Rally of the French People

The Rally of the French People (, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resignation from the presidency of the provisional government and four months after the proclamation of the Fourth Republic. It advocated a constitutional revision establishing a presidential government. For de Gaulle, the "regime of the parties" which characterized the parliamentary system did not permit the advent of a strong and efficient state. However, in French Republican culture, democracy and parliamentary sovereignty were inseparable. De Gaulle was accused of wanting to establish a Bonapartist government, with himself as the single dominant ruler. As de Gaulle also opposed the parties on the basis that they served particular interests and divided the nation, he wanted the RPF to be a "rally," not a political party, and allowed members of other parties (except Communists and former Vichy regime supporters) to join without compromising their other membership, but this hope was never realized. By 1948, the party counted half a million members, just behind the Communist Party. The RPF was able to gain the support of Maurrasien royalists (of the Action Française), leftist republicans such as André Malraux, moderates, Christian democrats such as Edmond Michelet, radicals such as Jacques Chaban-Delmas and Michel Debré, and even socialists and communists. Nevertheless, most of its voters came from the right-wing electorate. Electoral record The party enjoyed success in municipal elections (1947), capturing the cities of Lille, Marseille, Bordeaux (with Jacques Chaban-Delmas), Strasbourg, Rennes, Versailles, Le Mans, and Nancy with over 35% of votes. In Paris in 1947, Pierre de Gaulle, the brother of the General, became President of the municipal council, a post similar to mayor. However, the RPF's performance in the Christian Democratic MRP strongholds of rural France was relatively mediocre. Parliamentarians hostile to the RPF delayed cantonal elections in the fear of another Gaullist breakthrough. The hostility of the media and the social events of 1947 limited the party's electoral success.