Louis Barthou
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 |  |
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]
In 1917 and in 1934, Barthou also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Louis Barthou was born on 25 August 1862 in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
Career[]
He served as Deputy from his home constituency. He was an authority on trade union history and law.
He was 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 thirteen other times. He served as Foreign Minister in 1917 and 1934. He was the primary figure behind the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance of 1935, though 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 that would include Germany, Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Baltic states on the basis of a guarantee by France of the European borders of the USSR and the eastern borders of the then Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union. He succeeded in obtaining 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, focusing initially on the Navy and the Air Force.[5]
Barthou was a lover of the arts, and in power 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 arts community honored Barthou, dubbing him the "minister of poets."[6]
Death[]
As foreign minister, Barthou met King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his state visit to Marseille in October 1934. On 9 October, the King and Barthou were assassinated by Velicko Kerin, a Bulgarian revolutionary nationalist wielding a handgun.[7] A 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 was 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 extradition of Percevic and Pavelić.[8] This assassination ended the careers of the Bouches-du-Rhone prefect, , and the director of the Surete Nationale, Jean Berthoin.[9]
A ballistic report on the bullets found in the car was made in 1935, but the results were not made available to the public until 1974. They revealed that Barthou was hit by an 8 mm Modèle 1892 revolver round commonly used in weapons carried by French police.[10] Thus he was killed during the frantic police response rather than by the assassin.
Legacy[]
The assassination of Barthou and the King led to the 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[]
Barthou's ministry, 22 March 1913 – 9 December 1913[]
- 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
- – 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[]
- ^ "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
- ^ The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill, RosettaBooks, 2010, p. 95
- ^ Alexander, Martin S. (April 2015). French grand strategy and defence preparations. 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.
- ^ Matthew Graves, 'Memory and Forgetting on the National Periphery: Marseille and the Regicide of 1934' , PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2010, p. 1 [1]
- ^ The Principle of Complementarity in International Criminal Law: Origin, Development and Practice by Mohamed M. El Zeidy, BRILL, September 15, 2008, p. 41
- ^ The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918-1940 by Mary Lewis, Stanford University Press, June 7, 2007, p. 114
- ^ 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
- ^ Terrorism: A History by Randall Law, Polity, June 29, 2009, p. 156
Further reading[]
- 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): 846-64; online.
External links[]
- Louis Barthou at Find a Grave
- "The King is Dead, Long Live the Balkans! Watching the Marseilles Murders of 1934" The Watson Institute
- Newspaper clippings about Louis Barthou in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
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- 1862 births
- 1934 deaths
- People from Oloron-Sainte-Marie
- Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Democratic Republican Alliance politicians
- Prime Ministers of France
- French Foreign Ministers
- Transport ministers of France
- French Ministers of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs
- French interior ministers
- French Ministers of War
- Members of the 5th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic
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- Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic
- Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic
- French Senators of the Third Republic
- Senators of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
- Members of the Académie Française
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