French legislative elections to elect the third National Assembly of the Fourth Republic took place on 2 January 1956 using party-list proportional representation. The elections had been scheduled for June 1956; however, they were brought forward by Edgar Faure using a constitutional sanction. The previous legislative elections in 1951 had been won by the Third Force, a coalition of center-left and center-right parties, but it was divided about denominational schools question and, when faced with the colonial problem, the governments had gradually moved towards the right. A part of the Rally of the French People (RPF), the Gaullist party, joined the majority in opposing the leadership of

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 ...

, who then retired. The defeat in the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

in May 1954 caused a political crisis. The Radical Pierre Mendès-France became leader of the cabinet and ended the First Indochina War. He also began the process of independence for Morocco and Tunisia, but from November 1954 on, France was confronted by the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. In February 1955, Mendès-France was replaced, at the head of the cabinet, by his rival in the Radical Party, Edgar Faure. This one led a more repressive policy in Algeria. The far-right, led by

Pierre Poujade Pierre Poujade (; 1 December 1920 – 27 August 2003) was a French populist politician after whom the Poujadist movement was named. Biography Pierre Poujade was born in Saint-Céré (Le Lot), France, and studied at Collège Saint-Eugène d'Aur ...

, re-appeared at about the same time. He was a critic of "

fiscalism Fiscalism is a term sometimes used to refer the economic theory that the government should rely on fiscal policy as the main instrument of macroeconomic policy. Fiscalism in this sense is contrasted with monetarism, which is associated with relian ...

", and leader of a shopkeepers and craftsmen's movement. Many voters seemed tired of the political system's numerous ministerial crises, and he had much support in the rural areas, which were in decline. The anticipated legislative elections took place when Faure was defeated by the National Assembly. Even though the French Communist Party re-emerged as the country's most popular party (for the last time in its history), it did not join the government. A coalition was formed behind Mendès-France and advocated a peaceful resolution of the Algerian conflict. This Republican Front was composed of 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 ...

(SFIO, socialist party) of

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Minister ...

, the Radical Party of Pierre Mendès-France, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance of

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

and the

National Centre of Social Republicans The National Centre of Social Republicans (''Centre national des républicains sociaux'', CNRS), or Social Republicans (''Républicains sociaux'', RS), was a French Gaullist political party founded in 1954. The party succeeded the Rally of the F ...

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d� ...

. Faure was excluded from the Radical Party – in response he transformed the Rally of the Republican Lefts (which had been abandoned by those groups which had now joined the Republican Front) into a party that he led, and he campaigned with the center-right parties. The French Communist Party remained the largest party and the Republican Front obtained a relative majority in order to end the Algerian War. The Poujadists won 52 seats versus predictions of six to eight, and the press stated that they held the balance of power. Media reception was mixed, with the result welcomed by communist supporters and condemned by papers such as '' The Times'', '' Le Figaro'', and '' The Saturday Evening Post''. The coalition cabinet was led by the Socialist leader

. At the beginning he was also supported by the Communists, but pressure from the ''

pieds-noir The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the vast majority of whom departed for mainland France as soon as Alger ...

'' in Algeria incited him into leading a very repressive policy against the Algerian nationalists. This policy was criticized by Vice-Prime Minister Mendès-France and other members of the cabinet, who resigned, thus splitting the Republican Front. Mollet and his successors floundered in the conflict until May 1958.

Results

, - ! 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:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , +/- % , - , style="background-color:#1E90FF", , style="text-align:left;" , National Centre of Independents and Peasants (''Centre national des indépendants et paysans'') , style="text-align:right;" , CNIP , style="text-align:right;" , 3,259,782 , style="text-align:right;" , 15.30 , style="text-align:right;" , 95 , style="text-align:right;" , +1.66 , - , style="background-color:#00CCCC", , style="text-align:left;" , Popular Republican Movement (''Mouvement républicain populaire'') , style="text-align:right;" , MRP , style="text-align:right;" , 2,366,321 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.11 , style="text-align:right;" , 83 , style="text-align:right;" , -1.49 , - , style="background-color:#FBEC5D", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Rally of Left Republicans The Rally of Republican Lefts (french: Rassemblement des gauches républicaines, RGR) was an electoral alliance during the French Fourth Republic composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the ...

(''Rassemblement des gauches républicaines'') , style="text-align:right;" , RGR , style="text-align:right;" , 838,321 , style="text-align:right;" , 3.94 , style="text-align:right;" , 14 , style="text-align:right;" , -6.23 , - , style="background-color:#C9A0DC", , style="text-align:left;" ,

outside Republican Front(''Centre national des républicains sociaux'') , style="text-align:right;" , CNRS , style="text-align:right;" , 585,764 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.75 , style="text-align:right;" , 22 , style="text-align:right;" , -17.98 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total "Centre-Right" , , style="text-align:right;" , 7,050,188 , style="text-align:right;" , 33.10 , style="text-align:right;" , 214 , - , style="background-color:#E75480", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière'') , style="text-align:right;" , SFIO , style="text-align:right;" , 3,247,431 , style="text-align:right;" , 15.25 , style="text-align:right;" , 95 , style="text-align:right;" , -0.14 , - , style="background-color:#FFBF00", , style="text-align:left;" , Radical Party (''Parti radical'') and Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (''Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance'') , style="text-align:right;" , PR/UDSR , style="text-align:right;" , 2,389,163 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.22 , style="text-align:right;" , 77 , style="text-align:right;" , +1.05 , - , style="background-color:#C9A0DC", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Centre national des républicains sociaux'') , style="text-align:right;" , CNRS , style="text-align:right;" , 256,587 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.20 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , -20.73 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total " Republican Front" , , style="text-align:right;" , 5,893,181 , style="text-align:right;" , 27.67 , style="text-align:right;" , 172 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000", , style="text-align:left;" , French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'') , style="text-align:right;" , PCF , style="text-align:right;" , 5,514,403 , style="text-align:right;" , 25.89 , style="text-align:right;" , 150 , style="text-align:right;" , -0.38 , - , style="background-color:#704214", , style="text-align:left;" , Union and French Fraternity (''Union et fraternité française'') , style="text-align:right;" , UFF , style="text-align:right;" , 2,744,562 , style="text-align:right;" , 12.88 , style="text-align:right;" , 52 , style="text-align:right;" , +12.88 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous , , style="text-align:right;" , 98,600 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.46 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total , , style="text-align:right;" , 21,300,934 , style="text-align:right;" , 100 , style="text-align:right;" , 595 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Abstention: 17.2%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French Legislative Election, 1956

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1956 elections in France