First let me be clear. I am not an economist or an expert on French politics. I am writing things as logically as possible here. Before I spring my little surprise in the election mentioned at the end of this chapter I am going to post this section on post war France. Please feel to comment, and where you think you can reasonably "fill in the blanks" with names as well as facts and figures to help me here please do. Any help will be appreciated.
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Chapter Two: France (1914-1934)
France was a nation hurt, bleeding, and spoiling for revenge following World War I.
The Treaty of Berlin had been extremely lenient to France, at least from the German point of view. To the French it was another major humiliation. France was forced to cede some of its most important iron and coal producing territories to German for 20 years as reparations for the war. And France had to demilitarize all its territories bordering Belgium and Germany.
The German victory would lead to the toppling of President Poincare’ from power. At first the new government seemed to show a definite socialist leaning. But the March on Paris by disgruntled French veterans also showed a growing conservative and right-wing tendency that would make itself even more known in the decades to come.
The Socialist leaning government under Georges Clemenceau would last only five years. It would be toppled in 1919 following a major economic recession. Meantime the French version of the trial of the century would add fuel to the fire of discontent namely the trial/court martial of General Joffre.
The Trial of General Joffre
The trial of General Joseph Joffre would begin on January 5, 1915. The General had been arrested just after returning to the provisional capital of Lyons, France on charges of incompetence, insubordination, and failure to acknowledge and obey orders.
To the government Joffre was the reason for France’s failure in the war. His mismanagement of the armies under his command had led to France’s military defeat.
But, to the veterans who had served under Joffre the general was a convenient scapegoat the government could use to deflect from the blame it shared in this defeat. They argued that Joffre had been “stabbed in the back” by a government which had refused to give him enough support. Instead of having General Petain push to relive Paris the government had merely appointed him to hold a defensive line on the Seine to guard the way to Lyons.
Demonstrations for and against the General would be held in cities throughout ance. Some of them turning violent when the demonstrators from both sides met.
The trial itself would last for 3 months with witnesses ranging from Joffre’s personal staff to General von Kluck who was called for the Defense. After von Kluck’s testimony as he was stepping down from the stand, he turned to the defense docket and saluted Joffre which brought cheers from the balcony from many of the veterans there.
One reporter for a Socialist-run newspaper would comment.
“Watching the enthusiasm of these men for their General I could not help but wonder. The war only lasted 2 months and while the cost in French lives was considerable it was less then it could have been. If the war had lasted two years rather then two months. Would these men be cheering the good General or cursing his name?”
By the end of March there was tension in Paris where the trial was being held and throughout France. The new President had sent word to the police forces in every major city to be on alert for trouble once the final verdicts were read.
On March 28th General Joffre stood before the judges as the verdict was rendered.
On the charge of Incompetence: Not Guilty.
On the charge of Insubordination: Not Guilty.
On the charge of Disobeying Orders: Guilty.
The gallery broke into shouts of outrage mixed with a few cheers. After the judges gaveled the trial to order the sentence was read.
Ten years imprisonment on Cayenne, commonly known as Devil’s Island.
Once again, the shouting broke out. This time the judges had to order the court cleared. Through all this General Joffre stood silently at attention.
Loud and often violent demonstrations broke out in every French city and town led by veterans and right-wing political parties. The verdict marked the fall of the government. A no-confidence vote in the National Assembly caused the collapse of the left-leaning government and the rise of a more conservative government.
The verdict in the trial of General Joffre was by no means the sole reason for France’s movement to the right. But it could be fairly said it was the first domino falling that started the chain.
The French Economy
With most of France’s coal and iron ore production under German control for 20 years the French economy suffered a major recession. France was forced to import a large amount of the coal and iron ore it needed but even so large numbers of veterans returned from the war to find they no longer had jobs.
Exports from France’s colonies allowed her to offset some of the economic impact she had suffered by the loss of her coal and iron producing areas by the simple expedient of trading more of the product produced in her colonies for needed iron ore and coal from Britain and the United States.
Even with this however by 1919 unemployment figures were reaching 14 percent in France proper.
Compounding the problem was a minor flood of refugees from the German occupied territories. Frenchmen who refused to work for the Germans. The Germans had allowed French to remain the primary language in the conquered territories since those territories were to be returned in 1934. And in general, French cultural traditions were respected. But many a patriotic Frenchman in those occupied territories refused to work for a German boss.
Unfortunately, this group of refugees would add to the jobless problem. There was no more work for them in France then there had been for the veterans returning from the war.
Given that France now had to import more in the way of finished goods and raw materials the prices for those goods and items made from those raw materials would rise to cover said cost. As a result, you had unemployed people seeking jobs that weren’t there and those that were employed having to pay more for what was on the shelves. This would make the electorate more and more prone to a drift politically to the right.
The Drift to the Right
France did not become what it would be by 1934 overnight. Instead it was gradual drift marked at times by various attempts by a Socialist/Communist coalition to “bring the nation back to sanity,” as many of their political slogans would state.
But every time during the post war period leading up to the withdrawal of the Germans from the occupied provinces in 1934 that the coalition came to power either in the National Assembly or in the Presidency, the government they formed would barely last a year. Part of this was the desire of the socialist coalition to impose wage and price controls particularly on milk and dairy products. (The area occupied by Germany also happened to be a center for French dairy production.) and on other products. In addition, the decisions by some of these governments to cut the pensions of veterans in the war and to reduce the size of the military would be met by demonstrations, often violent.
To the right the “unholy alliance” created by the socialists with the communists fueled voices that claimed the war had been lost because of the left-leaning traitors in the French government. Never mind that many among the socialists had solidly been on the side of the peace movement to stop the war. Unfortunately, many bought the idea that this coalition of socialists had somehow been responsible for the French defeat. Their purpose was nothing less then bringing about a French communist state.
The cries of these alarmists and conspiracists would find listening ears among many of the French population, particularly among the middle class and the religious conservatives.
By 1921 the number of seats held by the Socialist Coalition was shrinking with each election. The conservative parties in France were more and more the majority.
Military Advances
One thing France learned coming out of the First World War was the need for mobility. The speed with which the Germans were able to overwhelm the French and encircle Paris showed that a mobile army was a winning army.
As a result, the French generals of the late 1910s and 1920s looked for ways to make their armies move quicker in the field. To this end France was one of the first nations to produce an armored personnel carrier (APC). In addition, France was quick to adopt British designs for the armored vehicle British soldiers called a “tank”. France had two designs that Renault was producing by the end of the 20’s. However, the iron ore and steel shortages meant that France would not have fully operational tank or mobile armored divisions until the 30’s.
In airpower the French proved they could produce fighters and bombers the equal of the German models that were now appearing. But again, to produce the planes in enough quantities to be useful in combat required raw materials that were needed elsewhere in the French economy.
The French were eager to join the naval arms race begun by the failure of the warring nations to reach a suitable agreement on tonnage limitations. But again, they were plagued by the need for the metal to build new ships with. Until 1934 they were forced to simply maintain a fleet that was rapidly becoming obsolescent. With only one experimental aircraft carrier – the
Libertie’ – being built during this period.
The French armed forces were a rapidly aging force but with the technology to make a major leap forward.
The Elections of 1930
By 1930 with the nation’s politics more and more leaning to the right a coalition of conservative and ultra-conservative group formed in response to a massive attempt by the Socialist Old Left to win back a majority in the National Assembly. The promises of the Old Left for
travail, pain, espere (work, bread, hope) did not resonate with a French public whom wanted these things but not at the price it seemed the Old Left wanted for them.
The 1930 elections were further affected by the repeal of several old laws by the National Assembly specifically one which barred members of the former French ruling dynasties from residing in France. Calling the law, “a piece of republican trash forcing France’s sons to live apart from their home,” lawmakers had repealed the law in 1928 in the Assembly.
This set the stage in 1930 for one of the former members of France’s former ruling families to come home.
