Georges Clemenceau

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Georges Clemenceau
Portrait by Nadar, 1904
Prime Minister of France
In office 16 November 1917 – 20 January 1920
President	Raymond Poincaré
Preceded by	Paul Painlevé
Succeeded by	Alexandre Millerand
In office 25 October 1906 – 24 July 1909
President	Armand Fallières
Preceded by	Ferdinand Sarrien
Succeeded by	Aristide Briand
Minister of War
In office 16 November 1917 – 20 January 1920
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Paul Painlevé
Succeeded by	André Joseph Lefèvre
Minister of the Interior
In office 14 March 1906 – 24 July 1909
Prime Minister	Ferdinand Sarrien Himself
Preceded by	Fernand Dubief
Succeeded by	Aristide Briand
Parliamentary offices Senator for Var In office 6 April 1902 – 10 January 1910 Preceded by Ernest Denormandie Succeeded by Gustave Fourment Member of the Chamber of Deputies In office 15 October 1885 – 14 October 1893 Preceded by Auguste Maurel Succeeded by Joseph Jourdan Constituency Var In office 9 March 1876 – 14 October 1885 Constituency Seine Member of the National Assembly In office 12 February 1871 – 17 March 1871 Constituency Seine
President of the Council of Paris
In office 28 November 1875 – 24 April 1876
Preceded by	Pierre Marmottan
Succeeded by	Barthélemy Forest
Personal details
Born	Georges Benjamin Clémenceau (1841-09-28)28 September 1841 Mouilleron-en-Pareds, France
Died	24 November 1929(1929-11-24) (aged 88) Paris, France
Resting place	Mouchamps, Vendée
Political party	Radical Republicans (1871–1901) Radical Party (1901–1914) Independent Radicals (1914–1929)
Spouse	Mary Eliza Plummer ​ ​ (m. 1869; div. 1891)​
Children	Michel Clemenceau [fr]
Alma mater	University of Nantes
Profession	Physician, journalist, statesman
Signature
Nicknames	Father Victory The Tiger

Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (/ˈklɛmənsoʊ/,^[1] also US: /ˌklɛmənˈsoʊ, ˌkleɪmɒ̃ˈsoʊ/,^[2][3] French: [ʒɔʁʒ(ə) bɛ̃ʒamɛ̃ klemɑ̃so];^[a] 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the politics of the Third Republic, particularly amid the end of the First World War. He was a key figure of the Independent Radicals, advocating for the separation of church and state, as well as the amnesty of the Communards exiled to New Caledonia.

After about 1,400,000 French soldiers were killed between the German invasion and Armistice, he demanded a total victory over the German Empire. Clemenceau stood for reparations, a transfer of colonies, strict rules to prevent a rearming process, as well as the restitution of Alsace–Lorraine, which had been annexed to Germany in 1871. He achieved these goals through the Treaty of Versailles signed at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920). Nicknamed Père la Victoire ("Father Victory") or Le Tigre ("The Tiger"), he continued his harsh position against Germany in the 1920s, although not quite so much as President Raymond Poincaré or former Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch, who thought the treaty was too lenient on Germany, prophetically stating: "This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years." Clemenceau obtained mutual defence treaties with the United Kingdom and the United States, to unite against possible future German aggression, but these never took effect due to the US Senate's failure to ratify the treaty, which thus also nullified British obligation.

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