French Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic was the French republican government established after World War II (1946), characterized by unstable parliamentary coalitions and colonial crises, particularly its handling of the Algerian War. It collapsed in 1958, when army disaffection, paramilitary actions, and pressure from Charles de Gaulle led to its replacement by the Fifth Republic.
Claims that use this term
- Army disaffection and Fourth Republic decay were visible inside the state before 1958
- Lacoste’s paramilitary takeover of Algiers doomed the Fourth Republic
- French protests against torture deepened the army’s contempt for the Fourth Republic
- The French bombing of Sakiet internationalized the war and toppled the Fourth Republic
- De Gaulle demanded total replacement of the Fourth Republic as his price for returning.
- Fourth Republic politics froze into irreconcilable divisions among Socialists, Communists, and the M.R.P.