James E. Cronin168 foreign affairsResistance transformed their vision of
social solidarity and economic security
into legislation and institutions. Notably,
the civil servant Pierre Laroque spear-
headed the creation of a reformed and
vastly expanded social insurance system
that required substantially larger contri-
butions from employers and therefore
offered more to beneficiaries. Coverage
grew from seven million people in 1944
to 20 million by 1949.
These achievements were made
possible by the politics of “tripartism,” a
governing coalition consisting of Social-
ists, Communists, and members of the
Popular Republican Movement (mrp).
The mrp drew support from many
adherents of social Catholicism, a
left-wing strain of thought rooted more
in theology than in Marxism. Broadly
speaking, the mrp represented voters
and activists who were not part of the
traditional left but whose experience of
war and resistance made them strong
advocates of reform after the war. The
commitment to cooperation was itself
largely a legacy of the Resistance, and it
enabled the government to function
even while political leaders were still
resolving constitutional issues. The
support of the Communists was key, for
they alone could convince the organized
working class to accept the sacrifices
necessary for recovery.
Tripartism worked for a while, but by
1947, French workers were increasingly
restive and determined to push up wages.
The French Communist Party and the
General Confederation of Labor, or cgt,
ultimately gave way to the rank and file
and threw their support behind a series
of strikes. A fissure emerged between
the Communists and the government of
Prime Minister Paul Ramadier and grewin its manifesto Let Us Face the Future.
These programs shared a common
rhetoric, a sense of possibility, and very
similar demands for jobs, economic and
social security, housing, and health care.
These commonalities underscore Woloch’s
argument that the postwar moment was
a transnational one: progressives were
advancing on both sides of the Atlantic
and on either side of the English Chan-
nel, propelled by forces that transcended
the otherwise diverse conditions in the
three countries.A TALE OF THREE COUNTRIES
The climax of all three stories comes after
World War II, when political leaders of
the left and center-left sought to imple-
ment the programs they had outlined
at the war’s end—with varied results. The
British Labour Party had the greatest
success. It brought coal mines, railways,
and utilities into public ownership;
reconfigured and strengthened the
institutions and laws of the welfare state
(and created some new ones, as well);
built affordable housing; and faced down
opposition from doctors and private
hospitals in creating the National Health
Service. All of this was achieved despite
economic conditions that required the
continuation and extension of rationing
and controls on wages and prices. The
party remained mostly united and, for
most of the period from 1945 to 1951,
retained the loyalty and cooperation of
the trade unions.
The situation in France was much
more complicated, but reformers there
achieved major victories in the period
between liberation and the middle of- Unions emerged strong from the
war and grew stronger. Women gained
the right to vote. And the leaders of the
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