France, 1946–1968
Democracy · Republic · Western Europe · High Cold War era
France from the unstable Fourth Republic through de Gaulle’s Fifth, decolonizing amid the Algerian War while modernizing and rebuilding as a democracy.
Postwar France rebuilt and modernized rapidly during the "trente glorieuses", but the parliamentary Fourth Republic was destabilized by colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria. The Algerian crisis returned Charles de Gaulle to power in 1958 and produced the presidential Fifth Republic. France decolonized, developed an independent nuclear deterrent and asserted autonomy within the Western alliance.
Dominant patterns
- External Expansion
- Militarization
- Democratization
- Great-Power Rivalry
Political-science factor profile
Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).
| Centralization of Power | 55 |
| Media Control | 42 |
| Repression | 45 |
| Nationalism | 60 |
| Militarization | 65 |
| Economic Stress | 40 |
| External Conflict | 65 |
| Cult of Personality | 48 |
| Elite Fragmentation | 52 |
| Institutions | 62 |
| Social Polarization | 55 |
| Corruption & Patrimonialism | 42 |
| Ideological Mobilization | 48 |
| External Sovereignty | 92 |
Economy & society
| GDP per capita | $9000 (intl-$) |
| GDP growth | +5%/yr |
| Population | 49.0M people |
| Share of world population | 1.6% |
| Urban share | 62% |
| Territory | ~550k km² |
| Capital population | ~8.0M |
Closest historical twins
The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles France 1946–1968, by similarity score (0–100).
- Carthage, 450–350 BCE – similarity 95/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- Roman Republic, 450–390 BCE – similarity 94/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- France, 1900–1914 – similarity 94/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- Germany, 1890–1914 – similarity 91/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- France, 1870–1900 – similarity 90/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- United States, 1945–1968 – similarity 90/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- United States, 1981–1989 – similarity 89/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
- Kamakura Japan, 1185–1333 CE – similarity 88/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
What followed
- A strong presidential republic from 1958.
- Decolonization and the loss of empire.