Paul Reynaud

Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud (1940)
Prime Minister of France
In office 21 March 1940 – 16 June 1940
President	Albert Lebrun
Deputy	Philippe Pétain
Preceded by	Édouard Daladier
Succeeded by	Philippe Pétain
Deputy Prime Minister of France
In office 28 June 1953 – 12 June 1954
Prime Minister	Joseph Laniel
Preceded by	Henri Queuille
Succeeded by	Guy Mollet
In office 20 February 1932 – 10 May 1932
Prime Minister	André Tardieu
Preceded by	Lucien Hubert
Succeeded by	Albert Dalimier
Minister responsible for Relations with Partner States and the Far East
In office 2 July 1950 – 4 July 1950
Prime Minister	Henri Queuille
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Jean Letourneau
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
In office 26 July 1948 – 28 August 1948
Prime Minister	André Marie
Preceded by	René Mayer
Succeeded by	Christian Pineau
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 5 June 1940 – 16 June 1940
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Édouard Daladier
Succeeded by	Philippe Pétain
In office 21 March 1940 – 18 May 1940
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Édouard Daladier
Succeeded by	Édouard Daladier
Minister of National Defence and War
In office 18 May 1940 – 16 June 1940
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Édouard Daladier
Succeeded by	Maxime Weygand
Minister of Finance
In office 1 November 1938 – 21 March 1940
Prime Minister	Édouard Daladier
Preceded by	Paul Marchandeau
Succeeded by	Lucien Lamoureux
In office 2 March 1930 – 4 December 1930
Prime Minister	André Tardieu
Preceded by	Charles Dumont
Succeeded by	Louis Germain-Martin
Minister of Justice
In office 12 April 1938 – 1 November 1938
Prime Minister	Édouard Daladier
Preceded by	Marc Rucart
Succeeded by	Paul Marchandeau
In office 20 February 1932 – 3 June 1932
Prime Minister	André Tardieu
Preceded by	Léon Bérard
Succeeded by	René Renoult
Minister of the Colonies
In office 27 February 1931 – 6 February 1932
Prime Minister	Pierre Laval
Preceded by	Théodore Steeg
Succeeded by	Louis de Chappedelaine
Personal details
Born	Jean Paul Reynaud (1878-10-15)15 October 1878 Barcelonnette, Basses-Alpes, France
Died	21 September 1966(1966-09-21) (aged 87) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Political party	Democratic Republican Alliance (1901–1949) National Centre of Independents and Peasants (1949–1966)
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Henri-Robert (1912–1949) Christiane Mabire (1949–1966)
Children	Colette Serge Evelyne Alexandre
Alma mater	HEC Paris

Paul Reynaud (French: [pɔl ʁɛno]; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Nazi Germany.

Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of September 1938, when France and the United Kingdom gave way before Hitler's proposals for the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia.^[1] After the outbreak of World War II Reynaud became the penultimate Prime Minister of the Third Republic in March 1940. He was also vice-president of the Democratic Republican Alliance center-right party. Reynaud was Prime Minister during the German defeat of France in May and June 1940; he persistently refused to support an armistice with Germany and unsuccessfully attempted to save France from German occupation in World War II,^[2] and resigned on 16 June. After unsuccessfully attempting to flee France, he was arrested by Philippe Petain's administration. Surrendering to German custody in 1942, he was imprisoned in Germany and later Austria until liberation in 1945, where he was released after the Battle of Itter Castle in which one of the leaders, German Major Josef Gangl, declared a hero by the Austrian resistance, took a sniper's bullet to save Reynaud.^{[3][4] [5][6][7]}

Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946, he became a prominent figure again in French political life, serving in several cabinet positions. He favoured a United States of Europe, and participated in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic, but resigned from government in 1962 after disagreement with President de Gaulle over changes to the electoral system.