ABSTRACT
In foreign, as in colonial, policy the French Christian Democrats were torn between nationalism and reconciliation. As a Resistance party MRP at first emphasized the former rather than the latter. In the immediate post-war period the party’s foreign and colonial polices were essentially Gaullist, even after its break with the General in January 1946. France must re-establish herself as an independent world power; she must avoid subservience to either of the world blocs; Germany must be kept weak in order to maximize French influence in Europe; the French colonial empire must be kept intact to give France the population and resources to rival those of the USA, USSR and Great Britain. It was only when the illusory nature of these objectives became apparent that the Christian Democrats changed their tack to a policy of reconciliation. The change came first in foreign policy, when the development of the Cold War and the attitude of the three Big Powers exposed the unreality of French pretensions, in particular with regard to Germany. In colonial policy it took the defeat in Indo-China to bring France face to face with reality. At least it can be said of the Christian Democrats that they were willing to change with the times. Robert Schuman’s Declaration of 9 May 1950 marked a definite break in MRP’S foreign policy, as did the party’s support for Defferre’s Loi Cadre (1956) in colonial policy. Henceforth, reconciliation rather than nationalism predominated. The party had opted for Schuman rather than for Bidault.
