André Tardieu

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André Tardieu
André Tardieu

In office
November 2, 1929 – February 21, 1930
President Gaston Doumergue
Preceded by Aristide Briand
Succeeded by Camille Chautemps

In office
March 2, 1930 – December 13, 1930
President Gaston Doumergue
Preceded by Camille Chautemps
Succeeded by Théodore Steeg

In office
February 20, 1932 – June 3, 1932
President Paul Doumer
Himself (acting)
Albert Lebrun
Preceded by Pierre Laval
Succeeded by Édouard Herriot

In office
May 7 – May 10, 1932
Prime Minister Himself
Preceded by Paul Doumer
Succeeded by Albert Lebrun

Born September 22, 1876
Died September 15, 1945
Political party None

André Tardieu (September 22, 1876 in ParisSeptember 15, 1945 at Menton) was three times Prime Minister of France (November 3, 1929 - February 17, 1930; March 2 - December 4, 1930; February 20 - May 10, 1932) and a dominant figure of French political life in 1929-1932.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Tardieu was a graduate of the elite Lycée Condorcet. He was accepted by the even more prestigious École Normale Supérieure, but instead entered the diplomatic service. Later, he left the service and became famous as foreign affairs editor of the newspaper Le Temps. He founded the conservative newspaper L'Echo National in association with Georges Mandel.

In 1914 Tardieu was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the département of Seine-et-Oise, as a candidate of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance (Alliance Démocratique - AD). He retained this seat till 1924. From 1926 to 1936, he represented the département of Territoire de Belfort.

In 1914, Tardieu omitted the word 'danger' from a news item from Germany in his paper, falsifying the item. The reaction to this item precipitated mobilization of the French Army, thus rendering the war inevitable.[citation needed][dubious ]

When World War I broke out, Tardieu enlisted in the army, serving as an infantryman till 1916. He then returned to politics. He served as Georges Clemenceau's lieutenant in 1919 during the Paris Peace Conference and as Commissioner for Franco-American War Cooperation. On November 8 1919, he became Minister of Liberated Regions, administering Alsace and Lorraine, serving until Clemenceau's defeat in 1920.

In 1926, Tardieu returned to government as Minister of Transportation under Raymond Poincaré. In 1928, he moved to Minister of the Interior, continuing under Poincaré's successor Aristide Briand.

In November 1929 Tardieu himself succeeded Briand as Président du Conseil (Prime Minister), while remaining Interior Minister.

Though generally considered a conservative, when Tardieu became Prime Minister, he introduced a program of welfare measures, including public works, social insurance, and free secondary schooling, and he encouraged modern techniques in industry.

Tardieu was displaced from both offices for ten days in February-March 1930 by Radical Camille Chautemps, but returned till that December. He was subsequently Minister of Agriculture in 1931, Minister of War in 1932, and again Prime Minister (also, this time, Minister of Foreign Affairs), from February 30 to June 3 1932, until the AD and its coalition partners were defeated in the May elections.

Due tis premiership Tardieu served for three (May 7 - May 10, 1932) days as the Acting President of the French Republic. between assassination of Paul Doumer and election of Albert Lebrun.

He was briefly a Minister of State without portfolio in 1934.

His later political activity was largely concerned with containing and responding to German expansion.

In his two-volume book La Révolution à refaire, Tardieu criticized the French parliamentary system.

[edit] Bibliography

Some of the books he wrote include:

  • La France et les alliances (1908);
  • La Paix (1921; published in English as The Truth About the Treaty
  • Devant l'obstacle (1927); published in English as France and America)
  • La Révolution à refaire, 2 volumes (193637).

[edit] Tardieu's First Ministry, 3 November 1929 - 21 February 1930

  • André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of Interior
  • Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • André Maginot - Minister of War
  • Henri Chéron - Minister of Finance
  • Louis Loucheur - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
  • Lucien Hubert - Minister of Justice
  • Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
  • Louis Rollin - Minister of Merchant Marine
  • Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
  • Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
  • Claudius Gallet - Minister of Pensions
  • Jean Hennessy - Minister of Agriculture
  • François Piétri - Minister of Colonies
  • Georges Pernot - Minister of Public Works
  • Louis Germain-Martin - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
  • Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

[edit] Tardieu's Second Government, 2 March - 13 December 1930

  • André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
  • Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • André Maginot - Minister of War
  • Paul Reynaud - Minister of Finance
  • Louis Germain-Martin - Minister of Budget
  • Pierre Laval - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
  • Raoul Péret - Minister of Justice
  • Jacques-Louis Dumesnil - Minister of Marine
  • Louis Rollin - Minister of Merchant Marine
  • Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
  • Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
  • Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
  • Fernand David - Minister of Agriculture
  • François Piétri - Minister of Colonies
  • Georges Pernot - Minister of Public Works
  • Désiré Ferry - Minister of Public Health
  • André Mallarmé - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
  • Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

Changes

[edit] Tardieu's Third Ministry, 20 February - 3 June 1932

  • André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Paul Reynaud - Vice President of the Council and Minister of Justice
  • François Piétri - Minister of National Defense
  • Albert Mahieu - Minister of the Interior
  • Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
  • Pierre Laval - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
  • Charles Guernier - Minister of Public Works and Merchant Marine
  • Mario Roustan - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
  • Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions and Liberated Regions
  • Claude Chauveau - Minister of Agriculture
  • Louis de Chappedelaine - Minister of Colonies
  • Camille Blaisot - Minister of Public Health
  • Louis Rollin - Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones

[edit] See also

  • The Truth About The Treaty, written 1921, to defend the French negotiators from claims that they had been too lenient on the Germans.
Preceded by
Albert Lebrun
Minister of Liberated Regions
1919–1920
Succeeded by
Émile Ogier
Preceded by
Orly André-Hesse
Minister of Transportation
1926–1928
Succeeded by
Pierre Forgeot
Preceded by
Albert Sarraut
Minister of the Interior
1928–1930
Succeeded by
Camille Chautemps
Preceded by
Aristide Briand
Prime Minister of France
1929–1930
Preceded by
Camille Chautemps
Prime Minister of France
1930
Succeeded by
Théodore Steeg
Minister of the Interior
1930
Succeeded by
Georges Leygues
Preceded by
Victor Boret
Minister of Agriculture
1931–1932
Succeeded by
Achille Fould
Preceded by
André Maginot
Minister of War
1932
Succeeded by
François Piétri
Preceded by
Pierre Laval
Prime Minister of France
1932
Succeeded by
Édouard Herriot
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1932
Preceded by
Minister of State
1934
Succeeded by
Louis Marin