The Popular Front ( ) was an alliance of left-wing movements in France, including the French Communist Party (PCF), the socialist SFIO and the Radical-Socialist Republican Party, during the interwar period. Three months after the victory of the Spanish Popular Front, the Popular Front won the May 1936 legislative election, leading to the formation of a government first headed by SFIO leader Léon Blum and composed of republican and SFIO ministers.
Blum's government implemented various social reforms. The workers' movement welcomed this electoral victory by launching a general strike in May–June 1936, resulting in the negotiation of the Matignon Agreements, one of the cornerstones of social rights in France. All employees were assured a two-week paid vacation, and the rights of unions were strengthened. The socialist movement's euphoria was apparent in SFIO member Marceau Pivert's "Tout est possible!" (Everything is possible). However, the economy continued to stall, with 1938 production still not having recovered to 1929 levels, and higher wages had been neutralized by inflation. Businessmen took their funds overseas. Blum was forced to stop his reforms and devalue the franc. With the French Senate controlled by conservatives, Blum lost power in June 1937. The presidency of the cabinet was then taken over by Camille Chautemps, a Radical-Socialist, but Blum came back as President of the Council in March 1938, before being succeeded by Édouard Daladier, another Radical-Socialist, the next month. The Popular Front dissolved itself in autumn 1938, confronted by internal dissensions related to the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), opposition of the right-wing, and the persistent effects of the Great Depression.
After one year of major activity, it lost its spirit by June 1937 and could only temporize as the European crisis worsened. The Socialists were forced out; only the Radical-Socialists and smaller left-republican parties were left. It failed to live up to the expectations of the left. The workers obtained major new rights, but their 48 percent increase in wages was offset by a 46 percent rise in prices. Unemployment remained high, and overall industrial production was stagnant. Industry had great difficulty adjusting to the imposition of a 40-hour workweek, which caused serious disruptions while France was desperately trying to catch up with Germany in military production. France joined other nations and bitterly disappointed many French leftists in refusing to help the Spanish Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, partly because the right threatened another civil war in France itself.
Background
There are various reasons for the formation of the Popular Front and its subsequent electoral victory, including the economic crisis caused by the Great Depression, which affected France starting in 1931, financial scandals and the instability of the Chamber of Deputies elected in 1932 that had weakened the ruling parties, the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, the growth of violent far-right leagues in France and in general of fascist-related parties and organisations (Marcel Bucard's Mouvement Franciste, which was subsidised by Italian leader Benito Mussolini, Neosocialism etc.)
The elections of 1932 had resulted in a victory for the two largest parties of the left, the Marxist SFIO and the Radical-Socialist PRRRS, as well as several smaller parties ideologically close to Radicalism (an electoral pact known as the Cartel des Gauches); the Communist Party had run on its own, accusing the Socialists of social-fascism and opposing the subsequent centre-left governments. However, major differences between the SFIO and PRRRS prevented them from forming a cabinet together, as all had expected, leaving France governed by a series of short-lived cabinets formed exclusively of the six Radical parties.
The Socialist Party reliably granted its confidence to these cabinets but fundamentally disagreed with their budget cuts, and the various small liberal centre-right parties who agreed with the budget cuts refused to support centre-left governments in which they were not represented. With government paralyzed, tensions grew greater and greater both between the different parties in parliament and within public opinion. The tensions finally erupted into the infamous 6 February 1934 crisis in which massive riots by authoritarian paramilitary leagues caused the collapse of the Cartel. The Radical-Socialists and other republican centre-left parties accepted entry into a government dominated by the centre-right (the liberal conservative Democratic Alliance) and hard right (the Catholic conservative Republican Federation). The support by extreme-right paramilitaries for the National Unity government alarmed the left, which feared that plans to reform the constitution would lead to the abandonment of parliamentary government for an authoritarian regime, as had recently occurred in other European democracies.
The idea of a "Popular Front" therefore came simultaneously from three directions:
The frustration felt by many moderate Socialists and left-wing Radical-Socialists at the collapse of their previous attempts at government and an increasing desire to rebuild that coalition on a stronger basis to combat the economic crisis of the Great Depression The left-wing view that the 6 February 1934 riots had represented a deliberate attempt by the French far right for a coup d'état against the Republic The Comintern's alarm at the increased popularity of fascist and authoritarian right-wing regimes in Europe, and decision to abandon its hostile position towards social-democracy and parliamentarianism (see Third Period) in favour of the "Popular Front" position. This advocated an alliance with the social-democrats and authentically democratic middle-class republicans against the greater threat of the far-right.
Thus, antifascism became the order of the day for a growing number of Communists, Socialists and Republicans as a result of a convergence of influences: the collapse of the centre-left coalition of 1932, the fear of the consequences of the 1934 riots and the broader European policy of the Comintern.Brian Jenkins, "The Six Fevrier 1934 and the 'Survival' of the French Republic," French History (2006) 20#3 pp 333-351. Maurice Thorez, secretary general of the SFIC, was the first to call for the formation of a "Popular Front", first in the party press organ L'Humanité in 1934 and then in the Chamber of Deputies. The Radical-Socialists were at the time the largest party in the Chamber, and had often been the dominant party of government during the second half of the Third Republic.
Beside the three main left-wing parties, Radical-Socialists, SFIO and PCF, the Popular Front was supported by several other parties and associations.
These included several civil society organisations, chief among whom were:
The Confédération générale du travail (CGT) or General Confederation of Labour, a syndicalist trade-union confederation distinct from the Socialist and Communist parties; The Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH) or League of Human Rights, a civil rights watchdog formed during the Dreyfus Affair; The Movement Against War and Fascism, a left-wing anti-war association that fell within the Communist sphere of influence; The Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes (CVIA) or Vigilance Committee of Antifascist Intellectuals, a watchdog created in 1934 to organise resistance against a far-right takeover of the democratic regime.
The Communist, Socialist and Radical-Socialist parties were also joined by several smaller parties, mostly formed by dissidents who in previous years had exited the main three parties:
The Socialist Republican Union (USR), a social-democratic republican party led by Paul Ramadier, Marcel Déat and Joseph Paul-Boncour. This had been formed by the fusion of the SFIO's right-wing with the left wing of the middle-class republicans; The Party of Proletarian Unity (PUP), a dissident Leninist party created in 1930 and opposed both to social democracy and to the Third International; The Frontist Party (PF), a small anti-fascist splinter of the Radical-Socialist Party formed by Gaston Bergery in 1933; The Radical-Socialist Party Camille Pelletan (PRS-CP), a small anti-fascist splinter of the Radical-Socialist Party formed in May 1934 by Gabriel Cudenet; The Young Republic League (PJR) or Young Republic party, a small Catholic anti-war party formed by Marc Sangnier;
May 1936 elections and the formation of the Blum government
The Popular Front won the general election of 3 May 1936, with 386 seats out of 608. For the first time, the Socialists won more seats than the Radical-Socialists, and the Socialist leader, Léon Blum, became the first Socialist Prime Minister of France and the first Jew to hold that office. The first Popular Front cabinet consisted of 20 Socialists, 13 Radical-Socialists and two Socialist Republicans (there were no Communist Ministers) and, for the first time, included three women (who were then not able to vote in France).Julian T. Jackson, Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy 1934–1938 (1988)
The members of the Popular Front parties too small to form their own parliamentary grouping (the PUP, PF, PRS-CP and PJR) joined with several independents to sit together as the Independent Left (Gauche indépendante) parliamentary caucus.Jackson, Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy 1934–1938 (1988)
In government
Labor laws Through the 1936 Matignon Accords, the Popular Front government introduced new labor lawsAdrian Rossiter, "Popular Front economic policy and the Matignon negotiations." Historical Journal 30#3 (1987): 663-684. in JSTOR that did the following: created the right to strike created collective bargaining enacted the law mandating 12 days (two weeks) of paid annual leave for workers enacted the law limiting the working week to 40 hours; overtime was prohibited raised workers' wages (15% for the lowest-paid and 7% for the relatively well-paid) stipulated that employers would recognise shop stewards ensured that there would be no retaliation against strikers
The government sought to carry out its reforms as rapidly as possible. On 11 June, the Chamber of Deputies voted for the forty-hour workweek, the restoration of civil servants' salaries, and two weeks' paid holidays, by a majority of 528 to 7. The Senate voted in favour of these laws within a week.
Domestic reforms The Blum administration democratised the Bank of France by enabling all shareholders to attend meetings and set up a new council with more representation from government. By mid-August the parliament had passed: the creation of a national Office du blé (Grain Board or Wheat Office, through which the government helped to market agricultural produce at fair prices for farmers) to stabilise prices and curb speculation the nationalisation of the arms industries loans to small and medium-sized industries the raising of the compulsory school-leaving age to 14 years measures against illicit price rises a major public works program
The legislative pace of the Popular Front government meant that before parliament went into recess, it had passed 133 laws within the space of 73 days, a pace of nearly two enactments a day.