Aristide Briand

Aristide Briand (28 March 1862 – 7 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and was a co-laureate of the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.

Early life
He was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique of a petit bourgeois family. He attended the Nantes Lycée, where, in 1877, he developed a close friendship with Jules Verne. He studied law, and soon went into politics, associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for the anarchist journal Le Peuple, and directing the Lanterne for some time. From this he passed to the Petite République, leaving it to found L'Humanité, in collaboration with Jean Jaurès.

Activism
At the same time he was prominent in the movement for the formation of trade unions, and at the congress of working men at Nantes in 1894 he secured the adoption of the labor union idea against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand was one of the leaders of the French Socialist Party. In 1902, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong partisan of the union of the Left in what was known as the Bloc, in order to check the reactionary Deputies of the Right.

From the beginning of his career in the Chamber of Deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of the separation of church and state. He was appointed reporter of the commission charged with the preparation of the 1905 law on separation, and his masterly report at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without dividing the parties upon whose support he relied.

He was the principal author of the law of separation, but, not content with preparing it, he wished to apply it as well. The ministry of Maurice Rouvier was allowing disturbances during the taking of inventories of church property, a clause of the law for which Briand was not responsible. Consequently he accepted the portfolio of Public Instruction and Worship in the Sarrien ministry (1906). So far as the Chamber was concerned, his success was complete. But the acceptance of a position in a bourgeois ministry led to his exclusion from the Unified Socialist Party (March 1906). As opposed to Jaurès, he contended that the Socialists should co-operate actively with the Radicals in all matters of reform, and not stand aloof to await the complete fulfillment of their ideals.

Prime Minister of France
Briand succeeded Clemenceau as Prime Minister in 1909, serving until 1911, and served again for a few months in 1913. In October 1915, following French defeats in the First World War, Briand again became Prime Minister, and, for the first time, Foreign Minister, succeeding René Viviani and Théophile Delcassé respectively. His tenure was not particularly successful, and he resigned in March 1917 as a result of disagreements over the prospective Nivelle Offensive, to be succeeded by Alexandre Ribot.

1920s
Briand returned to power in 1921. He supervised the French role in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22. Three factors guided the French strategy and necessitated a Mediterranean focus: the French navy needed to carry a great many goods, the Mediterranean was the axis of chief interest, and a supply of oil was essential. The primary goal was to defend French North Africa, and Briand made practical choices, for naval policy was a reflection of overall foreign policy. The Conference agreed on the American proposal that capital ships be limited to a ratio of 5 to 5 to 3 for the United States, Britain, and Japan, with Italy and France allocated 1.7 each. France's participation reflected its need to deal with its diminishing power and reduced human, material, and financial resources. Briand's efforts to come to an agreement over reparations with the Germans failed in the wake of German intransigence, and he was succeeded by the more bellicose Raymond Poincaré. In the wake of the Ruhr Crisis, however, Briand's more conciliatory style became more acceptable, and he returned to the Quai d'Orsay in 1925. He would remain foreign minister until his death in 1932. During this time, he was a member of 14 cabinets, three of which he headed himself.

Briand negotiated the Briand-Ceretti Agreement with the Vatican, giving the French government a role in the appointment of Catholic bishops.

Kellogg-Briand Pact
Aristide Briand received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize together with Gustav Stresemann of Germany for the Locarno Treaties (Austen Chamberlain of the United Kingdom had received a share of the Peace Prize a year earlier for the same agreement).

A 1927 proposal by Briand and United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg for a universal pact outlawing war led the following year to the Pact of Paris, aka the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

The cordial relations between Briand and Stresemann, the leading statesmen of their respective countries, were cut short by the unexpected death of Stresemann in 1929 and of Briand in 1932.

Briand Plan for European union
As foreign minister Briand formulated an original proposal for a new economic union of Europe. Described as Briand's Locarno diplomacy and as an aspect of Franco-German rapprochement, it was his answer to Germany's quick economic recovery and future political power. Briand made his proposals in a speech in favor of a European Union in the League of Nations on 5 September 1929, and in 1930, in his "Memorandum on the Organization of a Regime of European Federal Union" for the Government of France. The idea was to provide a framework to contain France's former enemy while preserving as much of the 1919 Versailles settlement as possible. The Briand plan entailed the economic collaboration of the great industrial areas of Europe and the provision of political security to Eastern Europe against Soviet threats. The basis was economic cooperation, but his fundamental concept was political, for it was political power that would determine economic choices. The plan, under the Memorandum on the Organization of a System of European Federal Union, was in the end presented as a French initiative to the League of Nations. With the death of his principal supporter, German foreign minister Gustav Stresemann, and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Briand's plan was never adopted but it suggested an economic framework for developments after World War II that eventually resulted in the European Union.

Briand's first Government, 24 July 1909 – 3 November 1910

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
 * Stéphen Pichon – Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Jean Brun – Minister of War
 * Georges Cochery – Minister of Finance
 * René Viviani – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
 * Louis Barthou – Minister of Justice
 * Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère – Minister of Marine
 * Gaston Doumergue – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Joseph Ruau – Minister of Agriculture
 * Georges Trouillot – Minister of Colonies
 * Alexandre Millerand – Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
 * Jean Dupuy – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Briand's second Government, 3 November 1910 – 2 March 1911

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
 * Stéphen Pichon – Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Jean Brun – Minister of War
 * Louis Lucien Klotz – Minister of Finance
 * Louis Lafferre – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
 * Théodore Girard – Minister of Justice
 * Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère – Minister of Marine
 * Maurice Faure – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Maurice Raynaud – Minister of Agriculture
 * Jean Morel – Minister of Colonies
 * Louis Puech – Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
 * Jean Dupuy – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Changes
 * 23 February 1911 – Briand succeeds Brun as interim Minister of War.

Briand's third and fourth Governments, 21 January – 22 March 1913

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
 * Charles Jonnart – Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Eugène Étienne – Minister of War
 * Louis Lucien Klotz – Minister of Finance
 * René Besnard – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
 * Louis Barthou – Minister of Justice
 * Pierre Baudin – Minister of Marine
 * Théodore Steeg – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Fernand David – Minister of Agriculture
 * Jean Morel – Minister of Colonies
 * Jean Dupuy – Minister of Public Works, Posts, and Telegraphs
 * Gabriel Guist'hau – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Briand's fifth Government, 29 October 1915 – 12 December 1916

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Joseph Galliéni – Minister of War
 * Louis Malvy – Minister of the Interior
 * Alexandre Ribot – Minister of Finance
 * Albert Métin – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
 * René Viviani – Minister of Justice
 * Lucien Lacaze – Minister of Marine
 * Paul Painlevé – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Jules Méline – Minister of Agriculture
 * Gaston Doumergue – Minister of Colonies
 * Marcel Sembat – Minister of Public Works
 * Étienne Clémentel – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs
 * Léon Bourgeois – Minister of State
 * Denys Cochin – Minister of State
 * Émile Combes – Minister of State
 * Charles de Freycinet – Minister of State
 * Jules Guesde – Minister of State

Changes
 * 15 November 1915 – Paul Painlevé becomes Minister of Inventions for the National Defense in addition to being Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts.
 * 16 March 1916 – Pierre Auguste Roques succeeds Galliéni as Minister of War

Briand's sixth Government, 12 December 1916 – 20 March 1917

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Hubert Lyautey – Minister of War
 * Albert Thomas – Minister of Armaments and War Manufacturing
 * Louis Malvy – Minister of the Interior
 * Alexandre Ribot – Minister of Finance
 * Étienne Clémentel – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Labour, Social Security Provisions, Agriculture, Posts, and Telegraphs
 * René Viviani – Minister of Justice, Public Instruction, and Fine Arts
 * Lucien Lacaze – Minister of Marine
 * Édouard Herriot – Minister of Supply, Public Works, and Transport
 * Gaston Doumergue – Minister of Colonies

Changes
 * 15 March 1917 – Lucien Lacaze succeeds Lyautey as interim Minister of War.

Briand's seventh Government, 16 January 1921 – 15 January 1922

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Louis Barthou – Minister of War
 * Pierre Marraud – Minister of the Interior
 * Paul Doumer – Minister of Finance
 * Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Labour
 * Laurent Bonnevay – Minister of Justice
 * Gabriel Guist'hau – Minister of Marine
 * Léon Bérard – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * André Maginot – Minister of War Pensions, Grants, and Allowances
 * Edmond Lefebvre du Prey – Minister of Agriculture
 * Albert Sarraut – Minister of Colonies
 * Yves Le Trocquer – Minister of Public Works
 * Georges Leredu – Minister of Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
 * Lucien Dior – Minister of Commerce and Industry
 * Louis Loucheur – Minister of Liberated Regions

Briand's eighth Government, 28 November 1925 – 9 March 1926

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Paul Painlevé – Minister of War
 * Camille Chautemps – Minister of the Interior
 * Louis Loucheur – Minister of Finance
 * Antoine Durafour – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
 * René Renoult – Minister of Justice
 * Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
 * Édouard Daladier – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Paul Jourdain – Minister of Pensions
 * Jean Durand – Minister of Agriculture
 * Léon Perrier – Minister of Colonies
 * Anatole de Monzie – Minister of Public Works
 * Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Changes
 * 16 December 1925 – Paul Doumer succeeds Loucheur as Minister of Finance.

Briand's ninth Government, 9 March – 23 June 1926

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Paul Painlevé – Minister of War
 * Louis Malvy – Minister of the Interior
 * Raoul Péret – Minister of Finance
 * Antoine Durafour – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
 * Pierre Laval – Minister of Justice
 * Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
 * Lucien Lamoureux – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Paul Jourdain – Minister of Pensions
 * Jean Durand – Minister of Agriculture
 * Léon Perrier – Minister of Colonies
 * Anatole de Monzie – Minister of Public Works
 * Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Changes
 * 10 April 1926 – Jean Durand succeeds Malvy as Minister of the Interior. François Binet succeeds Durand as Minister of Agriculture.

Briand's tenth Government, 23 June – 19 July 1926

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Adolphe Guillaumat – Minister of War
 * Jean Durand – Minister of the Interior
 * Joseph Caillaux – Minister of Finance
 * Antoine Durafour – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
 * Pierre Laval – Minister of Justice
 * Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
 * Bertrand Nogaro – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Paul Jourdain – Minister of Pensions
 * François Binet – Minister of Agriculture
 * Léon Perrier – Minister of Colonies
 * Charles Daniel-Vincent – Minister of Public Works
 * Fernand Chapsal – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Briand's eleventh Government, 29 July – 3 November 1929

 * Aristide Briand – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Paul Painlevé – Minister of War
 * André Tardieu – Minister of the Interior
 * Henry Chéron – Minister of Finance
 * Louis Loucheur – Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
 * Louis Barthou – Minister of Justice
 * Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
 * Laurent Eynac – Minister of Air
 * Pierre Marraud – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Louis Antériou – Minister of Pensions
 * Jean Hennessy – Minister of Agriculture
 * André Maginot – Minister of Colonies
 * Pierre Forgeot – Minister of Public Works
 * Georges Bonnefous – Minister of Commerce and Industry