Legislative elections were held in France on 21 October 1945 to elect a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution for a Fourth French Republic. 79.83% of voters participated. Women and soldiers were allowed to vote. 522 seats were elected through proportional representation.

Parties and issues

On 21 October 1945, the French voters were called to make two choices: the election of their deputies and a referendum in order to authorize the elected National Assembly to prepare a new constitutional text. De Gaulle and the " Three parties alliance" called for a "Yes" vote, whereas the Radicals and the Conservatives campaigned for a "No". Symbol of the French Resistance to the German occupation and founder of the Free French Forces General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

led a provisional government composed of the three main political forces of the Resistance: the French Communist Party (PCF), the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(socialists, SFIO) and the

Christian democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

Popular Republican Movement (MRP). It advocated an economic policy inspired by the programme of the

National Council of Resistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade unio ...

: the creation of a Welfare State, and the nationalization of banks and major industrial companies (such as Renault). The opposition was composed of the parties which had dominated the pre-war governments of the Third Republic: the Radical Party and the classical Right.

Results

Referendum

The "Yes" won by 96% of the votes. This result reflected the support for the provisional government and the popular will for change.

National Assembly

Unsurprisingly, the "Three-parties alliance" won a large majority in the National Assembly. The Radical Party, which had been the leading party of the left in the Third Republic, suffered a catastrophic result, and the right was equally destroyed (because of its support of Marshal Philippe Pétain). They appeared as being the forces of the past, as symbols of capitulation to Nazi Germany and the regime which collapsed in 1940. The French Communist Party, which had already doubled its score in the previous 1936 elections, came out on top with around 26% of votes and 159 seats. While the PCF and SFIO favored a unicameral parliamentary regime, the MRP favored a

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

. De Gaulle advocated a presidential government. He resigned in January 1946. The PCF and SFIO proposals were rejected in the 5 May 1946 referendum. This assembly was dissolved. , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" colspan=2 , Parties and coalitions ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Abbr. ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats , - , style="background-color:#FF0000", , style="text-align:left;" , French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'') , style="text-align:right;" , PCF , style="text-align:right;" , 5,005,336 , style="text-align:right;" , 26.1 , style="text-align:right;" , 148 , - , style="background-color:#00CCCC", , style="text-align:left;" , Popular Republican Movement (''Mouvement républicain populaire'') , style="text-align:right;" , MRP , style="text-align:right;" , 4,780,338 , style="text-align:right;" , 24.9 , style="text-align:right;" , 141 , - , style="background-color:#E75480", , style="text-align:left;" ,

French Section of the Workers International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(''Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière'') , style="text-align:right;" , SFIO , style="text-align:right;" , 4,561,411 , style="text-align:right;" , 23.8 , style="text-align:right;" , 134 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total "Three-parties alliance" , , style="text-align:right;" , 14,347,085 , style="text-align:right;" , 74.8 , style="text-align:right;" , 423 , - , style="background-color:#1E90FF", , style="text-align:left;" , Conservatives ( Democratic Alliance, National Centre of Independents and Peasants,

Republican Party of Liberty The Republican Party of Liberty (french: Parti républicain de la liberté, PRL) was a centre-right to right-wing French political party founded after the Liberation of France on 22 December 1945 by Joseph Laniel, André Mutter, Édouard Fré ...

and others) , style="text-align:right;" , DA/CNI , style="text-align:right;" , 2,545,845 , style="text-align:right;" , 13.3 , style="text-align:right;" , 62 , - , style="background-color:#FFBF00", , style="text-align:left;" , Radical Socialists (''Parti radical-socialiste'') (including

Independents of the Left {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Independents of the Left (french: Indépendants de gauche, IG) was a French parliamentary technical group in the Chamber of Deputies of France during the French Third Republic. The group w ...

and others) , style="text-align:right;" , Rad./IG , style="text-align:right;" , 2,131,763 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.1 , style="text-align:right;" , 35 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous , , style="text-align:right;" , 165,106 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.9 , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Invalid/blank votes , , style="text-align:right;" , 467,804 , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total , , style="text-align:right;" , 19,657,603 , style="text-align:right;" , 100 , style="text-align:right;" , 522 , - , colspan=6 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout: 81.85% , - , align=left colspan=4, Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 688

Parties and issues

Results

Referendum

National Assembly

References

Further reading