G. Clemenceau and the Problems of “Strong Power” in France (1914 – 1919)

The relevance of studying the problem of “strong” power in France during the Great War and after its end is due not only to the vicissitudes of the country's history in the twentieth century, but also to the pluralism of its interpretations in historiography – from debunking the authoritarian essence of Clemenceau premiership to its apologetics. Based on original sources and research literature, the article analyzes the factors that influenced the deformation of constitutional institutions during the War. The specifics and nature of G. Clemenceau’s War Cabinet and the impact of the Prime Minister's own personality on achieving a turning point in military operations and ensure a victory. Clemenceau’s “dictatorship” was a manifestation of the tendency to establish “strong power” in the country during the period from the introduction of the state of emergency in August and September 1914 to the beginning of the election campaign in October 1919. Its nature was determined by the need to solve vital problems in the face of a powerful German onslaught: the mobilization of all available resources to ensure victory and the consolidation of society for this purpose. The preservation of Clemenceau's “strong power” in the first post-war period was linked to the need for reconstruction (restoring the economy destroyed by the war and achieving social stabilization), implementing the “French peace program” at the Paris conference, as well as countering the mass movement and the threat of Bolshevism. The article’s materials are presented in a political and legal aspect which makes it possible to draw a fundamental conclusion: the ideas of republicanism and democracy that have been established since the French revolution largely determined the temporary nature of Clemenceau's “dictatorship” and the full restoration of democratic norms in the run-up to the 1919 election campaign. The wartime “strong power” precedents had far-reaching consequences. They gave rise to a strong tendency to authoritarianism, which was reflected in the intensification of political confrontation in the 1920s and 1930s, and influenced the Vichy regime and the regime of General Charles de Gaulle's “personal power”

Authoritarianism · Consolidation (business) · Democracy · Economic history · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Victory · European Political History Analysis · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law