46 Facts About Paul Reynaud

Paul Reynaud was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany.

Paul Reynaud was vice-president of the Democratic Republican Alliance center-right party.

Paul Reynaud was Prime Minister during the German defeat of France in May and June 1940; he persistently refused to support an armistice with Germany, as premier in June 1940, he unsuccessfully attempted to save France from German occupation in World War II, and resigned on 16 June.

Paul Reynaud favoured a United States of Europe, and participated in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic, but resigned from government in 1962 after disagreement with President de Gaulle over changes to the electoral system.

Paul Reynaud was born in Barcelonnette, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the son of Alexandre and Amelie Paul Reynaud.

Paul Reynaud's father had made a fortune in the textile industry, enabling Reynaud to study law at the Sorbonne.

Paul Reynaud entered politics and was elected to the French Chamber of Deputies from 1919 to 1924, representing Basses-Alpes, and again from 1928, representing a Paris district.

Paul Reynaud backed a strong alliance with the United Kingdom and, unlike many others on the French Right, better relations with the Soviet Union as a counterweight against the Germans.

Paul Reynaud held several cabinet posts in the early 1930s, but he clashed with members of his party after 1932 over French foreign and defense policy.

In June 1934, Paul Reynaud defended in the Chamber of Deputies the need to devalue the French franc, whose belonging to the gold standard was increasingly harmful for the French economy, but in those years French public opinion was opposed to any devaluation.

Paul Reynaud was not given another cabinet position until 1938.

Paul Reynaud was a supporter of Charles de Gaulle's theories of mechanized warfare in contrast to the static defense doctrines that were in vogue among many of his countrymen, symbolized by the Maginot Line.

Paul Reynaud strongly opposed appeasement in the run-up to the Second World War.

Paul Reynaud clashed with his party on economic policy, backing the devaluation of the franc as a solution to France's economic woes.

Paul Reynaud returned to the cabinet in 1938 as Minister of Justice under Edouard Daladier.

Paul Reynaud publicly made his case, and in response Flandin pamphleted Paris in order to pressure the government to agree to Hitler's demands.

However, Paul Reynaud still had the support of Daladier, whose politique de fermete was very similar to Paul Reynaud's notion of deterrence.

Paul Reynaud endorsed radically liberal economic policies in order to draw France's economy out of stagnation, centered on a massive program of deregulation, including the elimination of the forty-hour work week.

The notion of deregulation was very popular among France's businessmen, and Paul Reynaud believed that it was the best way for France to regain investors' confidence again and escape the stagnation its economy had fallen into.

Paul Reynaud's reforms were implemented, and the government faced down a one-day strike in opposition.

Paul Reynaud's reforms involved a massive austerity program.

At the outbreak of war Paul Reynaud was not bullish on France's economy; he felt that the massive increase in spending that a war entailed would stamp out France's recovery.

The Chamber forced Daladier, whom Paul Reynaud held personally responsible for France's weakness, to be Paul Reynaud's Minister of National Defense and War.

Paul Reynaud abandoned any notion of a "long war strategy" based on attrition.

The Battle of France began less than two months after Paul Reynaud came to office.

At 2 pm Churchill reported to the War Cabinet that Paul Reynaud had stated that the French military situation was hopeless, that he had no intention of signing a separate peace with Germany, but that he might be forced to resign and that others in the French government might sign such a treaty.

In early June Charles de Gaulle, whom Paul Reynaud had long supported and one of the few French commanders to have fought the Germans successfully in May 1940, was promoted to brigadier general and named undersecretary of war.

At the next Anglo-French conference at Tours on 13 June, Paul Reynaud demanded that France be released from the agreement which he had made with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in March 1940, so that France could seek an armistice.

Paul Reynaud tried to resign on the spot but Lebrun shouted at him.

De Gaulle later wrote that Paul Reynaud was "a man of great worth unjustly crushed by events beyond measure".

Paul Reynaud later claimed that he had hoped Petain would resign if the armistice terms were too harsh, which if true was wishful thinking in Jackson's view.

Spears recorded that Paul Reynaud appeared relieved to be rid of his burden.

Paul Reynaud visited Reynaud, who still hoped to go to North Africa and declined to come to London.

Paul Reynaud still had control of secret government funds until the handover of power the next day, and made money available to de Gaulle.

Lebrun refused to confirm the appointment, apparently as he admired Paul Reynaud and wanted to save him from association with the Petain government.

Paul Reynaud was arrested on his discharge on Petain's orders and imprisoned at Fort du Portalet.

Petain decided against having Paul Reynaud charged during the Riom Trial of 1942, but handed him over to the Germans instead, who removed him firstly to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, thence Itter Castle near Worgl, Austria, where he remained with other high-profile French prisoners until liberated by Allied troops on 7 May 1945.

Paul Reynaud was appointed to several cabinet positions in the post-war period and remained a prominent figure in French politics.

Paul Reynaud supported the idea of a United States of Europe, along with a number of prominent contemporaries.

Paul Reynaud was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe for ten years, from 1949 to 1959,[3] where he worked alongside his old wartime allies Churchill, Spaak and others to build a united Europe as a way of preventing future wars and a recurrence of the Nazi atrocities.

Paul Reynaud presided over the consultative committee that drafted the constitution of France's Fifth Republic.

Paul Reynaud was a physically small man, with "the countenance of a samurai who had been educated at Cambridge".

Paul Reynaud's head was set deep between his shoulders, and he had "a sharp, nasal, metallic voice" and "mechanical" bearing.

At some time in the early 1920s, Paul Reynaud was introduced to Helene Rebuffel by Andre Tardieu, a friend of her father's.

Paul Reynaud then married Christiane Mabire at Versailles in the same year, at the age of 71.

Paul Reynaud died on 21 September 1966 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, leaving a number of writings.