WORLD WAR.
The progress of the war was marked by many important political events. The first of these was the assassination If M. Jaures, the leader of the Unified Socialists, in 1914. The French Cabinet was reorganized on Aug. 26, 1914, with M. Viviani as Prime Minister. On Sept. 3, as a result of the possible danger of the German occupation of Paris, the French Government was re moved to Bordeaux, where it remained until December of that year. Delcasse resigned as Foreign Minister on Oct. 30, 1914. On Dec. 2, 1915, General Joffre was placed in supreme command of all the French armies. Changes in the Cabinet were made during 1916 as a result of criticism in respect to the con duct of the war. There were, indeed, throughout the struggle, continuous changes in the ministry, which continued until the formation, in 1917, of a new ministry under Clemenceau. This con tinued throughout the duration of the war. A number of prominent persons were involved in charges of disloyalty and treason. These included Malvy, Minister of the Interior; Caillaux, a former Prime Minister; and Senator Humbert. There were also treason charges against the editors of the Bon net Rouge, Bolo Pasha, and others. All these men were charged with being con cerned either directly or indirectly in treasonable dealings with the enemy. They were all eventually tried and found guilty, with the exception of Senator Humbert, who was acquitted. France was represented at the Peace Conference chiefly by M. Clemenceau, who was one of the chief figures in the deliberations of that body on June 27, 1919. The Senate passed the Electoral Reform Bill which had already been passed by the Chamber.
The Peace Treaty was ratified by the Chamber of Deputies on Oct. 9, 1919, and the military agreements between France, Great Britain, and the United States were also ratified on Oct. 13. On Oct. 19 the French War Parlia ment, which had been in session since the summer of 1919, came to an end. M. Clemenceau resigned as premier on Jan. 18, 1920. President Poincare com pleted his term of office on Feb. 17, 1920, and was succeeded by Paul Deschanel. During May there were riots in Paris and a strike was begun for the nationalization of the railroads. These strikes were prevented by a threat of Premier Millerand to dissolve the General Federation of Labor. Deschanel resigned the presidency on Dec. 10 on ac count of ill health, and was succeeded by Alexandre Millerand. Georges Leygues became Prime Minister.
The chief efforts in France during 1920 and 1921 were for the reconstruction of the country from the devastations of the war. The financial and economic con ditions are described in another portion of this article. France depended largely for rehabilitation upon the indemnities or reparations to be received from Ger many. The Supreme Council finally de cided that the total reparations should be about $56,000,000,000, to be paid in a definite period of years. At a session of the Supreme Council held in London in March, 1921, Germany refused to accept this sum and as a consequence French troops were despatched to occupy the Ger man cities of Dusseldorf, Duisburg, and Ruhrort on March 7, 1921. See PEACE