Pierre Mendès France

Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a coalition of Gaullists (RPF), moderate socialists (UDSR), Christian democrats (MRP) and liberal-conservatives (CNIP). Pierre-Mendès France is primarily remembered as the French Prime Minister who was in office at the outbreak of the Algerian independence war in 1954. During his tenure, France initiated close military cooperation with Israel, selling arms and aircraft to the young state. Mendès-France laid the groundwork for France’s military nuclear program and the early transfer of nuclear technology to Israel.

Early life Mendès France was born on 11 January 1907 in Paris, the son of a textile merchant from Limoges. He was descended from Portuguese Jews who settled in France in the 16th century.

Third Republic and World War II

In 1932, Mendès France was elected member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Eure department; he was the Assembly's youngest member. His ability was soon recognized, and in 1938 the government of Léon Blum appointed him Under Secretary of State for Finance. He was imprisoned for desertion. Later, Mendès France next came to an agreement with Habib Bourguiba, the nationalist leader in Tunisia, for the independence of that colony by 1956, and began discussions with the nationalist leaders in Morocco for a French withdrawal. He also favoured concessions to the nationalists in Algeria; but the presence of a million Pied-noirs there left the colonial power no easy way to extricate itself from that situation. The future mercenary Bob Denard was convicted in 1954 and sentenced to fourteen months in prison for an assassination attempt against Mendès France.

Mendès France hoped that the Radical Party would become the party of modernization and renewal in French politics, replacing the SFIO. An advocate of greater European integration, he helped bring about the formation of the Western European Union, and proposed far-reaching economic reform. He also favoured defence co-operation with other European countries, but the National Assembly rejected the proposal for a European Defence Community, mainly because of misgivings about Germany's participation.

His cabinet fell in February 1955. In 1956 he served as Minister of State in the cabinet headed by the SFIO leader Guy Mollet, but resigned over Mollet's handling of the Algerian War,

In 1967 he returned to the Assembly as a PSU member for the Isère, but again lost his seat in the 1968 landslide election victory of the Gaullist party UDR. Mendès France and the PSU expressed sympathy for the sentiments and actions of the student rioters during the events of May 1968, a position unusual for a politician of his age and status. One year later, Pompidou's socialist opponent in the presidential election of 1969, Gaston Defferre of the SFIO, designated him his preferred Prime Minister prior to the election. The two campaigned together in what was the first – and so far only – dual "ticket" in a French presidential election. Defferre gained only 5% of the vote and was eliminated in the election's first round. When François Mitterrand formed a new Socialist Party in 1971, Mendès France supported him, but did not attempt another political comeback. He lived long enough to see Mitterrand elected president.

Political career Governmental function President of the Council of Ministers : 1954–1955. Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1954–1955. Minister of State : January–May 1956 (Resignation).

Electoral mandatesNational Assembly of FranceMember of the National Assembly of France for Eure : 1932–1942 (Deposition by Philippe Pétain) / 1946–1958. Elected in 1932, reelected in 1936, 1946, 1951, 1956. Member of the National Assembly of France for Isère (2nd constituency) : 1967–1968. Elected in 1968.General CouncilPresident of the General Council of Eure : 1951–1958. Reelected in 1955. General councillor of Eure : 1937–1958. Reelected in 1945, 1951.Municipal councilMayor of Louviers : 1935–1939 (Resignation) / 1953–1958 (Resignation). Reelected in 1953. Municipal councillor of Louviers : 1935–1939 (Resignation) / 1953–1958 (Resignation). Reelected in 1953.

Mendès France's first Ministry, 19 June 1954 – 20 January 1955

Pierre Mendès France – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs Marie Pierre Koenig – Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces François Mitterrand – Minister of the Interior Edgar Faure – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of Commerce and Industry Eugène Claudius-Petit – Minister of Labour and Social Security Émile Hugues – Minister of Justice Jean Berthoin – Minister of National Education Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Veterans and War Victims Roger Houdet – Minister of Agriculture Robert Buron – Minister of Overseas France Jacques Chaban-Delmas – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism Louis Aujoulat – Minister of Public Health and Population Maurice Lemaire – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing Christian Fouchet – Minister of Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs Guy La Chambre – Minister of Relations with Partner States

Changes 14 August 1954 – Emmanuel Temple succeeds Koenig as Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces. Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury succeeds Chaban-Delmas as interim Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism. Eugène Claudius-Petit succeeds Lemaire as interim Minister of Reconstruction and Housing. 3 September 1954 – Jean Masson succeeds Temple as Minister of Veterans and War Victims. Jean-Michel Guérin de Beaumont succeeds Hugues as Minister of Justice. Henri Ulver succeeds Bourgès-Maunoury as Minister of Commerce and Industry. Jacques Chaban-Delmas succeeds Bourgès-Maunoury as Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism and Claudius-Petit as Minister of Reconstruction and Housing. Louis Aujoulat succeeds Claudius-Petit as Minister of Labour and Social Security. André Monteil succeeds Aujoulat as Minister of Public Health and Population. 12 November 1954 – Maurice Lemaire succeeds Chaban-Delmas as Minister of Reconstruction and Housing.

Mendès France's second Ministry, 20 January 1955 – 23 February 1955

Pierre Mendès France – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgar Faure – Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacques Chevallier – Minister of National Defense Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of Armed Forces François Mitterrand – Minister of the Interior Robert Buron – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning Henri Ulver – Minister of Commerce and Industry Louis Aujoulat – Minister of Labor and Social Security Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Justice Raymond Schmittlein – Minister of Merchant Marine Jean Berthoin – Minister of National Education Jean Masson – Minister of Veterans and War Victims Roger Houdet – Minister of Agriculture Jean-Jacques Juglas – Minister of Overseas France Jacques Chaban-Delmas – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism André Monteil – Minister of Public Health and Population Maurice Lemaire – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing Christian Fouchet – Minister of Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs Guy La Chambre – Minister of Relations with Partner States

Honours National honours Commander of the Legion of Honour Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Resistance Medal

Foreign honours Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite Gran Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory (Tunisia)