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Former French Premier Leon Blum and his wife are greeted by T.S. Estes upon their arrival in Naples aboard an American plane.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 82960

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    Former French Premier Leon Blum and his wife are greeted by T.S. Estes upon their arrival in Naples aboard an American plane.
    Former French Premier Leon Blum and his wife are greeted by T.S. Estes upon their arrival in Naples aboard an American plane.

    Overview

    Caption
    Former French Premier Leon Blum and his wife are greeted by T.S. Estes upon their arrival in Naples aboard an American plane.
    Date
    1942 January 12
    Locale
    Naples, [Campania] Italy
    Variant Locale
    Napoli
    Photo Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

    Rights & Restrictions

    Photo Source
    National Archives and Records Administration, College Park
    Copyright: Public Domain
    Source Record ID: 111-SC-273752

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Biography
    Leon Blum (1872-1950), premier of France on three occasions. Blum was born in Paris on April 9, 1872. The son of Jewish parents, he studied law at the Sorbonne where he was converted to socialism. After leaving university Blum worked for Jean Jaures. Rejected for military service by the French Army in the First World War, he entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1919. Blum became leader of the Socialist Party and in 1924 supported the government of Edouard Herriot. Concerned by the rise to power of Adolf Hitler in Germany, a group of left-wing politicians led by Blum, Edouard Daladier, Maurice Thorez, Edouard Herriot, and Daniel Mayer formed the Popular Front in November 1935. Parties involved in the agreement included the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, and the Radical Party. The parties involved in the Popular Front did well in the May 1936 parliamentary elections, winning a total of 376 seats. Blum, leader of the Socialist Party, became the first Jewish prime minister of France. Once in power the Popular Front government introduced the 40-hour work week and other social reforms. It also nationalized the Bank of France and the armaments industry. In July 1936, José Giral, the prime minister of the Popular Front government in Spain, requested aid against the military uprising led by Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco, and José Sanjurjo. Blum agreed to send aircraft and artillery. However, after coming under pressure from Stanley Baldwin and Anthony Eden in Britain, and more right-wing members of his own cabinet, he reversed himself. Blum now called for the countries in Europe not to intervene in the Spanish Civil War. The Communist Party, that up to then had supported the Popular Front government, now organized large demonstrations against Blum's policy of non-intervention. With the left wing in open revolt against the government and a growing economic crisis, Blum decided to resign on June 22. Once in opposition, Blum campaigned for France to end its nonintervention policy. On March 13, 1938 Blum returned to power as prime minister. He immediately reopened the frontier with Spain to allow vast amounts of military equipment to enter the country. Blum now came under considerable pressure from the right-wing press and political figures such as Henri-Philippe Petain and Maurice Gamelin. On April 10, 1938, Blum's government fell and he was replaced by Edouard Daladier as prime minister. When the German Army invaded France in May 1940, Blum escaped to southern France but Henri-Philippe Petain ordered his arrest on September 14, 1940. Along with Edouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud he was tried in February 1942 for his role in leading France into war and for her defeat. The show trial in Riom was suspended in April and never concluded. On March 31, 1943 Blum was handed over to the Germans who deported him to Buchenwald. He remained there until early April 1945 when he was evacuated with a group of special prisoners. After moving around for a few weeks he was taken to Dachau. On April 26 he was evacuated from Dachau, again with a group of distinguished prisoners. A few days later the group was transferred from SS custody to the hands of the German army, and on May 4 was liberated at a summer hotel in the Italian Tyrol by Italian and American troops. Ten days later he returned to Paris. In 1946 Blum returned to political activity and formed a socialist coalition government, but it lasted only a month. Blum died on March 30, 1950.

    [Source: Colton, Joel. "Leon Blum: Humanist in Politics. MIT Press, April 1974, pp. 385-444.]
    Record last modified:
    2007-04-06 00:00:00
    This page:
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