1948: France And French Colonies

Archives consist of articles that originally appeared in Collier's Year Book (for events of 1997 and earlier) or as monthly updates in Encarta Yearbook (for events of 1998 and later). Because they were published shortly after events occurred, they reflect the information available at that time. Cross references refer to Archive articles of the same year.

The political and economic situation of France at the beginning of 1948 offered a confused yet fairly hopeful picture. The failure of the strikes instigated by the Communist-led Confederation General of Labor (C.G.T.) at the end of 1947 had caused a split in the ranks of the labor unions. In the... ...