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Scholarship has paid little attention to Milhaud’s opera Bolivar despite the enormous consideration and debate it sparked in the French press around its 1950 premiere at the Paris Opéra. This is part of a larger lacuna that often overlooks operas produced during the French Fourth Republic (1946–1958). Study of this opera reveals the complexity of the cultural-political pressures being exerted on the Réunion des Théâtres Lyriques Nationaux and the impact this had upon composers and the longevity of their works in the repertoire. When composing Bolivar in 1943, Milhaud turned to styles that suited the French Resistance effort, like the tradition of French Grand Opera. While some in the press claimed Bolivar failed because it was poorly composed, examination shows that the reception of Bolivar shifted in tandem with France’s political landscape. These changes opened Milhaud’s opera up to anti-Semitic criticism and anti-colonial interpretations that had lasting impacts on the opera’s reputation and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Nigeria’s return to competitive multiparty democracy elections have been held regularly. However, the costs of conducting the elections have been increasing such that Nigeria’s elections have been described as the most expensive in Africa and one of the most expensive in the world. Despite their huge costs, the quality of elections continues to dwindle thus most of the elections have been regarded as flawed. This article examines the paradox of increasing elections cost and the dwindling quality of elections in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. It argues that the rising cost of elections borne out of the desire to conduct quality elections has impacted negatively on the country’s electoral processes. While elections cost keeps increasing, elections quality continues to ebb such that elections held since 1999 have lost their democratic essence. The article further contends that experiences of poorly conducted elections have eroded the trust of the people in the nation’s electoral process which is inimical to democratic sustenance. The article is qualitative and descriptive drawing data from annual reports of INEC, reports of local and international election observers and extant secondary literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French-Congolese Senator, Jane Vialle, was appointed as a French delegate to the United Nations in 1949. During her term she served on the Ad-Hoc Anti-Slavery committee as an expert on African colonial conditions and the status of African Women. Vialle's work on the international stage was an extension of her efforts towards reforming the political, social and economic rights of women at national and local levels, within the French Fourth Republic and the Oubangui-Chari region she represented in French West Africa. Despite her efforts, Vialle was frustrated with the glacial pace of reform in all three arenas, declaring to her friend and colleague, the African American historian and Pan-Africanist Rayford W. Logan, that she often felt she was being used as 'une nègre de drame'. Logan believed the expression was the French equivalent of the American phrase 'a showpiece or token negro'. Through the framework of Jane Vialle's political career, this articles explores how the notion of representation and what it meant to be 'une nègre de drame' or, indeed, to be an authentic representative of one's nation, race or gender intersected with Vialle's reformist efforts in Oubangui-Chari, the French Fourth Republic and on the international stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a commentary interrogating the phenomenon of democratic deficits in Nigeria's Fourth Republic based on an exploratory analysis of secondary sources. The essence of government is the fulfillment of public good. Democratic government is acclaimed to be most suited to determine and implement such a mandate. Incidentally, this has not been a general experience across the world's democracies. Successive democratic administrations in Nigeria's Fourth Republic have left a lot to be desired in relation to fulfilling their democratic mandate through proper representation and good governance. Series of elections have produced different crops of supposed people's representatives. Yet the existential conditions of the people have not been touched in a manner that justifies that these representatives rule at the instance of the people, let alone represent their interests and aspirations. The gaping deficits of democracy in that regard has warranted the submission of this paper to the effect that electoral democracy in Nigeria's Fourth Republic has not brought about the needed democratic dividends in terms of efficient governance and effective representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of historical and political determinations that guided the assembly of a new cultural diplomacy for Latin America and Brazil in particular, over the period of the French Fourth Republic. France, in decline, is based initially on their previous cultural prestige to try to reposition itself in the world. However, soon realizes that it is necessary to build another image of herself, inspired by the success of the American model.

Copyright of Revue d'Histoire Moderne & Contemporaine is the property of Societe d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article compares the transitions between the Fourth and Fifth French Republics and between the so-called Italian "First" and "Second" Republics. After considering changes in the international context, in the party system, in electoral laws and decentralization processes, the author reaches the conclusion that the Second Republic doesn't exist as yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the political and institutional changes that France lived from Second World War till today. Reflecting on the most recent historiography, this essay tries to underline some neglected elements of continuity between Fourth and Fifth Republic. Secondly it tries to indicate the right hiatus in the period 1962-1967. 1969 and 1974 obtain enough consideration. Without ignoring the importance of 1981, the article focuses on the evolution that drives from the so called "Centrist Republic" to the crisis of the Fifth Republic model during Sarkozy and Hollande's mandates. Unknowns of Macron's moment dominate the last part of the article. The evolution of his mandate could enhance the Fifth Republic or on the contrary lead it to radical changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the French state’s approach to the “colonies de vacances” between 1944 and 1958. Created in 1876 by the Reverend Bion in Zurich, these summer camps originated as a charitable institution: their initial purpose was to provide rural retreats and to restore the health of poor urban youth. Set up on French soil in 1880, these institutions gradually grew in France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Considered both as complements to the republican school and as extensions of the “patronages” (parish unions), they were important for children and adolescents from the industrial city suburbs, and were enshrined in the leisure policies of the Popular Front from 1936 onwards. After the Second World War, summer camps in France became a major social institution (300,000 children went to summer camps in 1945, 900,000 in 1949) in response to both hygiene and educational needs. Based on the archives of the Directorate of Youth Movements and Popular Education (1944–1947) and the General Directorate of Youth and Sports (1948–1958), this article aims to examine the politics behind the organisation of these summer camps and to demonstrate the social and political importance of these popular educational institutions which, in 1957, involved 1.35 million French children and teenagers. Although the history of French summer camp federations (UFCV, CEMEA, CPVC, UFOVAL, etc.) has been widely studied, how the state sees its role and influences these organisations has mostly been considered indirectly. The intention is to show that among the educational, cultural and sports policies implemented during the Fourth Republic in France, those related to the organisation of “colonies de vacances”, and therefore the organisation of holidays for a very large number of children and teenagers, occupy a significant place. In 1944, the summer camps were widely supported by the French state, which also planned to regulate this booming sector. The creation of qualifications for summer camp staff and directors in 1949 obliged organisations to start training schemes: they trained staff and directors to work in the municipal camps, associations, etc. Security issues led to the state tightening control of the summer camps, their recruitment and their activities. There was a great deal of political investment in these “colonies de vacances” during this period, and this was reflected in the creation of a Ministerial Education Committee in 1950, a general and regional body of inspectors for these camps, etc. However, the considerable expansion of summer camps posed increasing problems at the national political level resulting in changes to the initial subsidy policies. The State played a major part in crucial issues such as the sociological diversification of these institutions and the changes in their social role according to evolving sociocultural trend. The fact remains that the “colonies de vacances” were for the French state a centrepiece of the “popular education” that the political actors of the Fourth Republic wanted to implement in order to build the France of the post-war period.. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among the most salient aspects of French social security established by the Liberation ordinances of October 1945 was the principle of territoriality, which tied eligibility to residence in the métropole. This represented an important concession to the immigrant workers on whom the reconstruction effort was to rely so heavily, but also had unexpected outcomes, especially when applied to subsequent arrangements for the self-employed, a broad sector of the workforce which included artisans, shopkeepers and the liberal professions. As the records show, territoriality disqualified from a pension people who had worked in France before retiring abroad, whether to Algeria or to Belgium, as well as people who had worked abroad, whether in Morocco or in Switzerland, before retiring to France. In the Liberation ordinances, the principle of territoriality stood for solidarity; it also circumscribed boundaries of solidarity with ramifications for the legitimacy of the Fourth Republic and the French Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1848 Marx and Engels published their Communist Manifesto. The opening line claimed: ‘A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism.’ In Poland the experience of more than 40 years of communism and the fear that ‘reds’ still secretly control the government haunts the present. This article explores the emerging political culture and the volatile political climate of post-communist Poland. In particular it looks at the various attempts at lustration as part of transitional justice, at the Kaczyński brothers’ plan to redefine national identity by establishing a moral Fourth Republic, and at the involvement of writers, reporters and film-makers in the lustration debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the advocated neutrality of France and other countries of Western Europe as a buffer between the U.S. and Soviet Union. It is stated that the idea arouses a feeling of incredulity. A French Catholic philosopher argues that the case for neutrality is practically a feasible policy. He states that neutrality is not a sign of cowardice and defeatist attitude and it does not mean that they must adopt it. In the case where its national integrity is endangered, it is to everybody's interest that they will compel the respect for their boundaries.

Analysis of historical and political determinations that guided the assembly of a new cultural diplomacy for Latin America and Brazil in particular, over the period of the French Fourth Republic. France, in decline, is based initially on their previous cultural prestige to try to reposition itself in the world. However, soon realizes that it is necessary to build another image of herself, inspired by the success of the American model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1945, the first significant cohort of African, Caribbean, and Malagasy deputies were elected to the French National Assembly, where they participated in special parliamentary commissions tasked with colonial reform. This article traces the contours of postwar conversations about colonial policy, race, and racism that took shape in those commissions, as metropolitan and colonial deputies confronted these issues face-to-face, as ostensible equals, for the first time. Deputies of color tried to force frank discussions about racial inequality in their campaigns to reform political representation, working conditions, education, and compensation for Africans. Their metropolitan counterparts responded, however, by developing new code words and rhetorical strategies that deflected accusations of systemic racial inequality in postwar Greater France. The competing understandings and ways of talking about race and racism produced in this encounter helped consolidate a postwar speech regime of 'colorblindness' that obscured the way racial logics were inscribed in the new institutions of the postwar Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the French decision to send reinforcements to Indochina in April 1951 despite evidence of the futility of the Indochina War and pressing security needs in Europe. I analyze the motivation for this decision with the assistance of the minutes of the National Defense Committee, as well as the private papers of leading French politicians and military figures. I argue that the key to understanding the French decision to continue the war rather than seek peace was the belief that the war in Indochina was critical to the achievement of French goals in Europe and NATO. As a consequence of this analysis, I suggest that any celebration of France's European achievements must be tempered by the recognition that European policy was often closely linked with a regressive imperial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The XXth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in February 1956 was one of the most extraordinary events in the history of the communist movement, taking the world by surprise by its ‘revolutionary’ content and non-confrontational overtones. The occasion served as a platform for Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation programme, which was to underpin fundamental reforms in Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Reactions to the Congress on the part of communists in the West have hitherto been analysed at macro levels, with focus on the strategic responses of political and geographical elites, whereas those of the largely ‘Stalinist’ party-base have been for all intents and purposes ignored. This article draws for the first time on the testimonies of 25 informants active in 1956 at all levels of the French Communist Party Var Federation to provide a grassroots perspective on the issues. It allows us to consider key questions from new angles and, as a result, to reconsider our overall interpretation of the ways in which ordinary communists responded to this pivotal event. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the French liberation of May 1945, General Charles de Gaulle warned the government of Japan that France would be uncompromising in its pursuit of those responsible for war crimes against the population in Indochina. However, by the time the war ended and these ideals had to be put into practice, French determination to punish war criminals had to accommodate the constraints of the French position in the postwar world generally, and Indochina in particular. This article examines how the trials, the imprisonment, the transfer to Japan and the eventual release of Japanese war criminals in and from Saigon were shaped by complex political issues, both in Indochina and in the wider international context. It argues that, as well as representing an attempt to mete out justice on behalf of the victims of Japanese atrocities in Indochina, the trials functioned symbolically to rehabilitate France in Asia: to demonstrate the legitimacy of its position amongst the victorious Allied nations after a chequered wartime history, and to validate its claims to be the rightful political authority over Indochina. However, France’s interest in maintaining the sentences for Japanese war criminals diminished together with the gradual realization that France’s grasp on the Asian part of its colonial empire was slipping. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Between January 1942 and August 1944, the Nazis stripped more than 38,000 “abandoned” Jewish apartments in Paris of furniture and other goods and shipped most of the stolen items to Germany. Following the liberation of the capital in August 1944, Jewish survivors returned to empty homes or found their apartments inhabited by other families. The French provisional government addressed housing and restitution issues for all war victims immediately; however, the process proved to be especially long and difficult for Jewish victims, many of whom found themselves utterly destitute. An examination of the process demonstrates that Jews used gendered strategies in demanding to be included in French public life through the reclamation of private homes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the post-World War II housing crisis and squatter campaigns in France with a focus on the city of Marseille. Emphasis is given to a movement by activists and squatters for a universal human right to housing to be enjoyed by citizens regardless of social differences. Other topics include the activities of the Mouvement populaire des familles (Popular Movement for Families (MPF)), communist support for squatters, and populist sympathy.

This essay follows the strange career in France of the Bessarabian Jew, Joseph Joinovici, before, during, and after the Second World War. A corrupt but exceedingly talented dealer in scrap metal before the war, he was officially branded an 'economically worthwhile Jew' by the occupying forces and quickly amassed a considerable fortune. He was also a leading associate of the French Gestapo leaders Henri Lafont and Pierre Bony, but appears to have devoted a considerable portion of his wealth to bribing German officials into releasing a number of potential victims. A credible claim has been made that he was a principal financier of the insurrection that issued in the Liberation of Paris. Particular attention is paid to the claim by the philosopher Pierre Boutang that the eccentric Joinovici was the exemplary citizen of France's Fourth Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jean Dutourd's novel Au bon beurre (1952) and Claude Autant-Lara's film La Traversée de Paris (1956) offer the best-known depictions of black market activity in Occupied France, appreciated by audiences who had lived through the war. This article looks at the black market stories they tell and their reception in France in the 1950s. It focuses on the fictional stories in relation to the historical experience from which they were drawn, and analyzes their selective representation of behaviors and the key relationships on which black market activity relied. Both works capture widely shared Occupation experiences of food shortages and exploitation. They highlight popular resentment of profiteers, the ability of the wealthy to escape wartime hardship and postwar justice, and the corruption and incompetence of the state in managing shortages and postwar purges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

René Massigli's considerable contribution to French diplomacy began during the First World War. After being closely involved with many significant developments in French foreign policy during the inter-war years, Massigli then served alongside Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War. Informed by his experience of the 1930s, he adopted a view of western European security that saw him determined to promote greater co-operation between France and Britain to withstand a potential German resurgence and a looming Soviet threat. But following France's efforts after 1950 to promote European integration based on Franco-German co-operation, Massigli re-defined his role of ambassador and openly challenged French initiatives such as the Schuman Plan and, in particular, the European Defence Community, not only because they did not include Britain, but also because they threatened his view of French security. This analysis assesses Massigli's strategic vision and his attempts to overcome the underlying constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A case study is presented concerning civil-military relations (CMR) in France prior to, during, and following World War II, particularly during the French Fourth Republic. It discusses the work of scholar Rebecca Schiff concerning her theory of concordance, the evolution of CMR in France, and the power and influence of former French president Charles de Gaulle. It examines the French national budget, French colonies and conflict in Indochina and North Africa, and discordance within the Fourth Republic.

This article examines British propaganda efforts in France in the early Cold War in the light of a developing relationship in which the senders' own strategies were to be modified and challenged. The article argues that initiatives to broadcast propaganda from Britain into France via the BBC operated within a broader and developing information policy context. Broadcasting from outside the country through the BBC was supplemented with attempts by British personnel stationed in France to embed positive messages directly within the contemporary French media. By 1950 however, the British propaganda initiative seemed inappropriate and outmoded, taken over by the French themselves and by a British desire to prioritise countries outside Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the post–World War II boom, France implemented a comprehensive urbanism program intended to modernize and rationalize the nation by putting the city, the home, and the citizen in order. Local modernization efforts were part of the state’s broader postwar reconstruction initiatives implemented in both the metropole and the colonies. Local techniciens (technocratic experts such as urban planners and public health officials) were charged with assessing and classifying diverse populations in terms of centrally defined standards of need. By situating local modernization efforts in a broader imperial context, this article examines how government officials produced and reinforced social and racial hierarchies within developing postwar welfare institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Industrialisation developed in Europe particularly in the aftermath of the First World War, surfing the wave generated by an increasing need for reconstruction and modernisation in Western societies. In this context, the issue of workers’ physical fitness became an economic concern for both industry leaders and governments. Focus was on Ergonomics, as seen by the creation of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors in the UK in September 1949, and the publication of its journal Ergonomics in 1957. In France, the concern for enhancing a worker's performance through systematic training reached its climax in the mid 1950s. A doctrine was locally elaborated by educators and paved the way for a wider diffusion of new concepts, with France and at a later stage other European countries, organising several international congresses on the topic. The first three of these meetings, held in Paris in 1954, Brussels in 1958 and Helsinki in 1959 were of particular importance. There, the French perspectives took an important place in the final recommendations and resulted in the creation of the commission ‘Sport and Work’ within the International Council for Physical Education and Sport, and with the support of UNESCO. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the relationship between television and the Association pour la Recherche Filmologique during the 1950s through an analysis of the work of the Association appearing in its journal, the Revue internationale de filmologie between 1947 and 1961. The aim is to show how French television radically changed the way that members of the Association conceived of cinema, of its fundamental properties and of its future potential. The article claims that television led to new ways of thinking and new methodologies that undermined received ideas in film studies. Moreover, television not only contributed to a redefinition of cinema anchored in its singularity, but also expanded the field of film studies by situating the theory of cinema outside of the conventional film theatre. In the end, television's impact on French film theorists' knowledge during the 1950s is important enough that we can speak of a 'televisual revolution' in French film studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following contribution analyzes the specific spaces for the legitimization of the defense of the "Soviet model" in France. To do so, rather than examining the policies of the Communist Party itself (often analyzed by French historiography), the paper approaches a vast set of organizational networks that have been commonly known as "transmission belts" of communism in France. Thus, the paper presents a universe of situations, individual trajectories, and associative frameworks that are deployed in defense of the Soviet Union, from 1945 until 1954. In all these different areas and situations the paper points out instances of an intense militancy. As a result, there was a non-contradictory overlap between French patriotism, nationalism and the justification of Soviet hegemony in the context of the communization of Eastern Europe and of the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses British military aid to France's attempt to recolonize French Indochina from 1948 to 1950 as part of anti-communist efforts. Correspondence related to the British Foreign Office (FO) and the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) is addressed, along with activities of the government chiefs of staff (COS) and British Defence Coordination Committee Far East (BDCC). It is said that the British commissioner-general for Southeast Asia, Malcolm MacDonald, failed to offer sufficient aid to the French, who turned to the U.S. for support against anticipated Chinese attacks on Indochina.

The French Fourth Republic (1946–1958) has long been caricatured as a weak regime beholden to American influence. Yet, its negative image has been vastly overdrawn, all the more as it now stands in marked contrast to the depiction of a strong and independent Fifth Republic led by General Charles de Gaulle. Indeed, not only did the creation of NATO coincide with the very existence of the Fourth Republic, but France played an original and decisive role during the first years of the alliance, which is important if one wishes to understand its subsequent relations with NATO. This article will focus on the growing frustration of the Fourth Republic's political and military leadership with transatlantic institutions. How this frustration translated into tangible policy will be highlighted in order to illuminate subsequent relations between France and NATO. Indeed, hidden behind the Fourth Republic's apparently unwavering loyalty to the Atlantic alliance were national claims that actually preceded those of the Gaullist regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reputed as the "makers" of democracy, political parties are by all standards one of the most outstanding and distinguishing elements of modern government. Indeed, democracy is unthinkable in the absence of viable political parties. Parties are expected to participate in the political socialization of electorates, contribute to the accumulation of political power, facilitate recruitment of political leadership, and serve as a unifying force in a divided polity. Parties can cope with these pivotal roles only provided that they are viable: well institutionalized, internally democratic, coherent, disciplined, and autonomous. Can Nigerian parties stand the test of time when assessed against these currencies? This essay engages this crucial question in relation to Nigeria's quest for political stability. After a review of current trends in party activities under the Fourth Republic, the essay concludes that Nigerian parties have tended to become more of a democratic liability than an asset in the country's quest for political stability. It identifies the limiting dimensions of effective party politics and offers useful recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses conflicts between the French government and the U.S. Army over prostitution and the control of sexuality during and immediately after the liberation of France at the end of World War II. U.S. commanders seeking an outlet for the sexual urges of their soldiers turned to the legal and regulated French sex industry, control of which became part of the larger struggles over authority between the French and their American occupiers. Topics discussed include venereal disease, U.S. stereotypes of the French and French women, concerns in the U.S. military about public perception in the United States, and others.

The end of the Occupation, which was much more violent than its beginning, dramatically affected the overall perception of Germans and Germany for many years in post-WWII France. This vision is of course reflected to a large extent in French literature. Yet, paradoxically, many novels—including the 'best-sellers' Éducation européenne (1945) by Romain Gary, Mon Village à l'heure allemande (1945) by Jean-Louis Bory or Les Forêts de la nuit (1947) by Jean-Louis Curtis—contain a 'good German' character. Firstly, this article will give an overview of the dominant representations of Germans in post-WWII France, before suggesting that the 'good German' character follows both a literary tradition and the humanist values of the French Resistance, to which these writers claim to subscribe. Finally, it will show how this character, far from blurring the Manichean ideology of the novel in which he appears, actually reinforces it. La fin de l'Occupation, bien plus violente que son début, va influencer de manière extrêmement négative et durable la représentation de l'Allemagne et des Allemands en France. Bien sûr, cette vision se retrouve largement dans la littérature de l'immédiat après-guerre. Pourtant, et de manière en apparence paradoxale, nombre de romans – dont les 'best-sellers' Éducation européenne (1945) de Romain Gary, Mon Village à l'heure allemande (1945) de Jean-Louis Bory ou encore Les Forêts de la nuit (1947) de Jean-Louis Curtis – contiennent également une figure de 'bon Allemand'. Après avoir dressé un tableau de l'image dominante de l'Allemagne dans la France de l'immédiat après-guerre, nous suggérerons dans cet article que le personnage du 'bon Allemand' a deux origines distinctes, la première étant littéraire et la seconde éthique, ces romanciers s'inscrivant dans le prolongement des valeurs humanistes de la Résistance. Nous montrerons enfin comment, loin de brouiller le manichéisme de ces romans, le personnage du 'bon Allemand' sert au contraire à renforcer habilement leurs idéologies sous-jacentes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Parlement(s) is the property of Classiques Garnier Numerique and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the historiographical representation of the French general and politician Charles de Gaulle since 1969. Among other topics addressed are specific books, articles, and other publications and how each portrays de Gaulle, de Gaulle's political career, and events during that career such as the Algerian War, the Vietnam War, and the collapse of the French 4th Republic.

Increased cohesion of groups and political blocks within the French parliament is one key reason for the stabilisation of the political regime under the Fifth Republic. This article starts with precise measures of the extent to which patterns of cohesion have changed throughout the twentieth century in France. It then moves to explain why cohesion has improved with the new regime of the Fifth Republic despite the change to a single member district electoral system and the direct election of the president. Both are generally expected to threaten cohesion. The two-round electoral system and semi-presidentialism prove, however, to be important explanations of the emergence of strict discipline in the French parliament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses French policy toward the Algerian Revolution of 1954-1962. It specifically focuses on the period from the election of the Republican Front in France in January 1956 to the so-called “day of the tomatoes” demonstration in Algiers, Algeria on February 6, 1956 and examines the stance of Guy Mollet, French Prime Minister and leader of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). The author considers Mollet's appointments of General Georges Catroux and Robert Lacoste to the position of resident-general in Algiers.

Marius Moutet is best known as France's Popular Front Colonial Minister in 1936-8. Yet the importance of his tenure in the same office in the later years of 1946-7, when French debates and decisions on colonial policy were even more momentous, has often been underestimated. This essay examines Moutet's role in defining France's post-Second World War colonial policy and in applying it during his second ministry, and shows how he tried to shape French policy in Indochina during the early stages of the French-Viet Minh conflict. In both instances Moutet was attacked by those who found his pre-war colonial liberalism anachronistic, and his policies were systematically sabotaged by fellow ministers who found them weak and vacillating. His ministerial career ended with him being driven from office, with his decades-long reputation as a reformer in colonial policy in tatters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this article is to research not only the understanding and image of the U.S. held by French communist intellectuals who exercised great influence in the early Cold War period from 1947 to 1957, but also the gap or cleavage in viewing the U.S. and/or American culture between the intellectual elite and the general public in France. After the Second World War, the beginning of the Cold War and geopolitical conflicts between the East and the West had an enormous influence on the dynamics within the French intellectual community. In those days, left-wing, and more particularly communist, intellectuals made use of 'Anti-Americanism' as political, ideological and cultural strategic arms, and the French Communist Party (Parti Communiste Français, PCF), which quickly grew to be the largest political party in France, became known as the 'Intellectual Party(Parti de l'Intelligence)' because of its partnership with many leftist intellectuals. Anti-Americanism in the early Cold War period, triggered by the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty, was an outcome of 'Cold War politics' in conflict with pro-Americanists claiming to stand for Atlanticism. The anti-Americanism in the early Cold War period was rooted in an extreme prejudice and irrational policies against the U.S. dating back to the inter-war period. In France at that time, there existed an anti-American sentiment of a cultural and ideological character, based on the disallowance of 'Americanism' in all forms that might bring any change in French tradition, as well as anti-American sentiment of a purely political character, based primarily on an aversion to the Anglo-Saxon powers and to political and economic dependance on the U.S. Meanwhile systematic postwar public-opinion polls show the contradiction between the images of the U.S. held whether by the intellectual elite or the general public, and contemporary reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unanimous passage of Security Council Resolution 1441 marked the onset of the most severe crisis of legitimacy that the United Nations has faced in the post-Cold War period. While some have asserted that the diplomatic clashes between erstwhile allies France and the United States were inevitable given the rise of American unipolarity, an analysis of events leading to the failed US attempt to gain a second resolution reveals that the outcome was among the least preferred for both participants. Using the Verbs In Context system, we conduct a computer-based content analysis of the public statements of the United States and French leaders. Our findings suggest that the diplomatic breakdown was exacerbated by each leaders' elevated sense of control over the situation and their inaccurate perception of their opponent's preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]