The National Bloc (french: Bloc national) was the name given to two loose coalitions formed by various parties of the right in France, characterised by an alliance between former enemies of centre-right Radicals, conservative liberals and Catholic nationalists. The first Bloc, led by Clemenceau, was in power from 1919 to 1924. Later, the name was often used to describe a governing alliance of a similar range of parties, led by

Poincaré Poincaré is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Henri Poincaré (1854–1912), French physicist, mathematician and philosopher of science * Henriette Poincaré (1858-1943), wife of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré * Luci ...

and in power from 1926 to 1932.

Elections of 1919

Made up primarily of conservative right wing parties, such as the

Fédération républicaine 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 party ...

, Alliance démocratique, and

Action libérale 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 ...

, the coalition had the support of various radical right wing parties as well. The Bloc wanted to continue the patriotic union sacrée which was

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 1 ...

's coalition during World War I. The bloc won with 53% of the vote. The National Bloc election campaign focused on two principal issues:

Patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

and fear of Bolshevism. * Patriotism: The National Bloc stressed the importance of the union sacrée and praised World War I veterans. It complained that the Treaty of Versailles lacked more German concessions, particularly the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

. The campaign was based around the slogan, "Germany will pay!" The party platform was based on programs that would be financed through German war reparations. * Fear of Bolshevism: Several strikes following the end of the war, along with the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, increased anti-communist sentiment in France.

Composition

Electoral results

Defunct political party alliances in France {{france-hist-stub