Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau
Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck- Rousseau ( born December 2, 1846 in Nantes, † August 10 1904 in Corbeil -Essonnes ) was a French lawyer and one of the outstanding leaders of the moderate Republicans ( Républicains moderes ) in the Third Republic. In the 1880s, he was Minister of the Interior. The law of 21 March 1884 which annulled the prohibition on unions is associated with his name. From 1899 to 1902 he was president of the Council of Ministers and indoor and worship minister. He contributed significantly to the completion of the Dreyfus affair.
Life
Pierre Waldeck- Rousseau's father was the eminent lawyer René Waldeck -Rousseau, the deputy in the Constituent Assembly of 1848 and 1870 to 1874 was mayor of Nantes. Pierre studied in Poitiers and received his doctorate in Paris. As a lawyer, he was first settled in Saint- Nazaire and 1873 in Rennes. In 1885 he married, in 1886 he moved his office to Paris, where he became one of the most respected attorneys. In his last years he suffered from pancreatic cancer.
Political career
Pierre Waldeck- Rousseau was from 1879 to 1889 deputy in the Chamber of Députés. In the 1880s he was twice Interior Minister: First, in the government of Léon Gambetta ( 14 November 1881 to 30 January 1882) and then in the government Jules Ferry ( from 23 February 1883 to 6 April 1885). He fought for the freedom of association and is the author of the Law of 21 March 1884 which annulled the prohibition on unions. In France, it is associated with his name ( Loi Waldeck -Rousseau ).
After several years of political abstinence he entered the political arena in 1894 again as he had himself elected in the department of Loire senator. In 1895 he stood as a candidate in the presidential election, but was defeated Henri Brisson. In 1899 he took over after the failed military coup by Paul Déroulède as President of the Council of Ministers ( Président du Conseil des ministres ) the government, he also took over the offices of the Interior Minister and the Minister cult. During his reign, Alfred Dreyfus was pardoned and more progressive legislation adopted: the Law of 30 March 1900, the women and child labor, the law of 30 September 1900 the absenkte the working day to eleven hours, and the Law of 1 July 1901, which introduced a general freedom of association and is now the basis of the French law on associations. Originally, he wanted it and the religious communities to submit to the right of association, but the National Assembly adopted a text other than the one he had submitted.
In 1902, he led the Left Bloc in the elections for the National Assembly to victory, but resigned shortly afterwards on June 3, 1902 because of his illness from political office back.