Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliation politics during the interwar period (19181939).
In 1926, he received the Nobel Peace Prize along with German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann for the realization of the Locarno Treaties, which aimed at reconciliation between France and Germany after the First World War. To avoid another worldwide conflict, he was instrumental in the agreement known as the Kellogg–Briand Pact of 1928, as well to establish a "European Union" in 1929. However, all his efforts were compromised by the rise of nationalistic and revanchist ideas like Nazism and fascism following the Great Depression.
Early life Briand was born in Nantes, Loire-Inférieure (now Loire-Atlantique) of a petit bourgeois family. He attended the Nantes Lycée, where, in 1877, he developed a close friendship with Jules Verne. He studied law at the University of Paris Faculty of Law. After graduating he entered into politics, associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for the syndicalist journal Le Peuple, and directing the Lanterne for some time. From this he passed to the Petite République, leaving it to found , in collaboration with Jean Jaurès.
Activism At the same time Briand was prominent in the movement for the formation of trade unions, and at the congress of workers at Nantes in 1894, he secured the adoption of the labor union idea against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand was one of the leaders of the French Socialist Party. In 1902, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong partisan of the union of the left in what was known as the Bloc, to check the reactionary deputies of the right.
From the beginning of his career in the Chamber of Deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of the separation of church and state. He was appointed the reporter of the commission charged with the preparation of the 1905 law on separation, and his report at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without dividing the parties upon whose support he relied.
He was the principal author of the law of separation, but, not content with preparing it; he wished to apply it as well. The ministry of Maurice Rouvier was allowing disturbances during the taking of inventories of church property, a clause of the law for which Briand was not responsible. Consequently, he accepted the portfolio of Public Instruction and Worship in the Sarrien ministry (1906). So far as the chamber was concerned, his success was complete. But the acceptance of a position in a bourgeois ministry led to his exclusion from the Unified Socialist Party (March 1906). As opposed to Jaurès, he contended that the Socialists should co-operate actively with the Radicals in all matters of reform, and not stand aloof to await the complete fulfillment of their ideals. He himself was atheist.
He became a freemason in the lodge Le Trait d'Union in July 1887 while the lodge did not record his name in spite of his repeated requests. Le Trait d'Union Orient de Saint-Nazaire lodge had declared him "unworthy of belonging to the great masonic family on 6 September 1889".A. Pageot, Notes sur la Franc-Maçonnerie dans la Loire-Inférieure, Ancenis, Imp. A. Allard, 1911, p. 26. In 1895 he joined the lodge Les Chevaliers du Travail that was established in 1893.
Prime Minister of France
Pre-war Briand served as Minister of Justice under Georges Clemenceau in 1908–9, before succeeding Clemenceau as Prime Minister on 24 July 1909, serving until 2 March 1911. In social policy, Briand's first ministry was notable for the passage of a bill in April 1910 for workers' and farmers' pensions. That same year, compulsory sickness and old-age insurance was introduced for 8 million rural and urban workers. However, a law court decision in 1912 that questioned the legality of compulsion "enabled a large proportion of employers and workers to evade the law."Foundations of the Welfare State, 2nd Edition by Pat Thane, published 1996 In addition, a law of November 1909 guaranteed employment to women in childbirth,Timeline: History of labor relations since the Le Chapelier Law of 1791 (In French), By The Editorial Team, Last modified: December 1, 2020, Published by Vie-publique.fr while a partially government subsidized private mutual maternity insurance program was set up,Debating the Woman Question in the French Third Republic, 1870-1920 By Karen Offen, 2018, P.430 and a law of December 1909 guaranteed the payment of wages at regular intervals.
Briand again served as Minister of Justice 1912-13 under the premiership of the rightwinger Raymond Poincaré (soon to become president of the Republic), before again becoming prime minister for a few months from 21 January 1913 until 22 March 1913.
First World War
1914–15
At the end of August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, Briand again became minister of justice when René Viviani reconstructed his ministry. In the winter of 1914–15 Briand was one of those who pushed for an expedition to Salonika, in the hope of helping Serbia, and perhaps bringing Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Italy into the war as a pro-French bloc, which would also act as a barrier to future Russian expansion in the Balkans. He got on well with Lloyd George, who was also, contrary to military advice, keen for operations in the Balkans, and had a long talk with him on 4 February 1915. Briand was the main mover in persuading Maurice Sarrail to accept the Salonika command in August 1915.Greenhalgh 2014, pp. 100, 108
In October 1915 following an unsuccessful French offensive and the entry of Bulgaria, Briand again became prime minister (29 October 1915), succeeding René Viviani. He also became foreign minister for the first time, a post held by Théophile Delcassé until the final weeks of the previous government. He was also pledged to "unité de front", not just between the military and Parliament but also closer links with the other Allies, a pledge met with "prolonged, thunderous applause" by the deputies.Greenhalgh 2005, pp. 36, 38–9
Draft proposals for Allied cooperation, prepared by Lord Esher and Maurice Hankey were on the table by the time British prime minister H. H. Asquith visited Paris on 17 November (mainly to discuss Greece, and only his second wartime talks with France; the first had been with Viviani in July 1915).
The opening weeks of Briand's ministry required him to broker an agreement between General Gallieni, the new War Minister, and General Joffre, newly (2 December) promoted to "Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies" (generalissimo) over all theatres apart from North Africa.There had already been friction between the two men when Gallieni, Joffre's former superior, had been recalled from retirement to be Military governor of Paris during the First Battle of the Marne earlier in the war.Doughty 2005, pp. 229–32
1916 In the poisonous atmosphere after the opening of the German attack at Verdun (21 February 1916), Gallieni read an angry report at the Council of Ministers on 7 March criticising Joffre's conduct of operations over the last eighteen months and demanding ministerial control, then resigned. He was falsely suspected of wanting to launch a military takeover of the government.Clayton 2003, pp. 97–8 Briand knew that publication of the report would damage morale and might bring down the government. Gallieni was persuaded to remain in office until a replacement had been agreed.Doughty 2005, pp. 284–5 General Roques was appointed after it had been ensured that Joffre had no objections.Doughty 2005, p. 285
The first formal Allied conference met in Paris on 26 March 1916 (Italy did not participate) but initially made little impact, perhaps because Briand had vetoed the British suggestion of a permanent secretariat,French ministers' meetings were not then minuted, whereas in the UK at that time the prime minister had to write a report of meetings to the king, until the end of the year when formal agenda and minutes, drawn up by Hankey, were introduced by Lloyd George or perhaps because there had been three informal sets of Anglo-French talks in the last quarter of 1915, one of which, the Chantilly meeting, had already seen strategy plans drawn up.
Late in March 1916 Joffre and Briand blocked the withdrawal of five British divisions from Salonika. Briand was widely suspected of wanting to help his mistress Princess George of Greece, who was born a Bonaparte.Palmer 1998, p. 55 In the spring of 1916 Briand urged Sarrail to take the offensive in the Balkans to take some of the heat off Verdun, although the British, preoccupied with the upcoming Somme offensive, declined to send further troops and Sarrail's offensive that summer was not a success.Greenhalgh 2014, p.159 Briand also attended the conference at Saleux on 31 May 1916 about the upcoming Anglo-French offensive on the Somme, with President Poincaré (on whose train it was held), General Foch (commander, Army Group North) and the British Commander-in-Chief General Haig.Greenhalgh 2005, p.50
The first Secret Session of the Chamber of Deputies was held in June 1916 to discuss the shortcomings of the defence at Verdun. The government won a vote of confidence but with a clause demanding "effective supervision" of the army. The Parliamentary Army Commission elected Abel Ferry as a commissioner (1 August). By October Ferry was presenting his fourth report on army railways, to Joffre's fury.Greenhalgh 2014, p. 167-8
Late in 1916 Roques had been sent on a fact-finding mission to Salonika after Britain, Italy and Russia had pushed for the dismissal of the theatre commander Sarrail. To Briand's and Joffre's surprise, Roques returned recommending that Sarrail be reinforced and that Sarrail no longer report to Joffre. Coming on the back of the disappointing results of the Somme campaign and the defeat of Romania, Roques' report further discredited Briand and Joffre and added to the Parliamentary Deputies' demands for a closed session.Doughty 2005, p318-20 In November Ferry presented a report on the shortage of manpower. A secret session was held on 21 November about calling up the Class of 1918i.e. teenagers who would not normally have been liable for military service until that year followed by another a week later.
On 27 November Briand proposed that Joffre be effectively demoted to commander-in-chief in northern France, with both he and Sarrail reporting to the War Minister, although he withdrew this proposal after Joffre threatened resignation. The Closed Session began on 28 November and lasted until 7 December. Briand had little choice but to make concessions to preserve his government, and in a speech of 29 November he promised to repeal Joffre's promotion of December 1915 and in vague terms to appoint a general as technical adviser to the government. Briand survived a confidence vote by 344-160 (six months earlier he had won a confidence vote 440-80).
Reconstructed government On 13 December Briand formed a new government, reducing the size of the Council of Ministers from 23 to 10 and replacing Roques with General Lyautey. That day his government survived a vote of confidence by 30 votes, and Joffre was appointed "general-in-chief of the French armies, technical adviser to the government, consultative member of the War Committee" (he was persuaded to accept by Briand, but soon found that he had been stripped of real power and asked to be relieved altogether on 26 December), with Robert Nivelle replacing him as commander-in-chief of the Armies of the North and Northeast.Doughty 2005, p320-1