Pierre Messmer
Pierre Messmer | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of France | |
In office 5 July 1972 – 27 May 1974 | |
President | Georges Pompidou Alain Poher (Acting) |
Preceded by | Jacques Chaban-Delmas |
Succeeded by | Jacques Chirac |
Personal details | |
Born | Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer 20 March 1916 Vincennes, Seine (now Val-de-Marne), France |
Died | 29 August 2007 Paris, France | (aged 91)
Political party | UDR |
Occupation | Civil Servant |
Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (French pronunciation:
Early career
Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer was born in
He then became a senior civil servant in the colonial administration and became a
Messmer then participated to the
Named
After World War II
After World War II, he returned to the colonies and was a
Colonial administrator in Africa
Messmer began his high-level African service as governor of Mauritania from 1952 to 1954, and then served as governor of Ivory Coast from 1954 to 1956, when he briefly returned to Paris in the staff of Gaston Defferre, Minister of Overseas Territories who enacted the Defferre Act granting to colonial territories internal autonomy, a first step towards independence.
That same year, Messmer was nominated as governor general of
A "Pacification Zone" – the ZOPAC (Zone de pacification du Cameroon) was created on 9 December 1957, englobing 7,000 square km controlled by seven infantry regiments.[4] Furthermore, a civilian-military intelligence apparatus was created, combining colonial and local staff, assisted by a civilian militia. Mao Zedong's people's war was reversed in an attempt to separate the civilian population from the guerrilla. In that aim, the local population was rounded up in guarded villages located on the main roads that were controlled by the French Army.[4]
Messmer served as high commissioner of French Equatorial Africa from January 1958 to July 1958, and as high commissioner of French West Africa from 1958 to 1959.[citation needed]
Minister of Armies (1959–1969)
From 1959 to 1969, under
In 1960, Messmer visited Lisbon and expressed lament for the United Nations resolutions against colonialism and approved of the Estado Novo regime's hardline stance against decolonisation on the grounds that Portugal represented the last vestige of white Western civilisation on the African continent.[5]
Messmer gave permission for former
Along with the Minister of Research,
De Gaulle said that along with Maurice Couve de Murville, Messmer was "one of his two arms.[3] " In May 68, he advised de Gaulle against the use of the military.[1][clarification needed]
Messmer became a personality of the
From the 1970s to the 2000s
This article is part of Conservatism in France |
He occupied cabinet positions again in the 1970s, serving first as
Messmer's cabinet (July 1972 – May 1974)
He succeeded in this function to
Due to President
Under his government, the
In 1974, when Pompidou died, those close to Messmer encouraged him to run for president. He accepted at the condition of Chaban-Delmas,
Later career and death
Messmer remained a Member of Parliament for the Moselle department until 1988, and served as President of the
He died in 2007 aged 91, just four days after fellow Prime Minister Raymond Barre. He was the last surviving major French Politician to have been a member of the Free French forces.
Political career
Governmental functions
- Prime Minister: 1972–1974
- Minister of State, Minister of Departments and Overseas Territories: 1971–1972
- Minister of Armies: 1960–1969
Electoral mandates
National Assembly
- Member of the National Assembly of France for Moselle: 1969–1971, 1974–1988
Regional Council
- President of the Regional Council of Lorraine: 1978–1979
- Regional councillor of Lorraine: 1968–1992
General Council
- General councillor of Moselle: 1970–1982
Municipal Council
- Mayor of Sarrebourg: 1971–1989
- Municipal councillor of Sarrebourg: 1971–1989
Honours
An important figure of the French Resistance during World War II, Pierre Messmer was a member of the
In 1992 he became president of the
He also became elected as a member of the
In October 2001, Messmer succeeded to the General Jean Simon as President of the Fondation de la France libre (Foundation of Free France).[2]
Messmer's First Ministry, 5 July 1972 – 2 April 1973
- Pierre Messmer – Prime Minister
- Maurice Schumann – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Michel Debré – Minister of National Defense
- Raymond Marcellin – Minister of the Interior
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing – Minister of Economy and Finance
- Jean Charbonnel – Minister of Industrial and Scientific Development
- Joseph Fontanet – Minister of National Education, Labour, Employment, and Population
- René Pleven – Minister of Justice
- André Bord – Minister of Veterans
- Jacques Duhamel – Minister of Cultural Affairs
- Jacques Chirac – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Olivier Guichard – Minister of Housing, Tourism, Equipment, and Regional Planning
- Robert Galley– Minister of Transport
- Jean Foyer – Minister of Public Health
- Hubert Germain – Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
- Yvon Bourges – Minister of Commerce
- Roger Frey – Minister of Administrative Reforms
- Edgar Faure – Minister of Social Affairs
Changes
- 15 March 1973 – André Bettencourt succeeds Schumann as interim Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- 16 March 1973 – Pierre Messmer succeeds Pleven as interim Minister of Justice.
Messmer's Second Ministry, 6 April 1973 – 1 March 1974
- Pierre Messmer – Prime Minister
- Michel Jobert – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Robert Galley – Minister of Armies
- Raymond Marcellin – Minister of the Interior
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing – Minister of Economy and Finance
- Jean Charbonnel – Minister of Industrial and Scientific Development
- Georges Gorse – Minister of Labour, Employment, and Population
- Jean Taittinger – Minister of Justice
- Joseph Fontanet – Minister of National Education
- André Bord – Minister of Veterans and War Victims
- Maurice Druon – Minister of Cultural Affairs
- Jacques Chirac – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Robert Poujade – Minister of Natural Protection and Environment
- Bernard Stasi – Minister of Overseas Departments and Territories
- Olivier Guichard – Minister of Housing, Tourism, Regional Planning, and Equipment
- Yves Guéna – Minister of Transport
- Joseph Comiti – Minister of Relations with Parliament
- Michel Poniatowski – Minister of Public Health
- Hubert Germain – Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
- Philippe Malaud – Minister of Information
- Jean Royer – Minister of Commerce and Craft Industry
- Alain Peyrefitte – Minister of Administrative Reforms
Changes
- 23 October 1973 – Philippe Malaud becomes Minister of Civil Service. Jean-Philippe Lecat succeeds Malaud as Minister of Information
Messmer's Third Ministry, 1 March – 28 May 1974
- Pierre Messmer – Prime Minister
- Michel Jobert – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Robert Galley – Minister of Armies
- Jacques Chirac – Minister of the Interior
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing – Minister of Economy and Finance
- Yves Guéna – Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Craft Industry
- Georges Gorse – Minister of Labour, Employment, and Population
- Jean Taittinger – Minister of Justice
- Joseph Fontanet – Minister of National Education
- Alain Peyrefitte – Minister of Cultural Affairs and Environment
- Raymond Marcellin – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Olivier Guichard – Minister of Regional Planning and Equipment
- Hubert Germain – Minister of Relations with Parliament
- Michel Poniatowski – Minister of Public Health
- Jean Royer – Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
- Jean-Philippe Lecat – Minister of Information
Changes
- 11 April 1974 – Hubert Germain succeeds Royer as interim Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.
Bibliography
- 1939 Le Régime administratif des emprunts coloniaux. Thesis for his Doctorate of Laws(Librairie juridique et administrative)
- 1977 Le Service militaire. Débat avec Jean-Pierre Chevènement (Balland)
- 1985 Les Écrits militaires du général de Gaulle, in collaboration with Professor Alain Larcan (PUF)
- 1992 Après tant de batailles, Mémoires (Albin Michel)
- 1998 Les Blancs s’en vont. Récits de décolonisation (Albin Michel)
- 2002 La Patrouille perdue (Albin Michel)
- 2003 Ma part de France (Xavier de Guibert)
See also
- Politics of France
- France in the 20th century
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Thomas Ferenczi, Le gaulliste Pierre Messmer est mort Archived 8 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Le Monde, 29 August 2007 (in French)
- ^ a b c d e f g Pierre Messmer est mort Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Le Figaro, 29 August 2007 (in French)
- ^ Radio France International, 30 August 2007 (in French)
- ^ Rue 89, 30 August 2007 (in French)
- S2CID 191733021. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-7509-6580-4. Archivedfrom the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ La bombe atomique en héritage, L'Humanité, 21 February 2007 (in French)
- ^ Pierre Messmer : désinformation et opacité sur le nucléaire civil et militaire Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sortir du nucléaire, HNS, 2 September 2007 (in French)
- ^ a b Discours de politique générale Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (General Politics Speech) of Messmer during his 1972 investiture, French government's website (in French)
- ^ a b c d e Le gouvernement de Pierre Messmer Archived 19 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, politique.net, (in French)
- ^ Interview of Pierre Messmer Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 3 June 1974 (film), on the French government's website (in French)
- ^ "Video of the passing of powers between Messmer and Chirac". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- ^ French: "Le temps est venu où les Français pourraient cesser de se haïr et commencer de se pardonner", quoted by Thomas Ferenczi in Le gaulliste Pierre Messmer est mort Archived 8 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Le Monde, 29 August 2007 (in French)
External links
- L'Organisation des Nations Unies et les guerres civiles by Messmer (in French)
- Museum of the Order of the Liberation page on Pierre Messmer (in French)