Clemenceau

Georges Clemenceau (Mouilleron-en-Pareds, September 28, 1841 - Paris, November 24, 1929) was a French politician, Prime Minister in 1906-1909 and 1917-1920, and a key figure in the Treaty of Versailles. Born into an anticlerical and republican family, Clemenceau, nicknamed "The Tiger," was a radical leader. He studied medicine and lived in the United States before embarking on his political career. He was the mayor of Montmartre and, since 1870, a member of the National Assembly, opposing the peace conditions imposed by Germany in 1871. He founded the newspaper La Justice in 1880, gaining prominence for his fight against corruption in the Panama case (1893) and his support for Alfred Dreyfus (1898). As Minister of the Interior in 1906, he violently suppressed strikes and unrest, distancing himself from the Socialist Party. His tenure as Prime Minister was characterized by nationalism and state centralism, opposing socialists and unions. During World War I, he led military policy and opposed diplomatic mediation. In 1917, as President of the Council and Minister of War, he implemented his political and tactical visions. At the Paris Conference of 1919, he insisted on humiliation and harsh reparations for Germany, clashing with Woodrow Wilson. Defeated in the presidential elections of 1920, he retired from politics. He wrote memoirs and forged a friendship with Claude Monet in his later years. He died in Paris on November 24, 1929, at the age of 88.