32
External links
- Louvre inauguration speech by Mitterrand
- François Mitterrand Institute
- French President Poll (01/2006)
- "Mitterrand's Legacy" Archived 27 February 2005 at the The Nation
- Source of quoted article
- Appearances on C-SPAN