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 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 ...

Parties and issues

On 21 October 1945, the French voters were called to make two choices: the election of their deputies and a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

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 The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

to the German occupation and founder of the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, la ...

General Charles de Gaulle led a provisional government composed of the three main political forces of the Resistance: the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

(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 fou ...

(socialists, SFIO) and 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 ...

(MRP). It advocated an economic policy inspired by the programme of the National Council of Resistance: the creation of a

Welfare State A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitab ...

, and the nationalization of banks and major industrial companies (such as

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

). 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 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 ...

). They appeared as being the forces of the past, as symbols of capitulation to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

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;" ,

(''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;" ,

(''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 (''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 The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (''Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans'', CNIP) is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (the heir of the ...

, Republican Party of Liberty 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 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 ex ...

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

Parties and issues

Results

Referendum

National Assembly

References

Further reading