Louis Barthou

Louis Barthou was born on 25 August 1862 in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

He served as Deputy from his home constituency. He was an authority on trade union history and law.

He was prime minister from 22 March 1913 to 9 December 1913. In social policy, Barthou's time as prime minister saw the passage of a law in June 1913 aimed at safeguarding women workers before and after childbirth.[2]

Barthou (right) with Polish marshal Józef Piłsudski in 1934

He also held ministerial office thirteen other times. He served as Foreign Minister in 1917 and 1934. He was the primary figure behind the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance of 1935, though it was signed by his successor, Pierre Laval. As a national World War I hero and a recognized author, Barthou was elected to the Académie française at the end of that war.[3]

In 1934, he tried to create an Eastern Pact that would include Germany, Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Baltic states on the basis of a guarantee by France of the European borders of the USSR and the eastern borders of the then Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union. He succeeded in obtaining entry of the Soviet Union into the League of Nations in September 1934.[4] In response to the withdrawal of Nazi Germany from the League in 1933, he began a program of rearmament, focusing initially on the Navy and the Air Force.[5]

Barthou was a lover of the arts, and in power worked with leaders of the arts to publicize their fields. He felt that world-class leadership in the arts made Paris a mecca for tourists and collectors, and enhanced the nation's stature worldwide as the exemplar of truth and beauty. In turn arts community honored Barthou, dubbing him the "minister of poets."[6]

As foreign minister, Barthou met King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his state visit to Marseille in October 1934. On 9 October, the King and Barthou were assassinated by Velicko Kerin, a Bulgarian revolutionary nationalist wielding a handgun.[7] A bullet struck Barthou in the arm, passing through and fatally severing an artery. He died of blood loss less than an hour later. The assassination was planned in Rome by Ante Pavelić, head of the Croatian Ustaše, in August 1934. Pavelić was assisted by Georg Percevic, a former Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces officer. France unsuccessfully requested extradition of Percevic and Pavelić.[8] This assassination ended the careers of the Bouches-du-Rhone prefect, Pierre Jouhannaud, and the director of the Surete Nationale, Jean Berthoin.[9]

A ballistic report on the bullets found in the car was made in 1935, but the results were not made available to the public until 1974. They revealed that Barthou was hit by an 8 mm Modèle 1892 revolver round commonly used in weapons carried by French police.[10] Thus he was killed during the frantic police response rather than by the assassin.

• Louis Barthou – President of the Council and Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
• Stéphen Pichon – Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Eugène Étienne – Minister of War
• Louis Lucien Klotz – Minister of the Interior
• Charles Dumont – Minister of Finance
• Henry Chéron – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
• Antony Ratier – Minister of Justice
• Pierre Baudin – Minister of Marine
• Étienne Clémentel – Minister of Agriculture
• Jean Morel – Minister of Colonies
• Joseph Thierry – Minister of Public Works
• Alfred Massé – Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs