Republic, Fourth

   The Fourth Republic was the government of France from June 1944 to October 1958. While not officially proclaimed at first, the Fourth Republic came into being with the decree of General charles de gaulle that put an end to the vichy regime. A period of transition followed (1945-46) under a Provisional Government during which time the constitution of the Fourth Republic was adopted and, in January 1947, vincent auriol was elected as its first president. A Council of Ministers was formed under paul ramadier and a tripartite government (parti communiste français, parti socialiste, and mouvement républicain populaire) would deal with the critical economic and social issues of the postwar period. By 1947, there existed a Gaullist opposition (rassemblement du peuple français), a strong Communist faction, and a centrist coalition (MRP, socialists, liberals). The government of the Fourth Republic signed the North Atlantic Pact establishing the North Atlantic Treaty organization in 1949, and economic recovery accelerated, particularly because of the policies of jean monnet. Colonial issues became critical during this period and, after the French defeat at dien bien phu (May 1954), the government of pierre mendès france ended the war in indochina and granted autonomy to Tunisia, while that of edgar faure gave independence to Morocco (1955). The government of Premier guy mollet suffered a setback during the Suez Crisis, brought about by Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalization of the French-British-held Suez Canal (October-December 1956), but also signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (March 1957). Economic problems accelerated the dilemmas of the Fourth Republic, whose end was signaled by the uprising in Algiers in May 1958. The cabinet resigned, and President rené coty asked General de Gaulle to assume power. In October 1958, the latter's cabinet adopted the constitution of the fifth republic.