L'Union française est une construction bâtarde, fruit d'une tentative de synthèse entre deux tendances incompatibles : l'assimilation et l'association. Elle ne correspond à aucune catégorie connue du droit constitutionnel (confédération, fédération, État fédéral) ; aussi est-elle qualifiée par un contemporain de « monstruosité juridique ». L'historienne Denise Bouche estime qu'« au terme d'une gestation pénible, l'Union française n'était pas née viable », et le juriste Pinto écrit : « En fermant aux nationalistes [...] les voies pacifiques d'une transformation progressive, la Constitution ouvrait le cycle infernal des insurrections et des guerres civiles. »
Les institutions fonctionnent en effet très mal, et le Haut Conseil ne se réunit que de 1951 à 1954. L'Assemblée, dont les membres métropolitains sont souvent désignés parmi des candidats battus aux législatives et n'ont pas de compétence en la matière, offre surtout un « lot de consolation pour recalés du suffrage universel ». Elle élabore divers projets de réorganisation, qui ne sont finalement pas étudiés par le législateur. L'échec de l'Union française est particulièrement net en Indochine, où les États associés cherchent rapidement à s'affranchir du régime qui leur est imposé. L'Union française disparaît en septembre 1958, avec l'adoption de la Constitution de la Ve République, et fait place à une nouvelle structure à l'existence éphémère (1958-1960), la Communauté.
Union générale (krach de l'),
faillite d'une banque d'affaire qui, en 1882, met fin à un important mouvement de spéculation.
À la fin des années 1870, l'économie française bénéficie d'une conjoncture favorable : afflux de capitaux, hausse des valeurs boursières, lancement des grands travaux publics du plan Freycinet... les signes d'optimisme ne manquent pas. C'est dans ce contexte propice à la spéculation que l'ingénieur Eugène Bontoux fonde l'Union générale, en mai 1878. Ce catholique conservateur entend rivaliser avec la « finance juive ou protestante » : la plupart des actionnaires et des administrateurs de la nouvelle banque sont issus des milieux orléanistes ou légitimistes, ainsi que de la bourgeoisie lyonnaise. Bontoux, qui multiplie les opérations financières en Europe centrale, se lance dans une course effrénée à la spéculation. Soutenue par des petits souscripteurs, l'ascension de la banque est rapide et le cours de ses actions s'envole. Mais cette réussite est artificielle, dans la mesure où Bontoux cherche à accroître le capital de l'Union générale en spéculant sur ses propres titres et sans disposer de réserves financières suffisantes. En janvier 1882, la conjoncture se retourne, emportant l'Union générale dans la spirale du krach boursier : mis en faillite, l'établissement entraîne alors dans sa chute de nombreuses entreprises et banques d'affaires. Rappelant l'échec du Crédit mobilier (1871), le krach de l'Union générale marque fortement les contemporains et incite les banques d'affaires à une gestion plus prudente de leurs intérêts dans un environnement économique déprimé.
Union nationale,
formule de majorité parlementaire mise en œuvre sous la IIIe République, de 1926 à 1928 et de 1934 à 1936.
L'expérience du Cartel des gauches, menée en 1924, à la suite de la victoire de la coalition unissant radicaux et socialistes, aboutit en juin 1926 à un échec, sanctionné par la chute du gouvernement radical d'Édouard Herriot. Pour faire face à la baisse du franc, le président Doumergue fait appel à Raymond Poincaré, ancien président de la République et dirigeant du centre droit, qui bénéficie de la confiance des épargnants. Celui-ci forme un cabinet appuyé sur une nouvelle majorité, qui regroupe le centre - axe de la combinaison -, la droite et les radicaux, la participation de ces derniers étant acquise au nom de la « défense de la monnaie nationale », en écho à l'« union sacrée » de 1914. Le nouveau président du Conseil prend des mesures d'assainissement financier, tandis que Briand, aux Affaires étrangères, poursuit sa politique d'apaisement. Mais la coalition se défait, en novembre 1928 : au congrès radical d'Angers, la gauche du parti parvient à imposer la sortie du gouvernement, en vue d'un rapprochement avec les socialistes.
La seconde expérience, tentée en 1934, fait suite à l'émeute sanglante du 6 février, à l'issue de laquelle la majorité de gauche élue en 1932 s'est disloquée. L'ancien président Doumergue, rappelé de sa retraite, prend alors la tête d'un gouvernement appuyé sur le centre, les radicaux et la droite, avec un double objectif : réaliser la « réforme de l'État » et assainir la situation financière. Mais l'opposition des radicaux et l'impopularité de sa politique de déflation le contraignent à la démission, en novembre 1934. Sous ses successeurs, Flandin et Laval, l'Union nationale survit péniblement, constamment menacée par la défection des radicaux, qui subissent l'attraction du Front populaire. En janvier 1936, elle a vécu : un cabinet de transition, dont la droite ne fait pas partie, est formé sous la direction du radical Sarraut ; il gère les affaires courantes jusqu'aux élections de mai-juin 1936, qui voient la victoire du Front populaire.
union sacrée,
expression qui renvoie à la volonté collective des Français, en 1914, d'oublier leurs divisions et leurs querelles au seul bénéfice de la défense de la patrie.
L'« union sacrée », image même de la France de 1914 tout entière dressée contre l'Allemagne, naît de la somme des différentes formes du sentiment national sollicitées par l'état de guerre. La formule, due au président de la République Raymond Poincaré, est lue à l'Assemblée nationale le 4 août 1914 par le président du Conseil René Viviani : « La France vient d'être l'objet d'une agression préméditée, qui est un insolent défi au droit des gens [...]. Étroitement unie en un même sentiment, la nation persévérera dans le sang-froid dont elle a donné, depuis l'ouverture de la crise, l'exemple quotidien [...]. Elle sera héroïquement défendue par tous ses fils, dont rien ne brisera devant l'ennemi l'union sacrée. »
>
We Care About Your Privacy
We and our 868 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting "I Accept" enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under "we and our partners process data to provide," whereas selecting "Reject All" or withdrawing your consent will disable them. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the ["privacy preferences"] link on the bottom of the webpage [or the floating icon on the bottom-left of the webpage, if applicable]. Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our partners process data to provide:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
About Your Privacy
Your Privacy
Targeting Cookies
Functional Cookies
Performance Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Store and/or access information on a device 707 partners can use this purpose
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 834 partners can use this purpose
Use precise geolocation data 266 partners can use this special feature
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 135 partners can use this special feature
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 536 partners can use this special purpose
Deliver and present advertising and content 542 partners can use this special purpose
Match and combine data from other data sources 381 partners can use this feature
Link different devices 339 partners can use this feature
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 511 partners can use this feature
Save and communicate privacy choices 358 partners can use this special purpose
Your Privacy
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
More information
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Store and/or access information on a device 707 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 834 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 651 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 524 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 521 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 233 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 205 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 755 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 373 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 475 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 564 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 141 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 266 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 135 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 536 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 542 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 381 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 339 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 511 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 358 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.