Georges Clemenceau

Clemenceau, Georges

(zhôrzh klāmäNsō`), 1841–1929, French political figure, twice premier (1906–9, 1917–20), called "the Tiger." He was trained as a doctor, but his republicanism brought him into conflict with the government of Napoleon III, and he went to the United States, where he spent several years as a journalist and a teacher. Returning to France in 1869, he was mayor of Montmartre in Paris after the overthrow (1870) of Napoleon III. His political career, beginning in Revolution, continued to be a stormy one punctuated by verbal and physical duels. As a Socialist, he opposed the moderate Léon GambettaGambetta, Léon
, 1838–82, French republican leader. A lawyer who achieved some note as an opponent of the Second Empire of Napoleon III, he was elected deputy in 1869 and joined the parliamentary opposition.
..... Click the link for more information. ; drove Jules FerryFerry, Jules
, 1832–93, French statesman. A member of the government of national defense established after the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), he later rose to prominence as minister of public instruction (1879–80, 1882).
..... Click the link for more information. from power; and first supported but then bitterly opposed General BoulangerBoulanger, Georges Ernest
, 1837–91, French general and reactionary politician. He served in North Africa and Indochina, and in the Franco-Prussian War. Later, he was briefly commander of French troops in Tunisia.
..... Click the link for more information. . A member of the chamber of deputies from 1876, he failed to win reelection in 1893 after being implicated in the Panama Canal scandal and then unjustly accused of being in the pay of the British. During the next nine years he devoted himself to journalism, writing a daily article in La Justice and founding (1900) Le Bloc. He was a passionate defender of Alfred Dreyfus in the Dreyfus AffairDreyfus Affair
, the controversy that occurred with the treason conviction (1894) of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935), a French artillery officer and graduate of the French military academy.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1902, Clemenceau was elected senator, and in 1906 he became minister of the interior and then premier. During his tenure the first crisis over MoroccoMorocco
, officially Kingdom of Morocco, kingdom (2015 est. pop. 34,803,000), 171,834 sq mi (445,050 sq km), NW Africa. Morocco is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (N), the Atlantic Ocean (W), Western Sahara (S), and Algeria (S and E).
..... Click the link for more information. was settled and the alliance with Great Britain strengthened. In 1909 his cabinet fell and Aristide BriandBriand, Aristide
, 1862–1932, French statesman. A lawyer and a Socialist, he entered (1902) the chamber of deputies and helped to draft and pass the law (1905) for separation of church and state.
..... Click the link for more information. became premier. In the next years Clemenceau vigorously attacked Germany and pressed for military preparedness. His newspaper, L'Homme libre (after its suppression in 1914, L'Homme enchâiné), attacked the government for defeatism even after the outbreak of World War I. Succeeding Paul PainlevéPainlevé, Paul
, 1863–1933, French statesman and mathematician. A mathematical prodigy when a child, he entered on a career devoted to science. He was a professor at the Sorbonne and the École Polytechnique when the Dreyfus Affair aroused his interest in
..... Click the link for more information. as premier in Nov., 1917, Clemenceau formed a coalition cabinet in which he was also minister of war. He renewed the dispirited morale of France, persuaded the allies to agree to a unified command, and pushed the war vigorously until the final victory. Leading the French delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, Clemenceau insisted on Germany's disarmament and was never satisfied with the Versailles Treaty. He was the main antagonist of Woodrow WilsonWilson, Woodrow
(Thomas Woodrow Wilson), 1856–1924, 28th President of the United States (1913–21), b. Staunton, Va. Educator

He graduated from Princeton in 1879 and studied law at the Univ. of Virginia.
..... Click the link for more information. , whose ideas he viewed as too idealistic. Ironically, he was defeated in the presidential election of 1920 because of what was regarded as his leniency toward Germany. Alexandre Millerand succeeded him as premier. Clemenceau retired to his native Vendée, where he wrote In the Evening of My Thought (tr. 1929) and other works.

Bibliography

See biographies by G. Bruun (1943, repr. 1962) and J. H. Jackson (1946, repr. 1962); study by J. King (1960).

Georges Clemenceau

Georges Clemenceau

Clemenceau, Georges

Bibliography

Georges Clemenceau

Synonyms for Georges Clemenceau

noun French statesman who played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles (1841-1929)

Synonyms