The Popular Democratic Party (french: Parti démocrate populaire, PDP) was a

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 democrati ...

political party in France during the Third Republic. Founded in 1924, it represented the trend of French social Catholicism, while remaining a party embodying the ideology of

centrism Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the ...

. The party's ideology was inspired by the popularism of

Luigi Sturzo Luigi Sturzo (; 26 November 1871 – 8 August 1959) was an Italian Catholic priest and prominent politician. He was known in his lifetime as a "clerical socialist" and is considered one of the fathers of the Christian democratic platform. He w ...

's Italian People's Party. The PDP was a co-founder in 1925 of the International Secretariat of Democratic Parties of Christian Inspiration (SIPDIC). The PDP had its roots in French Catholicism and various Christian movements inspired by

Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais Hugues may refer to People: * Hugues de Payens (c. 1070–1136), French soldier * Hugues I de Lusignan (1194/95 –1218), French-descended ruler a.k.a. Hugh I of Cyprus * Hugues IV de Berzé (1150s–1220), French soldier * Hugues II de Lusignan ...

and later continued by

Marc Sangnier Marc Sangnier (; 3 April 1873, Paris – 28 May 1950, Paris) was a French Roman Catholic thinker and politician, who in 1894 founded '' Le Sillon'' ("The Furrow"), a social Catholic movement. Work Sangnier aimed to bring the Catholic Church i ...

's ''

Le Sillon ("The Furrow", or "The Path") was a French political and religious movement founded by Marc Sangnier (1873 - 1950) which existed from 1894 to 1910. It aimed to bring Catholicism into a greater conformity with French Republican and socialist ideals ...

'', the

Young Republic League The Young Republic League (french: Ligue de la jeune république, LJR) was a French political party created in 1912 by Marc Sangnier, in continuation of ''Le Sillon'', Sangnier's Christian social movement which was disavowed by the Pope Pius X ( ...

and the

Popular Liberal Action The Popular Liberal Action (french: Action libérale populaire, ALP), simply called Liberal Action (), was a political party that represented Catholic supporters of the French Third Republic. It operated in the center-right, primarily to oppose ...

(ALP), the party of republican Catholics founded in 1902 and dissolved in 1919.

History

Foundation

The creation of the PDP has its premises in the context of the immediate

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

, the reintegration of Catholics in the nation by the wartime ''

Union sacrée The Sacred Union (french: Union Sacrée, ) was a political truce in France in which the left-wing agreed, during World War I, not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge mad ...

'' and the involvement of Catholics in power during the National Bloc (1919–1924). From the National Bloc, fourteen deputies founded the core of the PDP prior to the 1924 legislative election. Established by Congress on 15 and 16 November 1924, under the chairmanship of George Thibout and involving 200 delegates, the PDP supported the desire to achieve "a task in bringing reconciliation around the idea of

Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. ...

" by the definition of "new Republican faith" The Popular Democrats advocated that religion was not and should not be a line between right and left. However, the PDP oriented itself to the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

in direct competition to the

Republican Federation The Republican Federation (french: Fédération républicaine, FR) was the largest conservative party during the French Third Republic, gathering together the progressive Orléanists rallied to the Republic. Founded in November 1903, the par ...

, the party from which most of the PDP's members came from and where social Catholics concentrated since the demise of the ALP.

19321940

Faced to the governing left-wing ''

Cartel des Gauches The Cartel of the Left (french: Cartel des gauches, ) was the name of the governmental alliance between the Radical-Socialist Party, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), and other smaller left-republican parties that ...

'', the PDP ranked itself in the parliamentary opposition but stayed outside of the

National Catholic Federation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(FNC), founded by General Édouard de Castelnau as a reaction to the perceived

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

legislation passed by

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the f ...

's cabinet. The PDP supported the ministries of

Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in ...

, seduced by his stabilizing of the economic situation, but hostile to the lack of social legislation. In addition, the PDP developed the popular theme of "party of the centre" or "Cartel of the Centres", which explained their support for the Ministry led

André Tardieu André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu (; 22 September 1876 – 15 September 1945) was three times Prime Minister of France (3 November 1929 – 17 February 1930; 2 March – 4 December 1930; 20 February – 10 May 1932) and a dominant figure of ...

(November 1929-February 1930). Despite its position, the PDP had little weight in the different governments formed between 1926 and 1932. Only

Auguste Champetier de Ribes Auguste Champetier de Ribes (30 July 1882 – 6 March 1947) was a French politician and jurist. A devout Catholic, he was an early follower of Albert de Mun and social Christianity. Wounded in the First World War, he was elected to the Chamber ...

participated in various governments between 1928 and 1930. However, the PDP acquired increasing visibility both on the ground locally and by increasing its number of elected officials at all levels (local, departmental and national). Faced with the growing threat from the Popular Democrats, the Republican Federation virulently opposed the PDP via the popular voice of Henry Kérillis who alleged that the PDP divided the "national right". Only

Georges Pernot Auguste Alain Georges Pernot (6 November 1879 – 14 September 1962) was a conservative French lawyer and politician. He was a deputy and then a senator before and during World War II (1939–45). He was Minister of Public Works in 1929–30, Min ...

advocated collaboration between his party (the Federation) and the PDP. The PDP was moved to the right by the Stavisky Affair and during the

6 February 1934 crisis 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

where the party supported the parliamentary right's arguments. In its later years, the PDP divided into broad left-wing and right-wing factions.

World War II and post-war

If the majority of the parliamentary party voted full powers to Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

on 10 July 1940, the PDP, however, provided the largest contingent of

opponents An adversary is generally considered to be a person, group, or force that opposes and/or attacks. Adversary may also refer to: * Satan ("adversary" in Hebrew), in Judeo-Christian religion Entertainment Fiction * Adversary (comics), villain f ...

against full powers within the right (

Pierre de Chambrun Pierre de Chambrun (11 June 1865 in Paris – 24 August 1954) was a French politician. Early life Charles Louis Antoine Pierre Gilbert Pineton de Chambrun was born in Paris. The Pineton de Chambrun family was of noble origin and politically ...

, Paul Simon). While a number of Popular Democrats collaborated with the

Vichy Regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

, others, such as

Georges Bidault Georges-Augustin Bidault (; 5 October 189927 January 1983) was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions. He joined the ...

joined the resistance. Following the war, a large majority of Popular Democrats joined the Christian democratic

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...

, which had its roots in the resistance movement. Some members also joined the

Rally of Republican Lefts 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 ...

Ideology

*The PDP was attached to the Republic and to political liberties. In this sense, the PDP adhered to the Christian democratic idea that one can be Republican and Catholic. However, the PDP opposed French

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...

and defended the liberty of confessional education. *The PDP opposed both

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

, and aimed to achieve democracy in the economic and social organization by the gradual reform and collaboration between the various elements of production (mixed by unions and employee representatives in particular). Advocating state intervention in the economy, the PDP wanted to achieve

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

through the application of a Catholic social program (

8-hour work day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...

, paid leave, social insurance, family allowances). *On the institutional level, the PDP advocated administrative, social and economic

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

. The party also supported a more powerful

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive di ...

, while upholding the legislative power by imposing rules that allow for government stability. The PDP supported

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and the family vote (the head of the family would have a number of votes proportional to the size of his family (wives and children) in addition to his own in elections). *In foreign policy, the PDP supported the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. It supported the Franco-German rapprochement after World War I.

Leadership

Presidents

*Georges Thibout (1924–1929). *

(1929–1940) Lawyer, deputy and later Senator for the Basses-Pyrénées (1924–1942)

General Secretary

* Jean Raymond-Laurent (1924–1940). Former member of ''

'', deputy for the Loire (1938–1942)

References

Literature

* {{Authority control Defunct political parties in France Defunct Christian political parties Catholic political parties Political parties of the French Third Republic Christian democratic parties in Europe Right-wing parties in France Centrist parties in France