Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his economic liberalism and vocal opposition to Nazi Germany.

Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of September 1938, when France and the United Kingdom gave way before Hitler's proposals for the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. After the outbreak of World War II, Reynaud became the penultimate Prime Minister of the Third Republic in March 1940. He was also vice-president of the Democratic Republican Alliance center-right party. Reynaud was Prime Minister during the German defeat of France in May and June 1940; he persistently refused to support an armistice with Germany and unsuccessfully attempted to save France from German occupation in World War II, and resigned on 16 June.

After unsuccessfully attempting to flee France, he was arrested by Philippe Pétain's administration. Surrendering to German custody in 1942, he was imprisoned in Germany and later Austria until liberation in 1945, where he was released after the Battle of Itter Castle in which one of the leaders, German Major Josef Gangl, declared a hero by the Austrian resistance, took a sniper's bullet to save Reynaud.

Elected to the National Assembly in 1946, he became a prominent figure again in French political life, serving in several cabinet positions. He favoured a United States of Europe, and participated in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic, but resigned from government in 1962 after disagreement with President de Gaulle over changes to the electoral system.

Early life and politics

Reynaud was born in Barcelonnette, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the son of Alexandre and Amelie (née Gassier) Reynaud. His father had made a fortune in the textile industry, enabling Reynaud to study law at the Sorbonne. He entered politics and was elected to the French Chamber of Deputies from 1919 to 1924, representing Basses-Alpes, and again from 1928, representing a Paris district. Although he was first elected as part of the conservative "Blue Horizon" bloc in 1919, Reynaud shortly thereafter switched his allegiance to the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance party, later becoming its vice-president.

In the 1920s, Reynaud developed a reputation for laxity on German reparations, at a time when many in the French government backed harsher terms for Germany. In the 1930s during the Great Depression, particularly after 1933, Reynaud's stance hardened against the Germans at a time when all nations were struggling economically. Reynaud backed a strong alliance with the United Kingdom and, unlike many others on the French Right, better relations with the Soviet Union as a counterweight against the Germans.

Reynaud held several cabinet posts in the early 1930s, but he clashed with members of his party after 1932 over French foreign and defense policy. In June 1934, Reynaud defended in the Chamber of Deputies the need to devalue the French franc, whose belonging to the gold standard was increasingly harmful for the French economy, but in those years French public opinion was opposed to any devaluation.

He was not given another cabinet position until 1938. Like Winston Churchill, Reynaud was a maverick in his party and often alone in his calls for rearmament and resistance to German aggrandizement. Reynaud was a supporter of Charles de Gaulle's theories of mechanized warfare in contrast to the static defense doctrines that were in vogue among many of his countrymen, symbolized by the Maginot Line. He strongly opposed appeasement in the run-up to the Second World War. He also clashed with his party on economic policy, backing the devaluation of the franc as a solution to France's economic woes. Pierre Étienne Flandin, the leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance, agreed with several of Reynaud's key policy stances, particularly on Reynaud's defence of economic liberalism.

The franc was devalued, in a range between 25% and 34%, by the Popular Front government presided by Leon Blum on 1 October 1936.

Return to government

Reynaud returned to the cabinet in 1938 as Minister of Justice under Édouard Daladier. The Sudeten Crisis, which began not long after Reynaud was named Minister of Justice, again revealed the divide between Reynaud and the rest of the Alliance Démocratique; Reynaud adamantly opposed abandoning the Czechs to the Germans, while Flandin felt that allowing Germany to expand eastward would inevitably lead to a conflict with the Soviets that would weaken both. Reynaud publicly made his case, and in response Flandin pamphleted Paris in order to pressure the government to agree to Hitler's demands.

Reynaud's reforms involved a massive austerity program (although armament measures were not cut). At the outbreak of war, however, Reynaud was not bullish on France's economy; he felt that the massive increase in spending that a war entailed would stamp out France's recovery.

The French Right was ambivalent about the war in late 1939 and early 1940, feeling that the Soviets rather than Nazi Germany were the greater long-term threat.

On 15 June 1940, the French cabinet rejected a British proposal—conceived by Jean Monnet and supported by De Gaulle—for a union between France and Britain. Reynaud abandoned the idea of a "long war strategy" based on attrition. To divert German attention from France, Reynaud considered expanding the war to the Balkans or Northern Europe. He played a key role in initiating the Allied campaign in Norway, although it ended in failure. Following Britain's decision to withdraw on 26 April, Reynaud travelled to London to personally urge the British to continue their fight in Norway. to let you know that all my men were brave, but one cannot send men to fight tanks with rifles."

On 18 May, Reynaud dismissed Commander-in-Chief Maurice Gamelin and replaced him with Maxime Weygand.

On 26 May, Reynaud attended a meeting in London with Churchill. During the meeting, Churchill informed the War Cabinet that Reynaud had declared the French military situation as hopeless. Reynaud stated he had no intention of signing a separate peace with Germany but might be compelled to resign, leaving the possibility that others in the French government could sign such a treaty. Churchill also mentioned that he did not rule out talks with Mussolini, who was still neutral at that time. Later that day, Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax met with Reynaud before his return to France. This marked the beginning of the British May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis, where Halifax supported what was known as "the Reynaud Option"—exploring negotiations with the Italians for acceptable peace terms, potentially involving concessions in the Mediterranean. However, Churchill ultimately overruled Halifax.

On 28 May, Churchill sent a telegram to Reynaud confirming that there would be no immediate approach to Mussolini, although the option remained open. Mussolini had already rejected an overture by President Roosevelt based on suggestions from Britain and France. It was also revealed on 28 May that Italy was preparing to enter the war on Germany's side, which would occur on 10 June. Italy entered the war on 10 June, and on the same day, General Weygand, the Commander-in-Chief, stormed into Reynaud's office and demanded an armistice. That night, around 11 pm, Reynaud and de Gaulle left Paris for Tours, with the rest of the government following the next day. De Gaulle was unable to persuade Reynaud to dismiss Weygand.

At the Anglo-French conference held at the Château du Muguet in Briare on 11–12 June, Churchill urged the French to continue fighting, either from Brittany, French North Africa, or through guerrilla warfare. However, he faced strong resistance from Deputy Prime Minister Marshal Pétain. By the Cabinet meeting on the evening of 12 June, it was evident that a significant faction was pushing for an armistice, leading to the decision to relocate the government to Bordeaux rather than retreat to a fortified Brittany. On 14 June, Villelume and de Portes met with American diplomat Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. and stated that France had no choice but to seek an armistice, although Biddle was sceptical of their claims. and he was sent to speak with General Weygand, who argued that this would be a dishonourable surrender. Chautemps then suggested a compromise of inquiring about terms, Contrary to Lebrun's later recollection, no formal vote taken that day.) before fleeing to North Africa. On 28 June, while Reynaud was driving their Renault Juvaquatre, the car veered off the road and crashed into a plane tree at La Peyrade, near Sète. De Portes was killed (and almost decapitated) in the accident, while Reynaud sustained relatively minor head injuries. While hospitalized in Montpellier, Reynaud reportedly told Bill Bullitt, the American ambassador, "I have lost my country, my honour, and my love."

Upon his discharge, Reynaud was arrested on Pétain's orders and imprisoned at Fort du Portalet. Although Pétain chose not to charge Reynaud during the Riom Trial of 1942, he handed him over to the Germans. Reynaud was initially sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later transferred to Itter Castle near Wörgl, Austria. There, he remained with other high-profile French prisoners until the castle was liberated by Allied troops on 7 May 1945. During the Battle for Castle Itter on 5 May 1945, Major Josef Gangl, a Wehrmacht officer who had joined the anti-Nazi Austrian resistance, was killed by a sniper's bullet while attempting to protect Reynaud and other prisoners.

Reynaud died on 21 September 1966 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, leaving a number of writings.

Reynaud's government, 21 March – 16 June 1940

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  • Paul Reynaud – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Camille Chautemps – Vice President of the Council, Minister for Coordination
  • Édouard Daladier – Minister of National Defense and War
  • Raoul Dautry – Minister of Armaments
  • Henri Roy – Minister of the Interior
  • Lucien Lamoureux – Minister of Finance
  • Charles Pomaret – Minister of Labour
  • Albert Sérol – Minister of Justice
  • César Campinchi – Minister of Military Marine
  • Alphonse Rio – Minister of Merchant Marine
  • Laurent Eynac – Minister of Air
  • Albert Sarraut – Minister of National Education
  • Albert Rivière – Minister of Veterans and Pensioners
  • Paul Thellier – Minister of Agriculture
  • Henri Queuille – Minister of Supply
  • Georges Mandel – Minister of Colonies
  • Anatole de Monzie – Minister of Public Works
  • Marcel Héraud – Minister of Public Health
  • Alfred Jules-Julien – Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Transmissions
  • Ludovic-Oscar Frossard – Minister of Information
  • Louis Rollin – Minister of Commerce and Industry
  • Georges Monnet – Minister of Blockade

Changes

  • 10 May 1940 – Louis Marin and Jean Ybarnegaray enter the Cabinet as Ministers of State
  • 18 May 1940 – Philippe Pétain enters the Cabinet as Minister of State. Reynaud succeeds Daladier as Minister of National Defense and War. Daladier succeeds Reynaud as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Georges Mandel succeeds Roy as Minister of the Interior. Louis Rollin succeeds Mandel as Minister of Colonies. Léon Baréty succeeds Rollin as Minister of Commerce and Industry.
  • 5 June 1940 – Reynaud succeeds Daladier as Minister of Foreign Affairs, remaining also Minister of National Defense and War. Yves Bouthillier succeeds Lamoureux as Minister of Finance. Yvon Delbos succeeds Sarraut as Minister of National Education. Ludovic-Oscar Frossard succeeds Monzie as Minister of Public Works. Jean Prouvost succeeds Frossard as Minister of Information. Georges Pernot succeeds Héraud as Health Minister, with the new title of Minister of French Family. Albert Chichery succeeds Baréty as Minister of Commerce and Industry.

See also

  • Interwar France

Notes