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
President of the Republic (Spain) Azaña, exiled in France, resigned. The following week, the so-called Casado's Coup against Prime Minister Negrín's government led to the creation of the National Defence Council which attempted, unsuccessfully to negotiate terms, with Franco breaking off talks "motu proprio". Following Franco's final offensive at the end of March 1939, the Republic fell. President of the Republic (Spain) President of the Republic () was the title of the head of state during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39). The office was based on the model of the Weimar Republic, then still in power in Germany, and a compromise between the French and