François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the [of France].
In this election, the right wing won its largest majority since the Bloc National in 1919. François Mitterrand was accused of being responsible for this huge legislative defeat and the FGDS split.
He had three brothers, Robert, Jacques, and Philippe, and four sisters, Antoinette, Marie-Josèphe, Colette, and Geneviève. Mitterrand's wife, Danielle Mitterrand (née Gouze, 1924–2011), came from a socialist background and worked for various left-wing causes.
He furthermore had some personal and family relations with members of the Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group in the 1930s. François Mitterrand then served his conscription from 1937 to 1939 in the 23rd régiment d'infanterie coloniale.
Arriving in Paris in autumn 1934, he then went to the École Libre des Sciences Politiques until 1937, where he obtained his diploma in July of that year.
He participated in the demonstrations against the "invasion métèque " in February 1935 and then in those against law teacher Gaston Jèze, who had been nominated as juridical counsellor of Ethiopia's Negus, in January 1936. When François Mitterrand's involvement in these conservative nationalist movements was revealed in the 1990s, he attributed his actions to the milieu of his youth.
He participated in the demonstrations against the "invasion métèque " in February 1935 and then in those against law teacher Gaston Jèze, who had been nominated as juridical counsellor of Ethiopia's Negus, in January 1936. When François Mitterrand's involvement in these conservative nationalist movements was revealed in the 1990s, he attributed his actions to the milieu of his youth.
While the Socialists took the leading position on the left, by obtaining more votes than the Communists for the first time since 1936, the leadership of François Mitterrand was challenged by an internal opposition led by Michel Rocard who criticized the programme of the PS as being "archaic" and "unrealistic".
Arriving in Paris in autumn 1934, he then went to the École Libre des Sciences Politiques until 1937, where he obtained his diploma in July of that year.
He furthermore had some personal and family relations with members of the Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group in the 1930s. François Mitterrand then served his conscription from 1937 to 1939 in the 23rd régiment d'infanterie coloniale.
In 1938, he became the best friend of Georges Dayan, a Jewish socialist, whom he saved from anti-Semitic aggressions by the national-royalist movement Action française.
He furthermore had some personal and family relations with members of the Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group in the 1930s. François Mitterrand then served his conscription from 1937 to 1939 in the 23rd régiment d'infanterie coloniale.
Finishing his law studies, he was sent in September 1939 to the Maginot line near Montmédy, with the rank of Sergeant-chief (infantry sergeant).
He became engaged to Marie-Louise Terrasse (future actress and television presenter Catherine Langeais) in May 1940, when she was 16, but she broke it off in January 1942.
Following an observation of Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II, François Mitterrand became an agnostic. ==Second World War== François Mitterrand's actions during World War II were the cause of much controversy in France during the 1980s and 1990s. ===Prisoner of War: 1940–1941=== François Mitterrand was at the end of his national service when the war broke out.
He fought as an infantry sergeant and was injured and captured by the Germans on 14 June 1940.
He had two failed escape attempts in March and then November 1941 before he finally escaped on 16 December 1941, returning to France on foot.
In December 1941 he arrived home in the unoccupied zone controlled by the French.
This was very unusual for an escaped prisoner, and he later claimed to have served as a spy for the Free French Forces. ===Work in France under the Vichy administration: 1941–1943=== François Mitterrand worked from January to April 1942 for the (Legion of French combatants and volunteers of the national revolution) as a civil servant on a temporary contract.
He became engaged to Marie-Louise Terrasse (future actress and television presenter Catherine Langeais) in May 1940, when she was 16, but she broke it off in January 1942.
This was very unusual for an escaped prisoner, and he later claimed to have served as a spy for the Free French Forces. ===Work in France under the Vichy administration: 1941–1943=== François Mitterrand worked from January to April 1942 for the (Legion of French combatants and volunteers of the national revolution) as a civil servant on a temporary contract.
From mid-1942, he sent false papers to POWs in Germany and on 12 June and 15 August 1942, he joined meetings at the Château de Montmaur which formed the base of his future network for the resistance.
On 15 October 1942, François Mitterrand and Marcel Barrois (a member of the resistance deported in 1944) met Marshal Philippe Pétain along with other members of the Comité d'entraide aux prisonniers rapatriés de l'Allier (Help group for repatriated POWs in the department of Allier).
By the end of 1942, François Mitterrand met Pierre Guillain de Bénouville, an old friend from his days with La Cagoule.
Bénouville was a member of the resistance groups Combat and Noyautage des administrations publiques (NAP). In late 1942, the non-occupied zone was invaded by the Germans.
He added that the "criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French State". President Emmanuel Macron was even more specific as to the State's responsibility for the 1942 Vel' d'Hiv Roundup of 13,000 Jews for deportation to concentration camps.
François Mitterrand left the Commissariat in January 1943, when his boss , another vichysto-résistant, was replaced by the collaborator André Masson, but he remained in charge of the centres d'entraides.
In the spring of 1943, along with Gabriel Jeantet, a member of Marshal Pétain's cabinet, and Simon Arbellot (both former members of La Cagoule), François Mitterrand received the Order of the Francisque (the honorific distinction of the Vichy Regime). Debate rages in France as to the significance of this.
We cannot build pride upon a lie. ===Full engagement in resistance: 1943–1945=== François Mitterrand built up a resistance network, composed mainly of former POWs.
In 1943 Giraud was contesting with de Gaulle for the leadership of the French Resistance. From the beginning of 1943, François Mitterrand had contacts with a powerful resistance group called the Organisation de résistance de l'armée (ORA), organised by former French military personnel.
28 May 1943, when François Mitterrand met with Gaullist , is generally taken as the date François Mitterrand split with Vichy.
According to Dechartre, the meeting on 28 May 1943 was set up because "there were three movements [of Résistance:] […] the Gaullist, the communist, and one from support centers […] hence I was assigned the mission to prepare what would be called afterwards the merger [of the three movements]." During 1943, the RNPG gradually changed from providing false papers to information-gathering for France libre.
Mitterrand avoided arrest as Piatzook covered his escape. In November 1943 the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) raided a flat in Vichy, where they hoped to arrest François Morland, a member of the resistance.
François Mitterrand was in Paris at the time. Warned by his friends, François Mitterrand escaped to London aboard a Lysander plane on 15 November 1943 (piloted by then-Squadron Leader Lewis Hodges).
From 27 November 1943 Mitterrand worked for the Bureau central de renseignements et d'action.
They married on 24 October 1944 and had three sons: Pascal (10 June – 17 September 1945), Jean-Christophe, born in 1946, and Gilbert, born on 4 February 1949.
On 15 October 1942, François Mitterrand and Marcel Barrois (a member of the resistance deported in 1944) met Marshal Philippe Pétain along with other members of the Comité d'entraide aux prisonniers rapatriés de l'Allier (Help group for repatriated POWs in the department of Allier).
Thus the RNPG was listed in the French Force organization from spring 1944. François Mitterrand returned to France by boat via England.
Among them was François Mitterrand, when they came face to face, de Gaulle is said to have muttered: "You again!" He dismissed François Mitterrand 2 weeks later. In October 1944 François Mitterrand and Jacques Foccart developed a plan to liberate the POW and concentration camps.
They married on 24 October 1944 and had three sons: Pascal (10 June – 17 September 1945), Jean-Christophe, born in 1946, and Gilbert, born on 4 February 1949.
On the orders of de Gaulle, in April 1945 François Mitterrand accompanied General Lewis as the French representative at the liberation of the camps at Kaufering and Dachau.
They married on 24 October 1944 and had three sons: Pascal (10 June – 17 September 1945), Jean-Christophe, born in 1946, and Gilbert, born on 4 February 1949.
Antelme was restricted to the camp to prevent the spread of disease, but François Mitterrand arranged for his "escape" and sent him back to France for treatment. ==Fourth Republic== ===Rise in politics: 1946–54=== After the war François Mitterrand quickly moved back into politics.
At the June 1946 legislative election, he led the list of the Rally of the Republican Lefts (Rassemblement des gauches républicaines, RGR) in the Western suburb of Paris, but he was not elected.
It opposed the policy of the "Three-parties alliance" (Communists, Socialists and Christian Democrats). In the November 1946 legislative election, he succeeded in winning a seat as deputy from the Nièvre département.
In January 1947, he joined the cabinet as War Veterans Minister.
He ended the cordon sanitaire of the PCF which the party had been subject to since 1947.
He held various offices in the Fourth Republic as a Deputy and as a Minister (holding eleven different portfolios in total), including as a mayor of Château-Chinon from 1959 to 1981. In May 1948 François Mitterrand participated in the Congress of The Hague, together with Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill, Harold Macmillan, Paul-Henri Spaak, Albert Coppé and Altiero Spinelli.
They married on 24 October 1944 and had three sons: Pascal (10 June – 17 September 1945), Jean-Christophe, born in 1946, and Gilbert, born on 4 February 1949.
When François Mitterrand's Vichy past was exposed in the 1950s, he at first denied having received the Francisque (some sources say he was designated for the award, but never received the medal because he went into hiding before the ceremony took place).
As leader of the progressive wing of the UDSR, he took the head of the party in 1953, replacing the conservative René Pleven. In June 1953 François Mitterrand attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Seated next to the elderly Princess Marie Bonaparte, he reported having spent much of the ceremony being psychoanalyzed by her. ===Senior minister during the Algerian War: 1954–58=== As Interior Minister in Pierre Mendès-France's cabinet (1954–1955), François Mitterrand had to direct the response to the Algerian War of Independence.
The suspicions were dismissed by subsequent investigations. The UDSR joined the Republican Front, a centre-left coalition, which won the 1956 legislative election.
He appeared as a possible future Prime Minister. ==Opposition during the Fifth Republic== ===Crossing the desert: 1958–64=== In 1958, François Mitterrand was one of the few to object to the nomination of Charles de Gaulle as head of government, and to de Gaulle's plan for a Fifth Republic.
He justified his opposition by the circumstances of de Gaulle's comeback: the 13 May 1958 quasi-putsch and military pressure.
In September 1958, determinedly opposed to Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand made an appeal to vote "no" in the referendum over the Constitution, which was nevertheless adopted on 4 October 1958.
This defeated coalition of the "No" was composed of the PCF and some left-wing republican politicians (such as Pierre Mendès-France and François Mitterrand). This attitude may have been a factor in François Mitterrand's losing his seat in the 1958 elections, beginning a long "crossing of the desert" (this term is usually applied to de Gaulle's decline in influence for a similar period).
He held various offices in the Fourth Republic as a Deputy and as a Minister (holding eleven different portfolios in total), including as a mayor of Château-Chinon from 1959 to 1981. In May 1948 François Mitterrand participated in the Congress of The Hague, together with Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill, Harold Macmillan, Paul-Henri Spaak, Albert Coppé and Altiero Spinelli.
"No, and don't insist" was the General's response, "It would be wrong to demean the office of the Presidency, since one day he [Mitterrand] may have the job." François Mitterrand visited China in 1961, during the worst of the Great Chinese Famine, but denied the existence of starvation. ===Opposition to De Gaulle: 1964–71=== In the 1962 election, François Mitterrand regained his seat in the National Assembly with the support of the PCF and the SFIO.
"No, and don't insist" was the General's response, "It would be wrong to demean the office of the Presidency, since one day he [Mitterrand] may have the job." François Mitterrand visited China in 1961, during the worst of the Great Chinese Famine, but denied the existence of starvation. ===Opposition to De Gaulle: 1964–71=== In the 1962 election, François Mitterrand regained his seat in the National Assembly with the support of the PCF and the SFIO.
"No, and don't insist" was the General's response, "It would be wrong to demean the office of the Presidency, since one day he [Mitterrand] may have the job." François Mitterrand visited China in 1961, during the worst of the Great Chinese Famine, but denied the existence of starvation. ===Opposition to De Gaulle: 1964–71=== In the 1962 election, François Mitterrand regained his seat in the National Assembly with the support of the PCF and the SFIO.
He reinforced his position as a left-wing opponent to Charles de Gaulle in publishing Le Coup d'État permanent (The permanent coup, 1964), which criticized de Gaulle's personal power, the weaknesses of Parliament and of the government, the President's exclusive control of foreign affairs, and defence, etc. In 1965, François Mitterrand was the first left-wing politician who saw the presidential election by universal suffrage as a way to defeat the opposition leadership.
Although at times a politically isolated figure, he outmanoeuvered rivals to become the left's standard bearer at every presidential election from 1965–88, with the exception of 1969.
Years later in 1965, when François Mitterrand emerged as the challenger to de Gaulle in the second round of the presidential elections, de Gaulle was urged by an aide to use the Observatory Affair to discredit his opponent.
He reinforced his position as a left-wing opponent to Charles de Gaulle in publishing Le Coup d'État permanent (The permanent coup, 1964), which criticized de Gaulle's personal power, the weaknesses of Parliament and of the government, the President's exclusive control of foreign affairs, and defence, etc. In 1965, François Mitterrand was the first left-wing politician who saw the presidential election by universal suffrage as a way to defeat the opposition leadership.
It was composed of the SFIO, the Radicals and several left-wing republican clubs (such the CIR of François Mitterrand). In the legislative election of March 1967, the system where all candidates who failed to pass a 10% threshold in the first round were eliminated from the second round favoured the pro-Gaullist majority, which faced a split opposition (PCF, FGDS and centrists of Jacques Duhamel).
In December 1982, a law was passed that restored to workers the right to elect administrators to social security funds, which had been eliminated by Charles De Gaulle in 1967. François Mitterrand continued to promote the new technologies initiated by his predecessor Valéry Giscard d'Estaing: the TGV high speed train and the Minitel, a pre-World Wide Web interactive network similar to the web.
But with 38% of votes, de Gaulle's Union for the Fifth Republic remained the leading French party. During the May 1968 governmental crisis, François Mitterrand held a press conference to announce his candidacy if a new presidential election was held.
Although at times a politically isolated figure, he outmanoeuvered rivals to become the left's standard bearer at every presidential election from 1965–88, with the exception of 1969.
In 1969, François Mitterrand could not run for the Presidency: Guy Mollet refused to give him the support of the SFIO.
In June 1971, at the time of the Epinay Congress, the CIR joined the PS, which had succeeded the SFIO in 1969.
Georges Pompidou faced the centrist Alain Poher in the second round. ===Socialist Party leader: 1971–81=== After the FGDS's implosion, François Mitterrand turned to the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS).
In June 1971, at the time of the Epinay Congress, the CIR joined the PS, which had succeeded the SFIO in 1969.
At the 1971 congress, he declared: "Whoever does not accept the break with the established order, with capitalist society, cannot be an adherent of the Socialist Party." In June 1972, François Mitterrand signed the Common Programme of Government with the Communist Georges Marchais and the Left Radical Robert Fabre.
At the 1971 congress, he declared: "Whoever does not accept the break with the established order, with capitalist society, cannot be an adherent of the Socialist Party." In June 1972, François Mitterrand signed the Common Programme of Government with the Communist Georges Marchais and the Left Radical Robert Fabre.
The Socialists obtained an absolute parliamentary majority, and four Communists joined the cabinet. ====Economic policy==== The beginning of his first term was marked by a left-wing economic policy based on the 110 Propositions for France and the 1972 Common Programme between the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and the Left Radical Party.
With this programme, he led the 1973 legislative campaign of the "Union of the Left". At the 1974 presidential election, François Mitterrand received 43.2% of the vote in the first round, as the common candidate of the left.
With this programme, he led the 1973 legislative campaign of the "Union of the Left". At the 1974 presidential election, François Mitterrand received 43.2% of the vote in the first round, as the common candidate of the left.
François Mitterrand was narrowly defeated by Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand receiving 49.19% and Giscard 50.81%. In 1977, the Communist and Socialist parties failed to update the Common Programme, then lost the 1978 legislative election.
Parental leave was extended to firms with 100 employees in 1981 (previously, parental leave provision had been made in 1977 for firms employing at least 200 employees) and subsequently to all employees in 1984.
François Mitterrand was narrowly defeated by Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand receiving 49.19% and Giscard 50.81%. In 1977, the Communist and Socialist parties failed to update the Common Programme, then lost the 1978 legislative election.
Following an observation of Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II, François Mitterrand became an agnostic. ==Second World War== François Mitterrand's actions during World War II were the cause of much controversy in France during the 1980s and 1990s. ===Prisoner of War: 1940–1941=== François Mitterrand was at the end of his national service when the war broke out.
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the [of France].
He was elected president at the 1981 presidential election.
He held various offices in the Fourth Republic as a Deputy and as a Minister (holding eleven different portfolios in total), including as a mayor of Château-Chinon from 1959 to 1981. In May 1948 François Mitterrand participated in the Congress of The Hague, together with Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill, Harold Macmillan, Paul-Henri Spaak, Albert Coppé and Altiero Spinelli.
Nevertheless, François Mitterrand won the vote at the Party's Metz Congress (1979) and Rocard renounced his candidacy for the 1981 presidential election. For his third candidacy for presidency, François Mitterrand was not supported by the PCF but only by the PS.
He became the first left-wing politician elected President of France by universal suffrage. ==Presidency== ===First term: 1981–1988=== In the presidential election of 10 May 1981, François Mitterrand became the first socialist President of the Fifth Republic, and his government became the first left-wing government in 23 years.
Housing allocations for the low-paid were raised by 25% in 1981, and in the two years following May 1981 family allowances were increased by 44% for families with 3 children and by 81% for families with 2 children.
In 1981, the purchasing power of social transfers went up by 4.5% and by 7.6% in 1982.
In addition, the minimum wage (which affected 1.7 million employees) was increased by 15% in real terms between May 1981 and December 1982. Major efforts were made to improve access to housing and health care, while the government also attempted to tackle working-class under-achievement in schools by reinforcing the comprehensive system, modernising the curriculum and reducing streaming.
A comparison between 1981 and 1986 showed that the minimum state pension had increased by 64% for a couple and by 81% for one person.
From 1981 to 1983, the corps of teachers was increased by 30,000.
Priority areas were set up in 1981 as part of a systematic effort to combat underachievement in schools, while technical education was encouraged.
Parental leave was extended to firms with 100 employees in 1981 (previously, parental leave provision had been made in 1977 for firms employing at least 200 employees) and subsequently to all employees in 1984.
From 1984 onwards, married women were obliged to sign tax returns, men and women were provided with equal rights in managing their common property and that of their children, and in 1985 they became responsible for each other’s debts. Childcare facilities were also expanded, with the number of places in crèches rising steadily between 1981 and 1986.
From 1981 to 1984, the SMIC rose by 125%, while prices went up by only 75% during that same period.
In 1981, the purchasing power of social transfers went up by 4.5% and by 7.6% in 1982.
In addition, the minimum wage (which affected 1.7 million employees) was increased by 15% in real terms between May 1981 and December 1982. Major efforts were made to improve access to housing and health care, while the government also attempted to tackle working-class under-achievement in schools by reinforcing the comprehensive system, modernising the curriculum and reducing streaming.
A decree of January 1982 provided for "solidarity contracts" whereby firms would be subsidised for introducing part-time work or early retirement if they also allowed the creation of new jobs, while a decree of March 1982 provided employees with the right to retire at the age of 60 on 50% of average earnings during their 10 best years of employment.
In December 1982, a law was passed that restored to workers the right to elect administrators to social security funds, which had been eliminated by Charles De Gaulle in 1967. François Mitterrand continued to promote the new technologies initiated by his predecessor Valéry Giscard d'Estaing: the TGV high speed train and the Minitel, a pre-World Wide Web interactive network similar to the web.
That same year, a law was passed that gave the regional Caissess des Allocations Familiales the task of collecting unpaid alimony, initially for lone parents and subsequently for remarried or cohabiting mothers. In the field of education, more resources were devoted to the educational system, with the education budgets of 1982, 1983, and 1984 increased by approximately 4% to 6% per year above the rate of inflation.
In addition, nursery education was expanded, while efforts by the Socialists to promote joint research between industry and the research agencies increased the number of such contracts by a half each year between 1982 and 1985, with a 29% increase in joint patents.
In 1983, legislation was passed to encourage greater equality in the private sector.
In addition, Government grants and loans for capital investment for modernisation were significantly increased. François Mitterrand passed the first decentralization laws, the Defferre Act. After two years in office, François Mitterrand made a substantial u-turn in economic policies, with the March 1983 adoption of the so-called "tournant de la rigueur" (austerity turn).
Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of François Mitterrand's presidency from 1983 onwards.
Nevertheless, compared to the OECD average, fiscal policy in France remained relatively expansionary during the course of the two François Mitterrand presidencies. ====Social policy==== In 1983, all members of the general pension scheme obtained the right to a full pension at the age of 60 payable at a rate of half the reference wage in return for 37.5 years contribution.
From 1983 onwards, wage-earners who had contributed to a pension fund for 37.5 years became eligible to retire on a full pension.
In addition, while a law on equal opportunities in employment was passed in July 1983 which prohibited all forms of unequal treatment regardless of the circumstances, together with providing for positive action plans to be established in major companies.
That same year, a law was passed that gave the regional Caissess des Allocations Familiales the task of collecting unpaid alimony, initially for lone parents and subsequently for remarried or cohabiting mothers. In the field of education, more resources were devoted to the educational system, with the education budgets of 1982, 1983, and 1984 increased by approximately 4% to 6% per year above the rate of inflation.
From 1981 to 1983, the corps of teachers was increased by 30,000.
In addition, archaeology, ethnography and historical buildings and monuments all benefited from the general increase in resources. ====Domestic difficulties==== The Left lost the 1983 municipal elections and the 1984 European Parliament election.
They left the cabinet in 1984.
Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of François Mitterrand's presidency from 1983 onwards.
This right was extended to the self-employed in 1984 and to farmers in 1986.
In January 1984, a decree was made granting state aid to companies which implemented equality plans for staff.
That same year, a law was passed that gave the regional Caissess des Allocations Familiales the task of collecting unpaid alimony, initially for lone parents and subsequently for remarried or cohabiting mothers. In the field of education, more resources were devoted to the educational system, with the education budgets of 1982, 1983, and 1984 increased by approximately 4% to 6% per year above the rate of inflation.
In addition, the legal aid system was improved. In 1984, a law was passed to ensure that divorced women who were not in receipt of maintenance would be provided with assistance in recovering the shortfall in their income from their former husband.
Parental leave was extended to firms with 100 employees in 1981 (previously, parental leave provision had been made in 1977 for firms employing at least 200 employees) and subsequently to all employees in 1984.
From 1984 onwards, married women were obliged to sign tax returns, men and women were provided with equal rights in managing their common property and that of their children, and in 1985 they became responsible for each other’s debts. Childcare facilities were also expanded, with the number of places in crèches rising steadily between 1981 and 1986.
From 1981 to 1984, the SMIC rose by 125%, while prices went up by only 75% during that same period.
In addition, archaeology, ethnography and historical buildings and monuments all benefited from the general increase in resources. ====Domestic difficulties==== The Left lost the 1983 municipal elections and the 1984 European Parliament election.
It was abandoned and Mauroy resigned in July 1984.
The qualifying age for these reductions was, however, reduced to 62 in 1985.
In addition, nursery education was expanded, while efforts by the Socialists to promote joint research between industry and the research agencies increased the number of such contracts by a half each year between 1982 and 1985, with a 29% increase in joint patents.
The baccalauréat professionnel, introduced in 1985, enabled holders of a Brevet d'études professionnelles (or in some cases of a Certificat d’aptitude professionnelle) to continue for another two years and study for the baccalauréat. François Mitterrand abolished the death penalty as soon as he took office (via the Badinter Act), as well as the "anti-casseurs Act" which instituted collective responsibility for acts of violence during demonstrations.
From 1984 onwards, married women were obliged to sign tax returns, men and women were provided with equal rights in managing their common property and that of their children, and in 1985 they became responsible for each other’s debts. Childcare facilities were also expanded, with the number of places in crèches rising steadily between 1981 and 1986.
In 1985, French agents sank the Greenpeace-owned ex-trawler Rainbow Warrior while it was docked in Auckland, New Zealand which the group had used in demonstrations against nuclear tests, whaling, and seal hunting.
Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of François Mitterrand's presidency from 1983 onwards.
A comparison between 1981 and 1986 showed that the minimum state pension had increased by 64% for a couple and by 81% for one person.
This right was extended to the self-employed in 1984 and to farmers in 1986.
By 1986, particular attention was being focused on assisting women in single-parent families to get back into employment, in recognition of the growing problems associated with extra-marital births and marital breakdown.
From 1984 onwards, married women were obliged to sign tax returns, men and women were provided with equal rights in managing their common property and that of their children, and in 1985 they became responsible for each other’s debts. Childcare facilities were also expanded, with the number of places in crèches rising steadily between 1981 and 1986.
France subsequently paid reparations of 1.8 million USD to Greenpeace. ====First Cohabitation==== Before the 1986 legislative campaign, proportional representation was instituted in accordance with the 110 Propositions.
He was re-elected in 1988 and remained in office until 1995. Mitterrand invited the Communist Party into his first government, which was a controversial decision at the time.
Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of François Mitterrand's presidency from 1983 onwards.
Benefiting from the difficulties of Chirac's cabinet, the President's popularity increased. With the polls running in his favor, François Mitterrand announced his candidacy in the 1988 presidential election.
François Mitterrand thus became the first President to be elected twice by universal suffrage. ===Second term: 1988–1995=== ====Domestic policy==== After his re-election, he named Michel Rocard as Prime Minister, in spite of their poor relations.
He participated in the demonstrations against the "invasion métèque " in February 1935 and then in those against law teacher Gaston Jèze, who had been nominated as juridical counsellor of Ethiopia's Negus, in January 1936. When François Mitterrand's involvement in these conservative nationalist movements was revealed in the 1990s, he attributed his actions to the milieu of his youth.
Following an observation of Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II, François Mitterrand became an agnostic. ==Second World War== François Mitterrand's actions during World War II were the cause of much controversy in France during the 1980s and 1990s. ===Prisoner of War: 1940–1941=== François Mitterrand was at the end of his national service when the war broke out.
Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of François Mitterrand's presidency from 1983 onwards.
He is the only French President to ever have named a female Prime Minister, Édith Cresson, in 1991.
They noted François Mitterrand's friendship with René Bousquet and the wreaths he was said to have placed on Pétain's tomb in later years (see below) as examples of his ambivalent attitude. In 1994, while President of France, François Mitterrand maintained that the roundup of Jews who were then deported to death camps during the war was solely the work of "Vichy France", an entity distinct from France: "The Republic had nothing to do with this.
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the [of France].
He was re-elected in 1988 and remained in office until 1995. Mitterrand invited the Communist Party into his first government, which was a controversial decision at the time.
I do not believe France is responsible." This position was refuted by President Jacques Chirac in 1995 who stated that it was time that France faced up to its past and he acknowledged the role of the state – "4,500 policemen and gendarmes, French, under the authority of their leaders [who] obeyed the demands of the Nazis" – in the Holocaust.
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the [of France].
It was indeed "France that organized the roundup, the deportation, and thus, for almost all, death." It was done by "French police collaborating with the Nazis", he said on 16 July 2017.
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