The Republican Front was a
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...
coalition that won the
1956 French legislative election
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 forwa ...
. In the context of the
Algerian War, behind
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
, it gathered the
French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the
Radical Party, the
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (french: Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance or UDSR) was a French political party founded after the liberation of France from German occupation and mainly active during the Fo ...
, 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 ...
, which came from a split of the
Gaullist
Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...
movement.
The leader of the SFIO,
Guy Mollet, became
Prime Minister of France. His tenure was the longest of any prime minister during the unstable
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Re ...
. His harsh policy in Algeria caused a division in the coalition and the resignation of Mendès-France and of some ministers.
Defunct political party alliances in France
French Section of the Workers' International
Political parties with year of establishment missing
Political parties with year of disestablishment missing
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