- Pierre Messmer
Infobox Prime Minister
name=Pierre Messmer
order=154thPrime Minister of France
5th Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic
term_start =6 July 1972
term_end =27 May 1974
president =Georges Pompidou
predecessor =Jacques Chaban-Delmas
successor =Jacques Chirac
birth_date =20 March 1916
death_date =death date and age|df=yes|2007|8|29|1916|3|20
party =UDR
occupation =Civil Servant
religion =Roman CatholicPierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (20 March 1916ndash 29 August 2007) was a French
Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies underCharles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 — a time-record sinceLouvois underLouis XIV [http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/092/article_55853.asp Messmer, légionnaire et baron gaulliste] , "Radio France International ", 30 August 2007 fr icon] — and then as Prime Minister underGeorges Pompidou from 1972 to 1974. A member of theFrench Foreign Legion , he was considered as one of the historical Gaullists, and died aged 91 in the military hospital of theVal-de-Grâce . He was elected a member of the "Académie française " in 2000 Thomas Ferenczi, [http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3382,36-949062,0.html?xtor=RSS-3208 Le gaulliste Pierre Messmer est mort] , "Le Monde ", 29 August 2007 fr icon] .Early career
Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer was born in
Vincennes in 1916. He graduated in 1936 in the language schoolInstitut national des langues et civilisations orientales and the following year at the "Ecole nationale de la France d'outre-mer " (National School of Oversea France) . He then became a senior civil servant in the colonial administration and became aDoctor of Laws in 1939. In the outbreaks ofWorld War II , he wassous-lieutenant of the 12th regiment ofSenegalese tirailleurs , and refused France's capitulation after the defeat . He thenhijack ed inMarseille an Italian cargo, along withJean Simon , and sailed first to Gibraltar, then London and engaged himself in theFree French Forces as a member of the 13th Brigade of theFrench Foreign Legion . Messmer then participated to the campaign in Eritrea, in Syria, in Libya, participating to theBattle of Bir Hakeim , and in theTunisia campaign . He also fought at theBattle of El Alamein in Egypt . He joined in LondonGeneral Koenig 's military staff and participated to the landings in Normandy in August 1944 and theLiberation of Paris .Named "
Compagnon de la Libération " in 1941 , he received the "Croix de guerre " (War Cross) with six citations after the Liberation, as well as themedal of the Resistance .After World War II
After
World War II , he returned to the colonies and was aprisoner of war of theVietminh , during two months in 1945, after the outbreaks of the Indochina War . He was named the following year general secretary of the interministerial committee for Indochina and then head of staff of the high commissary of the Republic .In the 1950s, he pursued his career in Africa as a colonial administrator. Messmer began his high-level African service as governor of
Mauritania from 1952 to 1954, and then served as governor ofIvory Coast from 1954 to 1956. He came back to Paris in 1956, in the staff ofGaston Defferre , Minister of Overseas Territories who enacted theDeferre Act granting to colonial territories internal autonomy, a first step towards independence.Governor of Cameroun
Nominated as governor general of
Cameroun in 1956, where a civil war had started the preceding year following the outlawing of the independentistUnion of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) in July 1955. Messmer initiated adecolonization process and imported thecounter-revolutionary warfare methods theorized in Indochina and implemented during theAlgerian War (1954-62) David Servenay, [http://rue89.com/2007/08/30/pierre-messmer-un-soldat-que-le-cameroun-na-pas-oublie Pierre Messmer, un soldat que le Cameroun n'a pas oublié] , "Rue 89 ", 30 August 2007 fr icon] . Visiting de Gaulle in Paris, he was implicitly granted his authorization for the new turn implemented to the policies in Cameroon, substituting repression to negotiations with the UPC .A "Pacification Zone" — the ZOPAC ("Zone de pacification du Cameroon") was created on 9 December 1957, englobing 7,000 square km controlled by seven infantry regiments . Furthermore, a civilian-military
intelligence apparatus was created, combining colonial and local staff, assisted by a civilianmilitia .Mao 'speople's war was reversed, in an attempt to separate the civilian population from the guerrilla . In this aim, the local population was rounded-up in guarded villages located on the main roads, controlled by the French Army .Minister of Armies (1959-1969)
He then briefly served as high commissioner of
French Equatorial Africa from January 1958 to July 1958, and finally served as high commissioner ofFrench West Africa from 1958 to 1959.From 1959 to 1969, under
Charles de Gaulle 's presidency and in the turmoil of theAlgerian War , he was Minister of Armies. He was confronted to the 1961Generals' Putsch , reorganized the Army and adapted it to the nuclear era .Along with the Minister of Research,
Gaston Palewski , Messmer was present at the Béryl nuclear test in Algeria, on 1 May 1962, during which an accident occurred. Officials, soldiers and Algerian workers escaped as they could, often without wearing any protection. Palewski died in 1984 ofleukemia , which he always has attributed to theBeryl incident , while Messmer always remained close-mouthed on the affair [http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2007-02-21/2007-02-21-846342 La bombe atomique en héritage] , "L'Humanité ", 21 February 2007 fr icon] [ [http://www.hns-info.net/article.php3?id_article=11912 Pierre Messmer : désinformation et opacité sur le nucléaire civil et militaire] , "Sortir du nucléaire", "HNS", 2 September 2007 fr icon] .De Gaulle said of Messmer that, along with
Maurice Couve de Murville , he was "one of his two arms ." InMay '68 , he advised de Gaulle against the use of the military .Messmer became a personality of the
Gaullist Party and was elected deputy in 1968, representingMoselle "département". A member of the conservative wing of the Gaullist movement, he criticized the "New Society" plan of Prime MinisterJacques Chaban-Delmas , and thus won the trust ofGeorges Pompidou , elected President in 1969 . He quit the government after de Gaulle's resignation and founded the association "Présence du gaullisme" (Presence of Gaullism) .From the 1970s to the 2000s
He occupied cabinet positions again in the 1970s, serving first as
Minister of state charged of the Overseas Territories in 1971 [http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/acteurs/premier_ministre/histoire_chefs_gouvernement_28/pierre_messmer_217/discours_politique_generale_pierre_50335.html Discours de politique générale] (General Politics Speech) of Messmer during his 1972 investiture, French government's website fr icon] , then as Prime Minister from July 1972 to May 1974.Messmer's cabinet (July 1972 - May 1974)
He succeeded in this function to
Jacques Chaban-Delmas , who had adopted a parliamentary reading of the Constitution, which Messmer opposed in his investiture speech . Messmer had been chosen by Pompidou as a guarant of his fidelity to de Gaulle, and his cabinet included personalities close to Pompidou, such asJacques Chirac , named Minister of Agriculture [http://www.politique.net/annees-pompidou/gouvernement-messmer.htm Le gouvernement de Pierre Messmer] , politique.net, fr icon] .Due to President
Georges Pompidou 's illness, he dealt with the everyday administration of the country and adopted a conservative stance opposed to Chaban-Delmas' previous policies. Henceforth, he stopped the liberalization of theORTF media governmental organization, naming as its CEOArthur Conte , a personal friend of Pompidou .Under his government, the
UDR presidential majority negotiated withValéry Giscard d'Estaing 'sIndependent Republicans an electoral alliance, which enabled it to win the 1973 elections despite the left-wing union realized with the 1972Common Program . Messmer's second cabinet excluded several Gaullists, among whomMichel Debré , while he named several Independent Republicans members, such asMichel Poniatowski , close to Giscard, himself named Minister of Economy and Finances . A Ministry of Information was also re-created and put under the authority of an ultra-conservative,Philippe Malaud . In June 1974, he initiated the construction of 13 nuclear plants in order to confront the ""choc pétrolier"" (oil crisis) [ [http://www.premierministre.gouv.fr/acteurs/premier_ministre/histoire_chefs_gouvernement_28/pierre_messmer_217/interview_televisee_pierre_messmer_50630.html Interview of Pierre Messmer] on 3 June 1974 (film), on the French government's website fr icon] .In 1974, when Pompidou died, those close to Messmer encouraged him to run for president. He accepted at the condition of Chaban-Delmas,
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing andEdgar Faure 's withdrawals. Faure accepted, as well as Giscard on the condition that Chaban-Delmas also withdrew himself. However, Chaban-Delmas, despite the "Canard enchaîné " 's campaign against him, maintained himself, leading Messmer to withdraw his candidacy. Finally,Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , a conservative rival of the Gaullists, was elected. He served as prime minister for another few weeks after Pompidou’s death, ending his term after the presidential elections.Jacques Chirac replaced him on 29 May 1974 [ [http://www.premierministre.gouv.fr/acteurs/premier_ministre/histoire_chefs_gouvernement_28/pierre_messmer_217/passation_pouvoir_entre_pierre_50629.html Video of the passing of powers between Messmer and Chirac] fr icon] . After the election of Giscard, he never held again ministerial offices, and became one of the historical voices of Gaullism .Later career
He remained however a member of Parliament for the Moselle department until 1988, and served as President of the Lorraine regional assembly from 1968 to 1992. He was mayor of the town of
Sarrebourg from 1971 to 1989. Messmer was also president of theRally for the Republic (RPR) parliamentary group during the first cohabitation (1986-1988), underJacques Chirac ' government . In 1997 he testified as a witness during the trial ofMaurice Papon , charged ofcrimes against humanity committed under theVichy regime , and declared: "The time has come when the Frenchmen could stop hating themselves and begin to grant pardon to themselves." [ French: "Le temps est venu où les Français pourraient cesser de se haïr et commencer de se pardonner", quoted by Thomas Ferenczi in [http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3382,36-949062,0.html?xtor=RSS-3208 Le gaulliste Pierre Messmer est mort] , "Le Monde ", 29 August 2007 fr icon] . Along with some other former Resistants, he demanded Papon'spardon in 2001 .He died in 2007 aged 91, just four days after fellow Prime Minister
Raymond Barre . He was the last surviving major French Politician to have been a member of the Free French forces.Honours
An important figure of the French Resistance during World War II, Pierre Messmer was a member of the
Ordre de la Libération , and the recipient of numerous decorations including the highest rank of theLégion d'honneur . In 2006, he was named Chancellier de l'Ordre de la Libération after the death of GeneralAlain de Boissieu . He was also an officer of theAmerican Legion .In 1992 he became president of the
Institut Charles de Gaulle and, in 1995, of theFondation Charles de Gaulle .He also became elected as a member of the
Académie française (the French language academy) in 1999, replacing a Gaullist comrade,Maurice Schumann . He was also a member of theFrench Academy of Moral and Political Sciences since 1988, and, since 1976, of the "Académie des sciences d'outre-mer" (Academy of Sciences of Overseas Territories). He was named perpetual secretary of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1995 [http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/20070829.WWW000000383_pierre_messmer_est_mort.html Pierre Messmer est mort] , "Le Figaro ", 29 August 2007 fr icon] . He was also chancellor of theInstitut de France (1998-2005) before becoming honorary chancellor .
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