Joseph Laniel

Joseph Laniel
Prime Minister of France
In office 28 June 1953 – 18 June 1954
President	René Coty
Preceded by	René Mayer
Succeeded by	Pierre Mendès France
Personal details
Born	12 October 1889 Vimoutiers, France[1]
Died	8 April 1975(1975-04-08) (aged 85) Paris, France
Political party	CNIP

Joseph Laniel (French pronunciation: [ʒozɛf lanjɛl]; 12 October 1889 – 8 April 1975) was a French conservative politician of the French Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsuccessful candidate for the French Presidency, a post won by René Coty.

Biography

Laniel was born at Vimoutiers in Normandy to a family that ran a successful textile factory.^[2]

On 10 July 1940, he voted in favour of granting the cabinet presided by Marshal Philippe Pétain authority to draw up a new constitution, thereby effectively ending the French Third Republic and establishing Vichy France. However, he later joined the French Resistance and was one of the founders of the National Council of the Resistance (CNR).

Co-founder of the Republican Party of Liberty (PRL), then of the National Center of Independents and Peasants (CNIP), Laniel's cabinet was overturned after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in Indochina in 1954. He was succeeded by Pierre Mendès France.

During the First Indochina War, France under the Leadership of Laniel seek an armistice that was supported by United Kingdom and other countries.^[3]

Laniel's Ministry, 28 June 1953 – 19 June 1954

• Joseph Laniel – President of the Council
• Henri Queuille – Vice President of the Council
• Paul Reynaud – Vice President of the Council
• Pierre-Henri Teitgen – Vice President of the Council
• Georges Bidault – Minister of Foreign Affairs
• René Pleven – Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces
• Léon Martinaud-Déplat – Minister of the Interior
• Edgar Faure – Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
• Jean-Marie Louvel – Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Paul Bacon – Minister of Labour and Social Security
• Paul Ribeyre – Minister of Justice
• André Marie – Minister of National Education
• André Mutter – Minister of Veterans and War Victims
• Louis Jacquinot – Minister of Overseas France
• Jacques Chastellain – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
• Paule Coste-Floret – Minister of Public Health and Population
• Maurice Lemaire – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing
• Pierre Ferri – Minister of Posts
• Edmond Barrachin – Minister of Constitutional Reform
• Édouard Corniglion-Molinier – Minister of State

Changes

• 3 June 1954 – Édouard Frédéric-Dupont enters the ministry as Minister of Relations with Partner States.

References

1. Tucker, Spencer C. (2011). "Laniel, Joseph". The encyclopedia of the Vietnam War : a political, social, and military history (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 626. ISBN 9781851099610.
2. Tucker, Spencer (2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 626. ISBN 9781851099610.
3. Waite 2005.

Further reading

• Waite, J.D.A. (1 January 2005). "THE END OF THE FIRST INDOCHINA WAR: AN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY (UNITED STATES, FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN)". Ohio University – via Google Scholar.

Political offices
Preceded by Charles Brune	Minister of Posts 1951	Succeeded by Roger Duchet
Preceded by Maurice Petsche	Minister of State 1951–1952	Succeeded by (none)
Preceded by René Mayer	Prime Minister of France 1953–1954	Succeeded by Pierre Mendès France