René Massigli, Ambassador of France (1888–1988), lived a rich career in French diplomacy from the First World War to 1956. In the interwar period he witnessed a great deal of international conferences and became specialised in League of Nations issues. He worked with Philippe Berthelot and Alexis Léger. In the 1930s he was one of the main opponents to appeasement towards dictators inside the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Shunted after the Munich agreements, Ambassador to Turkey 1939–1940, dismissed in 1940 by the Vichy Government, he joined the Free French in early 1943 and became commissioner for Foreign Affairs in General de Gaulle's National Committee. From 1944 to 1954, Ambassador to London, he participated in the debates about Cold War and European integration, advocating particularly a strong Anglo-French relationship and opposing the federalist solutions initiated by Jean Monnet. His last position was as Secretary-General of the Quai d'Orsay. Through his biography (based primarily on the study of his papers in the French Diplomatic Archives) the aim is to appreciate the place of a high-rank official and of a strong personality inside the French diplomatic system and in the general debates of French foreign policy—the influence of an individual in the decision-making process and the limits of this influence.
Keywords:
France, History, 20th century, Massigli (René), Foreign affairs, Diplomacy, Biography, League of Nations, Germany, Great-Britain, Second World War, Europe, European integration.