Fifth French Republic (1958): De Gaulle's New Constitution

The Fifth French Republic began on 4 October 1958, when a new constitution drafted for Charles de Gaulle was promulgated after approval by a large majority in a referendum. Born out of a crisis over the Algerian War that threatened to end in a military coup, it replaced a weak parliamentary system with a strong presidency and remains the basis of French government today.

The weakness of the Fourth Republic

The Fourth Republic, established in 1946, gave most power to the National Assembly. With many parties and shifting coalitions, governments rarely lasted long: France had more than twenty cabinets between 1946 and 1958. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of Free France during the Second World War, had criticised this system from the start and withdrew from active politics in the early 1950s.

The war in Algeria, which began in 1954, exposed the regime’s weakness. Algeria was legally part of France and home to around a million European settlers. Successive governments could neither win the war nor negotiate peace, and many army officers came to distrust politicians in Paris, especially after the Battle of Algiers in 1957.

The May 1958 crisis

On 13 May 1958, as Pierre Pflimlin, seen as open to negotiations, sought investiture as prime minister, crowds of settlers in Algiers stormed the building of the Government-General. Army officers including General Jacques Massu formed a Committee of Public Safety and demanded a government of national salvation. On 15 May General Raoul Salan, the commander in Algeria, publicly called out “Vive de Gaulle!” before a crowd.

De Gaulle declared that he was ready to “assume the powers of the Republic”. On 24 May paratroopers from Algeria took control of Corsica, and plans for an airborne operation against Paris, known as Operation Resurrection, were prepared. Facing the threat of civil war, Pflimlin resigned on 28 May. President René Coty asked de Gaulle to form a government, and on 1 June 1958 the National Assembly invested him as prime minister by 329 votes to 224.

Parliament then gave him full powers for six months and authorised him to draft a new constitution, to be approved by referendum. On 4 June, in Algiers, he told a huge crowd “Je vous ai compris” (“I have understood you”), a deliberately ambiguous phrase.

The new constitution

The text was drafted over the summer by a team led by Michel Debré, building on ideas de Gaulle had outlined in a speech at Bayeux in June 1946. Its main features included:

• A strong president, elected for seven years, who appoints the prime minister, can dissolve the National Assembly, call referendums and, under Article 16, assume emergency powers.
• A government responsible to parliament but protected by tools such as Article 49.3, which allows a bill to pass without a vote unless a motion of censure succeeds.
• A limited parliament, whose law-making domain was restricted for the first time.
• A Constitutional Council to check that laws respect the constitution.
• A French Community to replace the French Union, linking France with its overseas territories.

In the referendum of 28 September 1958, about 79 per cent of voters approved the constitution, with a high turnout. In Africa, only Guinea voted no, and it became independent on 2 October 1958. The constitution was promulgated on 4 October. On 21 December an electoral college chose de Gaulle as president, and he took office on 8 January 1959, with Debré as prime minister.

Evolution of the Fifth Republic

The system was soon tested. De Gaulle moved towards Algerian self-determination, survived the generals’ putsch of April 1961 and accepted Algerian independence after the Evian Accords of 1962. In October 1962 a referendum introduced direct election of the president by universal suffrage, greatly strengthening the office.

The regime later survived the unrest of May 1968, de Gaulle’s resignation in 1969, the left’s arrival in power in 1981 and periods of “cohabitation” from 1986, when the president and prime minister came from opposing camps. A referendum in 2000 reduced the presidential term to five years from 2002, and a major revision in 2008 strengthened parliament. The constitution has been amended more than twenty times.

Timeline

• 1958, 13 May: Settlers and army officers seize power in Algiers and form a Committee of Public Safety.
• 1958, 24 May: Paratroopers take control of Corsica.
• 1958, 1 June: The National Assembly invests de Gaulle as prime minister.
• 1958, 28 September: The new constitution is approved by referendum.
• 1958, 4 October: The constitution is promulgated; the Fifth Republic begins.
• 1958, 21 December: De Gaulle is elected president by an electoral college.
• 1959, 8 January: De Gaulle takes office as the first president of the Fifth Republic.
• 1962, 28 October: A referendum approves direct election of the president.

Why it matters

The Fifth Republic ended a period of chronic instability and gave France a durable system built around a powerful head of state. It allowed de Gaulle to end the Algerian War and shaped French politics for generations, making the French presidency one of the most powerful elected offices in any democracy.