André Tardieu

Infobox Prime Minister
name=André Tardieu


order=97^th Prime Minister of France
term_start =2 November 1929
term_end =21 February 1930
president =Gaston Doumergue
predecessor =Aristide Briand
successor =Camille Chautemps
order2=99^th Prime Minister of France
term_start2 =2 March 1930
term_end2 =13 December 1930
president2 =Gaston Doumergue
predecessor2 =Camille Chautemps
successor2 =Théodore Steeg
order3=102^nd Prime Minister of France
term_start3 =20 February 1932
term_end3 =3 June 1932
president3 =Paul Doumer
"Himself" (acting)
Albert Lebrun
predecessor3 =Pierre Laval
successor3 =Édouard Herriot
order4 =Acting President of the French Republic
term_start4 =7 May
term_end4 =10 May 1932
primeminister4="Himself"
predecessor4 =Paul Doumer
successor4 =Albert Lebrun
birth_date =22 September 1876
birth_place = Paris, France
death_date =death date and age|1945|9|15|1876|9|22|df=y
death_place = Menton, France
party=None

André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu (22 September 1876 – 15 September 1945) was three times Prime Minister of France (3 November 1929 – 17 February 1930; 2 March – 4 December 1930; 20 February – 10 May 1932) and a dominant figure of French political life in 1929-1932.

Biography

Tardieu was a graduate of the elite "Lycée Condorcet". He was accepted by the even more prestigious "École Normale Supérieure", but instead entered the diplomatic service. Later, he left the service and became famous as foreign affairs editor of the newspaper "Le Temps". He founded the conservative newspaper "L'Echo National" in association with Georges Mandel.

In 1914 Tardieu was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the "département" of Seine-et-Oise, as a candidate of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance ("Alliance Démocratique" - AD). He retained this seat till 1924. From 1926 to 1936, he represented the "département" of "Territoire de Belfort".

In 1914, Tardieu omitted the word 'danger' from a news item from Germany in his paper, falsifying the item. The reaction to this item precipitated mobilization of the French Army, thus rendering the war inevitable.Fact|date=July 2007Dubious|date=March 2008

When World War I broke out, Tardieu enlisted in the army, serving as an infantryman till 1916. He then returned to politics. He served as Georges Clemenceau's lieutenant in 1919 during the Paris Peace Conference and as Commissioner for Franco-American War Cooperation. On 8 November 1919, he became Minister of Liberated Regions, administering Alsace and Lorraine, serving until Clemenceau's defeat in 1920.

In 1926, Tardieu returned to government as Minister of Transportation under Raymond Poincaré. In 1928, he moved to Minister of the Interior, continuing under Poincaré's successor Aristide Briand.

In November 1929 Tardieu himself succeeded Briand as "Président du Conseil" (Prime Minister), while remaining Interior Minister.

Though generally considered a conservative, when Tardieu became Prime Minister, he introduced a program of welfare measures, including public works, social insurance, and free secondary schooling, and he encouraged modern techniques in industry.

Tardieu was displaced from both offices for ten days in February-March 1930 by Radical Camille Chautemps, but returned till that December. He was subsequently Minister of Agriculture in 1931, Minister of War in 1932, and again Prime Minister (also, this time, Minister of Foreign Affairs), from 30 February to 3 June 1932, until the AD and its coalition partners were defeated in the May elections.

Due tis premiership Tardieu served for three (7 May - 10 May 1932) days as the Acting President of the French Republic. between assassination of Paul Doumer and election of Albert Lebrun.

He was briefly a Minister of State without portfolio in 1934.

His later political activity was largely concerned with containing and responding to German expansion.

In his two-volume book "La Révolution à refaire", Tardieu criticized the French parliamentary system.

Bibliography

Some of the books he wrote include:
* "La France et les alliances" (1908);
* "La Paix" (1921; published in English as "The Truth About the Treaty"
* "Devant l'obstacle" (1927); published in English as "France and America")
* "La Révolution à refaire", 2 volumes (1936–37).

Tardieu's First Ministry, 3 November 1929 - 21 February 1930

*André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of Interior
*Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
*André Maginot - Minister of War
*Henri Chéron - Minister of Finance
*Louis Loucheur - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
*Lucien Hubert - Minister of Justice
*Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
*Louis Rollin - Minister of Merchant Marine
*Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
*Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
*Claudius Gallet - Minister of Pensions
*Jean Hennessy - Minister of Agriculture
*François Piétri - Minister of Colonies
*Georges Pernot - Minister of Public Works
*Louis Germain-Martin - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
*Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

Tardieu's Second Government, 2 March - 13 December 1930

*André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
*Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
*André Maginot - Minister of War
*Paul Reynaud - Minister of Finance
*Louis Germain-Martin - Minister of Budget
*Pierre Laval - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
*Raoul Péret - Minister of Justice
*Jacques-Louis Dumesnil - Minister of Marine
*Louis Rollin - Minister of Merchant Marine
*Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
*Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
*Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
*Fernand David - Minister of Agriculture
*François Piétri - Minister of Colonies
*Georges Pernot - Minister of Public Works
*Désiré Ferry - Minister of Public Health
*André Mallarmé - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
*Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

Changes
*17 November 1930 - Henri Chéron succeeds Péret as Minister of Justice.

Tardieu's Third Ministry, 20 February - 3 June 1932

*André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
*Paul Reynaud - Vice President of the Council and Minister of Justice
*François Piétri - Minister of National Defense
*Albert Mahieu - Minister of the Interior
*Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
*Pierre Laval - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
*Charles Guernier - Minister of Public Works and Merchant Marine
*Mario Roustan - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
*Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions and Liberated Regions
*Claude Chauveau - Minister of Agriculture
*Louis de Chappedelaine - Minister of Colonies
*Camille Blaisot - Minister of Public Health
*Louis Rollin - Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones

ee also

* [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/treatytruth/tardieu00tc.htm The Truth About The Treaty] , written 1921, to defend the French negotiators from claims that they had been too lenient on the Germans.