Edouard Daladier

From Metapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Daladier chatting with von Ribbentrop at Munich, Sept 1938.

Édouard Daladier (18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-Left) politician, and served three times as Prime Minister of France;


Daladier had served in the French Army as a Lieutenant, then Captain, in World War I. In May 1917, he received the Legion of Honour for gallantry in action and was also later awarded the Croix de Guerre.[1] After demobilisation he was elected a Parliamentary Deputy for Vaucluse (16 November 1919 – 10 July 1940).

He served as Minister for Colonies in Herriot's First Ministry, 14 June 1924 – 17 April 1925; Prime Minister of France 31 January 1933 – 26 October 1933 (this government took office almost on the same day as the new National Socialist Government in Germany); 30 January 1934 – 9 February 1934, when, following the massive Paris riots against his government, on February 6th, Daladier's short-lived government collapsed; and again 10 April 1938 – 21 March 1940. He was the Prime Minister of France who negotiated and signed the Munich Agreement. He was also Minister of Defence 4 June 1936 – 18 May 1940;

Czech crisis

During the Czechoslovakian crisis of 1938 it was announced that Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini and Daladier were to meet at Munich on September 27th. Georges Bonnet announced that it would 'spare the lives of millions of Europeans'.[2] At the conclusion of the conference Daladier told a D.N.B Press Agency correspondent:

I think the Munich meeting may prove to be an historical date in the life of Europe. Thanks to the great comprehension shown by the four Great Western Powers war has been avoided, and a peace with honour assured. It was a great pleasure for me to find that there was no feeling of hatred or hostility towards France in Germany.

All along the way from the hotel to the aerodrome Daladier was the subject of warm ovations. All the way to his plane the crowds in Germany were cheering him. He arrived at Le Bourget to the same large cheering crowds. He waved cheerfully. Large crowds cheered him all the way to the War Office. The Paris Press that day described Munich as an unspeakably happy event.[3]

Last Cabinet

Daladier's third ministry, 10 April 1938 – 21 March 1940

  • Édouard Daladier (right) with ambassador André François-Poncet at the Munich Agreement 1938
  • Édouard Daladier – President of the Council and Minister of National Defence and War
  • Camille Chautemps – Vice President of the Council in charge of coordination of the Office of the Presidency of the Council
  • Georges Bonnet – Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Albert Sarraut – Minister of the Interior
  • Paul Marchandeau – Minister of Finance
  • Raymond Patenôtre – Minister of National Economy
  • Paul Ramadier – Minister of Labour
  • Paul Reynaud – Minister of Justice
  • César Campinchi – Minister of Military Marine
  • Louis de Chappedelaine – Minister of Merchant Marine
  • Guy La Chambre – Minister of Air
  • Jean Zay – Minister of National Education
  • Auguste Champetier de Ribes – Minister of Veterans and Pensioners
  • Henri Queuille – Minister of Agriculture
  • Georges Mandel – Minister of Colonies
  • Ludovic-Oscar Frossard – Minister of Public Works
  • Marc Rucart – Minister of Public Health
  • Alfred Jules-Julien [fr] – Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
  • Fernand Gentin – Minister of Commerce

Changes

  • 23 August 1938 – Charles Pomaret succeeds Ramadier as Minister of Labour. Anatole de Monzie succeeds Frossard as Minister of Public Works.
  • 1 November 1938 – Paul Reynaud succeeds Paul Marchandeau as Minister of Finance. Marchandeau succeeds Reynaud as Minister of Justice.
  • 29 July 1939 – Jean Giraudoux enters the Cabinet as Minister of Information.
  • 13 September 1939 – Georges Bonnet succeeds Marchandeau as Minister of Justice. Daladier succeeds Bonnet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, remaining also Minister of National Defence and War. Raymond Patenôtre leaves the Cabinet and the position of Minister of National Economy is abolished. Alphonse Rio succeeds Chappedelaine as Minister of Merchant Marine. Yvon Delbos succeeds Zay as Minister of National Education. René Besse succeeds Champetier as Minister of Veterans and Pensioners. Raoul Dautry enters the Cabinet as Minister of Armaments. Georges Pernot enters the Cabinet as Minister of Blockade.

WWII

After the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed, Daladier responded to the public outcry by outlawing the French Communist Party on the basis that it had refused to condemn Joseph Stalin's actions. During the Danzig Crisis, Daladier was greatly influenced by the advice that he received from the anti-National Socialist Robert Coulondre, the French ambassador in Berlin, that Hitler would back down if France made a firm enough stand toward Poland. On 31 August 1939, Daladier read out to the French cabinet a letter he received from Coulondre: "The trial of strength turns to our advantage. It is only necessary to hold, hold, hold!" After the German invasion of Poland on September 1st, he reluctantly declared war on Germany three days later under considerable pressure to do so from the British.

In March 1940, Daladier resigned as Prime Minister because of his/France's failure to aid Finland's defence during the Winter War, and he was replaced by Paul Reynaud. Daladier remained Defence Minister, however, and his antipathy to the new Prime Minister prevented Reynaud from dismissing Maurice Gamelin as Supreme Commander of the French armed forces. After the massive German breakthrough at Sedan, Daladier swapped ministerial offices with Reynaud and became Foreign Minister while Reynaud became Defence Minister. Gamelin was finally replaced by Maxime Weygand on 19 May 1940, nine days after the German invasion.

With a handful of others Daladier fled to French Morocco, but was subsequently arrested and tried for treason by the government. He was imprisoned from late 1940 to April 1943, when he was handed over to the Germans and deported, briefly, to Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. The following month he was transported to Itter Castle, in North Tyrol, with other Frenchmen, where he remained until the end of the war.

Post-war

After the war ended, Daladier was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies, again for Vaucluse, in 1946, and acted as a patron to the Radical-Socialist Party's young reforming leader, the Jewish Pierre Mendès-France. He also was elected as the Mayor of Avignon in 1953. He opposed the transferral of powers to Charles de Gaulle after the May 1958 crisis but, in the subsequent legislative elections of that year, failed to secure re-election. He withdrew from politics after a career of almost 50 years at the age of 74.

He died in 1970 and was buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Sources

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20190228130418/http://movies2.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0618.html
  2. ↑ Werth, Alexander, France and Munich, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1939/republished by Howard Fertig, New York, 1969, pps:310-314.
  3. ↑ Werth, 1939/1969, pps: 318-320
  • Werth, Alexander, France in Ferment, 3rd impression, Jarrolds, London, 1935, see index, some 40 references.
  • Werth, Alexander, The Destiny of France, 3rd impression, Hamish Hamilton,, London, April 1937, see index, some 25 references.
Retrieved from "http://en.metapedia.org/m/index.php?title=Edouard_Daladier&oldid=527242"