Biographical information
Georges Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and also from 1917. A doctor, political activist and writer he spent time in the USA in ‘exile’ and married an American. In the 1890s he was both an MP and owner/editor of a newspaper. A fierce, popular critic of the French war effort, he became PM in 1917 at a crisis moment for the French. History The relative decline of France was made clear by her defeat by Prussia in 1870 and was reinforced as the new Germany became Europe’s leading economic power. The loss of the French territories of Alsace and Lorraine were engrained in the national psyche (see cartoon below) and their recapture became a foreign policy obsession. In the 1890s, Bismarck’s diplomatic efforts to isolate a revanchist France were allowed to lapse by a Kaiser with global military ambitions. |
France sought and found allies in Russia (1894) and Britain (1904), therefore breaking Bismarck’s carefully assembled diplomatic web. Outside Europe, France expanded her empire in Africa and south east Asia. The First and Second Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 and the reality of German aggression forced the French into still closer ties with the British. The 1912 Anglo-French Naval Convention saw Britain take responsibility for defending Anglo-French interests in the North Sea, whilst the French did the same in the Mediterranean. At the Franco-Russia summit in St Petersburg in July 1914, both sides agreed to defend Serbia against Austria-Hungary. It was this apparent support that encouraged the Tsar to order the Russian general mobilisation on the 30th of July. This decision proved to be irreversible. As the military plans took on a momentum of their own, France prepared to launch its attack on Alsace-Lorraine.
Experience of World War I
France was devastated by the First World War. Of the 8 million Frenchmen mobilized, 1.3 million were dead and almost 1 million crippled. Large parts of north-eastern France, the nation’s most advanced industrial and agricultural area, were devastated. Industrial production had fallen to 60 percent of the pre-war level. The Western Front and Verdun in particular became symbols of the futility of a campaign which by the autumn of 1917 had led to a collapse in morale. 54 French divisions had mutinied earlier in the year and only Petain’s mixture of concessions and brutality saved the day. Clemenceau was brought back into government and his political leadership saw the country through to the armistice in November 1918.
Ambitions
France’s ambitions were straightforward, make Germany pay. The only divisions within the political class in France was over how much Germany should pay. There was obvious agreement about the return of Alsace-Lorraine and the need for Germany to pay reparations, but on the future of Germany itself there were differences. French president Poincaré wanted Germany broken up with the Rhineland to become an independent state and the Saar becoming French.
Potential rivals and allies
Woodrow Wilson’s idealism will be difficult to contain, Clemenceau famously said, ‘Mr. Wilson bores me with his Fourteen Points; why, God Almighty has only Ten!’ Britain will also be looking to curtail French ambitions. France contributed significantly to the liberation of Serbia but has also agreed to Italian ambitions at the secret 1915 Treaty of London.
Experience of World War I
France was devastated by the First World War. Of the 8 million Frenchmen mobilized, 1.3 million were dead and almost 1 million crippled. Large parts of north-eastern France, the nation’s most advanced industrial and agricultural area, were devastated. Industrial production had fallen to 60 percent of the pre-war level. The Western Front and Verdun in particular became symbols of the futility of a campaign which by the autumn of 1917 had led to a collapse in morale. 54 French divisions had mutinied earlier in the year and only Petain’s mixture of concessions and brutality saved the day. Clemenceau was brought back into government and his political leadership saw the country through to the armistice in November 1918.
Ambitions
France’s ambitions were straightforward, make Germany pay. The only divisions within the political class in France was over how much Germany should pay. There was obvious agreement about the return of Alsace-Lorraine and the need for Germany to pay reparations, but on the future of Germany itself there were differences. French president Poincaré wanted Germany broken up with the Rhineland to become an independent state and the Saar becoming French.
Potential rivals and allies
Woodrow Wilson’s idealism will be difficult to contain, Clemenceau famously said, ‘Mr. Wilson bores me with his Fourteen Points; why, God Almighty has only Ten!’ Britain will also be looking to curtail French ambitions. France contributed significantly to the liberation of Serbia but has also agreed to Italian ambitions at the secret 1915 Treaty of London.