Union of Democrats for the Republic
Union des démocrates pour la République
LeaderCharles de Gaulle
Georges Pompidou
Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chirac
Founded26 November 1967; 56 years ago (1967-11-26)
Dissolved5 December 1976; 47 years ago (1976-12-05)
Preceded byUnion for the New Republic
Succeeded byRally for the Republic
Headquarters123 rue de Lille, Paris 7th
NewspaperLa Lettre de la nation
IdeologyGaullism
Paternalistic conservatism[1]
Liberal conservatism[2]
Pro-Europeanism[3][4] (soft)[5]
Political positionRight-wing[6][7]
European Parliament groupEuropean Democratic Union (1967–73)
European Progressive Democrats (1973–76)
Colors
  •   Orange (official)
  •   Blue (customary)

The Union for the Defence of the Republic (French: Union pour la défense de la République), after 1968 renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic (French: Union des démocrates pour la République), commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist[8][9] political party of France that existed from 1968 to 1976.

The UDR was the successor to Charles de Gaulle's earlier party, the Rally of the French People, and was organised in 1958, along with the founding of the Fifth Republic as the Union for the New Republic (UNR), and in 1962 merged with the Democratic Union of Labour, a left-wing Gaullist group. In 1967 it was joined by some Christian Democrats to form the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic, later dropping the 'Fifth'. After the May 1968 crisis, it formed a right-wing coalition named Union for the Defense of the Republic (UDR); it was subsequently renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic, retaining the abbreviation UDR, in October 1968.

Under de Gaulle's successor Georges Pompidou it promoted the Gaullist movement. It dissolved in 1976, and its successor was the Rally for the Republic (RPR) founded by Jacques Chirac.[10][11]

Secretaries-general

Election results

Presidential

President of the French Republic
Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Rank Votes % Rank
1969 Georges Pompidou 10,051,783 44.5 1st 11,064,371 58.2 Won
1974 Jacques Chaban-Delmas 3,857,728 15.1 3rd - - Lost

National Assembly

National Assembly
Election year Leader 1st round 2nd round Seats +/− Rank
(seats) 		Government
Votes % Votes %
1967 Georges Pompidou 8,448,082 37.7 7,972,908 42.6
243 / 487
 Decrease 25 1st Presidential majority
1968 9,667,532 43.6 6,762,170 46.4
354 / 487
 Increase 111 1st Presidential majority
1973 Pierre Messmer 8,242,661 34.6 10,701,135 45.6
272 / 491
 Decrease 82 1st Presidential majority

See also

References

  1. ^ Lind, Michael (2013). Simon and Schuster (ed.). Up from Conservatism. Simon and Schuster. p. 47. ISBN 9781476761152.
  2. ^ Fysh, Peter (1997). A&C Black (ed.). Chapter 3: Gaullism and liberalism. A&C Black. ISBN 9781855672383. ((cite book)): |work= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Tchoubarian, Alexander (2014). Routledge (ed.). The European Idea in History in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: A View From Moscow. Routledge. p. 166. ISBN 9781135234010.
  4. ^ Rusi, Alpo M. (1991). Springer (ed.). After the Cold War: Europe's New Political Architecture. Springer. p. 34.
  5. ^ Gaffney, John (2002). Routledge (ed.). Political Parties and the European Union. Routledge. p. 87. ISBN 9781134876167.
  6. ^ Goodliffe, Gabriel (2012), The Resugence of the Radical Right in France: From Boulangisme to the Front National, Cambridge University Press, p. 250
  7. ^ Blondel, Jean (1974), Contemporary France: Politics, Society and Institutions, Methuen & Co, pp. 24–25
  8. ^ Alexandra Hughes; Alex Hughes; Keith A Reader; Keith Reader (11 March 2002). Encyclopaedia of Contemporary French Culture. Routledge. p. 367. ISBN 978-1-134-78865-1.
  9. ^ D. L. Hanley; Miss A P Kerr; N. H. Waites (17 August 2005). Contemporary France: Politics and Society Since 1945. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-134-97423-8.
  10. ^ Frank L. Wilson, "Gaullism without de Gaulle," Western Political Quarterly (1973) 26#3 pp. 485-506 in JSTOR
  11. ^ Senate Groups since 1959

Further reading


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