Léon Blum

Introduction. Léon Blum and François Mitterrand: Two Socialist Experiences vii

From the Years of Preparation to the Years of Leadership

1. The Early Years, 1872-1914 3

2. "To Guard the Old House": War Socialism and Party Schism, 1914-1920 36

3. Party Leader: Theory and Tactics, 1921-1933 55

4. The Formation of the Popular Front: From the "Sixth of February" to the Elections of 1936 92

The Years of Responsibility

5. The "Great Fear" of June 1936 129

6. The "Exercise of Power": The Blum Experiment 160

7. The Quest for Peace: Foreign Affairs and National Defense 198

8. Drama of Conscience: The Non-Intervention Policy and the Spanish Civil War 234

9. End of the "Exercise of Power," June 1937 270

10. Decline of the Popular Front, June 1937-April 1938: Vice-Premier, "National Unity," Second Government 286

The Years of Anguish

11. Plowshares into Swords: Munich and War, April 1938-march 1940 311

12. Witness to Collapse: Paris and Bordeaux, May-June 1940 342

13. Vichy, July 1940 368

14. The Prisoner, 1940-1942 385

15. Witness for the Republic: The Riom Trial, 1942 405

16. Bourassol, Buchenwald, Liberation, 1943-1945 428

Epilogue. The Return

17. The Last Years, 1945-1950: Humanist Socialism, the Fourth Republic 447

18. End of the Apostolate 474

Appendix 1. Glossary 485

Appendix 2. Heads of the French Cabinet during Blum's Political Career, 1914-1950 488

Appendix 3. A Note on the Political Parties and Elections in the Third Republic 491

Bibliography 495

Supplementary Bibliography 513

Index 524