Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand (French:
- REDIRECCIÓN Plantilla:AFI; 28 March 1862 – 7 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and was a co-laureate of the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.
Aristide Briand | |
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Prime Minister of France | |
In office 29 July 1929 – 2 November 1929 | |
Preceded by | Raymond Poincaré |
Succeeded by | André Tardieu |
In office 28 November 1925 – 20 July 1926 | |
Preceded by | Paul Painlevé |
Succeeded by | Édouard Herriot |
In office 16 January 1921 – 15 January 1922 | |
Preceded by | Georges Leygues |
Succeeded by | Raymond Poincaré |
In office 29 October 1915 – 20 March 1917 | |
Preceded by | René Viviani |
Succeeded by | Alexandre Ribot |
In office 21 January 1913 – 22 March 1913 | |
Preceded by | Raymond Poincaré |
Succeeded by | Louis Barthou |
In office 24 July 1909 – 2 March 1911 | |
Preceded by | Georges Clemenceau |
Succeeded by | Ernest Monis |
Personal details | |
Born | 28 March 1862 Nantes |
Died | 7 March 1932 Paris | (aged 69)
Political party | SFIO PRS |
Early life
editHe was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique of a petit bourgeois family. He attended the Nantes Lycée, where, in 1877, he developed a close friendship with Jules Verne.[1] He studied law, and soon went into politics, associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for the Syndicalist journal Le Peuple, and directing the Lanterne for some time. From this he passed to the Petite République, leaving it to found L'Humanité, in collaboration with Jean Jaurès.
Activism
editAt the same time he was prominent in the movement for the formation of trade unions, and at the congress of working men at Nantes in 1894 he secured the adoption of the labor union idea against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand was one of the leaders of the French Socialist Party. In 1902, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong partisan of the union of the Left in what was known as the Bloc, in order to check the reactionary Deputies of the Right.
From the beginning of his career in the Chamber of Deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of the separation of church and state. He was appointed reporter of the commission charged with the preparation of the 1905 law on separation, and his masterly report at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without dividing the parties upon whose support he relied.
He was the principal author of the law of separation, but, not content with preparing it, he wished to apply it as well. The ministry of Maurice Rouvier was allowing disturbances during the taking of inventories of church property, a clause of the law for which Briand was not responsible. Consequently he accepted the portfolio of Public Instruction and Worship in the Sarrien ministry (1906). So far as the Chamber was concerned, his success was complete. But the acceptance of a position in a bourgeois ministry led to his exclusion from the Unified Socialist Party (March 1906). As opposed to Jaurès, he contended that the Socialists should co-operate actively with the Radicals in all matters of reform, and not stand aloof to await the complete fulfillment of their ideals.
He became a freemason in the lodge Le Trait d'Union in July 1887 while the lodge didn't record his name in spite of his repeated requests.[2] The lodge declared "unworthy" to him on 6 September 1889.[3] In 1895 he joined the lodge Les Chevaliers du Travail that was established in 1893.[2]
Prime Minister of France
editPre-War
editBriand served as Minister of Justice under Clemenceau in 1908-9, before succeeding Clemenceau as Prime Minister on 24 July 1909, serving until 2 March 1911. In social policy, Briand’s first ministry was notable for the passage of a bill in April 1910 for workers' and farmers' pensions.[4] That same year, compulsory sickness and old-age insurance was introduced for 8 million rural and urban workers. However, a law court decision in 1912 that questioned the legality of compulsion “enabled a large proportion of employers and workers to evade the law.”[5]
Briand again served as Minister of Justice 1912-13 under the premiership of the rightwinger Raymond Poincare (soon to become President of the Republic), before again becoming Prime Minister for a few months from 21 January 1913 until 22 March 1913.
First World War
editAt the end of August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, Briand again became Minister of Justice when René Viviani reconstructed his ministry. In the winter of 1914-15 Briand was one of those who pushed for an expedition to Salonika, in the hope of helping Serbia, bringing Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Italy into the war as a pro-French bloc, which would also act as a barrier to future Russian expansion in the Balkans. He got on well with Lloyd George, who was also keen for operations in the Balkans, and had a long talk with him on 4 February 1915. Briand was the main mover in persuading Maurice Sarrail to accept the Salonika command in August 1915.[6]
In October 1915 following an unsuccessful French offensive and the entry of Bulgaria, Briand again became Prime Minister, succeeding René Viviani. He also became Foreign Minister for the first time, a post held by Théophile Delcassé until the final weeks of the previous government.
The opening weeks of Briand's ministry required him to broker an agreement between General Gallieni, the new War Minister, and General Joffre, newly (2 December) promoted to “Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies” (generalissimo) over all theatres apart from North Africa.[7][8]
In the poisonous atmosphere after the opening of the German attack at Verdun (21 February 1916), Gallieni read an angry report at the Council of Ministers on 7 March criticising Joffre's conduct of operations over the last eighteen months and demanding ministerial control, then resigned. He was falsely suspected of wanting to launch a military takeover of the government.[9] Briand knew that publication of the report would damage morale and might bring down the government. Gallieni was persuaded to remain in office until a replacement had been agreed.[10] General Roques was appointed after it had been ensured that Joffre had no objections.[11]
Late in March 1916 Joffre and Briand blocked the withdrawal of five British divisions from Salonika. Briand was widely suspected of wanting to make his mistress Princess George Queen of Greece.[12]
Late in 1916 Roques was sent on a fact-finding mission to Salonika after Britain, Italy and Russia had pushed for the dismissal of the theatre commander Sarrail. To Briand’s and Joffre’s surprise, Roques returned recommending that Sarrail be reinforced and that Sarrail no longer report to Joffre. Coming on the back of the disappointing results of the Somme campaign and the fall of Romania, Roques’ report further discredited Briand and Joffre and added to the Parliamentary Deputies’ demands for a closed session. On 27 November Briand proposed that Joffre be effectively demoted to commander-in-chief in northern France, with both he and Sarrail reporting to the War Minister, although he withdrew this proposal after Joffre threatened resignation. The Closed Session began on 28 November and lasted until 7 December. Briand had little choice but to make concessions to preserve his government, and in a speech of 29 November he promised to repeal Joffre's promotion of December 1915 and in vague terms to appoint a general as technical adviser to the government. Briand survived a confidence vote by 344-160 (six months earlier he had won a confidence vote 440-80).[13]
On 13 December Briand formed a new government, reducing the size of the Council of Ministers from 23 to 10 and replacing Roques with General Lyautey. That day his government survived a vote of confidence by 30 votes, and Joffre was appointed "general-in-chief of the French armies, technical adviser to the government, consultative member of the War Committee," with Nivelle as commander-in-chief of the Armies of the North and Northeast. Joffre commented “this is not what they promised me” when reading the newspaper on the morning of 13 December. He was persuaded to accept by Briand, but soon found that he had been stripped of real power and asked to be relieved on 26 December.[14]
Briand resigned as Prime Minister on 20 March 1917 as a result of disagreements over the prospective Nivelle Offensive, to be succeeded by Alexandre Ribot.
1920s
editBriand returned to power in 1921. He supervised the French role in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22. Three factors guided the French strategy and necessitated a Mediterranean focus: the French navy needed to carry a great many goods, the Mediterranean was the axis of chief interest, and a supply of oil was essential. The primary goal was to defend French North Africa, and Briand made practical choices, for naval policy was a reflection of overall foreign policy. The Conference agreed on the American proposal that capital ships be limited to a ratio of 5 to 5 to 3 for the United States, Britain, and Japan, with Italy and France allocated 1.7 each. France's participation reflected its need to deal with its diminishing power and reduced human, material, and financial resources.[15]
Briand's efforts to come to an agreement over reparations with the Germans failed in the wake of German intransigence, and he was succeeded by the more bellicose Raymond Poincaré. In the wake of the Ruhr Crisis, however, Briand's more conciliatory style became more acceptable, and he returned to the Quai d'Orsay in 1925. He would remain foreign minister until his death in 1932. During this time, he was a member of 14 cabinets, three of which he headed himself.
Briand negotiated the Briand-Ceretti Agreement with the Vatican, giving the French government a role in the appointment of Catholic bishops.
Kellogg–Briand Pact
editAristide Briand received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize together with Gustav Stresemann of Germany for the Locarno Treaties (Austen Chamberlain of the United Kingdom had received a share of the Peace Prize a year earlier for the same agreement).
A 1927 proposal by Briand and United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg for a universal pact outlawing war led the following year to the Pact of Paris, aka the Kellogg–Briand Pact.
The cordial relations between Briand and Stresemann, the leading statesmen of their respective countries, were cut short by the unexpected death of Stresemann in 1929 and of Briand in 1932.
Briand Plan for European union
editAs foreign minister Briand formulated an original proposal for a new economic union of Europe.[16] Described as Briand's Locarno diplomacy and as an aspect of Franco-German rapprochement, it was his answer to Germany's quick economic recovery and future political power. Briand made his proposals in a speech in favor of a European Union in the League of Nations on 5 September 1929, and in 1930, in his "Memorandum on the Organization of a Regime of European Federal Union" for the Government of France.[17] The idea was to provide a framework to contain France's former enemy while preserving as much of the 1919 Versailles settlement as possible. The Briand plan entailed the economic collaboration of the great industrial areas of Europe and the provision of political security to Eastern Europe against Soviet threats. The basis was economic cooperation, but his fundamental concept was political, for it was political power that would determine economic choices. The plan, under the Memorandum on the Organization of a System of European Federal Union, was in the end presented as a French initiative to the League of Nations. With the death of his principal supporter, German foreign minister Gustav Stresemann, and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Briand's plan was never adopted but it suggested an economic framework for developments after World War II that eventually resulted in the European Union.[18]
Governments
editBriand's first Government, 24 July 1909 – 3 November 1910
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
- Stéphen Pichon – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean Brun – Minister of War
- Georges Cochery – Minister of Finance
- René Viviani – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Louis Barthou – Minister of Justice
- Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère – Minister of Marine
- Gaston Doumergue – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Joseph Ruau – Minister of Agriculture
- Georges Trouillot – Minister of Colonies
- Alexandre Millerand – Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Jean Dupuy – Minister of Commerce and Industry
Briand's second Government, 3 November 1910 – 2 March 1911
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
- Stéphen Pichon – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean Brun – Minister of War
- Louis Lucien Klotz – Minister of Finance
- Louis Lafferre – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Théodore Girard – Minister of Justice
- Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère – Minister of Marine
- Maurice Faure – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Maurice Raynaud – Minister of Agriculture
- Jean Morel – Minister of Colonies
- Louis Puech – Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Jean Dupuy – Minister of Commerce and Industry
Changes
- 23 February 1911 – Briand succeeds Brun as interim Minister of War.
Briand's third and fourth Governments, 21 January – 22 March 1913
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
- Charles Jonnart – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Eugène Étienne – Minister of War
- Louis Lucien Klotz – Minister of Finance
- René Besnard – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Louis Barthou – Minister of Justice
- Pierre Baudin – Minister of Marine
- Théodore Steeg – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Fernand David – Minister of Agriculture
- Jean Morel – Minister of Colonies
- Jean Dupuy – Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Gabriel Guist'hau – Minister of Commerce and Industry
Briand's fifth Government, 29 October 1915 – 12 December 1916
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Joseph Galliéni – Minister of War
- Louis Malvy – Minister of the Interior
- Alexandre Ribot – Minister of Finance
- Albert Métin – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- René Viviani – Minister of Justice
- Lucien Lacaze – Minister of Marine
- Paul Painlevé – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Jules Méline – Minister of Agriculture
- Gaston Doumergue – Minister of Colonies
- Marcel Sembat – Minister of Public Works
- Étienne Clémentel – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Léon Bourgeois – Minister of State
- Denys Cochin – Minister of State
- Émile Combes – Minister of State
- Charles de Freycinet – Minister of State
- Jules Guesde – Minister of State
Changes
- 15 November 1915 – Paul Painlevé becomes Minister of Inventions for the National Defense in addition to being Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts.
- 16 March 1916 – Pierre Auguste Roques succeeds Galliéni as Minister of War
Briand's sixth Government, 12 December 1916 – 20 March 1917
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Hubert Lyautey – Minister of War
- Albert Thomas – Minister of Armaments and War Manufacturing
- Louis Malvy – Minister of the Interior
- Alexandre Ribot – Minister of Finance
- Étienne Clémentel – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Labour, Social Security Provisions, Agriculture, Posts, and Telegraphs
- René Viviani – Minister of Justice, Public Instruction, and Fine Arts
- Lucien Lacaze – Minister of Marine
- Édouard Herriot – Minister of Supply, Public Works, and Transport
- Gaston Doumergue – Minister of Colonies
Changes
- 15 March 1917 – Lucien Lacaze succeeds Lyautey as interim Minister of War.
Briand's seventh Government, 16 January 1921 – 15 January 1922
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Louis Barthou – Minister of War
- Pierre Marraud – Minister of the Interior
- Paul Doumer – Minister of Finance
- Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Labour
- Laurent Bonnevay – Minister of Justice
- Gabriel Guist'hau – Minister of Marine
- Léon Bérard – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- André Maginot – Minister of War Pensions, Grants, and Allowances
- Edmond Lefebvre du Prey – Minister of Agriculture
- Albert Sarraut – Minister of Colonies
- Yves Le Trocquer – Minister of Public Works
- Georges Leredu – Minister of Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Lucien Dior – Minister of Commerce and Industry
- Louis Loucheur – Minister of Liberated Regions
Briand's eighth Government, 28 November 1925 – 9 March 1926
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Paul Painlevé – Minister of War
- Camille Chautemps – Minister of the Interior
- Louis Loucheur – Minister of Finance
- Antoine Durafour – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- René Renoult – Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
- Édouard Daladier – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Paul Jourdain – Minister of Pensions
- Jean Durand – Minister of Agriculture
- Léon Perrier – Minister of Colonies
- Anatole de Monzie – Minister of Public Works
- Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Commerce and Industry
Changes
- 16 December 1925 – Paul Doumer succeeds Loucheur as Minister of Finance.
Briand's ninth Government, 9 March – 23 June 1926
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Paul Painlevé – Minister of War
- Louis Malvy – Minister of the Interior
- Raoul Péret – Minister of Finance
- Antoine Durafour – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Pierre Laval – Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
- Lucien Lamoureux – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Paul Jourdain – Minister of Pensions
- Jean Durand – Minister of Agriculture
- Léon Perrier – Minister of Colonies
- Anatole de Monzie – Minister of Public Works
- Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Commerce and Industry
Changes
- 10 April 1926 – Jean Durand succeeds Malvy as Minister of the Interior. François Binet succeeds Durand as Minister of Agriculture.
Briand's tenth Government, 23 June – 19 July 1926
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Adolphe Guillaumat – Minister of War
- Jean Durand – Minister of the Interior
- Joseph Caillaux – Minister of Finance
- Antoine Durafour – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Pierre Laval – Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
- Bertrand Nogaro – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Paul Jourdain – Minister of Pensions
- François Binet – Minister of Agriculture
- Léon Perrier – Minister of Colonies
- Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Public Works
- Fernand Chapsal – Minister of Commerce and Industry
Briand's eleventh Government, 29 July – 3 November 1929
edit- Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Paul Painlevé – Minister of War
- André Tardieu – Minister of the Interior
- Henry Chéron – Minister of Finance
- Louis Loucheur – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Louis Barthou – Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
- Laurent Eynac – Minister of Air
- Pierre Marraud – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Louis Antériou – Minister of Pensions
- Jean Hennessy – Minister of Agriculture
- André Maginot – Minister of Colonies
- Pierre Forgeot – Minister of Public Works
- Georges Bonnefous – Minister of Commerce and Industry
See also
editNotes
editThis article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (February 2014) |
- ^ Aristide Briand – Biography
- ^ a b Osterrieder, Markus (2010). "Der prophezeite Krieg" (PDF) (in German). CeltoSlavica. p. 10. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
Zwar war er im Juli 1887 am Tag der Initiation in die Loge Le Trait d'Union nicht anwesend, obwohl er mehrfach den Antrag auf Aufnahme gestellt hatte, trat jedoch 1895 der sozialistisch orientierten, antikapitalistischen und antiparlamentarischen Loge Les Chevaliers du Travail (gegründet 1893) bei, [. . .] Vgl Michel Gaudart de SOULAGES, Hubert LAMANT: Dictionnaire des francs-maçons français. Paris 1995, S. 197-198; Henri CASTEIX: Aristide Briand et la franc-maçonnerie. Histoire sans passion de la franc-maçonnerie française. Paris 1987, S. 229-236; Encyclopédie de la franc-maçonnerie. Hrsg. v. Eric SAUNIER. Paris 1999, S. 146f.; Dictionnaire de la franc-‐maçonnerie. Hrsg. v. Daniel LIGOU. Paris 2004, S. 243-245.
- ^ Mayeur, Jean Marie (2003). Les parlementaires de la troisième république (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne. p. 114. ISBN 9782859444846. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ http://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/aristide-briand
- ^ Foundations of the Welfare State: 2nd Edition by Pat Thane, published 1996
- ^ Greenhalgh 2014, p.100 &108
- ^ There had already been friction between the two men when Gallieni, Joffre's former superior, had been recalled from retirement to be Military governor of Paris during the First Battle of the Marne earlier in the war.
- ^ Doughty 2005, pp229-32
- ^ Clayton 2003, pp97-8
- ^ Doughty 2005, pp284-5
- ^ Doughty 2005, p285
- ^ Palmer 1998, p55
- ^ Doughty 2005, p318-20
- ^ Doughty 2005, p320-1
- ^ Blatt, Joel (1993). "France and the Washington conference". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 4 (3): 192. doi:10.1080/09592299308405900.
- ^ Navari, Cornelia (1992). "Origins of the Briand plan". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 3: 74. doi:10.1080/09592299208405844.
- ^ Briand, Aristide (1 May 1930). Memorandum on the Organization of a System of Federal European Union. France. Ministry of Foreign Affairs - via World Digital Library. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ^ D. Weigall and P. Stirk, eds., The Origins and Development of the European Community (Leicester University Press, 1992), pp. 11–15 ISBN 0718514289.
References
edit- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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(help) - Bernard, Philippe; Dubief, Henri; Forster, Thony (1985). The Decline of the Third Republic, 1914–1938. The Cambridge History of Modern France. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35854-X.
- Doughty, Robert A. (2005). Pyrrhic Victory. Havard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02726-8.
- Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2005). Victory Through Coalition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-09629-4.
- Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2014). The French Army and the First World War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-60568-8.
- Mayeur, Jean-Marie; Rebirioux, Madeleine; Foster, J. R. (1984). The Third Republic from its Origins to the Great War, 1871–1914. The Cambridge History of Modern France. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 2-7351-0067-7.
- Palmer, Alan (1998). Victory 1918. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84124-6.
- Wright, Julian (2005). "Social Reform, State Reform, and Aristide Briand's Moment of Hope in France, 1909–1910". French Historical Studies. 28 (1): 31–67. doi:10.1215/00161071-28-1-31.
Georges Suarez’s multi-volume biography of Briand (1938-52) is of particular value to historians as it cites documents lost in 1940.[1]
External links
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- ^ Greenhalgh 2005, p.288