Elected on May 10, 1981, Mitterrand launched his major projects, including retirement at age 60.
By Eloi Pot Published 33 minutes ago , Update 32 minutes ago François Mitterrand arrives…
Elected on May 10, 1981, Mitterrand launched his major projects, including retirement at age 60.
By Eloi Pot
Published
33 minutes ago
,
Update 32 minutes ago
François Mitterrand arrives on the night of May 10 to 11, 1981 at his campaign headquarters, rue de Solferino in Paris. DOMINIQUE FAGET, MICHEL CLEMENT
NARRATIVE – We also talked about retirement 42 years ago, but not only. The election of François Mitterrand was based on a series of flagship measures, including the abolition of the death penalty and nationalizations, after two decades of right-wing rule.
May 10, 1981, after 23 long years of opposition, the left is back in power. François Mitterrand finally overthrew his opponent, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, winning 52% of the vote. “The man from the past” has triumphed “pive man“. If the arrival at the responsibilities of the socialist party arouses immediate fantasies, on the right (the Russian tanks at the Concorde) as on the left (fear of a coup d’etat fomented by the right), Mitterrand experiences that the Fifth Republic, he had fought so hard, offered him the same stability that the right had been able to enjoy since 1958. But May 10, 1981 remained etched in the memories of a whole generation of French peopleboth because of the emotion, positive or negative, aroused by this major political shift, and by the first measures that resulted from it.
If the left has a free hand to reform, it is primarily because it obtains a majority in the embly. Accommodating the prerogatives of a presidential power that he did not yet have…
