Popular Republican Movement
Popular Republican Movement Mouvement Républicain Populaire | |
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Christian Democratic Group | |
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The Popular Republican Movement (French: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic[4][5][6] political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Schuman, Paul Coste-Floret, Pierre-Henri Teitgen and Pierre Pflimlin. It played a major role in forming governing coalitions, in emphasizing compromise and the middle ground, and in protecting against a return to extremism and political violence. It played an even more central role in foreign policy, having charge of the Foreign Office for ten years and launching plans for the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which grew into the European Union. Its voter base gradually dwindled in the 1950s and it had little power by 1954.[7]
History
Origins of French Christian Democracy
In the late 19th century secular forces sought to radically reduce the power of the Catholic Church in France, especially regarding schools. The Catholic bishops mistrusted the Republic and the ideas of the French Revolution, as well as the idea of popular sovereignty, which questioned the superiority of the spiritual power over the temporal. For this reason, it supported all the conservative governments of the 19th century, notably MacMahon and his policy of "moral order".[8]
In 1892, in his
At the beginning of the 20th century, many organisations appeared: the Christian Workers Youth, the Christian Agricultural Youth, and the
Foundation and height of the MRP
In 1944, some prominent French politicians wanted to rally all the non-Communist Resistance behind
The MRP benefited from the absence of real right-wing challengers to rally the conservative electorate. Indeed, among the three largest parties, it was the only one that was not
Nevertheless, the MRP disagreed with the institutional and constitutional ideas of De Gaulle, who advocated a
Relations with De Gaulle deteriorated. In January 1946, the president of the provisional government resigned in protest at the restoration of the "parties regime". The MRP ministers chose to stay in government. Nevertheless, the party called on voters to reject the proposed constitution in May 1946, fearing the election of a pro-Communist regime. After that, the MRP became the largest party in parliament after the June 1946 legislative election (28.2%) and Bidault took charge of the cabinet. In October 1946, the MRP, together with the SFIO and the PCF, presented a new proposed constitution. It was approved despite De Gaulle's call for a "no" vote. One year later, a Gaullist party was founded under the name of Rally of the French People (Rassemblement du peuple français or RPF).
The MRP became a mainstay of the
It is the only major French party to defend the functioning of the colonial system, including forced labour, in the post-war period.[14]
A gradual decline
With the creation of the Gaullist RPF and the reconstruction of the conservative right in the
The MRP also dominated French foreign and colonial policies during most of the later 1940s and 1950s. Along with the French Socialist Party, it was the most energetic supporter in the country of European integration. It was also a strong backer of NATO and of close alliance with the United States, making it the most "Atlanticist" of French political parties.
Its leaders, especially Georges Bidault and Paul Coste-Floret (foreign and colonial ministers respectively in several French coalition governments) were primary architects of France's hard-line colonial policies that culminated in long insurgencies in Vietnam (1946-1954) and Algeria (1954-1962), as well as a series of smaller insurrections and political crises elsewhere in the French Empire. The MRP eventually divided over the Algerian question in the late 1950s (with Bidault being an avid supporter of the OAS).[13]
In terms of voters, many on its left-wing joined the Socialists and many on its right wing left for the Moderates or Gaullists.[15]
After the 13 May 1958 crisis, the party supported De Gaulle's return and called for approval of the constitution of the Fifth Republic. It participated in the government of national unity behind De Gaulle, then broke with him in 1962 over his opposition to extending European economic integration into the realm of political integration.
Faced with the Gaullist hegemony
When De Gaulle proposed a referendum on presidential election by universal suffrage, the MRP took part in the "coalition of the no". De Gaulle dissolved the
In 1963,
Presidents
- 1944–1949: Maurice Schumann
- 1949–1952: Georges Bidault
- 1952–1956: Pierre-Henri Teitgen
- 1956–1959: Pierre Pflimlin
- 1959–1963: André Colin
- 1963–1965: Jean Lecanuet
Members
- Abbé Pierre (1912–2007), MRP deputy from 1946 to 1951
- Robert Lecourt (1908–2004), MRP deputy from 1946 to 1958, later Judge and President of the European Court of Justice.
French Parliament
National Assembly | ||||||
Election year | # of overall votes |
% of overall vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | Leader | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1945 | 4,780,338 (#2) | 24.9 | 141 / 522
|
–
|
||
1946 (Jun) | 5,589,213 (#1) | 28.22 | 166 / 586
|
25
|
||
1946 (Nov) | 4,988,609 (#2) | 25.96 | 173 / 627
|
7
|
||
1951 | 2,369,778 (#5) | 12.60 | 95 / 625
|
78
|
||
1956 | 2,366,321 (#6) | 10.88 | 83 / 595
|
12
|
||
1958 | 1,365,064 (#6) | 7.5 | 57 / 466
|
26
|
||
1962 | 821,635 (#6) | 5.45 | 36 / 465
|
21
|
See also
- Ligue de la jeune Républiquefounded in 1912 by Marc Sangnier
References
- ^ a b c Startin, Nick (2005), "Maastricht, Amsterdam and beyond: The troubled evolution of the French right", French Relations with the European Union, Routledge, p. 64
- ^ de Boissieu, Laurent (1 March 2012). "Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP)". France Politique.
- ^ Gunlicks, Arthur B. (2011), Comparing Liberal Democracies: The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Union, iUniverse, p. 123
- ISBN 978-1-85567-328-1. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-313-39181-1. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-4620-5724-5.
- ^ Russell B. Capelle, The MRP and French Foreign Policy (1963) pp 3-4.
- ^ Alfred Cobban (1963). History of Modern France. Cambridge UP. pp. 240, 346.
- ISBN 9780313080487.
- ISBN 9780521883108.
- ^ Emmanuelle Vignaux (2003). Harald Baldersheim; Jean-Pascal Daloz (eds.). French Political Parties and Cleavages: Why is there no Christian Democratic Party?. Ashgate.
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ignored (help) - ^ Denis Pelletier (2005), Bruno Duriez; et al. (eds.), "1905–2005: Un siècle d'engagements catholiques", Les Catholiques dans la République, 1905–2005, Editions de l'Atelier, p. 33
- ^ a b Russell Beckett Capelle, The MRP and French foreign policy (1963).
- ^ Thomas Deltombe, Manuel Domergue, Jacob Tatsita, KAMERUN !, La Découverte, 2019
- ISBN 9781349140527.
Further reading
- Béthouart, Bruno. "Entry of the Catholics into the Republic: The Mouvement Républicain Populaire in France" in Michael Gehler and Wolfram Kaiser, eds. Christian Democracy in Europe since 1945 (Routledge, 2004) pages=74–87.
- Capelle, Russell B. The MRP and French foreign policy (1963).online
- Irving, R.E.M. Christian Democracy in France (2010).
- Rauch, R. William. Politics and belief in contemporary France: Emmanuel Mounier and Christian democracy, 1932–1950 (Springer Science & Business Media, 2012).
- Woloch, Isser. "Left, right and centre: the MRP and the post-war moment." French History 21.1 (2007): 85-106.