French legislative election, 1936

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French legislative election, 1936

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  1932 26 April and 3 May 1936 1945  

All 610 seats to the Chamber of Deputies
306 seats were needed for a majority

 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  Leon Blum Meurisse b 1927.jpg Edouard Daladier.jpg Louis Marin in 1932.jpg
Leader Léon Blum Édouard Daladier Louis Marin
Party SFIO PRRRS FR and RIAS
Leader's seat Narbonne Rhône Meurthe-et-Moselle
Last election132 seats160 seats59 seats
Seats won149110100
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 17Decrease2.svg 50Increase2.svg 41
Popular vote1,955,3061,422,6111,475,793
Percentage19.86%14.45%15.2%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.65%Decrease2.svg 4.73%Decrease2.svg 2.89%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Pierre-Etienne Flandin - 1931.jpg Thorez.jpg
Leader Pierre-Étienne Flandin (AD) Maurice Thorez
Party AD-RI PCF
Leader's seat Yonne Seine
Last election121 seats10 seats
Seats won8272
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 39Increase2.svg 62
Popular vote2,089,1661,502,404
Percentage21.33%15.26%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.89%Increase2.svg 6.94%

French Legislative election 1936.svg


Government before election

Albert Sarraut II
PRRRS (Republican coalition)

Elected Government

Léon Blum I
SFIO (Popular Front)

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French legislative elections to elect the 16th legislature of the French Third Republic were held on 26 April and 3 May 1936. This was the last legislature of the Third Republic and the last election before World War II. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 people vying for 618 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In the Seine Department alone, there were 1,402 candidates. [1]

French Third Republic Nation of France from 1870 to 1940

The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 after France's defeat by Nazi Germany in World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government in France.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Seine was a department of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. Its capital was Paris and its official number was 75. The Seine department was abolished in 1968 and its territory divided among four new departments.

Contents

The Popular Front, composed of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the Radical-Socialists, the French Section of the Communist International (SFIC), and miscellaneous leftists, won power from the broad Republican coalitions that had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis. Léon Blum became President of the Council. Broad Republican coalitions had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis: Government Gaston Doumergue II (Union Nationale, 272 days), Government Flandin I (204 days), Government Bouisson (3 days) and Government Laval IV (229 days).

The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the communist French Section of the Communist International, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the progressive Radical-Socialist Republican Party, during the interwar period. Three months after the victory of the Frente Popular in Spain, the Popular Front won the May 1936 legislative elections, leading to the formation of a government first headed by SFIO leader Léon Blum and exclusively composed of republican and SFIO ministers.

French Section of the Workers International political party

The French Section of the Workers' International was a French socialist party founded in 1905 and replaced in 1969 by the current Socialist Party (PS). It was created during the 1905 Globe Congress in Paris as a merger between the French Socialist Party and the Socialist Party of France in order to create the French section of the Second International, designated as the party of the workers' movement.

French Communist Party left-wing political party in France which advocates the principles of communism

The French Communist Party is a communist party in France.

For the first time, the Radical-Socialists were eclipsed on the left by the SFIO, while still keeping a considerable role in French politics.

Regional results

Dordogne Department of France in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Dordogne is a department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. The department is located in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees and is named after the river Dordogne that runs through it. It corresponds roughly with the ancient county of Périgord. It had a population of 416,909 in 2013.

Brittany Historical province in France

Brittany is a cultural region in the northwest of France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as if it were a separate nation under the crown.

Results

e    d  Summary of the popular vote in the 26 April and 3 May 1936 Chamber of Deputies election results
AllianceVotes%PartyAbbr.Votes%
  Popular Front 5,628,32157.17 French Section of the Workers' International (Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière)SFIO1,955,30619.86
French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)PCF1,502,40415.26
Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste)PRRRS1,422,61114.45
Miscellaneous Left (Divers gauche)DVG748,6007.60
 Right and Centre4,202,29842.68
Democratic Alliance (Alliance démocratique), Independent Radicals (Radicaux indépendents), Popular Democrats (Démocrates populaires)AD-RI-PDP2,536,29425.76
Republican Federation (Fédération républicaine), Independents, ConservativesFR1,666,00416.92
Other partiesDiv16,0470.16
Total9,846,666100
Abstention: 17.75%
Popular vote
AD-RI-PDP
25.76%
SFIO
19.86%
FR
16.92%
PCF
15.26%
PRRRS
14.45%
DVG
7.60%
Others
0.16%
Popular vote (alliances)
Popular Front
57.17%
Right and Centre
42.68%
Others
0.16%

Parliamentary Groups [3]

AffiliationPartySeats
Left
  French Communist Party (PCF)72
  Party of Proletarian Unity (PUP)6
  French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO)149
  Socialist Republican Union (USR)29
Centre-Left
  Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (PRRRS)110
  Radical-Socialist Party Camille Pelletan (PRS-CP)3
 Frontist Party2
  Party of the Young Republic (PJR)4
 Independent Left11
Centre-Right
  Democratic and Independent Radical Left 39
  Alliance of Left Republicans and Independent Radicals 43
  Independents of Popular Action 16
  Popular Democrats 13
Right
  Independent Republicans of Social Action and Agrarian Group40
  Republican Federation and Independents of the National and Republican Union 60
  Republican Independents 13
Total610
% vote for the Front Populaire in 1936 FP1936.png
% vote for the Front Populaire in 1936


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