Jean Louis Barthou (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ lwi baʁtu]; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as prime minister saw the introduction (in July 1913) of allowances to families with children.[1]
Louis Barthou | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 9 February 1934 – 9 October 1934 | |
| Preceded by | Édouard Daladier |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Laval |
| In office 23 October 1917 – 16 November 1917 | |
| Preceded by | Alexandre Ribot |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Pichon |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 22 March 1913 – 9 December 1913 | |
| Preceded by | Aristide Briand |
| Succeeded by | Gaston Doumergue |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jean Louis Barthou 25 August 1862 Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France |
| Died | 9 October 1934 (aged 72) Marseille, France |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
| Political party | Democratic Republican Alliance |
| Signature |  |
In 1917 and in 1934, Barthou also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Early life
editLouis Barthou was born on 25 August 1862 in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
Career
editBarthou served as a deputy from his home constituency and was an authority on trade-union history and law.
He served as prime minister from 22 March 1913 to 9 December 1913. In social policy, Barthou's time as prime minister saw the passage of a law in June 1913 aimed at safeguarding women workers before and after childbirth.[2]
He also held ministerial office on 13 other occasions. He served as Foreign Minister in 1917 and 1934. He was the primary figure behind the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance of 1935, but it was signed by his successor, Pierre Laval. As a national World War I hero and a recognized author, Barthou was elected to the Académie française at the end of that war.[3]
In 1934 he tried to create an Eastern Pact, which would have included Germany (in some proposals) the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Baltic states on the basis of guarantees – of the European borders of the Soviet Union by France, and of the eastern borders of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union. He succeeded in obtaining the entry of the Soviet Union into the League of Nations in September 1934.[4] In response to the withdrawal of Nazi Germany from the League in 1933, he began a program of rearmament, which focused initially on the Navy and the Air Force.[5]
Barthou was a lover of the arts, and in power he worked with leaders of the arts to publicize their fields. He felt that world-class leadership in the arts made Paris a mecca for tourists and collectors, and enhanced the nation's stature worldwide as the exemplar of truth and beauty. In turn, the arts community honoured Barthou by dubbing him the "minister of poets".[6]
Death
editAs Foreign Minister, Barthou met King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his state visit to Marseille in October 1934. On 9 October, King Alexander was assassinated by Vlado Chernozemski, a Bulgarian terrorist wielding a handgun.[7] Another bullet struck Barthou in the arm, passing through and fatally severing an artery. He died of blood loss less than an hour later. The assassination had been planned in Rome by Ante Pavelić, head of the Croatian Ustaše, in August 1934. Pavelić was assisted by Georg Percevic, a former Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces officer. France unsuccessfully requested the extradition of Percevic and Pavelić.[8] This assassination ended the careers of the Bouches-du-Rhone prefect, Pierre Jouhannaud, and of the director of the Surete Nationale, Jean Berthoin.[9]
A ballistic report on the bullets found in the car was made in 1935, but its results were not made available to the public until 1974. The report revealed that Barthou had been hit by an 8 mm Modèle 1892 revolver round, commonly used in weapons carried by French police.[10] Thus Barthou was killed during the frantic police response, rather than by the assassin.
Legacy
editThe deaths of Barthou and the King led to the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism concluded at Geneva by the League of Nations on 16 November 1937.[11] The Convention was signed by 25 nations, ratified only by India.[12] Barthou was granted a state funeral four days after his demise.
Ministries
editBarthou's ministry, 22 March 1913 – 9 December 1913
edit- Louis Barthou – President of the Council and Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Stéphen Pichon – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Eugène Étienne – Minister of War
- Louis Lucien Klotz – Minister of the Interior
- Charles Dumont – Minister of Finance
- Henry Chéron – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Antony Ratier – Minister of Justice
- Pierre Baudin – Minister of Marine
- Étienne Clémentel – Minister of Agriculture
- Jean Morel – Minister of Colonies
- Joseph Thierry – Minister of Public Works
- Alfred Massé – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs
References
edit- ^ "Land Policy Review". 1938.
- ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 31 by Hugh Chisholm.
- ^ Power and Pleasure: Louis Barthou and the Third French Republic by Robert J. Young, McGill-Queens, 1991, p. x [ISBN missing]
- ^ The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill, RosettaBooks, 2010, p. 95
- ^ Alexander, Martin S. (2015). "French grand strategy and defence preparations". The Cambridge History of the Second World War. The Cambridge History of the Second World War. pp. 78–106. doi:10.1017/cho9781139855969.006. ISBN 9781139855969. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Robert J. Young, "Cultural Politics and the Politics of Culture in the Third French Republic: The Case of Louis Barthou." French Historical Studies (1991) 17#2: 343–358.online.
- ^ Graves, Matthew (January 2010). "Memory and Forgetting on the National Periphery: Marseille and the Regicide of 1934". Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies. 7 (1): 1.
- ^ El Zeidy, Mohamed M. (2008). The Principle of Complementarity in International Criminal Law: Origin, Development and Practice. Brill. p. 41.
- ^ The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918–1940 by Mary Lewis, Stanford University Press, 2007, p. 114. [ISBN missing]
- ^ de Launay, Jacques (1974). Les grandes controverses de l'histoire contemporaine 1914–1945. Edito-Service Histoire Secrete de Notre Temps. p. 568.
- ^ The United Nations and the Control of International Violence: A Legal and Political Analysis by John Francis Murphy, Manchester University Press ND, 1983, p. 179 [ISBN missing]
- ^ Law, Randall (2009). Terrorism: A History. Polity. p. 156.[ISBN missing]
Further reading
edit- Atkin, Nicholas. "Power and Pleasure. Louis Barthou and the Third French Republic." Journal of European Studies 23.91 (1993): 357–359.
- Buffotot, Patrice. "The French high command and the Franco‐Soviet alliance 1933–1939." Journal of Strategic Studies 5.4 (1982): 546–559.
- French, G. "Louis Barthou and the German Question: 1934." Report of the Annual Meeting. Vol. 43. No. 1. 1964. online
- Rife, John Merle. "The political career of Louis Barthou" (PhD. Diss. The Ohio State University, 1964) online.
- Roberts, Allen. The turning point: the assassination of Louis Barthou and King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (1970).
- Schuman, Frederick L. Europe On The Eve 1933–1939 (1939) pp 94–109.online
- Young, Robert J. Power and Pleasure: Louis Barthou and the Third French Republic (1991)
- Young, Robert J. "Cultural Politics and the Politics of Culture: The Case of Louis Barthou," French Historical Studies (Fall 1991) 17#2 pp. 343–358 online
- Young, Robert J. "A Talent for All Seasons: The Life and Times of Louis Barthou." Queen's Quarterly 98.4 (1991): 846–864; online.