Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud | |
---|---|
Minister of the Colonies | |
In office 27 February 1931 – 6 February 1932 | |
Prime Minister | Pierre Laval |
Preceded by | Théodore Steeg |
Succeeded by | Louis de Chappedelaine |
Personal details | |
Born | Jean Paul Reynaud 15 October 1878 Basses-Alpes, France |
Died | 21 September 1966 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France | (aged 87)
Political party | Democratic Republican Alliance (1901–1949) National Centre of Independents and Peasants (1949–1966) |
Spouse(s) | Jeanne Henri-Robert (1912–1949) Christiane Mabire (1949–1966) |
Children | Colette Serge Evelyne Alexandre |
Alma mater | HEC Paris |
Paul Reynaud (French: [pɔl ʁɛno]; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Nazi Germany.
Reynaud opposed the
Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946, he became a prominent figure again in French political life, serving in several cabinet positions. He favoured a United States of Europe, and participated in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic, but resigned from government in 1962 after disagreement with President de Gaulle over changes to the electoral system.
Early life and politics
Reynaud was born in
In the 1920s, Reynaud developed a reputation for laxity on German reparations, at a time when many in the French government backed harsher terms for Germany. In the 1930s during the Great Depression, particularly after 1933, Reynaud's stance hardened against the Germans at a time when all nations were struggling economically. Reynaud backed a strong alliance with the United Kingdom and, unlike many others on the French Right, better relations with the Soviet Union as a counterweight against the Germans.[9]: 517
Reynaud held several cabinet posts in the early 1930s, but he clashed with members of his party after 1932 over French foreign and defense policy. In June 1934, Reynaud defended in the Chamber of Deputies the need to devalue the French franc, whose belonging to the gold standard was increasingly harmful for the French economy, but in those years French public opinion was opposed to any devaluation.[10]
He was not given another cabinet position until 1938. Like
Return to government
Reynaud returned to the cabinet in 1938 as
Reynaud, however, had always wanted the Finance ministry. He endorsed radically liberal economic policies in order to draw France's economy out of stagnation, centered on a massive program of deregulation, including the elimination of the forty-hour work week.[9]: 503 The notion of deregulation was very popular among France's businessmen, and Reynaud believed that it was the best way for France to regain investors' confidence again and escape the stagnation its economy had fallen into. The collapse of Léon Blum's government in 1938 was a response to Blum's attempt to expand the regulatory powers of the French government; there was therefore considerable support in the French government for an alternative approach like Reynaud's.
Paul Marchandeau, Daladier's first choice for finance minister, offered a limited program of economic reform that was not to Daladier's satisfaction; Reynaud and Marchandeau swapped portfolios, and Reynaud went ahead with his radical liberalization reforms. Reynaud's reforms were implemented, and the government faced down a one-day strike in opposition. Reynaud addressed France's business community, arguing that "We live in a capitalist system. For it to function we must obey its laws. These are the laws of profits, individual risk, free markets, and growth by competition."[9]: 504 With Reynaud as Minister of Finance, the confidence of the investors returned and the French economy recovered.[12] Reynaud's reforms involved a massive austerity program (although armament measures were not cut). At the outbreak of war, however, Reynaud was not bullish on France's economy; he felt that the massive increase in spending that a war entailed would stamp out France's recovery.
The French Right was ambivalent about the war in late 1939 and early 1940, feeling that the Soviets rather than Nazi Germany were the greater long-term threat.[9]: 522–523 Daladier regarded the war with Germany as the greater priority and so refused to send aid to the Finns, who were under attack from the USSR, then loosely allied to Germany, in the Winter War. News that the Finns had sued for peace in March 1940 prompted Flandin and Pierre Laval to hold secret sessions of the legislature that denounced Daladier's actions; the government fell on 19 March. The government named Reynaud Prime Minister of France two days later.
Prime minister, resignation, and arrest
Appointment
Although Reynaud was increasingly popular, the Chamber of Deputies elected him premier by only a single vote with most of his own party abstaining; over half of the votes for Reynaud came from the
The German breakthrough
The Battle of France began less than two months after Reynaud came to office. France was badly mauled by the initial attack in early May 1940, and Paris was threatened. On 15 May, five days after the invasion began, Reynaud contacted Churchill and famously remarked, "We have been defeated... we are beaten; we have lost the battle.... The front is broken near Sedan." Indeed, such was the situation regarding equipment and morale that Reynaud received a postcard found on the body of an officer who had committed suicide in Le Mans. It stated: "I am killing myself Mr President[15] to let you know that all my men were brave, but one cannot send men to fight tanks with rifles."[16]
On 18 May Reynaud removed commander-in-chief Maurice Gamelin in favour of Maxime Weygand.[17]
On 26 May, around lunchtime, Reynaud attended a meeting in London with Churchill. At 2 pm Churchill reported to the War Cabinet that Reynaud had stated that the French military situation was hopeless, that he had no intention of signing a separate peace with Germany, but that he might be forced to resign and that others in the French government might sign such a treaty. At this stage Churchill told Reynaud that he did not rule out talks with
On 28 May Churchill sent a telegram to Reynaud stating that there would be no approach to Mussolini at that time but still leaving the possibility open. Mussolini had rejected an approach by
In early June Charles de Gaulle, whom Reynaud had long supported and one of the few French commanders to have fought the Germans successfully in May 1940, was promoted to brigadier general and named undersecretary of war.[17]
Support for an armistice; Reynaud's resignation
Reynaud vacillated a little on his return from London on 26 May, but otherwise wanted to continue to fight. However, he was unable to persuade enough of his colleagues.[19]: 138–142 Italy entered the war on 10 June; on that same day, Commander-in-Chief General Weygand strode into Reynaud's office and demanded an armistice. At around 11 pm that night Reynaud and de Gaulle left Paris for Tours; the rest of the government followed the next day. De Gaulle was unable to persuade Reynaud to sack Weygand.[20]: 195–196
At the Anglo-French conference at the Chateau du Muguet, Briare, on 11–12 June, Churchill urged the French to carry on fighting, either in Brittany or in French North Africa, or by guerrilla warfare, meeting strong resistance from Deputy Prime Minister
At the next Anglo-French conference at Tours on 13 June, Reynaud demanded that France be released from the agreement which he had made with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in March 1940, so that France could seek an armistice. Churchill said that he "understood" the French action but (contrary to later claims that he approved) that he did not agree with it. At the Cabinet meeting that evening (Churchill had returned to London rather than address the French Cabinet as Reynaud had wished) Pétain strongly supported Weygand's demand for an armistice, and said that he himself would remain in France to share the suffering of the French people and to begin the national rebirth.[20]: 199–201 President Albert Lebrun refused Reynaud's resignation on 13 June.[20]: 204–205
Edward Spears recorded that Reynaud was, from the evening of 13 June, under great stress. Paul Baudouin and Marie-Joseph Paul de Villelume had been leaning on Reynaud to seek an armistice with Germany, as had his mistress, the Comtesse Hélène de Portes, a Fascist sympathizer.[19]: 138–142 [21] On 14 June Villelume and de Portes called on the American diplomat Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. and stated that France had no alternative but to seek an armistice and that they were speaking on behalf of Reynaud, although Biddle did not believe them.[19] : 138–142
At Cabinet on 15 June, Reynaud urged the Cabinet to adopt the Dutch example, that the Army should lay down its arms so that the fight could be continued from abroad; Pétain was sympathetic.
On 16 June de Portes kept putting her head around the door during a meeting and US diplomats testified that she was constantly coming and going from Reynaud's office.[19] : 138–142 President Roosevelt's reply to Reynaud's inquiry, stating that he could do little to help without Congressional approval, was then received on the morning of Sunday 16 June.[22]: 82–86 Churchill's telegram also arrived that morning, agreeing to an armistice provided the French fleet was moved to British ports, a proposal unacceptable to Darlan, who argued that it would leave France defenceless.[22]: 82–86 De Gaulle was in London that afternoon for talks about the planned Franco-British Union, a far-reaching and imaginative proposal which Churchill and his advisers had hastily put together in a desperate effort to support Reynaud against his armistice-minded ministers and keep France - but especially its extensive naval fleet - in the war on the side of Britain. It was De Gaulle who telephoned Reynaud to inform him that the British Cabinet had agreed, reporting that "a sensational declaration" was imminent, amounting to a proposal for no less than the union of the two nations into a single Franco-British government. Time was desperately short, and De Gaulle ended up dictating the "Declaration of Union" to an astonished and gratified Reynaud over the telephone, word for word, so that Reynaud could present it to his Cabinet that very afternoon in a bid to fend off armistice.[20]: 203–204 What Reynaud did not know was that General Weygand had instructed army listeners to tap his phone, and therefore had advance warning of what was coming, robbing Reynaud of the element of surprise. When the French Cabinet met in Bordeaux that afternoon, Reynaud presented the British union plan and - with Georges Mandel - declared his determination to fight on, but events were moving fast and the grand British offer was by then not sufficient to win round the waverers.[24] Contrary to Lebrun's mistaken recollection, no formal vote appears to have been taken at Cabinet on Sunday 16 June.[20]: 204–205 The outcome of the meeting is unclear.[22]: 82–86 Ten ministers wanted to fight on while seven favoured an armistice, though these included the two Deputy Prime Ministers: Pétain and Chautemps. An armistice was also favoured by Weygand. Another eight ministers were undecided, but ultimately swung towards an armistice. This time, Lebrun reluctantly accepted Reynaud's resignation, and the government of France - at this historic and fateful moment - fell into the hands of Petain and those who favoured armistice and, ultimately, collaboration with the German invader. De Gaulle later wrote that Reynaud was "a man of great worth unjustly crushed by events beyond measure".[20]: 204–205
After resignation
Julian Jackson writes that Reynaud felt guilty for 20 years for having let Pétain into power, and gave ever more convoluted explanations of what had happened: despite his own fighting spirit, apart from a brief vacillation on 26 May, "he had failed to be Clemenceau (France's great war Prime Minister of 1917-18), but missed the chance to be de Gaulle and never forgave himself". Reynaud later claimed that he had hoped Pétain would resign if the armistice terms were too harsh, which if true was wishful thinking in Jackson's view. There were claims that he could have mustered a majority in the Cabinet for fighting on, so he later claimed that he could not have argued against the political weight of the "softs", especially Pétain and Weygand, France's two leading soldiers.[19]: 138–142
Spears recorded that Reynaud appeared relieved to be rid of his burden. In the immediate aftermath, he appears to have been in denial, hoping still to meet Churchill at Concarneau on 17 June (in fact Churchill, who was at Waterloo Station, had cancelled his travel plans on learning of Reynaud's resignation).[19]: 138–142
Jules Jeanneney and Édouard Herriot, Presidents respectively of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, urged Lebrun to reappoint Reynaud as Prime Minister (all four men wanted to continue the war from North Africa). Lebrun felt he had little choice but to appoint Pétain, who already had a ministerial team ready, as Prime Minister. Pétain became the leader of the new government (the last one of the Third Republic), and signed the armistice on 22 June.[20]: 206–207 De Gaulle had returned to Bordeaux at around 10pm on 16 June. He visited Reynaud, who still hoped to go to North Africa and declined to come to London. Reynaud still had control of secret government funds until the handover of power the next day, and made money available to de Gaulle. De Gaulle flew to London with Edward Spears at 9 a.m. on 17 June, and the next day made his famous broadcast announcing that he would fight on. It has been suggested that Reynaud had ordered de Gaulle to go to London, but no written evidence has ever been found to confirm this.[20]: 209
Reynaud would later provisionally accept Pétain's offer of the post of French Ambassador to the USA. Lebrun refused to confirm the appointment, apparently as he admired Reynaud and wanted to save him from association with the Pétain government.[20]: 209, 238
Accident and arrest
Reynaud and de Portes left the Hotel Splendid, Bordeaux, driving southeast ahead of the advancing German armies, intending to stop at Reynaud's holiday home at Grès,
Reynaud was arrested on his discharge on Pétain's orders and imprisoned at
Postwar career
After the war, Reynaud was elected in 1946 as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He was appointed to several cabinet positions in the post-war period and remained a prominent figure in French politics. His attempts to form governments in 1952 and 1953 in the turbulent politics of the French Fourth Republic were unsuccessful.
Reynaud supported the idea of a
Appearance and private life
Reynaud was a physically small man, with "the countenance of a samurai who had been educated at Cambridge". His head was set deep between his shoulders, and he had "a sharp, nasal, metallic voice" and "mechanical" bearing.[20]: 139
By his first marriage in 1912 to Jeanne Anne Henri-Robert, he was the father of a daughter, Collette, born in 1914. At some time in the early 1920s, Reynaud was introduced to Hélène Rebuffel by André Tardieu, a friend of her father's. Rebuffel's father, however, was displeased at her relationship with a married man, actively seeking other suitors for her, and she was eventually persuaded to marry Comte Henri de Portes. After she had borne him two children, the marriage failed, and when Reynaud and his wife separated in 1938, Hélène de Portes was his mistress until her death in the road accident at Frontignan in 1940. Reynaud and his first wife were finally divorced in 1949. Reynaud then married Christiane Mabire (one of his former office assistants, who had voluntarily joined him at the Castle Itter in 1943) at
Reynaud died on 21 September 1966 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, leaving a number of writings.
Reynaud's government, 21 March – 16 June 1940
- Paul Reynaud – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Camille Chautemps – Vice President of the Council, Minister for Coordination
- Édouard Daladier – Minister of National Defense and War
- Raoul Dautry – Minister of Armaments
- Henri Roy – Minister of the Interior
- Lucien Lamoureux – Minister of Finance
- Charles Pomaret – Minister of Labour
- Albert Sérol – Minister of Justice
- César Campinchi – Minister of Military Marine
- Alphonse Rio – Minister of Merchant Marine
- Laurent Eynac – Minister of Air
- Albert Sarraut – Minister of National Education
- Albert Rivière – Minister of Veterans and Pensioners
- Paul Thellier – Minister of Agriculture
- Henri Queuille – Minister of Supply
- Georges Mandel – Minister of Colonies
- Anatole de Monzie – Minister of Public Works
- Marcel Héraud – Minister of Public Health
- Alfred Jules-Julien – Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Transmissions
- Ludovic-Oscar Frossard – Minister of Information
- Louis Rollin – Minister of Commerce and Industry
- Georges Monnet – Minister of Blockade
Changes
- 10 May 1940 – Jean Ybarnegarayenter the Cabinet as Ministers of State
- 18 May 1940 – Philippe Pétain enters the Cabinet as Minister of State. Reynaud succeeds Daladier as Minister of National Defense and War. Daladier succeeds Reynaud as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Georges Mandel succeeds Roy as Minister of the Interior. Louis Rollin succeeds Mandel as Minister of Colonies. Léon Baréty succeeds Rollin as Minister of Commerce and Industry.
- 5 June 1940 – Reynaud succeeds Daladier as Minister of Foreign Affairs, remaining also Minister of National Defense and War. Yves Bouthillier succeeds Lamoureux as Minister of Finance. Yvon Delbos succeeds Sarraut as Minister of National Education. Ludovic-Oscar Frossard succeeds Monzie as Minister of Public Works. Jean Prouvost succeeds Frossard as Minister of Information. Georges Pernot succeeds Héraud as Health Minister, with the new title of Minister of French Family. Albert Chichery succeeds Baréty as Minister of Commerce and Industry.
See also
Notes
- ^ SÉVILLIA,JEAN, Histoire Passionnée de la France, Perrin, 2013, p. 416
- ^ Paul Reynaud | premier of France | Britannica
- ISBN 9783412205805.
- ^ Harding 2013, p. 150.
- ^ Roberts, Andrew (12 May 2013). "World War II's Strangest Battle: When Americans and Germans Fought Together". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ Harding 2013, p. 169.
- ^ "Sepp Gangl-Straße in Wörgl • Strassensuche.at". Strassensuche.at.
- ^ the colour of French Army uniforms at the time - many of the new deputies were war veterans
- ^ a b c d e f g Imlay, Talbot C. "Paul Reynaud and France's Response to Nazi Germany, 1938–1940", in French Historical Studies 26.3 (2003)
- ^ Sauvy, Alfred. Histoire Économique de la France entre les deux guerres (3 volumes). Paris, Fayard, 1984. Vol. I, p.143
- ^ SAUVY, ALFRED, Histoire Économique de la France entre les deux guerres (3 volumes), Paris, Fayard, 1984, Vol.I, p.268
- ^ MOURÉ, KENNETH and ALEXANDER, MARTIN S., Crisis and Renewal in France, 1918-1962, Berghahn Books, New York-Oxford, 2002, p.79
- ^ [1] Present and Future Plans (Time Magazine, 8 April 1940) Retrieved 2008-10-22
- ^ SÉVILLIA,JEAN, Histoire Passionnée de la France, Perrin, 2013, p. 420
- ^ "President" in this context means "President of the Council of Ministers", the official title of the Prime Minister of France, not the President of the Republic
- ISBN 0-85112-519-0
- ^ a b "Paul Reynaud". spartacus-educational.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-1857994728
- ^ ISBN 019280300X.
- ^ ISBN 978-0393026993
- ^ Pelayo, D. (2009) L'accident de Paul Reynaud. l'Agglorieuse
- ^ ISBN 978-0-582-07037-0
- ^ ISBN 978-0-316-86127-4
- S2CID 159722519.
- ^ Anon. (1940). M. Paul Reynaud victime d'un accident d'automobile. Le Petit Meridional, 29 Juin 1940.
- ISBN 978-2-221-13211-1
- ^ Photo of the car wreck, under year '1940', in Chronologie La Peyrade
- ISBN 0-618-10471-2.
- ^ "Fort du Portalet Office de tourisme Vallée d'Aspe tourisme Parc National Pyrénées séjours balades randonnées". www.tourisme-aspe.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
- ISBN 9780812819212.
- ^ "Sepp Gangl-Straße in Wörgl • Strassensuche.at". Strassensuche.at.
- ^ Kapfer, E. (2017). Hélène Marie Jeanne Rebuffel, Comtesse de Portes (1902 - 1940). Christine Belcikowski Publications. [2]
References
- ISBN 978-0-582-07037-0
- Barber, Noel, The Week France Fell. New York: Stein & Day, 1976. ISBN 978-0812880373
- Jackson, Julian (2003). The Fall of France. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019280300X.
- Harding, Stephen (2013). ISBN 978-0-306-82209-4.
- Lacouture, Jean. De Gaulle: The Rebel 1890–1944 (1984; English ed. 1991), 640 pp, W W Norton & Co, London. ISBN 978-0393026993
- Paul Reynaud, In the Thick of the Fight, 1930–1945. London: Simon and Schuster, 1955
- ISBN 978-2246770411
- ISBN 978-1857994728
- ISBN 978-0-316-86127-4
Further reading
- Connors, Joseph David. "Paul Reynaud and French national defense, 1933-1939." (PhD Loyola University of Chicago, 1977). online Bibliography, pp 265–83.
- de Konkoly Thege, Michel Marie. "Paul Reynaud and the Reform of France's Economic, Military and Diplomatic Policies of the 1930s." (Graduate Liberal Studies Works (MALS/MPhil). Paper 6, 2015). online, bibliography pp 171–76.
- Nord, Philip. France 1940: Defending the Republic (Yale UP, 2015).
External links
- World at war biography
- Spartacus biography(Trotskyite)
- (in French) 1939–45.org biography
- Paul Reynaud at Find a Grave
- Paul Reynaud (11 August 1945). "Saved From Nazis at Castle Itter". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- Video: Wedding ring "stolen" by German soldier in 1944 returned to familly of Prime Minister Paul Reynaud
- Newspaper clippings about Paul Reynaud in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1930 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of the Colonies 1931–1932 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Vice President of the Council 1932 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1932 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1938 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1938–1940 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | President of the Council 1940 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1940 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of National Defense and War 1940 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1940 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs 1948 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by –
|
Minister responsible for Relations with Partner States and the Far East 1950 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Vice President of the Council with Henri Queuille and Pierre-Henri Teitgen 1953–1954 |
Succeeded by |