Uncertain Foundation

This book presents a comprehensive view of the political, socio-economic and diplomatic transformations that shaped post-war France (1944-47).

France’s liberation was expected to trigger a decisive break both with the Vichy régime and with the pre-war Third Republic. What happened, over three crucial years (1944-47), was an untidy patchwork of unplanned continuities and false starts – along with fresh departures that defined France’s future for the next half-century. Prepared by an international team of specialists, The Uncertain Foundation analyses a complex process of regime change, economic renewal, social transformation, and adjustment to a fast-evolving world.

ANDREW KNAPP is Professor of French Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Reading.

Introduction: France’s ‘Long’ Liberation, 1944-47–A.Knapp * The Liberation and the Institutional Question in France–E.Cartier * ‘Sénat ou pas Sénat?’ – The ‘First’ Council of the Republic–P.Smith * De Gaulle and the Paradox of Post-War French Politics–D.Goldey * Replacement or Renewal? The French Political Élite at the Liberation–O.Wieviorka * ‘The Politics of Political Women’: Reassessing the First Députées–H.Footitt * France’s Liberation Era, 1944-47: A Social and Economic Settlement?–H.Chapman * Catholics and the Long Liberation: The Progressive Moment–N.Atkin * Whose Liberation? Confronting the Problem of the French Empire, 1944-1947–M.Shipway * Moscow, the Parti Communiste Français, and France’s Political Recovery–N.Naoumova * Washington at the Liberation, 1944-1947–C.Cogan & A.Knapp * The Half-Open Window: France and Britain, 1944-1947–A.Knapp * Occupation, Liberation, Purges: the Changing Landscape of French Memory–P.Buton