ABSTRACT
With the Conservative parties in disarray, it was not difficult to introduce changes which were meant to be revolutionary. The leading banks and insurance companies and the coal, gas and electricity industries were taken over by the State in 1945-46. A nationwide system of social security was introduced by the Laws of 4 October 1945 and 22 May 1946. A national Planning Commission was established in January 1946 (the Commissariat du Plan under Jean Monnet). Government intervention in the economy was not new in France, but in the Fourth Republic the State began to play a positive role, stimulating and guiding, rather than merely protecting, French industry and agriculture.
