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
1959 French Senate election 1959 French Senate election The first senatorial elections of the Fifth Republic were held in France on April 26, 1959. The Senate was created by constitution of the Fifth Republic to replace Council of the Republic. This election depend largely of the results of 1959 municipal elections. On April 28, 1959, Gaston Monnerville a senator from Guyane was elected president of the Senate. Monnerville has been the highest-ranking black politician in French history, and if he was a candidate for reelection in 1968, he could have become the first black president of France the next year when President Pompidou dies.