Foundation
The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on April 14, 1947, one year after the resignation of De Gaulle from the presidency of the provisional government and four months after the proclamation of the Fourth Republic. It advocated a constitutional revision in order to institute a presidential government. Indeed, for De Gaulle, the "regime of the parties" which characterized the parliamentary system, did not permit the advent of a strong and efficient state. However, in French Republican culture, democracy and parliamentary sovereignty were inseparable. De Gaulle was accused of wanting to establish a Bonapartist government, a solitary power.
A resolute opponent of the parties (as in his mind, they served particular interests and divided the nation), de Gaulle wanted the RPF to be a rally, not a political party and allowed members of other parties (except Communists and former Vichy regime supporters) to join without compromising their other membership, but this hope was never realized. By 1948, the party counted half a million members, just behind the Communist Party. The RPF was able to gain the support of Maurrasien royalists (of the Action Française), leftist republicans (André Malraux), moderates, christian democrats (Edmond Michelet), radicals (Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Michel Debré), and even socialists and communists. Nevertheless, most of its voters came from the right-wing electorate.
Read more about this topic: Rally Of The French People
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