Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin (; 5 February 1907 – 27 June 2000) was a French

Christian Democrat Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...

politician who served as the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

during the crisis of that year.

Life

Pflimlin was born in

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

in the Nord department. A lawyer and a member of the Christian democratic

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (, 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 Schuman, Paul Coste-Floret, Pierre-Henr ...

(MRP), he was elected deputy of département

Bas Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) depa ...

in 1945. With his personal roots in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, Pflimlin numbered among his MRP party colleagues the

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

-born

Robert Schuman Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 1886 – 4 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born France, French statesman. Schuman was a Christian democrat, Christian democratic (Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. ...

; for both, relations with Germany played an important role in their political thinking. He held some governmental offices during the Fourth Republic, notably as Minister of Agriculture (1947–1949 and 1950–1951) and as Minister of Economy and Finance (1955–1956, 1957–1958).

Prime Minister of France

On 13 May 1958, the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

approved his nomination as Prime Minister. But the same day, riots took place in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. The French generals in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

feared he would arrange for a negotiated solution with the Algerian nationalists giving them control of Algeria. They refused to recognize his cabinet. At this point, the leading politicians deserted him, including

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 Ministe ...

Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...

, and

Antoine Pinay Antoine Pinay (; 30 December 1891 – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1952 to 1953 and French Foreign Minister from 1955 to 1956. Life Antoine Pinay was born on 30 December 1891 ...

. The crisis culminated in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

in Algiers that was resolved with his resignation, thus facilitating

accession to the post of Prime Minister on 1 June.Robert Gildea, ''France since 1945 '' (1996) p 44

Subsequent public offices

Pflimlin was Minister of State until 1959. As Minister of Cooperation in 1962, he resigned with the other MRP ministers in order to protest against the euro-scepticism of de Gaulle. Pflimlin served as the first Catholic mayor of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

from 1959 to 1983. He also was the President of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

from 1963 to 1966 and President of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 1984 to 1987.

Honours

The

Pierre Pflimlin bridge The Pierre Pflimlin Bridge () is a long motorway cantilever bridge over the river Rhine, with a main span measuring . It connects Germany and France, at Kehl and Strasbourg. It is named after Pierre Pflimlin, a former List of Prime Ministers of ...

over the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

south of Strasbourg, connecting France to Germany, is named after him and was opened in 2002.

Government (14 May – 1 June 1958)

* Pierre Pflimlin – President of the Council *

– Vice President of the Council *

René Pleven René Jean Pleven (; 15 April 190113 January 1993) was a notable political figure of the French Resistance and Fourth Republic. An early associate of Jean Monnet then member of the Free French led by Charles de Gaulle, he took a leading role i ...

– Minister of Foreign Affairs * Maurice Faure – Minister of the Interior * Pierre de Chevigné – Minister of Armed Forces * Edgar Faure – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning * Paul Ribeyre – Minister of Commerce and Industry * Paul Bacon – Minister of Labour and Social Security * Robert Lecourt – Minister of Justice * Jacques Bordeneuve – Minister of National Education * Vincent Badie – Minister of Veterans and War Victims * Roland Boscary-Monsservin – Minister of Agriculture * André Colin – Minister of Overseas France *

Édouard Bonnefous Édouard Henri Jean Bonnefous (24 August 1907 – 24 February 2007) was a French politician. Before World War II (1939–45) he was active in the study of international affairs. After the war he was elected a deputy on the Rally of Left Republica ...

– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism * André Maroselli – Minister of Public Health and Population * Pierre Garet – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing * Édouard Corniglion-Molinier – Minister for the Sahara *

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, pr ...

– Minister of State Changes: * 17 May 1958 – Maurice Faure becomes Minister of European Institutions. Jules Moch succeeds Faure as Minister of the Interior. Albert Gazier enters the ministry as Minister of Information. Max Lejeune succeeds Houphouët-Boigny as Minister of State.

Life

Prime Minister of France

Subsequent public offices

Honours

Government (14 May – 1 June 1958)

References

Further reading