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Aristide Briand
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(b. Nantes, 28 Mar. 1862, d. 7 Jan. 1932) French; Prime Minister 1909 – 11, 1913, 1915 – 17, 1921 – 2, 1925 – 6, 1929 Briand was born in the western city of Nantes and trained as a lawyer. He flirted with the far left, made a reputation defending the anarchist trade unionists of the CGT and entered Parliament as a revolutionary Socialist in 1902. In the Chamber of Deputies he quickly demonstrated the mastery of compromise and manœuvre which would become his trademark. As rapporteur of the bill introducing the separation of church and state, he worked hard to defuse the tensions between anticlericals and Catholics. He then moved towards the centre by refusing to accept the Socialist Party's embargo on participation in bourgeois governments. Appointed Minister of Education and Churches in 1906, he was promoted by Clemenceau to Minister of Justice and became Prime Minister on the latter's defeat in 1909. As Prime Minister, he attacked the Radical Party and outraged his erstwhile Socialist colleagues by dealing toughly with trade union militancy. His shift to the right was confirmed by his support for the presidential bid of the conservative Republican Poincaré, whose Prime Minister he became, and by his leading role in the campaign for an extension of military service to three years.
It was, paradoxically, the First World War which started the process by which Briand regained the confidence of the parties of the left. He was not a very successful Prime Minister in 1915 – 17. Out of office, he grew alarmed at the endless slaughter and put out diplomatic feelers to the Austrians. In the short run, this proved dangerous as he came up against the implacable determination of Clemenceau, who became Prime Minister in November 1917. Briand narrowly avoided being swept away by the anti-defeatist campaign led by Clemenceau's henchmen and spent the rest of the war in uncharacteristic silence; to his chagrin he was excluded from any role in the 1919 peace negotiations. Yet he quickly recovered his earlier authority, first by leading the backstairs campaign which led to Clemenceau's failure to be elected President of the Republic and then by demonstrating to the inexperienced Chamber elected in 1919 his superior political talents. By 1921 he was back in office as Prime Minister. His clash with the assertive President Millerand, which led to his resignation in 1922, did him no harm at all when the left regained power in 1924. In the last phase of his career, he was several times Prime Minister, but devoted most of his energies to the cause of Franco-German reconciliation and the League of Nations. He was Foreign Minister for almost six years. Known as the "pilgrim of peace", he established close links with Stresemann, built on the "pale sunlight of Locarno" and even put forward a plan for a European federation.
By 1931 he was visibly failing. He was deeply upset by his failure to be elected President of the Republic in May 1931 and in January 1932 was evicted from the foreign office by his former protégé, Laval. He died six weeks later. Nine years later the cause of Franco-German reconciliation to which he had devoted his final years collapsed in disaster and some of the strongest champions of "Briandism" became prominent collaborators. His own reputation, however, survived, and is perpetuated by the memorial plaque outside the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
| Biography: Aristide Briand |
The French statesman Aristide Briand (1862-1932) is best known for his efforts to preserve international peace in the period after World War I. He also played an important role in the separation of church and state in France.
Aristide Briand was born on March 28, 1862, at Nantes, where his parents were innkeepers. Educated in public schools in Nantes, he went to Paris to study law and returned to practice at Saint-Nazaire. There he entered politics and was defeated for the Chamber of Deputies in 1889. He then joined the syndicalist movement and became an advocate of the revolutionary general strike as the means of transforming society (the labor movement at this time also favored the general-strike tactic).
Moving to Paris in 1893, Briand worked as a journalist and campaigned unsuccessfully for the Chamber in 1893 and 1898. He began to acquire an important position in Socialist circles, where he associated with the more moderate parliamentary group of Jean Jaurès and René Viviani. He was finally elected to the Chamber as a Socialist in 1902. A supporter of participation in bourgeois ministries, he refused to accept the discipline imposed by the Socialist unification in 1905. Though he continued for a time to consider himself an independent Socialist, he preferred a ministerial career to one of permanent opposition.
A brilliant orator, Briand also demonstrated great skill in the arts of parliamentary maneuver. As reporter for the committee which prepared the legislation for the separation of church and state, he sought out Roman Catholic support and tried to minimize the inevitable offense to religious sensitivities. As minister of public instruction and worship (1906) and as minister of justice (1907), he assumed the responsibility of executing these laws.
When he became premier and minister of the interior (July 1909-February 1911), Briand broke with his revolutionary beginnings by his ruthless suppression of a rail-road-workers' strike. From then on he was accepted by the moderate majority as a man who could be entrusted with the leadership of the country. As minister of justice (January 1912-March 1913) and premier (January-March 1913), he campaigned successfully for the restoration of the 3-year military service favored by the right.
With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Briand entered the national union Cabinet of Viviani, whom he succeeded in October 1915. Unable to break the costly military stalemate, Briand came under increasing attack, led by Georges Clemenceau, and his ministry fell in March 1917.
When Briand returned to power as premier in January 1921, he faced the growing problem of relations with Germany. Despite French occupation of Düsseldorf and other German cities, he was charged with making too many concessions under Allied pressure at the many international congresses of that year and was succeeded by Raymond Poincaré. Briand became foreign minister in 1925 and held the post with one brief interruption for 7 years in several ministries, including four of his own.
With France's allies unwilling to guarantee its security, Briand saw the necessity of a Franco-German reconciliation, which he tried to promote through various concessions in response to the policy of "fulfillment" of the German foreign minister Gustave Stresemann. This approach led to the Locarno Pact of October 1925, in which Germany agreed to its western borders and was reaccepted in the concert of powers. For their efforts Briand and Stresemann shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. Briand, indeed, sought to exploit all avenues toward lasting peace: military alliances, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 (a multilateral treaty outlawing war), and the League of Nations. In September 1929 he proposed a United States of Europe as the surest long-term means to peace.
The collapse during the 1930s of the instruments of peace which Briand had helped build does not detract from the nobility or the farsightedness of his effort. Fortunately, Briand did not live to see this outcome. After his defeat for the presidency in June 1931, he fell ill and resigned as foreign minister in January 1932. He died in Paris on March 7, 1932, and was accorded a state funeral.
Further Reading
There is no satisfactory biography of Briand, but one might consult the admittedly subjective work of Valentine Thomson, Briand: Man of Peace (1930). Edgar Stern-Rubarth, Three Men Tried (1939), is a discussion of Briand's Chamberlain's, and Stresemann's attempts to create a new Europe. Background information is in Kent Forster, Recent Europe: A Twentieth Century History (1965).
| French Literature Companion: Aristide Briand |
Briand, Aristide (1862-1932). French politician. He was prime minister several times, and was active after World War I in promoting reconciliation with Germany and the establishment of a durable European order. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Aristide Briand |
Briand, Aristide (ärēstēd' brēäN'), 1862-1932, French statesman. A lawyer and a Socialist, he entered (1902) the chamber of deputies and helped to draft and pass the law (1905) for separation of church and state. Made (1906) minister of education and minister of religion to execute the law, he was ejected from the Socialist party for participating in the bourgeois cabinet of premier Jean Sarrien. In 1909 he became premier for the first of 11 times. In World War I, Briand headed (1915-17) two successive coalition cabinets and made the decision to hold Verdun at any cost. His government fell in Mar., 1917; attacked by Georges Clemenceau for attempting to negotiate a peace with Germany in 1917, Briand retired. After the war he emerged as a leading advocate of international peace and cooperation, and he is best remembered for his devotion to this cause. The cabinet he headed in 1921 fell because of his unpopular criticism of the Treaty of Versailles and his moderate demands at international conferences, where he worked for a reconciliation with Germany without the sacrifice of French security. As foreign minister from 1925 to 1932 he was the chief architect of the Locarno Pact (1925) and the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), and he shared the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize with Gustav Stresemann. An impressive orator, Briand was a prominent figure in the League of Nations. He advocated a plan for a United States of Europe.
| Quotes By: Aristide Briand |
Quotes:
"A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests."
| Wikipedia: Aristide Briand |
| Aristide Briand | |
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| In office 24 July 1909 – 2 March 1911 |
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| Preceded by | Georges Clemenceau |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Monis |
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| In office 21 January 1913 – 22 March 1913 |
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| Preceded by | Raymond Poincaré |
| Succeeded by | Louis Barthou |
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| In office 29 October 1915 – 20 March 1917 |
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| Preceded by | René Viviani |
| Succeeded by | Alexandre Ribot |
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| In office 16 January 1921 – 15 January 1922 |
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| Preceded by | Georges Leygues |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Poincaré |
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| In office 28 November 1925 – 20 July 1926 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Painlevé |
| Succeeded by | Édouard Herriot |
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| In office 29 July 1929 – 2 November 1929 |
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| Preceded by | Raymond Poincaré |
| Succeeded by | André Tardieu |
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| Born | 28 March 1862 |
| Died | March 7, 1932 (aged 69) |
| Political party | SFIO PRS |
Aristide Briand (28 March 1862 – 7 March 1932) was a French statesman who served several terms as Prime Minister of France and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Early life
He was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique of a bourgeois family. He attended the Nantes Lycée, where, in 1877, he developed a close friendship with Jules Verne.[1] He studied law, and soon went into politics, associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for the anarchist journal Le Peuple, and directing the Lanterne for some time. From this he passed to the Petite République, leaving it to found L'Humanité, in collaboration with Jean Jaurès.
Activism
At the same time he was prominent in the movement for the formation of trade unions, and at the congress of working men at Nantes in 1894 he secured the adoption of the labor union idea against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand was one of the leaders of the French Socialist Party. In 1902, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong partisan of the union of the Left in what was known as the Bloc, in order to check the reactionary Deputies of the Right.
From the beginning of his career in the Chamber of Deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of the separation of church and state. He was appointed reporter of the commission charged with the preparation of the 1905 law on separation, and his masterly report at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without dividing the parties upon whose support he relied.
He was the principal author of the law of separation, but, not content with preparing it, he wished to apply it as well. The ministry of Maurice Rouvier was allowing disturbances during the taking of inventories of church property, a clause of the law for which Briand was not responsible. Consequently he accepted the portfolio of Public Instruction and Worship in the Sarrien ministry (1906). So far as the Chamber was concerned his success was complete. But the acceptance of a position in a bourgeois ministry led to his exclusion from the Unified Socialist Party (March 1906). As opposed to Jaurès, he contended that the Socialists should co-operate actively with the Radicals in all matters of reform, and not stand aloof to await the complete fulfillment of their ideals.
Prime Minister of France
Briand succeeded Clemenceau as Prime Minister in 1909, serving until 1911, and served again for a few months in 1913. In October 1915, following on French defeats in the First World War, Briand again became Prime Minister, and, for the first time, Foreign Minister, succeeding René Viviani and Théophile Delcassé respectively. His tenure was not particularly successful, and he resigned in March 1917 as a result of disagreements over the prospective Nivelle Offensive, to be succeeded by Alexandre Ribot.
Briand returned to power in 1921, but his efforts to come to an agreement over reparations with the Germans failed in the wake of German intransigence, and he was succeeded by the more bellicose Raymond Poincaré. In the wake of the Ruhr Crisis, however, Briand's more conciliatory style became more acceptable, and he returned to the Quai d'Orsay in 1925, remaining foreign minister until his death. Briand negotiated the Briand-Ceretti Agreement with the Vatican giving the French government a role in the appointment of Catholic bishops.
Aristide Briand received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize together with Gustav Stresemann of Germany for the Locarno Treaties (Austen Chamberlain of the United Kingdom had won a share of the Peace Prize a year earlier for the same agreement). A 1927 proposal by Briand and United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg for a universal pact outlawing war led the following year to the Pact of Paris, aka the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
The cordial relations between Briand and Stresemann, the leading statesmen of their respective countries, were cut short by the unexpected death of Stresemann in 1929 and of Briand in 1932.
Governments
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Briand's first Government, 24 July 1909 - 3 November 1910
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
- Stéphen Pichon - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean Brun - Minister of War
- Georges Cochery - Minister of Finance
- René Viviani - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Louis Barthou - Minister of Justice
- Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère - Minister of Marine
- Gaston Doumergue - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Joseph Ruau - Minister of Agriculture
- Georges Trouillot - Minister of Colonies
- Alexandre Millerand - Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Jean Dupuy - Minister of Commerce and Industry
Briand's second Ministry, 3 November 1910 - 2 March 1911
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
- Stéphen Pichon - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean Brun - Minister of War
- Louis Lucien Klotz - Minister of Finance
- Louis Lafferre - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Théodore Girard - Minister of Justice
- Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère - Minister of Marine
- Maurice Faure - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Maurice Raynaud - Minister of Agriculture
- Jean Morel - Minister of Colonies
- Louis Puech - Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Jean Dupuy - Minister of Commerce and Industry
Changes
- 23 February 1911 - Briand succeeds Brun as interim Minister of War.
Briand's third Government, 21 January - 22 March 1913
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
- Charles Jonnart - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Eugène Étienne - Minister of War
- Louis Lucien Klotz - Minister of Finance
- René Besnard - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Louis Barthou - Minister of Justice
- Pierre Baudin - Minister of Marine
- Théodore Steeg - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Fernand David - Minister of Agriculture
- Jean Morel - Minister of Colonies
- Jean Dupuy - Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Gabriel Guist'hau - Minister of Commerce and Industry
Briand's fourth Government, 29 October 1915 - 12 December 1916
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Joseph Galliéni - Minister of War
- Louis Malvy - Minister of the Interior
- Alexandre Ribot - Minister of Finance
- Albert Métin - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- René Viviani - Minister of Justice
- Lucien Lacaze - Minister of Marine
- Paul Painlevé - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Jules Méline - Minister of Agriculture
- Gaston Doumergue - Minister of Colonies
- Marcel Sembat - Minister of Public Works
- Étienne Clémentel - Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs
- Léon Bourgeois - Minister of State
- Denys Cochin - Minister of State
- Émile Combes - Minister of State
- Charles de Freycinet - Minister of State
- Jules Guesde - Minister of State
Changes
- 15 November 1915 - Paul Painlevé becomes Minister of Inventions for the National Defense in addition to being Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts.
- 16 March 1916 - Pierre Auguste Roques succeeds Galliéni as Minister of War
Briand's fifth Government, 12 December 1916 - 20 March 1917
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Hubert Lyautey - Minister of War
- Albert Thomas - Minister of Armaments and War Manufacturing
- Louis Malvy - Minister of the Interior
- Alexandre Ribot - Minister of Finance
- Étienne Clémentel - Minister of Commerce, Industry, Labour, Social Security Provisions, Agriculture, Posts, and Telegraphs
- René Viviani - Minister of Justice, Public Instruction, and Fine Arts
- Lucien Lacaze - Minister of Marine
- Édouard Herriot - Minister of Supply, Public Works, and Transport
- Gaston Doumergue - Minister of Colonies
Changes
- 15 March 1917 - Lucien Lacaze succeeds Lyautey as interim Minister of War.
Briand's sixth Government, 16 January 1921 - 15 January 1922
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Louis Barthou - Minister of War
- Pierre Marraud - Minister of the Interior
- Paul Doumer - Minister of Finance
- Charles Daniel-Vincent - Minister of Labour
- Laurent Bonnevay - Minister of Justice
- Gabriel Guist'hau - Minister of Marine
- Léon Bérard - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- André Maginot - Minister of War Pensions, Grants, and Allowances
- Edmond Lefebvre du Prey - Minister of Agriculture
- Albert Sarraut - Minister of Colonies
- Yves Le Trocquer - Minister of Public Works
- Georges Leredu - Minister of Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Lucien Dior - Minister of Commerce and Industry
- Louis Loucheur - Minister of Liberated Regions
Briand's seventh Government, 28 November 1925 - 9 March 1926
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Paul Painlevé - Minister of War
- Camille Chautemps - Minister of the Interior
- Louis Loucheur - Minister of Finance
- Antoine Durafour - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- René Renoult - Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
- Édouard Daladier - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Paul Jourdain - Minister of Pensions
- Jean Durand - Minister of Agriculture
- Léon Perrier - Minister of Colonies
- Anatole de Monzie - Minister of Public Works
- Charles Daniel-Vincent - Minister of Commerce and Industry
Changes
- 16 December 1925 - Paul Doumer succeeds Loucheur as Minister of Finance.
Briand's eighth Government, 9 March - 23 June 1926
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Paul Painlevé - Minister of War
- Louis Malvy - Minister of the Interior
- Raoul Péret - Minister of Finance
- Antoine Durafour - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Pierre Laval - Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
- Lucien Lamoureux - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Paul Jourdain - Minister of Pensions
- Jean Durand - Minister of Agriculture
- Léon Perrier - Minister of Colonies
- Anatole de Monzie - Minister of Public Works
- Charles Daniel-Vincent - Minister of Commerce and Industry
Changes
- 10 April 1926 - Jean Durand succeeds Malvy as Minister of the Interior. François Binet succeeds Durand as Minister of Agriculture.
Briand's Ninth Government, 23 June - 19 July 1926
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Adolphe Guillaumat - Minister of War
- Jean Durand - Minister of the Interior
- Joseph Caillaux - Minister of Finance
- Antoine Durafour - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Pierre Laval - Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
- Bertrand Nogaro - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Paul Jourdain - Minister of Pensions
- François Binet - Minister of Agriculture
- Léon Perrier - Minister of Colonies
- Charles Daniel-Vincent - Minister of Public Works
- Fernand Chapsal - Minister of Commerce and Industry
Briand's tenth Government, 29 July - 3 November 1929
- Aristide Briand - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Paul Painlevé - Minister of War
- André Tardieu - Minister of the Interior
- Henry Chéron - Minister of Finance
- Louis Loucheur - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
- Louis Barthou - Minister of Justice
- Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
- Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
- Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Louis Antériou - Minister of Pensions
- Jean Hennessy - Minister of Agriculture
- André Maginot - Minister of Colonies
- Pierre Forgeot - Minister of Public Works
- Georges Bonnefous - Minister of Commerce and Industry
See also
References
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Briand, Aristide. |
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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