Louis Barthou
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
9 February 1934 – 9 October 1934
Preceded byÉdouard Daladier
Succeeded byPierre Laval
In office
23 October 1917 – 16 November 1917
Preceded byAlexandre Ribot
Succeeded byStephen Pichon
59th Prime Minister of France
In office
22 March 1913 – 9 December 1913
Preceded byAristide Briand
Succeeded byGaston Doumergue
Personal details
Born
Jean Louis Barthou

25 August 1862
Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France
Died9 October 1934(1934-10-09) (aged 72)
Marseille, France
Cause of deathGunshot wound
Political partyIndependent

Jean Louis Barthou (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ lwi baʁtu]; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as Prime Minister saw the introduction (in July 1913) of allowances to families with children.[1]

In 1917 and in 1934, Barthou also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Biography

Early life

Louis Barthou was born on 25 August 1862 in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

Career

He served as Deputy from his home constituency. He was an authority on trade union history and law.

He was Prime Minister from 22 March 1913 to 9 December 1913. In social policy, Barthou's time as prime minister saw the passage of a law in June 1913 aimed at safeguarding women workers before and after childbirth.[2]

Barthou (right) with Polish marshal Józef Piłsudski in 1934

He also held ministerial office thirteen other times. He served as Foreign Minister in 1917 and 1934. He was the primary figure behind the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance of 1935, though it was signed by his successor, Pierre Laval. As a national World War I hero and a recognized author, Barthou was elected to the Académie française at the end of that war.[3]

In 1934, he tried to create an Eastern Pact that would include Germany, Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Baltic states on the basis of a guarantee by France of the European borders of the Soviet Union and the eastern borders of the then Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union. He succeeded in obtaining entry of the Soviet Union into the League of Nations in September 1934.[4] In response to the withdrawal of Nazi Germany from the League in 1933, he began a program of rearmament, focusing initially on the Navy and the Air Force.[5]

Universal Newsreel's film about the assassination.

Barthou was a lover of the arts, and in power worked with leaders of the arts to publicize their fields. He felt that world-class leadership in the arts made Paris a mecca for tourists and collectors, and enhanced the nation's stature worldwide as the exemplar of truth and beauty. In turn arts community honored Barthou, dubbing him the "minister of poets."[6]

Death

As Foreign Minister, Barthou met King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his state visit to Marseille in October 1934. On 9 October, the King and Barthou were assassinated by Velicko Kerin, a Bulgarian revolutionary nationalist wielding a handgun.[7] A bullet struck Barthou in the arm, passing through and fatally severing an artery. He died of blood loss less than an hour later. The assassination was planned in Rome by Ante Pavelić, head of the Croatian Ustaše, in August 1934. Pavelić was assisted by Georg Percevic, a former Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces officer. France unsuccessfully requested extradition of Percevic and Pavelić.[8] This assassination ended the careers of the Bouches-du-Rhone prefect, Pierre Jouhannaud, and the director of the Surete Nationale, Jean Berthoin.[9]

A ballistic report on the bullets found in the car was made in 1935, but the results were not made available to the public until 1974. They revealed that Barthou was hit by an 8 mm Modèle 1892 revolver round commonly used in weapons carried by French police.[10] Thus he was killed during the frantic police response rather than by the assassin.

Legacy

The assassination of Barthou and the King led to the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism concluded at Geneva by the League of Nations on 16 November 1937.[11] The Convention was signed by 25 nations, ratified only by India.[12] Barthou was granted a state funeral four days after his demise.

Ministries

Barthou's ministry, 22 March 1913 – 9 December 1913

References

  1. ^ "Land Policy Review". 1938.
  2. ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 31 by Hugh Chisholm
  3. ^ Power and Pleasure: Louis Barthou and the Third French Republic by Robert J. Young, McGill-Queens 1991, p. X
  4. ^ The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill, RosettaBooks, 2010, p. 95
  5. ^ Alexander, Martin S. (April 2015). "French grand strategy and defence preparations". The Cambridge History of the Second World War. doi:10.1017/cho9781139855969.006. Retrieved 13 December 2019.((cite web)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Robert J. Young, "Cultural Politics and the Politics of Culture in the Third French Republic: The Case of Louis Barthou." French Historical Studies (1991) 17#2: 343-358.online.
  7. ^ Matthew Graves, 'Memory and Forgetting on the National Periphery: Marseille and the Regicide of 1934' , PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2010, p. 1 [1]
  8. ^ The Principle of Complementarity in International Criminal Law: Origin, Development and Practice by Mohamed M. El Zeidy, BRILL, September 15, 2008, p. 41
  9. ^ The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918-1940 by Mary Lewis, Stanford University Press, June 7, 2007, p. 114
  10. ^ de Launay, Jacques (1974). Les grandes controverses de l'histoire contemporaine 1914-1945. Edito-Service Histoire Secrete de Notre Temps. p. 568.
  11. ^ The United Nations and the Control of International Violence: A Legal and Political Analysis by John Francis Murphy, Manchester University Press ND, 1983, p.179
  12. ^ Terrorism: A History by Randall Law, Polity, June 29, 2009, p. 156

Further reading

Political offices Preceded byCharles Jonnart Minister of Public Works 1894–1895 Succeeded byLudovic Dupuy-Dutemps Preceded byFerdinand Sarrien Minister of the Interior 1896–1898 Succeeded byHenri Brisson Preceded byArmand Gauthier de l'Aude (Public Works)Georges Trouillot (Posts & Telegraphs) Minister of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs (France) 1906–1909 Succeeded byAlexandre Millerand Preceded byAristide Briand Minister of Justice 1909–1910 Succeeded byThéodore Girard Preceded byAristide Briand Minister of Justice 1913 Succeeded byAntony Ratier Preceded byAristide Briand President of the Council 1913 Succeeded byGaston Doumergue Preceded byThéodore Steeg Minister of Public Instruction 1913 Succeeded byRené Viviani Preceded by– Minister of State 1917 With: Léon Bourgeois, Paul Doumer, Jean Dupuy Succeeded byLéon Bourgeois Paul Doumer Jean Dupuy Preceded byAlexandre Ribot Minister of Foreign Affairs 1917 Succeeded byStéphen Pichon Preceded byFlaminius Rabierti Minister of War 1921–1922 Succeeded byAndré Maginot Preceded byLaurent Bonnevay Minister of Justice 1922 Succeeded byMaurice Colrat Preceded byMaurice Colrat Minister of Justice 1926–1929 Succeeded byLucien Hubert Preceded byAndré Maginot Minister of War 1930–1931 Succeeded byAndré Maginot Preceded byÉdouard Daladier Minister of Foreign Affairs 1934 Succeeded byPierre Laval
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