French legislative election, 1958

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French legislative election, 1958
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←  1956 23 and 30 November 1958 1962  →
All 576 seats to the French National Assembly
289 seats were needed for a majority

  Majority party Minority party Third party
  De Gaulle-OWI.jpg
CNIP
 Pierre Pflimlin par Claude Truong-Ngoc 1975.jpg
Leader Charles de Gaulle none Pierre Pflimlin
Party UNR CNIP MRP
Leader's seatnonenone Bas-Rhin-8th
Last election22 seats95 seats71 seats
Seats won 18913257
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 173Increase2.svg 37Decrease2.svg 26
Popular vote 3,603,958 (1st round)
4,769,052 (2nd round)		 4,092,600 (1st round)
4,250,083 (2nd round)		 2,387,788 (1st round)
1,365,064 (2nd round)
Percentage 17.6% (1st round)
26.4% (2nd round)		 19.9% (1st round)
23.6% (2nd round)		 11.6% (1st round)
7.5% (2nd round)
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Guy Mollet Archief.PNG Thorez.jpg
Leader Guy Mollet Félix Gaillard Maurice Thorez
Party SFIO PR PCF
Leader's seat Pas-de-Calais-1st Charente Seine
Last election 95 seats 77 seats 150 seats
Seats won 40 37 10
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 55Decrease2.svg 40Decrease2.svg 140
Popular vote 3,167,354 (1st round)
2,484,417 (2nd round)		 2,695,287 (1st round)
1,398,409 (2nd round)		 3,882,204 (1st round)
3,741,384 (2nd round)
Percentage 15.5% (1st round)
13.8% (2nd round)		 12.9% (1st round)
7.7% (2nd round)		 18.9% (1st round)
20.7% (2nd round)
PM before election

Charles de Gaulle
UNR

Elected PM

Michel Debré
UNR

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The French legislative elections took place on 23 and 30 November 1958 to elect the first National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic. [1]

French Fifth Republic fifth and current republican constitution of France since 1958

The Fifth Republic, France's current republican system of government, was established by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential, or dual-executive, system that split powers between a Prime Minister as head of government and a President as head of state. De Gaulle, who was the first French President elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying l'esprit de la nation.

Contents

Since 1954, the French Fourth Republic had been mired in the Algerian War. [2] In May 1958, Pierre Pflimlin, a Christian-Democrat, became Prime Minister. [3] He was known to be in favour of a negotiated settlement with the Algerian nationalists. [4] On 13 May riots broke out in Algiers, with the complicity of the army. [5] A rebel government seized power in Algiers in order to defend "French Algeria". The next day, General Massu demanded the return to power of General Charles de Gaulle. [6]

French Fourth Republic government of France between 1946 and 1958

The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic that was in place from 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War to 1940 during World War II, and suffered many of the same problems. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946.

Algerian War war between France and the Algerian independence movement from 1954 to 1962

The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian War of Independence or the Algerian Revolution was fought between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, maquis fighting, and the use of torture. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities and within the communities. The war took place mainly on the territory of Algeria, with repercussions in metropolitan France.

Pierre Pflimlin French politician

Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin was a French Christian democratic politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the crisis of that year.

The rebellious generals took control of Corsica threatening to conduct an assault on Paris, involving paratroopers and armoured forces based at Rambouillet. [6] In Paris, the political leaders were trying to find a compromise. [7] On 1 June De Gaulle replaced Pflimlin to lead a government of national unity and nominated as Ministers of State (Vice-Prime Ministers) Pierre Pflimlin (Popular Republican Movement, MRP), Guy Mollet (French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), Louis Jacquinot (National Center of Independents and Peasants, CNIP) and Félix Houphouët-Boigny. [8] He obtained the right to develop a new Constitution. [9] Only the Communists and some center-left politicians such as Pierre Mendès-France and François Mitterrand, opposed this "coup against the Republic". [7] [10]

Corsica Island in the Mediterranean, also a region and a department of France

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is located southeast of the French mainland and west of the Italian Peninsula, with the nearest land mass being the Italian island of Sardinia to the immediate south. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island.

Paratrooper Military parachutists functioning as part of an airborne force

A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into an operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation. Paratroopers are often used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges.

Rambouillet Commune in Île-de-France, France

Rambouillet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located on the outskirts of Paris, 44.3 km (27.5 mi) southwest from the centre. Rambouillet is a sub-prefecture of the department.

On 28 September the new Constitution was approved by 79.25% of voters. The Fifth Republic was born. The two-round system was re-established for the legislative elections. [11] The Gaullists created the Union for the New Republic which became the largest parliamentary group. Their opponents were crushed. The division in the Left between the supporters and the opponents to the Fifth Republic explained, in due to this ballot system which encourages the alliances, the small number of left-wing MPs. [12]

Two-round system voting system used to elect a single winner where a second round of voting is used if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round

The two-round system is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes, then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held.

Union for the New Republic

The Union for the New Republic, was a French political party founded on 1 October 1958 that supported Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle in the 1958 elections.

On 21 December de Gaulle was elected President of France by an electoral college. [13] His Justice Minister Michel Debré became Prime Minister. [14] The pro-Fifth Republic center-left parties (SFIO and Radical Party) left the presidential majority. [15] [1] This established the first gaullist centre-right government.

Electoral college subset of an electoral body, based on a territorial or non-territorial criteria

An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations, political parties, or entities, with each organization, political party or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way. The system can ignore the wishes of a general membership.

Michel Debré French politician

Michel Jean-Pierre Debré was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 to 1962. In terms of political personality, he was intense and immovable, with a tendency to rhetorical extremism.

Results (Metropolitan France) [16]

e  •  d  
Parties and coalitions1st round2nd roundTotal seats
Votes%Votes%
Union for the New Republic (Union pour la nouvelle République) and Gaullists UNR 3,603,958 17.6 4,769,052 26.4 189
National Center of Independents and Peasants (Centre national des indépendants et paysans) and Moderates CNIP 4,092,600 19.9 4,250,083 23.6 132
Popular Republican Movement (Mouvement républicain populaire) and Christian Democrats MRP 2,387,788 11.6 1,365,064 7.5 57
French Section of the Workers International (Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière) SFIO 3,167,354 15.5 2,484,417 13.8 40
Radical Party (Parti radical), Dissidents and Republican Center Rad 2,695,287 12.9 1,398,409 7.7 37
French Communist Party (Parti communiste français) PCF 3,882,204 18.9 3,741,384 20.7 10
Extreme Right 669,518 3.3 - - 1
Total20,489,70999.799.7466
Abstention: 22.9% (1st round)

Notes

  1. 1 2 Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 253-266.
  2. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 26-44.
  3. ↑ Laponce 1961, pp. 1-2.
  4. ↑ Laponce 1961, pp. 9-10; Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 60-61.
  5. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 62.
  6. 1 2 Watson 2003, pp. 123-129; Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 81-91.
  7. 1 2 Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 92-97.
  8. ↑ Laponce 1961, pp. 12-13; Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 154.
  9. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 117.
  10. ↑ Mitterrand 1964.
  11. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 210-236, 335-358.
  12. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 249-266.
  13. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 182, 270.
  14. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 152, 273.
  15. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 242-246.
  16. ↑ Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 258, N.B.: Unofficial and partly reconstructed

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