{{Short description|Prime Minister of France (1863–1925)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |name=René Viviani |image=René Viviani, 1912.jpg |caption=Viviani in 1912 |order=[[Prime Minister of France]] |president = [[Raymond Poincaré]] |term_start = 13 June 1914 |term_end = 29 October 1915 |predecessor = [[Alexandre Ribot]] |successor = [[Aristide Briand]] |birth_name = Jean Raphaël Adrien René Viviani |birth_date = 8 November 1863 |birth_place = [[Sidi Bel Abbès]], [[French Algeria]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1925|9|7|1863|11|8|df=y}} |death_place = [[Le Plessis-Robinson]], Paris, France |party = [[Republican-Socialist Party|PRS]] | module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=La voix de M. René Viviani, Président du Conseil des ministres, discours prononcé le 29 avril 1917 à Washington.mp3|title=René Viviani's voice|type=speech|description=Viviani's address in Washington DC, Recorded on 29 April 1917}} }}
'''Jean Raphaël Adrien René Viviani''' ({{IPA|fr|ʁəne vivjani|lang}}; 8 November 1863{{spaced ndash}}7 September 1925) was a French politician of the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]], who served as [[Prime Minister of France|Prime Minister]] for the first year of World War I. He was born in [[Sidi Bel Abbès]], in [[French Algeria]]. In France he sought to protect the rights of socialists and trade union workers.
==Biography== [[File:TIMEMagazine19May1923.jpg|thumb|''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' cover, 19 May 1923]] René Viviani was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, in a family of Italian and French origins, the son of Hélène (Barrière) and Édouard Viviani.<ref>"[https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Dictionnaire_des_parlementaires_du_Limou/fka-4vNGvXEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22d%27Edouard+Viviani+et+d%27H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne+Barri%C3%A8re%22&pg=PA166&printsec=frontcover|Viviani, Jean Raphael Adrien Rene"], in ''Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Limousin sous la IIIe République'', ed. by Guy Avizou (PULIM, 2001) p.166</ref> His parliamentary career began in 1893, when he was elected deputy of the fifth ward in Paris. He retained this office until 1902, when he failed to be reelected, but four years later he was elected deputy of the [[Creuse|Department of Creuse]]. In the same year he entered the cabinet of [[Georges Clemenceau]]. At an early age he associated himself with the Socialist party, soon becoming one of its most brilliant orators and prominent leaders. When the party was reorganized in 1904 into the Unified Socialist party, Viviani, like fellow Socialist [[Aristide Briand]], stayed outside, and thenceforth called himself an Independent Socialist. He served as [[Minister of National Education (France)|Minister of Public Instruction]] in the ministry of [[Gaston Doumergue]]. Viviani was an antisemite, arguing that "antisemitism is the best form of social struggle".<ref>Weber, Eugen. "Jews, Antisemitism, and the Origins of the Holocaust." Réflexions Historiques 5.1 (1978), p.7</ref>
In the spring of 1914 an exceptionally radical chamber [[1914 French legislative election|was elected]], and for a while it seemed that they would be unable to agree upon any one for Premier, but finally, he was appointed prime minister on 13 June 1914, by [[President of France|President]] [[Raymond Poincaré|Poincaré]]. He received a vote of confidence of 370 to 137. The chief issues were the maintenance of the law requiring three years' service in the army and provision for a loan of 1,800,000,000 francs ($360,000,000) for military preparations. Viviani supported both of these measures. During the [[July Crisis]], he was largely dominated by President Poincaré. He retained the premiership for the first year of the First World War, but his tenure was undistinguished.
On 26 August 1914 Viviani reorganized his cabinet on a war basis with [[Alexandre Millerand]] replacing [[Adolphe Messimy]] as Minister of War.<ref>Greenhalgh 2014, p.67</ref> Along with President Poincaré and War Minister Millerand he attended a June 1915 meeting of [[Joseph Joffre|Joffre]] (Commander-in-Chief) and his Army Group Commanders ([[Ferdinand Foch|Foch]], [[Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau|Castelnau]] and [[Auguste Dubail|Dubail]]), a rare attempt at political oversight at this stage of the war.<ref>Greenhalgh 2014, p.100</ref>
By autumn 1915 Viviani's government was in trouble following the resignation of [[Théophile Delcassé|Delcassé]] as Foreign Minister, the [[Second Battle of Champagne|unsuccessful western front offensive]] and the [[Bulgaria during World War I|entry of Bulgaria into the war]]. Although he survived a no confidence vote by 372–9, there were many abstentions. [[Joseph Gallieni|General Gallieni]] agreed to replace [[Alexandre Millerand|Millerand]] as Minister of War, but other French politicians refused to join Viviani's government, so he resigned on 27 October 1915. Viviani served as Vice-President of the Council of Ministers ([[Deputy Prime Minister of France|Deputy Prime Minister]]) and Gallieni as War Minister in [[Aristide Briand]]'s new ministry.<ref>Doughty 2005, p229</ref>
In April 1917 Viviani led a mission to the US, which had just entered the war "associated with" the Allies. He was overshadowed by [[Joseph Joffre|Marshal Joffre]], who attracted much more attention from the American press.<ref>Eisenhower 2001, p12-13</ref>
During Viviani's time as prime minister, a law was adopted in July 1915 providing for special boards to fix such a wage for women employed in home-work in the clothing industry.<ref>The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 31 by Hugh Chisholm</ref> In May 1919 the Chamber of Deputies finally debated the bill proposed by [[Paul Dussaussoy]] in 1906 for limited women's suffrage. Viviani gave an eloquent speech in its support, and the chamber voted in its favour by 344 to 97.<ref>{{citation|page=217 |last=McMillan|first=James F.|title=France and Women, 1789–1914: Gender, Society and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aOPIOkSMvf0C&pg=PA207|year=2000|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-22602-8}}</ref>
==Viviani's First Government, 13 June – 26 August 1914== *René Viviani – [[President of the Council of Ministers|President of the Council]] and [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] *[[Adolphe Messimy]] – [[Minister of Defence (France)|Minister of War]] *[[Louis Malvy]] – [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Minister of the Interior]] *[[Joseph Noulens]] – [[Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (France)|Minister of Finance]] *[[Maurice Couyba]] – [[Minister of Social Affairs (France)|Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions]] *[[Bienvenu Martin|Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin]] – [[Minister of Justice (France)|Minister of Justice]] *[[Armand Gauthier de l'Aude]] – Minister of Marine *[[Victor Augagneur]] – [[Minister of National Education (France)|Minister of Public Instruction]] and [[Minister of Culture (France)|Fine Arts]]. *[[Fernand David]] – [[Minister of Agriculture (France)|Minister of Agriculture]] *Maurice Raynaud – [[Minister of Overseas France|Minister of Colonies]] *[[René Renoult]] – [[Minister of Public Works (France)|Minister of Public Works]] *[[Gaston Thomson]] – [[Minister of Commerce and Industry (France)|Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs]]
'''Changes''' *3 August 1914 – [[Gaston Doumergue]] succeeds Viviani as [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]. {{Interlanguage link|Jean-Victor Augagneur|fr}} succeeds l'Aude as Minister of Marine. [[Albert Sarraut]] succeeds Augagneur as [[Minister of National Education (France)|Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts]]. [[File:Portrait of Jean Raphaël Adrien René Viviani.jpg|thumb|René Viviani]]
==Viviani's Second Ministry, 26 August 1914 – 29 October 1915== {{Main|Second Viviani government}} *René Viviani – President of the Council *[[Théophile Delcassé]] – Minister of Foreign Affairs *[[Alexandre Millerand]] – Minister of War *[[Louis Malvy]] – Minister of the Interior *[[Alexandre Ribot]] – Minister of Finance *[[Bienvenu Martin|Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin]] – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions *[[Aristide Briand]] – [[minister of Justice (France)|Minister of Justice]] *[[Victor Augagneur]] – Minister of Marine *[[Albert Sarraut]] – Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts *[[Fernand David]] – Minister of Agriculture *[[Gaston Doumergue]] – [[minister of Overseas France|Minister of Colonies]] *[[Marcel Sembat]] – Minister of Public Works *[[Gaston Thomson]] – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs *[[Jules Guesde]] – Minister without Portfolio
'''Changes''' *13 October 1915 – Viviani succeeds Delcassé as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
==See also== {{Commons category}} * [[Square René Viviani]] is a small public space near Notre-Dame in central Paris, named for Viviani
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} * {{NIE}}
==Further reading== * Clark, Christopher. ''The sleepwalkers: How Europe went to war in 1914'' (2012). * {{cite book|author1-link=Robert A. Doughty|last=Doughty|first=Robert A.|title=Pyrrhic Victory|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-674-02726-8}} * {{cite book|last=Eisenhower|first=John S.D.|title=Yanks|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2001|isbn=978-0-743-22385-0}} *{{cite book|last=Greenhalgh|first=Elizabeth|title=The French Army and the First World War|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-107-60568-8}}
==External links== {{wikisource|works=or}} * {{PM20|FID=pe/035934}}
{{S-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box|title=[[Minister of Labour (France)|Minister of Labour and Social Security]]|before=[[Gaston Doumergue]]|after=[[Louis Lafferre]]|years=1906–1910}} {{succession box|title=[[Minister of Public Instruction (France)|Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts]]|before=[[Louis Barthou]]|after=[[Arthur Dessoye]]|years=1913–1914}} {{succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of France]]|before=[[Alexandre Ribot]]|after=[[Aristide Briand]]|years=1914–1915}} {{succession box|title=[[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|before=[[Léon Bourgeois]]|after=[[Gaston Doumergue]]|years=1914}} {{succession box|title=[[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|before=[[Théophile Delcassé]]|after=[[Aristide Briand]]|years=1915}} {{succession box|title=[[Minister of Justice (France)|Minister of Justice]]|before=[[Aristide Briand]]|after=[[Raoul Péret]]|years=1915–1917}} {{succession box|title=[[Minister of Public Instruction (France)|Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts]]|before=[[Paul Painlevé]]|after=[[Théodore Steeg]]|years=1916–1917}} {{s-ach}} {{s-bef|before=[[John Barton Payne]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of People on the Cover of Time Magazine: 1920s|Cover of Time Magazine]] |years=19 May 1923}} {{s-aft|after=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Heads of government of France}} {{Foreign Ministers of France}}{{Minister of Justice (France)}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viviani, Rene}} [[Category:1863 births]] [[Category:1925 deaths]] [[Category:People from Sidi Bel Abbès]] [[Category:French people of colonial Algeria]] [[Category:Pieds-noirs]] [[Category:French people of Italian descent]] [[Category:Republican-Socialist Party politicians]] [[Category:Prime ministers of France]] [[Category:Deputy prime ministers of France]] [[Category:Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic]] [[Category:Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic]] [[Category:Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic]] [[Category:Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic]] [[Category:Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic]] [[Category:Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic]] [[Category:French senators of the Third Republic]] [[Category:Senators of Creuse]] [[Category:French people of World War I]]