Radical French prime minister at the end of the First World War who pressed harsh terms on Hungary at the Paris Peace Conference
A physician turned journalist from the Vendée, he became mayor of the 18th arrondissement of Paris in 1870 and the next year tried to broker a compromise between the Paris Commune and the government. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he advocated the separation of church and state. As interior minister in 1906 he ordered repressive policies toward the workers’ movement and was nicknamed “the Tiger”, and he was prime minister in 1906–1909 and 1917–1920. Appointed in November 1917 at one of the darkest hours of the war, he demanded total victory over Germany and achieved the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference. Seeking to weaken Hungary as Germany was weakened, he brought about the stringent terms of the Treaty of Trianon. He died in 1929.
Career timeline
- 1870Mayor of the 18th arrondissement of Paris
- 1906Minister of the Interior
- 1906–1909Prime minister of France
- 1917–1920Prime minister of France
- 1919President of the Paris Peace Conference
French officer who headed the Entente military mission in Budapest and delivered the Vix note in March 1919
An Alsatian-born French professional soldier, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1898 and served as a staff officer of the colonial troops. At the end of the First World War he was on the staff of the French Army of the Orient in Belgrade, and on 26 November 1918 he arrived in Budapest as a lieutenant colonel at the head of the Entente military mission, charged with overseeing the Padua armistice and the Belgrade military convention. He passed several notes demanding withdrawals to the Hungarian government; the note he handed President Károlyi on 20 March 1919 brought the government down the next day. Harassed after the Soviet Republic was proclaimed, the mission left by train for Szeged on 26 March. He later served with colonial troops in the Levant and elsewhere, became a général de division in 1933 and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1941.
Career timeline
- 1898Graduated from Saint-Cyr
- 1918–1919Head of the Entente military mission in Budapest
- 1928Général de brigade
- 1933Général de division of the colonial troops
- 1939Commander of the 54th Infantry Division
French resistance veteran and official who concluded the 6 March 1946 preliminary agreement with Ho Chi Minh
On 6 March 1946, he reached an agreement with Ho Chi Minh that allowed French troops to enter Hanoi without fighting.
Born Jean Roger, he led the Normandy section of the Alliance resistance intelligence network during the Second World War. After the war, appointed French Republic commissioner for Tonkin and northern Annam, he negotiated with Ho Chi Minh; their 6 March 1946 agreement enabled French troops to enter Hanoi without fighting.
Career timeline
- 1907Born in Le Vésinet, France.
- 1940–1944Led the Normandy section of the Alliance resistance network.
- 1945–1946French Republic commissioner for Tonkin and northern Annam; negotiated with Ho Chi Minh.
- 1946Signed the preliminary agreement on 6 March.
- 1954Appointed French government delegate to North Vietnam.
- 1962–1966Served as minister for veterans and war victims.
- 1968–1977Served on the Constitutional Council.
