A Note on the Revision of the Constitution of the Fourth Republic

1956 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1011-1022
Author(s):  
Roy Macridis
Keyword(s):  
Body Politic ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Third ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
The People ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
French People ◽  
Registered Voters

Recent political developments in France, particularly the dissolution of the National Assembly and the subsequent elections of January 2, 1956, overshadowed one of the most interesting and long-awaited enactments of the second legislature of the Fourth Republic. A law of November 30, 1954, passed by the National Assembly by the required two-thirds majority, realized the revision of the constitution of the Fourth Republic. The law was the culmination of debates that had begun when the new constitution was framed. One might indeed say that constitutional reform was advocated throughout the whole period of the Third Republic, and in 1945 the French people overwhelmingly expressed themselves in favor of a constituent assembly to frame a new republican constitution. Yet when the document was drafted and submitted to the people it was received with great apathy and endorsed on October 13, 1946, by a minority of the registered voters. No sooner had it been put into force than the movement for reform recommenced, and various leaders like DeGaulle, Reynaud, Mendès-France, Laniel and Bidault joined the eminent statesmen of the Third Republic in proclaiming the need for further revision. Perhaps no better evidence testifies to the inherent instability of the French body politic than this perennial dissatisfaction with the basic instrument of government.

France Reopens the Constitutional Debate

1952 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 422-437
Author(s):  
Roy Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Third ◽  
Political Group ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
First Time ◽  
Political Groups

Less than six years have passed since the Constitution of the Fourth Republic was put into operation, yet every political group in France with the exception of the Communist Party, which has its own special plans for France's future, is currently participating in a movement for constitutional revision. Since July, 1950, no candidate for the post of Prime Minister has neglected to assert in his ministerial declaration the need for constitutional reform. The parties of the Third Force majority of the first legislature of the Fourth Republic set into motion for the first time, in November, 1950, the machinery for the amendment of the Constitution. The momentum which the revisionist movement had already gathered was given greater impetus by the elections of June, 1951, which reinforced markedly the political groups opposed to the Constitution at its inception. These groups had been able to muster only 106 votes in the Second Constituent Assembly of 1946. Later, in the first legislature but after the formation of a Gaullist parliamentary group, their strength rose to approximately 160 seats. And as a result of the elections of June, 1951, the same groups now command 300 seats in the second legislature.

The Revival of the Cult of Martin of Tours in the Third Republic

1997 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-501
Author(s):  
Brian Brennan
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Stained Glass ◽  
Roman Army ◽  
The Third ◽  
The People ◽  
Saint Martin ◽  
The French Revolution

Statuary groups, countless illustrations, and colorful stained glass all preserve for us the most famous medieval image of the charitable soldier-saint, Martin of Tours (336–397). The young Martin is depicted seated on his horse dividing his soldier's cape to share it with Christ disguised as a freezing beggar at the gate of Amiens. After abandoning the Roman army, Martin became a monk, an ascetic “soldier of Christ,” and was chosen by the people of Tours as their bishop. Renowned in his lifetime as a wonderworker, Martin's tomb remained for centuries an important pilgrimage center. The later Carolingian kings carried a fragment of Martin's cape into battle as a victory-giving talisman, and French monarchs invoked the saint as their patron. Because of its royalist associations, Saint Martin's basilica at Tours was almost completely destroyed in the French Revolution, and subsequently houses and new municipal streets encroached on the sacred space.

Revolution

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Rapport
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
French Society ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
The Third ◽  
The People ◽  
The French Revolution

This article describes many facets of the French Revolution. The French Revolution introduced parliamentary government to France, but it was only “an apprenticeship in democracy,” the first step towards modern, democratic politics, not its consummation. François Furet has controversially argued that the values and practices of democracy were not definitively embedded in France until the consolidation of the Third Republic in the 1870s, which he describes as “the French Revolution coming into port.” A continuing focus of research, therefore, are the ways in which the people entered politics outside the formal processes, namely in the dramatic expansion in civil society, which had been developing since the mid-eighteenth century, but which in the Revolution flowered with the collapse of censorship, empowering a wide cross-section of French society.

Freedom: The History and the Future of a Disputed Idea

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jessica Whyte
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Paris Commune ◽  
The Third ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Reign Of Terror

Around 1882, the photographer Albert Fernique photographed a group of Parisian workers gathered around trestles and benches inside a workshop. The floor is strewn with piles of wood and the ceiling beams tower above the workmen. Even so, the space is dwarfed by a massive, sculpted shoulder, draped in Roman robes, which dominates the background of the photograph; two workers watching the scene from a beam just below the roof appear to be perched on it like sparrows. The shoulder belonged to the statue, Liberty Enlightening the World—a gift to the United States from the France of the Third Republic. Work on the statue began here, in the workshop of the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, only a year after the suppression of the Paris Commune. More people were killed in that one Bloody Week (la semaine sanglante) in 1874 than were executed in the entire Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. If the statue was supposed to symbolize liberty, this was to be an orderly liberty far removed from the license of the armed Parisian workers and their short-lived utopian government. Unlike her ancestor Marianne, immortalized by Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, the statue does not wear the red cap that, since ancient Rome, had symbolized freedom from slavery. In the wake of the Paris Commune, the Third Republic banned the cap and sought to banish the unruly freedom it represented.

Public Opinion and Political Parties in France

1952 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1069-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Duverger
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Political Life ◽  
French Politics ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Groups

To any observer the French party system is bewildering. On the one hand, he sees that ten parliamentary groups are officially established in the National Assembly (not including the Overseas Independents); and, at the same time, he notes that only five of them are really organized throughout the country, and so entitled to be considered “parties” in the true sense of the word: the RPF, the Radicals, the MRP, the Socialists, and the Communists. On the other hand, he observes that the ablest French specialists in electoral sociology—particularly André Siegfried and his disciple, François Goguel—consider that, behind the apparent profusion of political groups, two basic divisions are always found, the continuing opposition of which has supplied for more than a century the essential dynamics of French politics. These two divisions are, of course, the Right and the Left, traditionally called “Order” and “Movement.” Nevertheless, the brief history of the Fourth Republic reveals an attempt to break down these two blocs, and to build a “Third Force” from smaller units. Under various names, such a Third Force has governed France from March, 1947, to March, 1952; and if our hypothetical observer will look back and analyze the political life of the Third Republic, he will find the same tendency there, not so marked and not so strong, but always present.

Vichy's Theatrical Venture

1970 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merrill A. Rosenberg
Keyword(s):  
Third Republic ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Small City ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
French Government ◽  
Southern Zone ◽  
The Third ◽  
Northern Zone ◽  
The Third Reich

When, on June 22, 1940, the French government signed an armistice with the Third Reich, France was divided into a northern zone, comprising about two-thirds of its total area including the Atlantic and Channel coasts, and a southern zone restricted to the lower third of the country. While the French government was to enjoy political autonomy in both zones, the southern zone was to be free of occupying troops. Less than three weeks after the signing of the Armistice, an overwhelming majority of the National Assembly annulled the Constitution of the Third Republic and invested Marshall Pètain with the authority to promulgate a new Constitution for the French State. Vichy, a small city in the southern zone, was chosen as its capital.

scholarly journals The road to democracy: The development of constitutionalism in Serbia 1869-1903

Balcanica ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 133-172
Author(s):  
Dusan Batakovic
Keyword(s):  
Third Republic ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Road ◽  
Coalition Governments ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will ◽  
First Time

After the swiftly abolished liberal Constitution of 1835 and the imposed 'Turkish' one of 1838 (imposed by the Russians and Ottomans, guarantors of Serbia's autonomy granted in 1830, to limit the princely power), the development of constitutionalism in modern Serbia went through several phases. As elsewhere in the Balkans, constitutions usually resulted from a compromise between the ruler and the elites rather than from the will of the people. The 1868 Constitution drew to an extent upon the early nineteenth-century German constitutional monarchies, but, under pressure from the politically mobilized population, the 1888 Constitution, proposed by the Radical Party in response to the egalitarian aspirations of the nation's agrarian majority, adopted a French constitutional model - with a unicameral system and frequent coalition governments. Shaped on the model of the Belgian Constitution of 1831, which in its turn was a modified version of the French Charte of 1830, it restored a French influence, expressed for the first time in the 1835 Constitution. The 1888 Constitution was passed by the Grand National Assembly with its five-sixth majority of Radicals, representatives of the agrarian majority. It was soon annulled by the coup d'?tat of 1894 and the Court-imposed Constitution of 1869 was reinstituted. The Constitution of 1901 was an attempt to introduce a bicameral system as a means of upholding the influential role of the ruler, while limiting that of the Radical Party, which had enjoyed an ample electoral support since the 1888 Constitution. After the assassination in 1903 of the last Obrenovic ruler king Alexander, and his wife, queen Draga, the liberal Constitution of 1888 with minor modifications was reinstituted. Under this Constitution - which is commonly known as the 1903 Constitution and which, during the democratic reign of king Peter I Kardjordjevic, was no longer challenged - Serbian democracy remained fragile, because there was no upper house to counteract as it did in the French Third Republic, the predominantly party-biased way of running the affairs of state.

Ethnic Identity, Participation and Social Justice: A Constitution for New Nepal?

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yash Ghai
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Party Government ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Fundamental State ◽  
The People ◽  
State Restructuring

AbstractFor nearly two centuries Nepal has been governed under the hegemony of three upper caste communities: Brahmins, Chettries and Newars. Under the influence of Hinduism and the monarchy, other communities, Dalits, women, indigenous peoples and the people of the southern parts were marginalised. Struggles of democracy in the 1950s were less about social justice than the access of the elite communities to increasing shares in the spoils and administration of the state, which was achieved in the 1990 Constitution. The Maoist rebellion in the mid 1990s seriously hampered the working of the Constitution, although not the hegemony of the upper caste communities. The uprising of the people against the King in April 2006 changed the context of that rebellion, accelerated the ceasefire and introduced a new constitutional agenda, based on social justice and the inclusion of the marginalised community in the affairs and institutions of the state. However, despite the overthrow of the monarchy, a multi-party government, of parties committed to fundamental state restructuring, progress towards a new dispensation has been slow. A new Constitution should have been adopted by April 2010 by an elected, representative Constituent Assembly but disagreements between the former elites, still firmly in control of politics, has diverted attention from constitutional reform.

scholarly journals Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz. Postać, która mogła połączyć narody byłego Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, a jednak ich nie połączyła

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 77-155
Author(s):  
Joanna Gierowska-Kałłaur
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Russian Territory ◽  
The Third ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
The People ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy

Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz. He who could have united the nations of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, yet did notRevered, fluent in all Borderland languages, an excellent soldier; Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz, back when he was a subordinate of Nikolai Yudenich, tried to rename the unit under his command to the "People's Army", or in other words, the Territorial or National Army. The territorial understanding of "Belarusness", in conjunction with the nearly atavistic antibolshevism of Bałachowicz, were a great asset in Józef Piłsudski's new political combination. Piłsudski decided to benefit from Savinkov's idealistic approach for his own purpose. The Russian Political Committee, Bałachowicz's troops and the statements of Vyacheslav Adamovich (father) were to support the establishment of Belarus for Belarusians. Not under Kaunas and Berlin, nor a Soviet one. A “Third Belarus”. A Belarus friendly towards Poland. Following discussions with Savinkov, the builder of the "Third Russia", Piłsudski engaged himself after 6 March 1920 (Millerand Note) in supporting (inter alia financially) the Russian Political Committee. Based on the agreement of the Polish Supreme Command with B.V. Savinkov, all Russian formations on the Polish territory were subordinated politically to B. Savinkov. On 27 August 1920, on the orders of the Supreme Command, Bałachowicz entered a secret agreement with Savinkov. They both were also to seek convening the Constituent Assembly, providing land for the people and democracy, and to create a Union of Nations (i.e., a federation). In the event of Bałachowicz's unit succeeding "deeper into Russian territory", the local government and the administrative board were to be founded on his authority. This is how Bułak-Bałachowicz was to become the executor of the first phase of Piłsudski's new "concept for Belarus". Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz. Postać, która mogła połączyć narody byłego Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, a jednak ich nie połączyłaDarzony powszechnym szacunkiem przez sobie współczesnych, posługujący się wszystkimi kresowymi językami, świetny żołnierz – Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz jeszcze jako podkomendny Mikołaja Judenicza, starał się o przemianowanie dowodzonego przez siebie oddziału na „Armię Ludową”, inaczej ujmując, Armię Terytorialną lub Krajową. Terytorialnym rozumieniem „białoruskości”, powiązanym z atawistycznym antybolszewizmem Bałachowicza, posłużył się Józef Piłsudski w swojej nowej kombinacji politycznej. Piłsudski postanowił wykorzystać nadarzające się romantyczne marzenie Sawinkowa o Trzeciej Rosji dla własnego celu. Rosyjski Komitet Polityczny, szable Bałachowicza i oświadczenia Wiaczesława Adamowicza ojca (Mozyrz, listopad 1920 r.) miały posłużyć do budowy – Białorusi dla Białorusinów. Nie „kowieńsko-berlińskiej” i nie „sowieckiej”. „Trzeciej Białorusi”. Białorusi przyjaznej Polsce. W wyniku rozmów z Sawinkowem, budowniczym „Trzeciej Rosji”, po 6 marca 1920 r. (tzw. Nota Milleranda) Piłsudski zaangażował się we wspieranie (również finansowe) Rosyjskiego Komitetu Politycznego. Na podstawie umowy Polskiego Naczelnego Dowództwa z B. W. Sawinkowem wszystkie formacje rosyjskie na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej zostały podporządkowane politycznie B. Sawinkowowi. 27 sierpnia 1920 r. z rozkazu Naczelnego Dowództwa Bałachowicz zawarł z Sawinkowem tajną umowę. Obaj z Sawinkowem dążyć mieli do zwołania w przyszłości Zgromadzenia Ustawodawczego, ziemi dla ludu, demokracji i utworzenia Związku Narodów (federacji). W przypadku posunięcia się oddziału Bułak-Bałachowicza „w głąb terytorium rosyjskiego” miały być przy nim zorganizowane samorząd lokalny i zarząd administracyjny. Właśnie w ten sposób Bułak-Bałachowicz miał być wykonawcą kolejnego „pomysłu” J. Piłsudskiego „na Białoruś”.

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