The Popular Front (French: Front populaire) was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party (PCF), the Socialist SFIO and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period. It won the May 1936 legislative elections, leading to the formation of a government first headed by SFIO leader Léon Blum and exclusively composed of Radical-Socialist and SFIO ministers. A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists who are united by opposition to another group (most often fascist or far-right groups). ... The Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main political parties, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the SFIO (French Section of the Workers International), created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Sfio, or Safe/Fast I/O, is an I/O library developed by AT&T Research, with several improvements over the ANSI C stdio library. ... The Radical Party (Parti Radical or Républicains Radicaux et Radicaux-Socialistes, Radical Republicans and Radical Socialists), was a major French political party of the early to mid 20th century, originally considered radical due to its anti-clericalism. ... Interbellum redirects here. ... Léon Blum Léon Blum (9 April 1872 - 30 March 1950), was the Prime Minister of France three times: from 1936 to 1937, for one month in 1938, and from December 1946 to January 1947. ...

Léon Blum's government lasted from June 1936 to June 1937. He was then replaced by Camille Chautemps, a Radical, but came back as President of the Council in March 1938, before being succeeded by Edouard Daladier, another Radical, the next month. The Popular Front dissolved itself in autumn 1938, confronted to internal dissensions relative to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), opposition of the right-wing and the persistent effects of the Great Depression. For other uses, see June (disambiguation). ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see June (disambiguation). ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Camille Chautemps (February 1, 1885 in Paris – July 1, 1963 in Washington, D.C., U.S.) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic, three times President of the Council (Prime Minister). ... For other uses, see March (disambiguation). ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... French politician Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (June 18, 1884 - October 10, 1970) was a French politician, and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Great Depression affected France from around 1931 onwards. ...

The Popular Front won the May 1936 legislative elections three months after the victory of the Frente Popular in Spain. Headed by Léon Blum, it engaged in 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 cornerstone of social rights in France. The socialist movement's euphoria was apparent in SFIO member Marceau Pivert's "Tout est possible!" (Everything is possible). However, as the economy continued to stall during the Great Depression, Blum was forced to stop his reforms and devalue the franc. With the French Senate controlled by conservatives, Blum, and thus the whole Popular Front, fell out of power in June of 1937. For other uses, see May (disambiguation). ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Popular Front (Spanish Popular Front) was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that years election. ... The labour movement (or labor movement) is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments. ... A general strike is a strike action by an entire labour force in a city, region or country. ... For other uses, see May (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see June (disambiguation). ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also known as the Magna Carta of French Labor, the Matignon Accords of 1936 were an agreement to help the French Labor movement. ... Social rights are generally considered an obligation a society places upon itself and its citizens to ensure to all people some specified standard of living, without discrimination. ... Marceau Pivert (1895—1958) was a French schoolteacher, trade unionist, Socialist militant and journalist. ...

The Popular Front was supported, without participation (soutien sans participation) by the French Communist Party, which did not provide any of its ministers, just as the SFIO had supported the Cartel des gauches (Coalition of the Left) in 1924 and 1932 without entering the government. Furthermore, it was the first time that the cabinet included female ministers (Suzanne Lacore, SFIO; Irène Joliot-Curie, independent; and Cécile Brunschvicg, also independent), although women would acquire right to vote only in 1944. This does not cite any references or sources. ... After the French governments embarrassing failure to collect German reparations even after invading the Ruhr, the Bloc National was replaced by the Cartel des Gauches, a moderate socialistic coalition elected on May 11, 1924. ... For the rap album, see 1924 (album). ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Irène Joliot-Curie née Curie, (12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French scientist, the daughter of Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie and Pierre Curie and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. ... The movement for womens suffrage is a social, economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage—the right to vote—to women. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The origins of the Popular Front

general election of 3 May 1936

The idea of a "Popular Front" came from two directions: first, the left-wing view, following the February 6, 1934 riots, that the far-right had tried to organize a coup d'état against the Republic. Second, the Comintern's decision, before the increased popularity of fascist and authoritarian regimes in Europe, to abandon the "social-fascist" position of the early 1930s and replace it with the "Popular Front" position, which advocated an alliance with the social-democrats against the Right. Thus, both the consequences of the 1934 riots, which had removed the second Cartel des gauches from power, and the new Comintern policies had seen anti-fascism as the main imperative of the day. Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The February 6, 1934 crisis refers to an anti-parliamentarist demonstration organised in Paris by far-right leagues (antiparliamentarian militias), which finished by a riot on Place de la Concorde, which is located on the right bank of the Seine, in front of the Palais Bourbon, seat of the National... The far-right tradition in France founds its origins, as the distinction of left and right in politics itself, to the 1789 French Revolution. ... Motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, brotherhood) Anthem La Marseillaise The French Third Republic, pre-World War I Capital Paris Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholicism, protestantism and judaism official religions (until 1905), None (from 1905 until 1940) (Law on the separation of Church and State of 1905) Government Republic... The Comintern (Russian: Коммунистический Интернационал, Kommunisticheskiy Internatsional – Communist International, also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organization founded in March 1919, in the midst of the war communism period (1918-1921), by Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), which intended to fight by all available means, including... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... The term authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and sometimes oppressive measures against the population, generally without attempts at gaining the consent of the population. ... During the late 1920s and early 30s political Communist Party leaders linked to the Comintern (such as Rajani Palme Dutt and Joseph Stalin) argued that society had entered a third period in which social fascism posed a threat. ... A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists who are united by opposition to another group (most often fascist or far-right groups). ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... After the French governments embarrassing failure to collect German reparations even after invading the Ruhr, the Bloc National was replaced by the Cartel des Gauches, a moderate socialistic coalition elected on May 11, 1924. ... Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne in Eindhoven in September 1944. ...

Henceforth, Maurice Thorez, secretary general of the PCF, was the first to call for the formation of a "Popular Front", first in the party press organ L'Humanité in 1934, and subsequently in the Chamber of Deputies. The Radicals were at the time the largest party in the Chamber, governing throughout most of the Third Republic. Following the fall of the second Cartel des gauches, which united Radicals with the SFIO (the PCF maintaining a "support without participation" position), the Radical-Socialist Party had turned toward an alliance with the right, in particular with the Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD). Maurice Thorez Maurice Thorez (April 28, 1900–July 11, 1964) was a French statesman and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. ... LHumanité (Humanity), formerly the daily newspaper of the French Communist Party (PCF), was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the SFIO socialist party. ... Chamber of Deputies (French: ) was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage. ... The Democratic Republican Alliance (Alliance démocratique, AD, or Alliance républicaine démocratique, ARD) was a French political party (1901-1978) created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s. ...

There are various reasons for the formation of the Popular Front and its subsequent electoral victory; they include the economic crisis caused by the Great Depression, which affected France starting in 1931, financial scandals and the instability of the Chamber elected in 1932 which 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 Mussolini, Neo-Socialism, etc.) For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... The Great Depression affected France from around 1931 onwards. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Far right leagues (Ligues dextrême droite) gathered several French far right movements opposed to parliamentarism, which mainly dedicated themselves to military parades, street brawls, demonstrations and riots. ... Marcel Bucard (December 7, 1895, Saint-Clair-sur-Epte—March 13, 1946, Fort of Châtillon) was a French Fascist politician. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ...

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 Radicals, and the Socialist leader Léon Blum became France's first Socialist Prime Minister as well as the first Jew to hold that office. The first Popular Front cabinet consisted of 20 Socialists, 13 Radicals and 2 Socialist Republicans (there were no Communist Ministers) and, for the first time, included 3 women (women were not able to vote in France at that time). Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Léon Blum Léon Blum (9 April 1872 - 30 March 1950), was the Prime Minister of France three times: from 1936 to 1937, for one month in 1938, and from December 1946 to January 1947. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... This article is about the governmental body. ...

Beside the three main left-wing parties, Radical-Socialists, SFIO and PCF, the Popular Front was supported by the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH, Human Rights League, formed during the Dreyfus Affair), the Movement Against War and Fascism, the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes (Committee of Antifascist Intellectuals Watchdogs, created in 1934), and small parties such as Paul Ramadier's Union socialiste républicaine (USR, right-wing of the SFIO), the Party of Proletarian Unity (PUP, created in 1930 and opposed both to social democracy and to the Third International), the Parti radical-socialiste Camille Pelletan (created in May 1934 by members of the left-wing of the Radical Party), etc. . The PUP, Camille Pelletan's Radical-Socialist Party, the leftist Catholic Jeune République ("Young Republic") and others joined together to form the parliamentary group of the Independent Left (Gauche indépendante) which supported Léon Blum's government. The Ligue des droits de lhomme (Human Rights League) is a French NGO founded on June 4, 1898, by the republican Ludovic Trarieux to defend captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew wrongly accused of treason - this would be known as the Dreyfus Affair. ... The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal with anti-Semitic overtones which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s. ... The Watchfulness Committee of Antifascist Intellectuals (Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, CVIA) was a French political organization created in March 1934, in the wake of the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far right leagues, which had led to the fall of the second Cartel des gauches (Left-Wing... French prime minister Paul Ramadier Paul Ramadier (March 17, 1888 - October 14, 1961) was a prominent French Socialist politician of the Third and Fourth Republics. ... The Party of Proletarian Unity (Parti de lUnité Prolétarienne, PUP) was a French socialist political party formed by leftists expelled from the Communist Party together with some who had previously belonged to the leftwing of the Socialist Party. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... The term Third International has two well-established meanings: For the unabridged dictionary, see Websters Third New International Dictionary. ... Camille Pelletan, French politician and journalist Charles Camille Pelletan (June 28, 1846 - 1915), French politician and journalist, was born in Paris, the son of Pierre Clément Eugène Pelletan (1813-1884), a writer of some distinction and a noted opponent of the Second Empire. ...

The Popular Front in government

Through the 1936 Matignon Accords, the Popular Front introduced new labor laws. It: Also known as the Magna Carta of French Labor, the Matignon Accords of 1936 were an agreement to help the French Labor movement. ... Labour law (American English: labor) or employment law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which addresses the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. ...

• created the right to strike
• created collective bargaining
• enacted the law mandating 12 days (2 weeks) each year of paid vacations for workers
• enacted the law limiting the workweek to 40 hours (outside of overtime)
• raised wages

Léon Blum dissolved the far-right leagues. A Collective agreement is a labor contract between an employer and one or more unions. ... For other uses, see Vacation (disambiguation). ...

The Popular Front was actively fought by right-wing and far-right movements, which often used antisemitic slurs against Blum and other ministers. The Cagoule far-right group even staged bombings to disrupt the government. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism, also known as judeophobia) is prejudice and hostility toward Jews as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. ... La Cagoule (The Cowl, press nickname coined by the Action Française nationalist Maurice Pujo), officially called Comité secret daction révolutionnaire (Committee for Revolutionary Action), was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, active in the 1930s, and designed to attempt the overthrow of the French...

Although Léon Blum (as well as the PCF) wanted to intervene to help the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the Radicals were opposed to it, and threatened to quit the government if he helped them. Thus, a policy of non-intervention was adopted, although it did not stop Mussolini and Hitler supporting Franco's troops. Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... The purpose of Non-Intervention Committee (1936-1939) was to prevent personnel and matériel reaching the warring parties of the Spanish Civil War. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (December 4, 1892 - November 20, 1975), commonly known as Francisco Franco (pronounced ) or Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was leader of Spain from October 1936, as regent of Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975. ...

The Popular Front and cultural policies

Further information: French copyright law

The Minister of National Education and of the Beaux-Arts, Jean Zay, proposed as soon as August 1936 a draft law concerning intellectual property right, based on a new philosophy which did not consider the author as an "owner" (propriétaire), but as an "intellectual worker" (travailleur intellectuel). Jean Zay voluntarilly located himself in the continuation of Alfred de Vigny, Augustin-Charles Renouard and Proudhon, who had opposed themselves to Lamartine during the 19th century, and defended the "spiritual interest of the collectivity". Article 21 of his draft divided the 50 years post-mortem protection period into two different phases, one of 10 years and the other of 40 years which established a sort of legal licence suppressing the right of exclusivity granted to a specific editor. Zay's draft project was particularly opposed by the editor Bernard Grasset, who defended the right of the editor as a "creator of value", while many writers, including Jules Romains and the president of the Société des Gens de Lettres, Jean Vignaud, supported Zay's draft. The draft did not succeed, however, in being voted before the end of the legislature in 1939.^[1] The droit dauteur (or French copyright law) developed in the eighteenth century at the same time as copyright developed in the United Kingdom. ... The droit dauteur (or French copyright law) developed in the eighteenth century at the same time as copyright developed in the United Kingdom. ... Alfred de Vigny, 1832 Alfred Victor de Vigny (March 27, 1797 – September 17, 1863) was a French poet, playwright, and novelist. ... Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced Pruood-on, not prowd-hon) (January 15, 1809 - January 19, 1865) was a French anarchist of the 19th century. ... Alphonse de Lamartine (October 21, 1790 - February 28, 1869) was a French writer, poet and politician. ... Jules Romains, real name Louis-henri-jean Farigoule (August 26, 1885 - August 14, 1972) is a French author and the founder of unanimism. ...

The Popular Front, sports, leisures and the 1936 Olympic Games

With the 1936 Matignon Accords, the working class could enjoy for the first time two weeks holiday a year. This signaled the beginning of tourism in France. Although beach resorts had existed since the beginning of the family, for example in Biarritz or Deauville, they had been restricted to the upper and inactive class. But the Popular Front's policy concerning leisures (otium in Latin) was limited to the enactment of two weeks holiday. If on the one hand, this measure was thought as a response to the workers' alienation, on the other hand, the Popular Front gave Léo Lagrange (SFIO) responsibility for organisation of the use this leisure time, and of all aspects concerning sports. Thus, Lagrange was named Under-Secretary for Sports and the organisation of Leisure, a newly created post and a forerunner of the current position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. Léo Lagrange's position was placed under the authority of the Minister of Public Health Henri Sellier. Also known as the Magna Carta of French Labor, the Matignon Accords of 1936 were an agreement to help the French Labor movement. ... Chateau of Josselin, in Brittany, France. ... The seafront of Torquay, a seaside resort in Devon, England. ... Biarritz (French: Biarritz, pronounced ; Gascon Occitan: Biàrritz; Basque: Miarritze) is a town and commune which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in southwestern France. ... Deauville is a commune of the Calvados département, in the Basse-Normandie région, in France. ... A relaxing afternoon of leisure: a young girl resting in a pool. ... Otium is an online literary magazine initiated by Achy Obejas and a group of students from the University of Chicago. ... Léo Lagrange (born at Bourg-upon-Gironde, on 28 November 1900 - died on Évergnicourt, on 9 June 1940) was one socialist French, Under-Secretary of State for the sports and for the organization of the leisures in the Popular Front. ... A sport consists of a physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose: for competition, for self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of a skill, or some combination of these. ... The Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (Ministre de la Jeunesse et des Sports, alternatively translated Minister of Youth and Sports) is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national and public sport associations, youth affairs, public sports centers and national stadia (like the Stade de...

Sports was an important question in 1936, as Fascist ideology had used it in order to make it a substitute of war and a propaganda tool for spreading militarist ideas in society. Furthermore, youth organisations such as the Hitler Youth or Mussolini's Balilla and Avanguardisti, created in 1926 for boys and girls, prepared to entrance in the SS and in the fasci organisations. In Italy, Mussolini had assigned Renato Ricci, deputy-secretary of Education, the task of "reorganizing the youth from a moral and physical point of view," for which he sought inspiration from Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. Italian fascism (in Italian, fascismo) was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... For other uses, see War (disambiguation). ... 1967 Chinese propaganda poster from the Cultural Revolution. ... Militarism is the ideology that military strength is the source of all security. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         For the SS division with the nickname Hitlerjugend see; 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend The Hitler Youth (German:   , abbreviated HJ) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. ... Mussolini redirects here. ... Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was a Italian Fascist youth organization functioning, as an addition to school education, between 1926 and 1937 (the year it was fused into the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio, GIL, a youth section of the National Fascist Party). ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop... Fascio (plural: fasci) is an Italian word which in the 1890s came to refer to radical political groups. ... Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB (February 22, 1857 - January 8, 1941) was a soldier, writer and founder of the world scouting movement. ... This article is about the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts/Girl Guides organizations. ...

The fascist conception and use of sport as a means to an end contrasted with the SFIO's official stance towards it until the Popular Front. Before, it considered it as a "bourgeois" and "reactionary" activity, something which could be understood due to the social restrictions which weighted on the individual possibilities to take part in such actions: as economist Thorstein Veblen had put it in his Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), one first had to be a member of that "leisure class" to be able to take part in such activities. However, confronted with an increasing possibility of war with Nazi Germany, and affected by the scientific racist theories of the time, which had a currency which went beyond the fascist parties, the SFIO began to change its ideas concerning sports during the Popular Front. As shown by the hierarchy of the ministers, which placed the sub-secretary of sport under the authority of the Minister of Public Health, sport was considered above all as a public health issue. From this principle of relating sport to the "degeneration of the race" and other scientific racist theories, only one step had to be taken. It was done by Georges Barthélémy, deputy of the SFIO, who declared that sports contributed to the "improvement of relations between capital and labour, henceforth to the elimination of the concept of class struggle," and that they were a "mean to prevent the moral and physical degeneration of the race." Such corporatist conceptions had led to the neo-socialist movement, whose members were excluded from the SFIO on 5 November 1933, a few months after Hitler's accession to power. But scientific racist positions were upheld inside the SFIO and the Radical-Socialist Party, who supported colonialism and found in this discourse a perfect ideological alibi to justify colonial rule. The PCF, on the other hand, advocated anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist positions from its creation. After all, Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854-1936) a leading theorist of scientific racism, had been a SFIO member, although he was strongly opposed to the "Teachers' Republic" (République des instituteurs) and its meritocratic ideal of individual advancement and fulfilment through education, a Republican ideal founded on the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Thorstein Bunde Veblen (born Tosten Bunde Veblen July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American sociologist and economist and a founder, along with John R. Commons, of the Institutional economics movement. ... The Theory of the Leisure Class is a book, first published in 1899, by the American economist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago. ... Scientific racism is any publication or propaganda with the veneer of science which was fabricated to support a racist paradigm. ... Public health is the study and practice of addressing threats to the health of a community. ... This article deals with the social-philosophical meaning of degeneration. ... The South African Police Crush Another Demonstration by the Shack dwellers Movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, 28 September, 2007 Class struggle is the active expression of class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. ... The term corporatism has different meanings in different contexts. ... Neosocialism (also hyphenated as neo-socialism) is a term used to describe any one of a wide variety of left-wing political movements that are considered socialist and have developed recently. ... -1... Anti-imperialism is a current within the political left advocating the collapse of imperialism. ... Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to any idea or movement opposed to some form of imperialism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Meritocracy is a system of a government or another organization wherein appointments are made *who* makes the appointments - ultimately, it is the people (all members of the group). ... // Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule by the people, and the civic virtue practiced by citizens. ... The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; Italian: ; German: ; Spanish: ; Swedish: ; Polish: ; Portuguese: ) was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. ...

Although the SFIO had opposed sports as a "bourgeois" activity of the "leisure class," it changed attitude during the Popular Front first of all because its social reforms permitted to the workers' to participate in such leisure activities, and also because of the increasing risks of a confrontation with Nazi Germany, in particular after the March 1936 remilitarization of the Rhineland, in contradiction with the 1925 Locarno Treaties which had been reaffirmed in 1935 by France, Great Britain and Italy allied in the Stresa Front. This new sign of German's revisionism towards the conditions of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles thus led parts of the SFIO in supporting a conception of sport used as a training field for future conscription and, eventually, war. The Remilitarization of the Rhineland by the German Army took place on 7 March 1936 when German forces entered the Rhineland. ... The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5 October—16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on December 1, in which the World War I Western European Allied powers and the new states of central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Historical revisionism is the attempt to change commonly held ideas about the past. ... This article is about the Treaty of Versailles of June 28, 1919, which ended World War I. For other uses, see Treaty of Versailles (disambiguation) . The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was a peace treaty that officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ...

In this complex situation, Léo Lagrange held fast to an ethical conception of sports which rejected both fascist militarism and indoctrination, scientific racist theories as well as professionalisation of sports, which he opposed as an elitist conception which ignored the main, popular aspect of sport, which should aim, according to him, for the fulfilment of the personality of the individual. Thus, Lagrange stated that "It cannot be a question in a democratic country of militarizing the distractions and the pleasures of the masses and of transforming the joy skillfully distributed into a means of not thinking." Léo Lagrange further declared in 1936 that:

"Our simple and human goal, is to allow to the masses of French youth to find in the practice of sport, joy and health and to build an organization of the leisure activities so that the workers can find relaxation and a reward to their hard labour. "

The 1936 Olympic Games

Furthermore, the International Olympic Committe decided, between Berlin and Barcelona, to choose Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games. This choice had obvious political and ideological consequences, due to the highly political nature of sport under the fascist regimes as well as the "aestheticization of politics" (Walter Benjamin) that it involved, the funds raised and donated for the organisation of such an event, the advertisement provided to Nazi Germany by hosting such an international event, etc. In protest against this event, the Spanish Popular Front, elected in February 1936, decided to organize anyway the Games in Barcelona, under the name People's Olympiad, which were scheduled to be held from July 19 to July 26, 1936, thus ending six days before the OG in Berlin. Léon Blum's government at first decided to take part in it, on insistence from the PCF. The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, were held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. ... Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (July 15, 1892 – September 27, 1940) was a German-Jewish Marxist literary critic, essayist, translator, and philosopher. ... The Popular Front (Spanish Popular Front) was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that years election. ... The Peoples Olympiad or Peoples Olympics (Spanish: Olimpiada Popular) was planned for Barcelona, Spain as a protest event against the 1936 Summer Olympics planned for Berlin during the period of Nazi rule. ...

Léo Lagrange played a major role in the co-organisation of the People's Olympiad. The trials for these Olympiads proceeded on July 4, 1936 in the Pershing stadium in Paris, which has been built in June 1919. Léo Lagrange chaired these days in person, along with the Minister of Transport, Radical-Socialist Pierre Cot, André Malraux, who later fought in the International Brigades, and other figures of the Popular Front. Through their club, the FSGT, or individually, 1.200 French athletes were registered with these anti-fascist Olympiads. Pierre Cot (20 November 1895 - 21 August 1977), French politician, was a leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s. ... André Malraux, French author, adventurer, and statesman André Malraux (November 3, 1901 – November 23, 1976) was a French author, adventurer and statesman, and a dominant figure in French politics and culture. ... The three-pointed red star, symbol of the International Brigades The International Brigades were Republican military units in the Spanish Civil War, formed of many non-state sponsored volunteers of different countries who traveled to Spain, to fight for the republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. ...

But Blum finally decided not to vote for the funds to pay the athletes' expenses. A PCF deputy declared: "Going to Berlin, is making oneself complice of the torturers. .." Nevertheless, on July 9, when the whole of the French right-wing voted “for” the participation of France to the OG of Berlin, the left-wing (PCF included) abstained itself — from the notable exception of the particular Pierre Mendès France, who would become Prime minister under the Fourth Republic and negotiate the peace agreements with the Viet-minh in Indochina in 1954. Pierre Mendès France Pierre Mendès France (11 January 1907 - 18 October 1982), French politician, was born in Paris, into a family of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin (Mendes de França). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Geneva Conference (April 26 - July 21, 1954) was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Korea. ... The Viet Minh flag The Việt Minh   (abbreviated from Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Há»™i, English League for the Independence of Vietnam) was a communist revolutionary national liberation movement formed by Hồ Chí Minh in 1941 to seek independence for Vietnam from France as well... Belligerents French Union France, State of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos Viet Minh Commanders French Expeditionary Corps Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1945-46) Jean-Étienne Valluy (1946-8) Roger Blaizot (1948-9) Marcel-Maurice Carpentier (1949-50) Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1950-51) Raoul Salan (1952-3) Henri Navarre (1953-4...

Nevertheless, several French sportsmen decided to boycott the Berlin OG anyway, and go to Barcelona where the People's Olympiads were scheduled to begin on 19 July 1936. Each stop in the train stations were the occasion of popular joy demonstrations, people singing The Internationale... However, on the eve of the opening ceremony, General Franco's military pronunciamento, declared from Spanish Morocco, started the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... LInternationale in the original French. ... Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (December 4, 1892 - November 20, 1975), commonly known as Francisco Franco (pronounced ) or Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was leader of Spain from October 1936, as regent of Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975. ... Spanish Morocco, was the area of Morocco ruled by Spain from up to 1956, when France and Spain recognised Moroccan independence. ... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ...

1937 Million Franc Race

Main article: Million Franc Race

The Popular Front organized in 1937 the Million Franc Race, to induce automobile manufacturers to develop race cars capable of competing with the German Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union racers of the time, which were backed by the Nazi government as part of its sports policy. Hired by Delahaye, René Dreyfus beat Jean-Pierre Wimille, who ran for Bugatti. Wimille would later take part in the Resistance. The following year, Dreyfus succeeded in overwhelming the legendary Rudolf Caracciola and his 480 horsepower Silver Arrow at the Grand Prix de Pau, becoming a national hero. The Million Franc Race, or ‘Prix du Million’, was an effort in 1937 by the government of France to induce French automobile manufacturers to develop race cars capable of competing with the incredibly advanced German Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union racers of the time, which were backed by the Nazi... Auto racing (also known as automobile racing or autosport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ... This page is about the Mercedes-Benz brand of automobiles and trucks from the DaimlerChrysler automobile manufacturer. ... Auto Union Logo 1936 Auto Union Wanderer Auto Union was a joint venture of four German automobile manufacturers, established in 1932 in Zwickau, Saxony, during the Great Depression. ... Delahaye Type 32 1909 Delahaye Type 32 2-Seater 1910 Delahaye Tourer 1925 Delahaye 135 M Coupé 1939 A 1939 Delahaye roadster at the Scarsdale Concours. ... René Dreyfus René Dreyfus (born May 6, 1905 - died August 16, 1993) was a French driver who raced automobiles for 14 years in the 1920s and 1930s, the Golden Era of Grand Prix motor racing. ... Jean-Pierre Wimille (February 26, 1908 - January 28, 1949) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver. ... , This article is about the original Bugatti car company, founded in 1909. ... The Croix de Lorraine, the symbol of the resistance chosen by de Gaulle French Resistance is the name used for resistance movements during World War II which fought the Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy regime. ... Monument in Remagen Rudolf Caracciola (b. ... Silver Arrow – 1939 GP Silver Arrows was the name given to Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix cars between 1934 and 1939, as well as to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One cars in 1954/55. ... The picturesque Pau Circuit The Grand Prix de Pau is an auto race held annually in Pau, France. ...

Colonial policies of the Popular Front

Further information: French colonial empires  and Colonialism

The Popular Front initiated the 1936 Blum-Viollette proposal, which was supposed to grant French citizenship to a minority of Algerian Muslims. Opposed both by colons and by Messali Hadj's pro-independence party, the project was never submitted to the National Assembly's vote and ultimately abandoned. For the French colonial postage stamps, see French Colonies. ... It has been suggested that Benign colonialism be merged into this article or section. ... The Blum-Viollette proposal takes its name from Maurice Viollette, who acted as the French premier and governor-general of Algeria, which was the subject of the proposed legislation. ... Messali Hadj (مصالي الحاج) was the founder of the Mouvement National Algérien, an early Algerian nationalist group and rival of the Front de Libération Nationale. ...

Composition of Léon Blum's government (June 1936-June 1937)

Further information: French government ministers

• SFIO refers to membership to the Socialist Party, while RAD refers to membership to the Radical-Socialist Party. The French Communist Party (PCF) restricted itself to a "support without participation" of the government (meaning it took part to the parliamentary majority but did not have any ministers). The Popular Front government coincides with its leadership by Léon Blum, from 5 June 1936 to 21 June 1937.

• Léon Blum (SFIO), President of the Council
• Edouard Daladier (RAD), Vice-President of the Council and Minister of War and of National Defence
• Camille Chautemps (RAD) - Minister of State
• Paul Faure (SFIO) - Minister of State
• Maurice Viollette (USR) - Minister of State
• Yvon Delbos (RAD), Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Roger Salengro (SFIO), Minister of Interior
• Vincent Auriol (SFIO), Minister of Finances
• Charles Spinasse (SFIO), Minister of National Economy
• Marc Rucart (RAD), Minister of Justice
• Jean-Baptiste Lebas (SFIO), Minister of Labour
• Alphonse Gasnier-Duparc - Minister of Marine
• Pierre Cot (RAD) - Minister of Air
• Jean Zay (RAD) - Minister of National Education
• Albert Rivière (SFIO) - Minister of Pensions
• Georges Monnet (RAD) - Minister of Agriculture
• Marius Moutet (SFIO) - Minister of Colonies
• Albert Bedouce (SFIO) - Minister of Public Works
• Henri Sellier (SFIO) - Minister of Public Health
• Robert Jardillier (SFIO) - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones (PTT)
• Paul Bastid (RAD) - Minister of Trade

• On 18 November 1936, Marx Dormoy (SFIO) replaced Roger Salengro at the Interior
• Léo Lagrange (SFIO), Under-Secretary of State for Leisure and Sports (under the authority of the Minister of Public Health)

French government ministers are members of the Prime Ministers cabinet, although in French the term cabinet is rarely used to describe the gouvernement, even in translation (as it is used in French to mean a ministers private office, composed of politically-appointed aides). ... Sfio, or Safe/Fast I/O, is an I/O library developed by AT&T Research, with several improvements over the ANSI C stdio library. ... The Radical Party (Parti Radical or Républicains Radicaux et Radicaux-Socialistes, Radical Republicans and Radical Socialists), was a major French political party of the early to mid 20th century, originally considered radical due to its anti-clericalism. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Léon Blum Léon Blum (9 April 1872 - 30 March 1950), was the Prime Minister of France three times: from 1936 to 1937, for one month in 1938, and from December 1946 to January 1947. ... The Prime Minister of France (Premier ministre de la France) is the functional head of the Cabinet of France. ... French politician Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (June 18, 1884 - October 10, 1970) was a French politician, and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War. ... The Minister of Defence (Ministre de la Défense) is the French government official charged with running Frances military. ... Camille Chautemps (February 1, 1885 in Paris – July 1, 1963 in Washington, D.C., U.S.) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic, three times President of the Council (Prime Minister). ... Minister of State is a title borne by officials in certain countries governed under the parliamentary system. ... Paul Faure is a French specialist in the field of prehistoric archaeology. ... Maurice Viollette (1870, Janville, Eure-et-Loir – 1960, Dreux) was a French statesman. ... Yvon Delbos (1885-1956) was a French Radical politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Popular Front governments of Léon Blum and Camille Chautemps. ... The honour entrance to the Ministry building on the Quai dOrsay The Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Government of France, is the cabinet member responsible for the Republics network of relationships with foreign nations. ... The Minister of the Interior (full title ministère de l’Intérieur et de l’Aménagement du territoire ) in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following: The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes... Jules-Vincent Auriol (August 27, 1884 – January 1, 1966) was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954. ... The new ministry building in Bercy, Paris The Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (Ministre de lEconomie, des Finances et de lIndustrie), or Minister of Finances for short, is one of the most prominent positions in the cabinet of France after the Prime Minister. ... The new ministry building in Bercy, Paris The Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (Ministre de lEconomie, des Finances et de lIndustrie), or Minister of Finances for short, is one of the most prominent positions in the cabinet of France after the Prime Minister. ... The French Minister of Justice (Ministre de la Justice) is an important cabinet official in the Government of France. ... The Minister of Social Affairs and Employment is a cabinet member in the Government of France. ... One of ancien régime Frances Secretaries of State was entrusted with control of the French Navy (Secretary of State of the Navy (France). ... Pierre Cot (20 November 1895 - 21 August 1977), French politician, was a leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s. ... The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a position in the UK cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. ... The Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fishing and Rural Affairs is a cabinet member in the Government of France. ... The Minister of Overseas France (Ministre de lOutremer, formerly Minister of Overseas France and her Colonies) is a cabinet member in the Government of France responsible for overseeing French overseas departments and territories (such as the département doutre-mer). ... The Minister of Public Works was a cabinet member in the Government of France. ... The Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, to which was later added the charge of Telephones (the position was later named Minister of Posts and Telecommunications), was, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of the French Postal Service and development of the national telecommunication system. ... Marx Dormoy (1888, Montluçon – July 26, 1941, Montélimar) was a French politician. ... Léo Lagrange (born at Bourg-upon-Gironde, on 28 November 1900 - died on Évergnicourt, on 9 June 1940) was one socialist French, Under-Secretary of State for the sports and for the organization of the leisures in the Popular Front. ...

Bibliography

• Julian T. Jackson, Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy 1934-1938 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988)
• André Malraux, Carnets du Front populaire, 1935-1936, Gallimard, 2006, 116 pages, 18 euros.

Julian T. Jackson (born 1954) is a prominent British Historian. ... André Malraux, French author, adventurer, and statesman André Malraux (November 3, 1901 – November 23, 1976) was a French author, adventurer and statesman, and a dominant figure in French politics and culture. ... Éditions Gallimard is the second most important French publisher, and probably the most respected. ...

See also

• Popular Front in Senegal
• Matignon Accords (1936)
• History of the Left in France

Image File history File links Syndicalism. ... Ahead of the 1936 elections to the French National Assembly, a Popular Front committee was formed in Senegal. ... Also known as the Magna Carta of French Labor, the Matignon Accords of 1936 were an agreement to help the French Labor movement. ... The Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main political parties, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the SFIO (French Section of the Workers International), created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties. ...

References

1. ^ Anne Latournerie, Petite histoire des batailles du droit d’auteur, Multitudes n°5, May 2001 (French)

This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

External links

• "The Popular Front: A Brief but Crucial Period in History", interview with Henri Malberg, translated from "Front populaire : une période brève, mais capitale", originally published on April 18, 2006 in L'Humanité