French Section of The Workers' International - Under The Fourth Republic

Under The Fourth Republic

After the liberation of France in 1944, while the PCF became the largest left-wing party, the project to create a labour based political party rallying the non-Communist Resistance failed in due to the disagreements opposing notably the Socialists and the Christian Democrats about laïcité, and the conflict with Charles de Gaulle about the new organisation of the institutions (parliamentary system or presidential government). The SFIO re-emerged and participated in the Three-parties alliance with the PCF and the Christian- democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP) under the leadership of de Gaulle, President of the provisional government. This coalition led the social policy inspired by National Council of Resistance's programme, installing the main elements of the French welfare state, nationalising banks and some industrial companies. While serving in government during the Forties, the SFIO was partly responsible for setting up the welfare state institutions of the Liberation period and helping to bring about France's economic recovery.

During the years of the Fourth Republic, the SFIO was also active in pressing for changes in araes such as education and agriculture. Through the efforts of the SFIO, a comprehensive Farm Law was passed in 1946 which provided that sharecroppers had the right to renew their options at the expiration of their leaseholds and that the owner could repossess the land only if he or his children worked it. In addition, sharecroppers could acquire ownership at low interest rates, while those who were forced to leave the land obtained compensation for the improvements that they made on the land. The sharecroppers also had the right to join a marketing cooperative, while their conflicts with owners were to be resolved at arbitration tribunals to which both sides elected an equal number of representatives.

In the early years of the Fourth Republic, the SFIO played an instrumental role in securing appropriations for 1,000 additional state elementary school teachers and in bringing in bills to extend the national laic school system to kindergarten and nursery school levels.

In Spring 1946, the SFIO reluctantly supported the constitutional plans of the Communist Party. They were rejected by referendum. The party supported the second proposal, prepared with the PCF and the MRP, and it was approved in October 1946.

However, the coalition split in May 1947. Because of the Cold War, the Communist ministers were excluded from the cabinet led by Socialist Paul Ramadier. Anti-communism prevented the French left from forming a united front. The Communists had taken control of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union. This was relatively weakened by the 1948 creation of a social-democratic trade union Workers' Force (FO), which was supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. This split was led by former CGT secretary general Léon Jouhaux, who was granted the Nobel peace prize three years later. Teachers' union (Federation for National Education, FEN) chosen to gain autonomy towards the two confederations in order to conserve its unity. But Socialist syndicalists took the control of the FEN, which became the main training ground of the SFIO party.

A Third Force coalition was constituted by centre-right and centre-left parties, including the SFIO, in order to block the opposition of the Communists on the one hand, and of the Gaullists on the other. Besides, in spite of Léon Blum's support, the party leader Daniel Mayer was defeated in aid of Guy Mollet. If the new secretary general was supported by the left wing of the party, he was very hostile to any form of alliance with the PCF. He said "the Communist Party is not on the Left but in the East". At the beginning of the 1950s, the disagreements with its governmental partners about denominational schools and the colonial problem explained a more critical attitude of the SFIO membership. In 1954, the party was deeply divided about the European Defense Community. Against the instructions of the party lead, the half of the parliamentary group voted against the project, and contributed to its failure.

Progressively, the Algerian War of Independence became the major issue of the political debate. During the 1956 legislative campaign, the party took part in the Republican Front, a centre-left coalition led by Radical Pierre Mendès France, who advocated a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Guy Mollet took the lead of the cabinet but led a very repressive policy. After the May 1958 crisis, he supported the return of Charles de Gaulle and the establishment of the Fifth Republic.

Moreover, the SFIO was divided about the repressive policy of Guy Mollet in Algeria and his support to De Gaulle's return. If the party returned in opposition in 1959, it couldn't prevent the constitution of another Unified Socialist Party (PSU) in 1960, joined the next year by Pierre Mendès France, who was trying to anchor the Radical Party amongst the left-wing movement and opposed the colonial wars.