1958: The collapse of the Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic was tainted by political instability, its failures in Indochina and its inability to resolve the Algerian question.
On May 13, 1958, the settlers seized the government buildings in Algiers, attacking what they saw as French government weakness in the face of demands among the Arab majority for Algerian independence. A 'Committee of Civil and Army Public Security' was created under the presidency of General Jacques Massu, a Gaullist sympathiser. General Raoul Salan, Commander-in-Chief in Algeria, announced on radio that the Army had 'provisionally taken over responsibility for the destiny of French Algeria'.
Under the pressure of Massu, Salan declared "Vive de Gaulle!" from the balcony of the Algiers Government-General building on May 15. De Gaulle answered two days later that he was ready to "assume the powers of the Republic" (assumer les pouvoirs de la République). Many worried as they saw this answer as support to the army.
On May 19 de Gaulle asserted again (at a press conference) that he was at the disposition of the country. He declared that, "at sixty-seven, he had no intention to begin a career as a dictator". A republican by conviction, de Gaulle maintained throughout the crisis that he would accept power only from the lawfully constituted authorities of the state.
The crisis deepened as French paratroops from Algeria seized Corsica and a landing near Paris was discussed. Political leaders on all sides agreed to support the General's return to power, except François Mitterrand, and the Communist Party (which misguidedly denounced de Gaulle as the agent of a fascist coup). On May 29 the French President, René Coty, appealed to the "most illustrious of Frenchmen." to become the last Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic.
De Gaulle remained intent on replacing the constitution of the Fourth Republic, which he blamed for France's political weakness. He set as a condition for his return to be given wide emergency powers for 6 months and that a new constitution1 shall be proposed to the French people. On June 1, 1958 de Gaulle became premier and was given emergency powers for 6 months by the National Assembly.
On September 28, 1958, a referendum took place and 79.2% of those who voted supported the new constitution and the creation of the Fifth Republic. The colonies (Algeria was officially a part of France, not a colony) were given the choice between immediate independence and the new constitution. All colonies voted for the new constitution except Guinea, which thus became the first French African colony to gain independence, at the cost of the immediate ending of all French assistance.
1958-1969 The Fifth Republic
In the November 1958 elections de Gaulle and his supporters (initially organised in the Union pour la Nouvelle République-Union Démocratique du Travail, then the Union des Démocrates pour la Vème République and later still the Union des Démocrates pour la République) won a comfortable majority, in December de Gaulle was elected President with 78% of the vote, he was inaugurated in January 1959.
He oversaw tough economic measures to revitalise the country, including the issuing of a new Franc (worth 100 old Francs). Internationally he rebuffed both the USA and the USSR, pushing for an independent France with its own nuclear weapons. He set about building Franco-German coooperation as the cornerstone of the EEC (now the European Union), and he took the opportunity to deny the British entry for the first time (January 1963).
De Gaulle believed that while the war in Algeria was militarily winnable it was not defensible internationally, and he became reconciled to the country's independence. This stance created huge anger among the French settlers and their metropolitan supporters, and de Gaulle was forced to suppress two uprisings in Algeria by French settlers and troops, in the second of which (April 1961) France herself faced threatened invasion by rebel paratroops. He was also targeted by the settler OAS terrorist group. In March 1962 de Gaulle arranged a cease-fire in Algeria and a referendum supported independence, finally accomplished on July 3.
In September 1962 he sought a constitutional amendment to allow the president to be directly elected by the people. Following a defeat in the National Assembly, he dissolved that body and held new elections, the Gaullists won an increased majority. Although the Algerian issue was settled the prime minister, Michel Debré, still resigned over the final settlement and was replaced with Georges Pompidou.
v