Politically, the components of the new republic were unpromising from the very start; in the words of that highly astute American observer, Janet Flanner, it was “like a woman with three hands, two Left and one Right”. The former were constituted by the Socialists and the alarmingly powerful Communist Party, the latter by the Catholic, moderate conservative Mouvement Républicain Populaire (M.R.P.). In the running conflict between these elements, “whose simultaneous presence in government”, said the veteran Léon Blum, “is at once indispensable and impossible”, agreement on any decisive issue could seldom be reached.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 191