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Georges Clemenceau
Historical figureFrance1841-1929

Georges Clemenceau

Prime Minister of France (1906-1909, 1917-1920) · Radical republican deputy and senator

French Radical republican and wartime premier. He led the campaign for Dreyfus, backed the separation of church and state, crushed strikes at home and shaped the harsh Versailles settlement with Germany.

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Profile on 12 axes6 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Georges Clemenceau, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+20
    PublicPrivate

    He rejected the Communards' socialism and opposed unionizing civil servants. Mild lean toward private property, though he was a Radical.

  2. 02MarketsNo clear record
    PlannedFree
  3. 03WelfareNo clear record
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority+15
    DemocraticStrong leader

    A lifelong parliamentary republican who fought Boulangism, yet he ruled in 1917 with a program he summed up as 'I make war' and arrested the opponent Caillaux.

  5. 05Security+60
    LibertyOrder

    As premier he used troops against strikes he judged illegal and called himself the first of the cops.

  6. 06StructureNo clear record
    LocalCentral
  7. 07Morality-40
    ProgressiveTraditional

    He championed legalizing divorce.

  8. 08Religion-80
    SecularReligious

    He campaigned for the separation of church and state from his 1876 platform on.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10CultureNo clear record
    MulticulturalNational identity
  11. 11TradeNo clear record
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy+60
    CooperationStrength

    He pushed total war, argued that France needed the Rhineland as a frontier and secured a 15-year occupation. He also doubted the League of Nations.

6 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Georges Clemenceau?

Georges Clemenceau, a doctor turned politician, was a Radical republican on the far left of the French Chamber. He led the 1880 amnesty campaign for Communards and brought down Jules Ferry's government over colonial policy. As editor of L'Aurore he published Zola's 'J'accuse' in 1898 and campaigned for Dreyfus. He was premier from 1906 to 1909, and again from November 1917, when he led France to victory in the First World War. He chaired the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, lost the next election and died in Paris in 1929.

Political views

  • Called for secular compulsory primary education and the separation of church and state in his 1876 platform, and supported anticlerical laws as premier.Source: universalis.fr
  • Championed legalizing divorce and backed anticlerical legislation through his paper La Justice.Source: encyclopedia.com
  • Opposed Jules Ferry's colonial expansion in the 1880s, though after 1918 he secured French trusteeship of Syria and Lebanon.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
  • Published Zola's 'J'accuse' on 13 January 1898 and fought for years to clear Alfred Dreyfus.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
  • As premier he sent troops against the 1906 miners' strike and suppressed the 1907 winegrowers' revolt, earning the nickname chief cop of France.Source: encyclopedia.com
  • Adopted a policy of total war in 1917 and had the politician Joseph Caillaux arrested for opposing the war effort.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
  • At Paris in 1919 he argued that German control of the Rhineland left France without a natural eastern frontier. The settlement gave France the Saar mines for 15 years and an Allied occupation of the Rhineland.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org

Legacy

Admirers remember Clemenceau as the wartime leader who held a weary nation together in 1917 and 1918 and earned the title Father of Victory. He is also credited for defending Dreyfus and for lasting secular, republican institutions. Critics note his harsh handling of strikes at home, where he used the army, and wartime arrests of opponents such as Caillaux. Others say he was too severe on Germany at Versailles, though he himself doubted the treaty would prevent another war. French voters felt he had not won enough, and he lost the next election. Keynes judged that he had one illusion, France, and one disillusion, mankind.

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Georges Clemenceau: questions

What was Clemenceau's role in the Dreyfus affair?

As editor of L'Aurore he published Emile Zola's 'J'accuse' on 13 January 1898 and then campaigned for years to clear Alfred Dreyfus.

Why was Clemenceau called the Father of Victory?

He became premier in November 1917 and followed a policy of total war, summed up as war until the end. He visited the trenches often, and the title stuck.

What did Clemenceau want at the Treaty of Versailles?

He wanted lasting security for France: an Allied occupation of the Rhineland, French control of the Saar mines and reparations. He doubted the treaty would prevent another war.

Sources