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Fourth Republic
Fourth Republic, government of the French Republic from 1946 to 1958. The postwar provisional president Charles de Gaulle resigned in 1946, expecting that public support would bring him back to power with a mandate to impose his constitutional ideas. Instead, the constituent assembly chose the socialist Félix Gouin to replace him. The assembly submitted two draft constitutions to a popular ...
Government and Society
When France fell into political turmoil after the May 1958 insurrection in Algeria (then still a French colony), General Charles de Gaulle, an outspoken critic of the postwar constitution who had served as the provisional head of government in the mid-1940s, returned to political life as prime minister. He formed a government and, through the constitutional law of June 1958, was granted ...
Revolution, Republic, Politics
France - Revolution, Republic, Politics: A provisional government of national defense was set up in 1870 and took as its first task the continuation of the war against the invaders. Composed of the deputies representing Paris and formally headed by General Louis-Jules Trochu, the new government's most forceful member was Léon Gambetta, hero of the radical republicans.