The nature of the party system made coalitions necessary in order to guarantee a majority in the National Assembly. However, these were fragile affairs, and often self-destructed with consummate ease. There were around eight political parties represented in the Assembly at any one time, with a minimum of three needed to gain the requisite majority. However, the large share of votes on the extreme right (Gaullists and Poujadists) and left (Communists) made these votes inaccessible to any moderate party at the center, as they would alienate both left and right, and be facing a defeat. This contributed in part to the immobilisme. Secondly, even within a coalition, opinion was so sharply divided as to render any form of radical legislation almost impossible to gain support from within the cabinet and coalition, hence the lack of government activity at this time.
There has always been deep social diversity and division in France reflected in disputes between working-class and bourgeoisie, urban and rural areas, etc. French people have never seen themselves as a single society, but the prevalent view was of an atomist society of individuals. For the majority of the Fourth Republic, these divisions were represented by the fragmented party system. There were also what are known as "surge" parties, a newly founded party or movement that gain support rapidly and cuts across the social divisions of the stable parties, which added an extra measure of instability, especially given that their popularity was often very short-lived. This entire system had a large responsibility for the failure of the Fourth Republic.
In addition to domestic policy paralysis, France’s foreign policy sought out to regain it’s colonial past. While former colonial powers like Spain and England gave up their claims to it’s former areas of dominance to allow for localized government, France sought to maintain French-Indochina and Algeria. These former spheres of dominance proved to be more than the Fourth Republic could handle. The crisis in Algeria was the catalyst that brought about the downfall of the Fourth Republic.
The Algerian conflict began in November 1954. The causes were numerous but included a growing population, stagnant agriculture, migration to urban centers and consequent unemployment there and an educated cadre of indigènes with new political aspirations. Algeria had always occupied a significant position within France's colonial outlook because of its proximity with the European mainland. Although this was also true of Morocco and Tunisia, two of France's principal North African dependencies, the issue of decolonization there did not cause the reverberations and fractures in metropolitan politics, as did Algeria. Algeria was different from Morocco and Tunisia because of the presence of over one million white settlers of European descent. Mainly French, though with considerable Italian and Maltese communities, these settlers were familiarly known as pieds noirs and had established themselves from the 1870s. More so than perhaps other settler communities in parts of the British Empire, the pieds noirs had strong roots in Algeria, making France’s policy toward Algeria all the more important.
The war was a fierce one: France became notorious for its use of terror and torture and accusations of intimidation were also made against anti-French Algerians. As the war continued the pieds noirs in Algiers and other coastal towns grew suspicious that peace would be negotiated and staged significant demonstrations. The Right in both France and in Algeria called for Charles de Gaulle to assume power and to fight until the bitter end. Their protest caused a political crisis and almost overnight de Gaulle was proclaimed President. This was a major emergency for France and de Gaulle, l'homme providentiel was called back to solve it and given a free had to re-write the constitution. The pieds noirs however had not counted on de Gaulle's repudiation of Algeria's continued integration with France. De Gaulle opted for associated self-government, announced plans for Muslim educational and economic development and offered peace talks with the Algerian Rebels. At first his proposals met with little reaction and the war continued. However, in 1959 de Gaulle renewed his efforts toward peace, and proposed a four year cease fire which would give the Algerians three options: integration, independence with association to France, or independence with secession. This offer infuriated the pieds noirs causing an insurrection in January of 1960; it failed but was followed by a coup led by four generals in 1961 that lasted for three days. However, de Gaulle won out and successfully negotiated a peace settlement with the Algerians that eventually led to and independent Algeria with association to France.
The crisis in Algeria finally allowed de Gaulle's ideas on the nature of state authority to be put into practice. The constitution drawn up in 1958 was the first republican constitution not debated in parliament. De Gaulle was allowed to re-write the constitution in a way that made it more presidential than parliamentary. What this meant, was that presidential powers were strengthened at the expense of the parliament's power. The function of the president was no longer ceremonial, but now included the power to overrule parliament, dissolve the chambre de députés, appoint and sack ministers, including Prime Ministers. Previously, these powers rested in the hands of parliament. An interesting new measure made cabinet ministers no longer accountable to parliament. Indeed, any elected député who was appointed to the cabinet was obliged to resign their seat.
On a number of important occasions, this is precisely what de Gaulle did, using referenda and televised press conference to appeal to the French people above the heads of parliament. Central to de Gaulle's thinking about politics is a disdain for political parties and institutions that impeded his relationship with the nation, la nation profonde, with whom he assumed a special relationship by dint, amongst other things, of his wartime record. Strange as it may seem, but de Gaulle held a quasi-mystical belief in his power to represent the interests of the French. De Gaulle therefore tended to seek support for his actions, not from parliament - an institution he had little time for - but through a direct appeal to the French.
It is interesting to note that support for de Gaulle's style of leadership was widespread. In the decade between 1958 and 1968 France was at the peak of les Trente glorieuses and enjoying the good times of this Gaullist golden era of prosperity and economic growth. During the Fifth Republic, the inflation rate was brought down, stability was restored to government (parliament no longer had the power to make and unmake governments) and France successfully negotiated its way out of a bloody war of decolonization.
The Fifth Republic successfully guided France out of it’s Post World War II daze and allowed for massive political change. De Gaulle sought out to regain France’s lead in international affairs. In order to do so France made a point of not making it’s bed with either Cold War powers, instead France developed an independent Nuclear Deterrent and kicked NATO out of Paris and into Belgium. Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic France has asserted itself toward an Anti-American foreign policy. France has sought out to do so even though it acts through a penetrated political system. External issues, like the European Union make it hard to distinguish domestic policy from external policy. Through this penetrated system France has sought to make an independent role for France in the World. France has done so through having an independent security role. As addressed earlier, France’s choice to pursue an independent nuclear deterrent separated itself from the Americans and other western powers. France made the decision to pursue it’s independent deterrent because de Gaulle felt that the only people who would ever defend France with nuclear weapons were the French, despite NATO’s article 5 commitments.
Since the end of the Cold War France has argued that NATO should cease to exist because it is just one more sphere of American dominance. France has also been one of the strongest backers of the European Union, which combining the economies of the member states serves as an effective balancer to American economic hegemony.
In conclusion, France has undergone massive political and social change since the end of German occupation. These changes are due to the “temporary” Fifth Republic constitution, which has served to bring about stability in a country that has been ripe with instability. Only through the continuation of the Fifth Republic will France be able to reassert it’s role on the world stage. As seen recently with the United Nations debate on Iraq, France has been trying to establish it’s independent role in Western Europe and to assert it’s global authority, whether that’s a good thing is a question for another mid-term.
