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Léon Blum
In office
December 16, 1946 – January 16, 1947
Preceded by Vincent Auriol
Succeeded by President Vincent Auriol (as Head of State)
Prime Minister Paul Ramadier (as Head of Government)
In office
March 13, 1938 – April 10, 1938
Preceded by Camille Chautemps
Succeeded by Édouard Daladier
In office
June 4, 1936 – June 22, 1937
Preceded by Albert Sarraut
Succeeded by Camille Chautemps
Born April 9, 1872
Paris, France
Died March 30, 1950 (aged 77)
Jouy-en-Josas, France
Political party Socialist (SFIO)

André Léon Blum (9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950), was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, who was the Prime Minister of France three times:

Contents

Childhood and education

Blum was born in the Paris Jewish community: he attended the Lycée Henri IV. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The Lycée Henri-IV (sometimes called HIV, H4, or Henri-Quatre) is a public Secondary school located in Paris. There he met the writer André Gide and published his first poems at the age of 17 in a journal they created. Blum entered the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in 1890. École Normale de Musique de ParisThe École normale supérieure (also known as Normale Sup’, Normale, ENS, ENS-Paris, ENS-Ulm or After graduation, he wavered between studying law and literature. Rather than choose between them, he decided to study both at the Sorbonne, graduating in literature in 1890 and in law in 1894. The historic University of Paris (Université de Paris first appeared in the second half of the 13th century He then worked as a government lawyer while developing a second career as a literary critic, in particular as an authority on Goethe. ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer He soon became one of France's leading literary figures.

First political experiences

While in his youth an avid reader of the works of the nationalist writer Maurice Barrès, Blum had little interest in politics until the Dreyfus Affair of 1894, which had a traumatic effect on him as it did on many French Jews. Maurice Barrès ( 19 August 1862 - 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist, and anti-semite The Dreyfus Affair a Political scandal which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s The Jewish community in France presently numbers around 600000 according to the World Jewish Congress and 500000 according to the Appel Unifié Juif de France and is Campaigning as a Dreyfusard brought him into contact with the socialist leader Jean Jaurès, whom he greatly admired. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Jean Léon Jaurès (full name Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès; 3 September 1859 31 July 1914) was a French He began contributing to the socialist daily, L'Humanité, and joined the Socialist Party, then called the SFIO. L'Humanité ("Humanity" formerly the daily newspaper of the French Communist Party (PCF was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the The Socialist Party ( Parti Socialiste, PS is the largest left-wing political party in France. Soon he was the party's main theoretician.

In July 1914, just as the First World War broke out, Jaurès was assassinated, and Blum became more active in the Socialist party leadership. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Jean Léon Jaurès (full name Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès; 3 September 1859 31 July 1914) was a French In 1919 he was chosen as chair of the party's executive committee, and was also elected to the National Assembly as a representative of Paris. The French National Assembly. The other is the Senate ( “Sénat”) Believing that there was no such thing as a "good dictatorship", even the one of the proletariat, he opposed participation in the Comintern. The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow Therefore, in 1920, he worked to prevent a split between supporters and opponents of the Russian Revolution, but the radicals seceded, taking L'Humanité with them, and formed the French Communist Party. See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them The French Communist Party ( French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of

Blum led the SFIO through the 1920s and 1930s, and was also editor of the party's new paper, Le Populaire. As a Marxist, though not a Leninist, he was first opposed to participating in "bourgeois" governments, though he was willing to support Radical Party governments from the sidelines. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. The Radical Party ( Parti Radical, Rad also known as Parti radical valoisien) is a liberal and centrist political party in France In any case the election of a socialist government was impossible without the co-operation of the powerful Communists, who followed Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's orders in treating the SFIO as "social fascists. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party "

The Popular Front

Blum was elected as Deputy for Narbonne in 1929, and was re-elected in 1932 and 1936. Narbonne ( Narbona in Catalan and in Occitan, the Roman Narbo) is a commune in southwestern France in the In 1933, he expelled Marcel Déat, Pierre Renaudel, and other neosocialists from the SFIO. Marcel Déat ( March 7 1894, Guérigny &mdash January 5 1955, near Turin, Italy) was a French Neosocialism was a political trend represented in France during the 1930s and in Belgium, which included several revisionist tendencies in the SFIO Political circumstances changed in 1934, when the rise of German dictator Adolf Hitler and fascist riots in Paris caused Stalin and the French Communists to change their policy. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The 6 February 1934 crisis refers to an Anti-parliamentarist demonstration organised in Paris by Far-right leagues (antiparliamentarian Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party In 1935 all the parties of left and centre formed the Popular Front, which at the elections of June 1936 won a sweeping victory. The Popular Front (French Front populaire) was an alliance of left-wing movements including the French Communist Party (PCF the Socialist

On 13 February 1936, shortly before becoming Prime Minister, Blum was dragged from a car and almost beaten to death by the Camelots du Roi, a group of anti-Semites and royalists. Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Camelots du Roy (alternate spelling Camelots du Roi) were the youth organization of the Royalist Action française The right-wing Action Francaise league was dissolved by the government following this incident, not long before the elections that brought Blum to power [1].

Blum became the first socialist and the first Jew to serve as Prime Minister of France. The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers As such he was an object of particular hatred to the Catholic and anti-Semitic right, and was denounced in the National Assembly by Xavier Vallat, a right-wing Deputy and sympathizer of the Action Française (later Commissioner for Jewish Affairs in the Vichy wartime government), who said:

Your coming to power is undoubtedly a historic event. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility Xavier Vallat ( 7 July 1891 - 6 January 1972) French politician was Commissioner-General for Jewish Questions in the wartime The Action Française is a French Monarchist ( Orléanist) Counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944 For the first time this old Gallo-Roman country will be governed by a Jew. I dare say out loud what the country is thinking, deep inside : it is preferable for this country to be led by a man whose origins belong to his soil. . . than by a cunning talmudist. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history [2]

The industrial workers responded to the election of the Popular Front government by occupying their factories, confident that "the revolution" was imminent. For Blum, as a Marxist, this was an agonising moment. He did not believe that socialism could be achieved by parliamentary means. But he could not encourage the workers to launch an attempt at a revolution: he believed that the army would intervene and the workers would be massacred as they had been at the Paris Commune in 1871. The Paris Commune (La Commune de Paris was a Government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March (more formally from 26 March) to 28 May He persuaded the workers to accept pay rises and go back to work.

Similarly, when the Spanish Civil War broke out, Blum was forced to adopt a policy of neutrality rather than assist his ideological fellows, the Spanish socialists, for fear of splitting his alliance with the centrist Radicals, or even precipitating a civil war in France. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of But this policy strained his alliance with the Communists, who followed Soviet policy and urged all out support for the Spanish Republic. The impossible dilemma caused by this issue led Blum to resign in June 1937. He was briefly Prime Minister again in March and April 1938, but was unable to establish a stable ministry.

Despite its short life, the Popular Front government passed much important legislation, including the 40-hour week, paid holidays for the workers, collective bargaining on wage claims and the nationalisation of the arms industry. Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the Public ownership of a national government Blum also passed legislation extending the rights of the Arab population of Algeria. Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's In foreign policy, his government was divided between the traditional anti-militarism of the French left and the urgency of the rising threat of Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Despite the division, the government managed to engage the greatest war effort since the First World War. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

World War II

When the Germans occupied France in June 1940, Blum made no effort to leave the country, despite the extreme danger he was in as a Jew and a socialist leader. He was among the minority of Vichy French parliamentarians ("The Vichy 80") refusing to grant full powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain. The Vichy 80 refers to a minority group of French elected parliamentarians who on July 10, 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved The Vichy 80 refers to a minority group of French elected parliamentarians who on July 10, 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951 generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain ( Maréchal Pétain) He was arrested by the Vichy French authorities in September and held until 1942, when he was put on trial in the Riom Trial on charges of treason, for having "weakened France's defences". Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944 The Riom Trial ( February 19, 1942 - May 21, 1943) was an attempt by the regime of Vichy France, headed by Marshal Pétain He used the courtroom to make a brilliant indictment of the French military and pro-German politicians like Pierre Laval. Pierre Laval (28 June 1883 15 October 1945 was a French Politician and statesman who led the Vichy government during World War II, and The trial was such an embarrassment to the Vichy regime that the Germans ordered it called off.

In April 1943, the Germans deported Blum to Germany, where he was imprisoned in Buchenwald until April 1945. Buchenwald concentration camp (German Konzentrationslager or 'KZ' Buchenwald) was a Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg (Etter Mountain near He was imprisoned in the section reserved for high-ranking prisoners. As the Allied armies approached Buchenwald, he was then transferred to Dachau, near Munich, and then to the Tyrol. Dachau was a Nazi German Concentration camp, and the first one opened in Germany located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions Factory near the Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East In the last weeks of the war the Nazi regime gave orders that he was to be executed, but the local authorities decided not to obey them. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Blum was rescued by Allied troops in May 1945. While in prison he wrote his best known work, the essay À l'échelle Humaine ("For all mankind").

Blum's brother, René Blum, was not as fortunate. René Blum ( Paris, 13 March 1878 - Auschwitz, 30 April 1943) Choreographer, was the founder of the Ballet He was the founder of the Ballet de l'Opera a Monte Carlo. René Blum was imprisoned in Auschwitz and was murdered there by the Germans. "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany

After the war, Léon Blum returned to politics, and was again briefly Prime Minister in the transitional postwar coalition government. He advocated the alliance between the center-left and the center-right parties in order to support the Fourth Republic against the Gaullists and the Communists. The founding of the Fourth Republic (1944-47 See also Three Parties, Third Force (France European Unity The creation of the He also served as an ambassador on a government loan mission to the United States, and as head of the French mission to UNESCO. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 He continued to write for Le Populaire until his death at Jouy-en-Josas, near Paris, on 30 March 1950. Jouy-en-Josas is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The kibbutz of Kfar Blum in northern Israel is named after him. A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in Kfar Blum (כפר בלום Blum Village) is a Kibbutz in the Hula Valley part of the Upper Galilee in Israel. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics.

Blum's First Government, 4 June 1936 - 22 June 1937

The signing ceremony for the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence, Paris, September 1936. From left to right: Saadallah al-Jabiri, Jamil Mardam Bey, Hashim al-Atassi (signing), and Léon Blum.
The signing ceremony for the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence, Paris, September 1936. The Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was a treaty negotiated between France and Syria to provide for Syrian independence from French authority which had been From left to right: Saadallah al-Jabiri, Jamil Mardam Bey, Hashim al-Atassi (signing), and Léon Blum. Hashim Bay Khalid al- Atassi ( 1875 - December 5, 1960) ( هاشم الأتاسي was a Syrian nationalist, statesman and its President

Changes

Blum's Second Ministry, 13 March - 10 April 1938

Blum's Third Government, 16 December 1946 - 22 January 1947

Changes

Political offices
Preceded by
Albert Sarraut		 Prime Minister of France
1936–1937		 Succeeded by
Camille Chautemps
Preceded by
Camille Chautemps		 Prime Minister of France
1938		 Succeeded by
Édouard Daladier
Preceded by
Georges Bidault		 Chairman of the Provisional Government of France
1946–1947		 Succeeded by
Vincent Auriol
(President of France)
Paul Ramadier
(Prime Minister of France)

External links

Albert-Pierre Sarraut (28 July 1872 - 26 November 1962 was a French Radical politician twice Prime Minister during the Third Republic The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers Camille Chautemps (1 February 1885 in Paris 1 July 1963 in Washington D Camille Chautemps (1 February 1885 in Paris 1 July 1963 in Washington D The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers Édouard Daladier (18 June 1884 - 10 October 1970 was a French Radical politician and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World Georges-Augustin Bidault (5 October 1899 27 January 1983 was a French politician Second French Republic (1848-1852 President of the Provisional Government of the Republic Jacques Charles Dupont de l'Eure (24 February 1848 For other meanings see also the disambiguation page Auriol Jules-Vincent Auriol ( 27 August, 1884 1 January, 1966 was a Paul Ramadier ( 17 March 1888, La Rochelle - 14 October 1961) was a prominent French Socialist politician of
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