French Fourth Republic Charles de Gaulle returned from retirement to preside over a transitional administration that was empowered to design a new French constitution. The Fourth Republic was dissolved by a public referendum on 5 October 1958 which established the modern-day Fifth Republic with a strengthened presidency. After the liberation of France in 1944, the Vichy government was dissolved and the Provisional Government of the French Republic () was instituted. With most of the political class discredited and containing many members who had more or less collaborated with Nazi Germany, Gaullism and communism became the most popular political forces in France. Charles deGaulle
Constitutional amendments under the French Fifth Republic for final approval, the President of the Republic did not continue the action, as he could not muster the required three-fifths majority in Congress and because of resistance to his project. The bill of 2000 is the first constitutional amendment submitted to referendum pursuant to section 89 of the Constitution. After 73% of "yes" votes on , it passed on October 2. It limited the term of French presidents to five years, but was not applied to the president, Jacques Chirac, who was elected in 1995 for seven years. The main motivation for this revision was to avoid cohabitation, by