Council of Nations

Operation Choguk-Tongil
Unified Country
July 25th 4:00 am- August 7th 1950.

Semi classified

Lead Motorized Infantry Group (4 Divisions: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th Combined):
Total Personnel: 80,000
Total Transport Trucks: 2,400
76mm ZiS-3 Divisional Guns: 192
57mm ZiS-2 Anti-Tank Guns: 96
45mm M1942 Anti-Tank Guns: 144
BM-13 Katyusha Multiple Rocket Launchers: 48
120mm Regimental Mortars: 96
82mm Battalion Mortars: 216
37mm M1939 Anti-Aircraft Guns: 72
DShK 12.7mm Heavy Machine Guns: 144
Reserve / Trailing Infantry Group (6 Divisions: 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th Combined):
Total Personnel: 120,000
Total Transport Trucks: 1,200
76mm ZiS-3 Divisional Guns: 216
57mm ZiS-2 Anti-Tank Guns: 108
45mm M1942 Anti-Tank Guns: 144
BM-13 Katyusha Multiple Rocket Launchers: 48
120mm Regimental Mortars: 108
82mm Battalion Mortars: 216
37mm M1939 Anti-Aircraft Guns: 72
DShK 12.7mm Heavy Machine Guns: 144
Armored Brigade Group (2 Brigades: 1st and 2nd Combined):
Total Personnel: 13,000
T-34-85 Medium Tanks: 240
SU-76M Self-Propelled Guns: 100
BA-64 Armored Cars: 40
Total Transport Trucks: 400
Motorized Infantry Regiments: 2
PPSh-41 SMG Assault Battalions: 2

Operation Choguk-Tongil: Detailed Operational Unit Assignments

H0-H16 the first shots would be fired with the symphony of Stalin's organs being heard across the 38th parallel accompanied by 122m field artillery  Comprising the 1st armoured brigade and 2nd and 3rd motorized divisions with a total of 47,500 men and material would be the main spearhead into the ROK, with the force currently stationed in 38th parallel and is to launch an offensive towards the south along the Kaesong-Munsan-Seoul corridor. With the objectives of establishing control over vital transport infrastructure spanning the imjin river and if possible bolster their transport capabilities.
  H16-H35 The spearhead forces are to secure the Seoul-Kaesong highway and establish checkpoints across the secondary and main roads that traverse the Imjin. With the force to use the time to recover and repair equipment in preparation of launching a joint attack on Seoul with Thunder, a secondary objective would be to begin establishing occupational government nodes.
 H0-H1 The offensive would be accompanied by 40 TU 4’s and the entire Provisional Citizens Airforce of Daehan air personnel , the air offensive would be split into three, with 15 of the bombers headed to Seoul targeting the headquarters, 15 headed to Gimpo and 10 headed to Yeouido to decimate the republic of korea airforce and command, to make it easier for the land forces to do their job. With the bombers to refuel and reload with 40 to be sent to Busan to render the port unusable. After which the aircraft are to be divided and attached to the the two main forces to provide support at strong points at H70 they are to transition to a supply role.

2nd armoured brigade, 4th and 6th divisions
H0-H35 The 2nd armoured brigade accompanied by the 4th and 6th divisions also comprising 47,500 men and related material would be tasked with breaching the defenses of the Chorwon-Kumhwa area also known as the iron triangle and ensure the security of transport corridors and they are to neutralize fortified ROK positions in the Uijeongbu Corridor and the Iron triangle in their entirety and rendezvous with the spearhead in the north of Seoul city. 

H35-H70 Seoul is to be taken whether it is to be a pile of rubble or still habitable with high command allocating the most amount of stimulants from coffee to vodka or even chemical products copied from germany that enhances soldiers performance for a few days. The combined force of more than 80,000 with reserves trailing behind and clearing out the remaining pockets of resistance is to take the city within 45 hours with particular enemy strong points being designated rewards, which shall be given to the units who break them from medals to pensions.

H71-H120 The spearhead now well worn at this point would be slow down it’s pace with the reserves now to given full reign to launch a renewed offensive with the spearhead to trail behind for an hour or  two with additional trucks provided to the two armoured brigades, allowing soldiers to sleep more comfortably during the advance and could be woken up at a moment’s notice, to recover from the fatigue of the blitz launched against the south koreans, they would be provided 24 hours of reprieve from H71-H94. Before they once again became the spearhead replacing the reserves, they would secure the  Geum river.
H121-H160 The combined forces now fully refreshed would be led by the second and first armoured brigades to break through and capture Daejon to remove the last obstacle of resistance in the Korean peninsula of the imperialists with an open plain to follow after the city. With the operation to result in the collapse of the republic of korea and the puppets placed by the imperialists.

H160-H260 the Citizens army of Daehan is to continue rooting out the last pockets of resistance by subversives and consolidate control across the rest of the peninsula and islands.

The People's Ledger / 민중의 장부 (Minjung-ui Jangbu) 08/010/1950- 3/1/1951

내가 숨쉬는 한, 나라는 죽지 않는다IIAs long as I breathe the nation does not die

Two days after the proclamation; The Citizens Republic of Daehan would be formally declared as the sole state to govern the Korean peninsula and territories belonging to it; with a political reorganization to occur with all parties to be banned except for the Daehan Peoples Party with representatives across the Korean peninsula invited and made members of the party with some even being controversial due to their bourgeois origins, bar those who were armed by the despots of the ROK. A total of 150 representatives and 300 special advisors would be called upon to form a new constitution for the thirty million strong state. The state however would not be left to lawlessness during this time with the Work Order No 1 to be enacted whereby all citizens at the age of sixteen or above shall be required to render labour to the state for the next six months to be supervised and organized by the Ministry of Economy to rebuild vital infrastructure and secure the nation’s food supply and other immediate concerns, as well as catalogue and classify total existing assets present within the state for further plans to be carried out.

From August eight nineteen fifty to March first nineteen fifty one, the 150 representatives and 300 special advisors making up the first constitutional convention of the Daehan Peoples Party would begin with the main factions comprising the Guerilla faction led by Kim IL Sung, The domestic faction led by Choe Chang-ik and the Social democracy faction led by Lyuh Woon-hyung, with 25 representatives from each faction and seventy five from independents and broader society. With the Convention to codify and enshrine how the Citizens Republic of Daehan is to operate, from society, governance, economy, culture and the most important of which being how one can actually participate in the work of state. With the convention to take place in a simple house extended by tents in Kaesong, the scars of war reminding the representatives and special advisors of what was sacrificed for this moment, some wore western style style suits, some in military fatigues and many wore variations of the stalinka, every glance or slight movement of a nerve during this meeting were like a dance of blades.

Among the special advisors would be Soviet and Brasilian yet none of the respective states would be informed of what exactly is the purpose of their experts only that they would be borrowed or hired for the next six months, this was under the advice of Lyuh, with materials from north america and germany being brought in to better inform the convention members, it was by no means an exhaustive list of references however every document there had the potential to set the countries course. The Convention would be done with utmost secrecy with the CRD remaining silent for the next six months apart from the continuation of any existing agreements or the relabelling and reorganizing of foreign diplomatic facilities.

The Guerilla faction led by Kim IL Sung would be the most orthodox to the Marxist Leninist creed with a push for a total copy of the soviet model and strict top down approach, the Yan’an faction led by Choe Chang-IK would advocate for a more syndicalist approach with federations, committees and unions for every profession with the state to act as final arbiter during impasses and ensure that distribution and work assignments are carried out, whilst the Social Democracy Faction led by Lyuh would argue for a more western european style social democracy with enhanced guard rails. As the discussions progressed with fiery speeches, monotone facts and statistics explanations and the art of subtlety and intrigue were exchanged. The results of the Convention and the Work Order No 1 as follows.

GOVERNMENT

Chairman of the State, head of state elected by the Chairman Electoral Assembly

First Minister elected by the National Assembly and is the head of government

State Council- Composed of ministers and the First Minister with ministers to be chosen by the first minister but must be confirmed by the National Assembly

Peoples Military Commission chaired by the Chairman of the state and would possess an independent promotion board which would also handle the creation and enforcing of tests and KPI’s and ensure that appointments are made on merit as much as possible, with the military, government and the Commission of National discipline being able to vet and appoint candidates.

Central Bank and the Central court. The former is appointed by the Chairman of the state the latter is elected by the National Assembly, both positions are for 14 years with their dismissal requiring 80% of the National assembly to dismiss them.

National Assembly wherein 20% of seats are reserved for the special electorate from which comprise the provincial governments, universities, unions and other technocratic and meritocratic organizations or interest groups this 20% would also elect the Chairman of the state and during such periods shall be called the Chairman electoral assembly, apart from it they will have the same powers as the rest of the National Assembly each national assembly seat will represent 300,000 voters.

Provincial governments would govern the provinces of the DCR with the following administrative divisions to be established.

Provinces
Municipalities/Cities
Counties
Districts 
Village

Election Processes at any time in the year on the condition that ⅔ of the National assembly vote in favor in addition to the Chairman of the state, a General election can be called which is to not exceed thirty days. However voter districts can only be amended at most a week prior but must occur before the elections and once a change is implemented at the provincial level, it cannot be changed for six years. 

Before being determined as an official candidate one must gather the signatures of 0.15% of the population of voting age which are 20 or above signatures, screening of candidates and test procedures are to be made transparent. Once they are made official candidates shall be funded by the state.

Media slots shall be allocated on a hour slot basis to be determined via lottery, venues shall also be allocated on a lottery time basis transparent and free. 

For Funding the state will provide each candidate with the equivalent of 150 workers yearly wages, in addition campaign materials are to be standardized and to be printed by the state owned enterprises but to be paid for by the candidates from the grant. With provincial or local elections to have smaller grants.

CITIZENS RIGHTS.

All citizens starting from the age of 4 will be required to attend an educational facility up until the age of 15 with education to consume 1500 hours per year for 11 years, with said education being provided by the state, for their last year students will be required to pass the neungryuk siheom  or ability test which can range from vocational tests to academic tests. With the ability certificate being valid for 5 years from issuance and allows one to apply for college or higher levels of education, if that period lapses they will be required to retake it. All males will be required to render two years of military service starting at the age of twenty one, women shall be given the option to enlist in the military and will be given no special treatment.

However, those educated by the public school system or recipients of scholarships shall be required to work in the Citizens Republic of Daehan for six years before entertaining employment abroad.

All citizens will be provided with an Identification and Provision Booklet; the latter allows one to purchase goods at reduced prices in the central warehouses of the Citizens Republic of Daehan with the PB having assigned points values to every good listed within it.

All citizens irrespective of age shall be guaranteed a basic standard of living based upon the labor and talents they provide, and at the moment of their first employment or venture they would be required to pay into the Workers Welfare Solidarity Fund or WWSF which entitles members to receive reduced healthcare costs , sick leave benefits and even borrow against future wages with coverage extensions available for incremental increases in contributions of up to four additional members.

Citizens aged 20 or above will be required to vote in the national and local election with the election process being conducted via secretive ballots. And be considered as adults.

All citizens are presumed innocent until an unappealable judicial sentence is passed and have the right to an open and transparent trial, however depending on the severity of the accused crime they may be detained; In addition if a citizens is suspected of committing grave crimes they may be detained without warrant for a maximum of seventy two hours once a year.

ECONOMY

The Won is to be redesigned however it’s value is to be placed on a crawling peg of ₩7:$1 with a 10,50,100 and 500 bill denomination and for smaller denominations the Chon would be used with 1,5,10 and 50 Chon to be denominated in coins with 100 Chon Equivalent to 1 Won. There will be a 20% tax on all currency leaving the state, unless an entity brings more currency into the state than it sends abroad.

The Citizens Republic of Daehan is the sole provider of Utilities, Railway Transportation, Education ,Centralized Raw materials, input goods retail ,production of raw materials or upstream/intermediary goods, banking and finance as well as zoning. In addition Media and communications will be subject to the guidelines set by the state with domestic joint ventures allowed, however the state will always possess 51% of voting stock.

Centralized warehouses in combination with mixed used zoning shall be the basis of the retail and industrial model of the state, wherein those who have Autonomous production licenses can lease space in these zones or excess warehouse space. For zones catered to services, commercial activities or the like a membership model shall be established for those who cater to these zones with profits to be divided between the local and central governments. 

All land is to be owned by the state with a standard 70 year land use lease on most land. And affordable housing percentages on all new developments are to be required.

Those with Autonomous Production Licenses shall be accessible through public information channels, and broadcast in addition all funds they exchange or assets they possess must be exchanged or be deposited through the central bank with in depth auditing for irregularities or mixed tax payments with special accounts given to these individuals.

Land leased for agricultural purposes cannot be sold within 10 years, in addition land ownership is delegated to local government units, agricultural producers must meet state quotas or fulfill sudden demand contracts for a minimum of 6 years, anything produced above the quota shall be for them to enjoy. 

50% Common Prosperity tax shall be levied immediately on an autonomous producer at the moment of death, if it cannot be paid for in cash the state will provide a loan at 3.5x the current inflation rate of that year on a per annum basis for a maximum of 10 years.

A stock exchange, Bond market, index funds shall be established however derivatives or bundled securities except for direct goods transfers shall not be allowed to reduce damages during economic downturns. Foreign investors shall not be allowed to own more than 49% of a given entity and must remain in the country for an uninterrupted period of five years to become a citizen and pass the citizenship tests, or 2,920 or roughly 8 years but interruptions will be allowed with residency entitling one to education but not otherwise free services unless it would be an emergency of severe illness. 

Autonomous work units may be hired by the government to improve operations, within state entities or cooperatives.

Universal Notary shall be established as a government service with standardized contracts to facilitate contracts and agreements at an affordable and accessible format in addition to reducing costs through standardization and reduce the burdens on the justice system.

KPI’s and Outcome based compensation shall be established for all in the service of government or the military from processing times, to amounts of errors and even student outcomes tied to institutions or individuals, with the most innovative to be a medical professional retainment system wherein members will stop payment in the event of sickness.  To ensure that the state does not rot and is a dynamic force.

Subsistence Production units or those who activities are not in zones and are mobile shall be required to purchase a Subsistence Production Unit license whose proceeds are to mostly go to local governments. 

Taxes and Charges levied in the DCR would be

Surplus Value Tax
Value Added Tax
Income Tax
Collective service charges like for transportation and upkeep of certain services in localized areas.

Security and Military

The Commission of National Discipline would be a semi independent authority established to investigate corrupt government or military officials as well as traitors to the state. 

The State police would be composed of 33,000 members and to not drop below the threshold of 1 member per 1,000 citizens. The military is to have a total personnel not to drop below 1% of the population at any given time.

_{DECEMBER 1950}

A LIBERATÉ | KRONIK ISTWA

THE LIBERATOR | HISTORY CHRONICLED

PRESIDENT ROUMAIN CONVENES YARIB MONETARY CONFERENCE TO REMAKE DOUGGAN FINANCE

Bankers, ministers, farmers, workers, and local leaders to draft the Republic's monetary policy in February as the Government seeks capital for national development.

_{ECONOMICS | PÒTOPRENS, CD}

_{President Gabriel M. Roumain spoke to members of the press this morning to announce the convening of a national Monetary Conference at the Yarib Conference & Retreat Center in February, bringing together a broad coalition of interests to draft a new monetary policy and reorganize the financial sector of the Republic. The conference will be the first major gathering held at Yarib since the Liberté Bay complex opened last month, and the Palace has described it as the most consequential economic undertaking of the President's tenure in office.}

_{In a statement issued from the Presidential Palace, Roumain said the Republic's economic progress had outgrown the institutions that served it. "A nation of nearly eight million people, growing at nearly five percent a year, cannot rely on a financial system built for a smaller and poorer country," [....] "The Carpaé must be trusted at home and abroad. Our banks must serve the farmer, the factory, and the family; and our credit must build the Republic our people have worked for."}

_{Convened as a drafting conference, delegates are expected to produce legislation which the Government intends to submit to the National Assembly after the conclusion of their work early in the summer. Delegates will be drawn in roughly equal numbers from six interest groups: finance and banking, government ministries, industry and commerce, agrarian and cooperative interests, labor, and county and municipal leadership. In the hope of drawing upon the various expertise and perspective of the Republic’s economic sectors, officials said the balance was deliberate, intended to ensure that the new system does not serve the interests of any group, but reflects the broad interests of the nation.}

_{The delegates of the conference will be divided into working groups, tasked with organizing the Republic's new policies on the currency regime, central banking, commercial and international banking, development finance, and the protection of rural, cooperative, consumer, and labor interests. To provide leadership and oversight, a technical secretariat drawn from the Treasury Department, the banks, and the legal service will consolidate the groups' drafts into a single working document which will form the legislation that President Roumain will submit to the National Assembly. This, while international advisers from friendly central banks and international financial institutions will be invited to attend the conference to provide expertise during the technical sessions.}

_{Government sources said the central questions before the delegates include whether the Carpaé should be fixed to a foreign currency, allowed to float, or be managed within a band. This, a central point of tension, as the Republic weighs its current approach within the international finance framework adopted at Bretton Woods. Delegates will also decide how an independent central bank should be constituted and what arrangements should govern an envisioned state development bank. Meanwhile, apart from the main debates, a separate study group will examine the long-term options for reserve policy, including the role of gold and other metals, to ensure the stability and future prosperity of St. Douglass. Together, Ministers have indicated the express hope of the Republic to become a destination for international capital, with part of that capital intended to flow into industry and agriculture.}

_{Across the Isle, within the financial district of Pòtoprens, the early reaction of the private and economists has been remarkably cautious with an air of positivity. Bankers welcomed the prospect of clearer rules, though several privately wondered how a conference of such breadth could reach agreement by the end of the Spring. What’s more, Industrial leaders noted that credit for factories and shipyards was the Republic's most pressing need - far beyond lofty ambitions of becoming the center of banking and tourism in the Caribbean and Central America. And yet, while Douggan business have been slow to warm up to the conference’s potential outcomes, the debate within the realm of politics has been more tense.}

_{In the National Assembly, members of the Party for a New Day (PnD) praised the initiative as a step toward the modernization that the party has long championed, while the National Republican Party (NRP) stressed that stability and institutional continuity must guide the delegates, to prevent economic shocks or international backlash. While, among the opposition, a spokesman for the Farm Workers Alliance welcomed the inclusion of agrarian and cooperative delegates but warned that rural credit must not be "an afterthought to the bankers' agenda." The All People's Party said that closed sessions risked eroding public trust in the process, while the People's Revolutionary Congress offered a sharper critique, with a spokesman calling the plan to attract foreign capital "an invitation to those who have exploited the Caribbean for centuries."}

_{Speaking in response to critiques and words of caution, a senior official with the Roumain Administration said: "A currency is a promise that a nation makes to its people and to the world, and while we welcome criticism from across the spectrum, this work is of absolute necessity to ensure the health of our economy and people... This conference will decide what kind of promise the Republic is prepared to make."}


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_{APRIL 1951}

LE MONDE | BRIGHT IS THE LIGHT OF LIBERTY

INDIAN DECLARATION ROCKS PARIS AS CRISES ABROAD PLACE COALITION FUTURE IN DOUBT

Calls for Prime Minister Georges Bidault to resign and snap elections mount as the Republic stares down the collapse of Indochina and French India

_{POLITICS & DIPLOMACY | PARIS}

_{The sun rose in Paris this morning as news from South Asia continued to beat against the heart of France’s fragile coalition government: indecision and an inability to act decisively in the face of complex and multifaceted crises abroad. 48 hours ago, Indian forces crossed into Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanam and Mahé under orders from President Shahryar Cheema. By nightfall the tricolour had been lowered over the Hôtel du Gouvernement in Pondichéry, marking the end of our administration in the subcontinent. The French government there, with only a few hundred police and local sepoys employed to maintain order, was overwhelmed and put up no resistance to spare the lives of their citizenry. While reports from on the ground have been spotty, officials in Paris have thus far confirmed that there have been zero casualties in this illegal annexation}

_{While officials in both the Bidault Cabinet and National Assembly were outraged by the actions of India, what struck closest to home, were the comments made by officials from the United Provinces of America yesterday. Speaking to the press, their Foreign Minister Georges Maréchal, issued a blistering statement that our own ministers called ”dismissive” if not outright ”callous” in the face of this violation of French sovereignty. Stating, ”Ultimately, I think it goes without saying that India’s actions towards the territories of Portuguese Goa and French Pondicherry has shown that existing Western European colonialism cannot last, as it is an ideology rooted in a now-outdated system of thinking that does not take into account the rights and liberties of individual people.” Words which suggested that India’s actions were an inevitable act of justice, possessing irrefutable virtue due to their ideological alignment on the question of democracy and ‘self-determination’. This, before concluding that his government would: ”not back Portuguese or French claims to these territories any further.” Going on to name France among the European powers that must accept a process of decolonisation that the United Provinces would “oversee.” In the corridors of the Palais Bourbon, deputies of every party except the Communists described the remarks as an affront to French sovereignty.}

_{During a prime time session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Georges Bidault responded to the crisis from the tribune, his voice at times drowned out by shouting from the benches. “France condemns without reservation the use of armed force against territories whose status was a matter for negotiation between sovereign governments,” he said. “No nation which calls itself a democracy may seize by soldiers what it could not obtain by treaty.” Declarations matched by his announcement that the French Ambassador to New Delhi had been recalled, and that export credits and trade licenses to India had been suspended indefinitely, with additional measures to follow.}

_{On the question of United Provinces’ statements, M. Bidault was more guarded but no less firm. “France is grateful to her friends. She is not their ward,” he said. “But the future of the French Union will be decided by France and the peoples of the French Union alone, and by no one else.”}

_{Despite an honorable attempt to assuage concerns, the fault lines within the coalition are expanding in a very public fashion, casting doubt upon the idea that it will last until the mandatory election in November. Socialist deputies met late into the night, and senior figures in the SFIO let it be known that the party’s continued participation in government was “under review.” Simultaneously, members of the Radical group openly questioned whether the Third Force cabinet could survive the month with one Radical deputy, speaking on condition of anonymity, saying: “We have lost India in an afternoon and we are losing Indochina by the week. The country is asking who is governing, and nobody in this cabinet can answer.”}

_{That question has grown sharper with the arrival each of dispatch from Indochina where, despite recent engagements successfully stalling the offensive of the Viet Minh, Général d'armée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny reports a long and grueling road ahead if there is any hope of quelling the rebellion. Leaks from within the Ministry of Defense show a growing litany of unfulfilled requests for supplies, clearance on who to designate as the Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnamese Army, disputes with Bảo Đại & Tran Van Huu, and a host of administrative issues that have only exacerbated the situation on the ground. This, forcing many to believe that France’s presence in Indochina is on borrowed time and credit - without clear direction and commitment from policy makers in Paris.}

_{Recognizing the collapsing position of France around the world, the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (“Rally for the French People”), has begun to sound the alarm to deafening levels. At a rally in Paris on Tuesday evening, attended by tens of thousands, General Charles de Gaulle demanded the immediate dissolution of the Assembly and new elections. “The régime of parties has shown once more what it is, [...] it debates while France is diminished. It begs while France is lectured by those who pretend to know what is best for us. A great nation cannot be governed by arrangements made at night between factions. France needs institutions worthy of her, and she needs them now.” His supporters answered with chants of “De Gaulle au pouvoir!” that could be heard all the way down the Champs-Élysées.}

_{The French Communist Party drew the opposite lesson. Writing in L’Humanité, Jacques Duclos welcomed India’s action as “the just conclusion of a colonial robbery,” and called on French workers to oppose “the dirty war in Indochina” and any measures taken against the Indian people. Communist deputies jeered the Prime Minister throughout his address, and the party has announced demonstrations in Paris, Marseille and Lyon for the coming week. Meanwhile, as the nation prepares to enter another period of civil unrest, at the Élysée, President Vincent Auriol has called the Prime Minister in alongside the leaders of the coalition parties for talks in the coming days. Aides to the President would say only that he is “following events with the closest attention” and regards the stability of the Republic’s institutions as his first duty.}

_{Leaving the Palais Bourbon late last night, a veteran deputy who sat in the Consultative Assembly at Algiers in 1944 paused briefly on the steps. “In 1940 we were told France was finished; in 1944 we were told she would be a second-rank power; and now we are being told she must be supervised. Each time, someone has had to stand up and say no. The only question left is who it will be this time.”}

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_{16 MAY 1951}

LE MONDE | BRIGHT IS THE LIGHT OF LIBERTY

BIDAULT GOVERNMENT FALLS OVER INDOCHINA CREDITS AS ASSEMBLY SETS SUMMER ELECTION

With the Third Force coalition in ruins, France will go to the polls on 1 July as General de Gaulle campaigns for a new Republic.

_{POLITICS | PARIS}

_{The government of Prime Minister Georges Bidault fell last night after the National Assembly refused, by 318 votes to 275, to grant the supplementary military credits requested for the war in Indochina. With one assemblyman calling the vote a ”signal of deeply rooted ineptitude”, it spelt the end of the coalition which had been losing ground since Indian forces entered French India three weeks ago. Just hours later, after consultations at the Élysée, the leaders of the governing parties agreed to bring forward legislative elections from November to Sunday, 1 July, setting up a pivotal snap election which will determine the future of the Republic. Even as M. Bidault is set to remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new Assembly is seated, there is little expectation that much needed direction from Paris will come anytime soon as the war in the far east, and tensions with the UPA continue to simmer.}

_{The decisive blow came from the Socialists who, after weeks of keeping their place in government “under review,”. Leaders within the SFIO in announcing on Monday that it could not vote for further war credits without a “clear political horizon” for the Associated States. Speaking to reporters after the vote, SFIO Secretary-General Guy Mollet said his party had acted from conscience, not out of political calculations. “We will not write blank cheques for a war without an end, signed by a government without a policy, [...] The country deserves to be asked what it wants. Now it will be.” The Prime Minister, visibly exhausted, gave a short statement from the steps of the Hôtel Matignon. “I asked the Assembly for the means to support our soldiers, who are fighting at this very hour,” M. Bidault said. “It has refused them-... History will harshly judge who chose France on this night, and those who chose their party.” During that same time, across town, officials at the Ministry of the Associated States confirmed that existing funds would keep the Expeditionary Corps supplied through the summer, but warned that operations planned by Général de Lattre for the autumn may now be delayed.}

_{Within an hour of the vote, President Vincent Auriol summoned the party leaders to the Élysée, emerging with a plan to ensure stability across the French Union despite the compounding crisis. Under the Constitution, a dissolution of the Assembly is possible only after repeated ministerial crises, the likes of which has become apparent in recent months. Yet, instead of a quick dissolution, the President persuaded the parties to pass an emergency bill moving the date of the elections up from November. That bill, approved shortly after two o’clock this morning, would be followed by a statement from the Élysée declaring that the President had acted tonight “so that the Republic may renew its authority without delay, and in full respect of its laws.”}

_{During that same emergency session, a new electoral law on apparentements was adopted by the National Assembly. Under the new statutes, allied lists are allowed to pool their votes and claim every seat in a department if together they win an absolute majority of voters. Supporters of the government have boldly declared that it will protect the Republic from the extremes during the snap election, but the Rally for the French People was quick to call it a fraudulent act of partisanship. Speaking to a crowd of supporters at the Vélodrome d’Hiver last night, General Charles de Gaulle said the law was the last act of a dying régime. “They have lost India, they are losing Asia, and now they would steal the ballot box itself,” the General said. “But I say, let them make their arrangements. The French people will make theirs, and on the first of July, they will not vote for a party but for their very future.”}

_{The General’s campaign is said to center on a call for constitutional reform. He wants a strong executive, a President chosen above the parties, and an end to what he calls “government by combination.” RPF organisers say they will stand candidates in every metropolitan department, declaring that the movement shall refuse to join any electoral alliance, and instead rule on a clear mandate from the people. Privately, party officials said that this makes it the main target of the new law, and the main beneficiary of public anger at it. Meanwhile, across the political spectrum, the French Communist Party welcomed the government’s fall but condemned the electoral law in equally strong terms. In a statement issued in the absence of Maurice Thorez, who remains in the Soviet Union for medical treatment, Jacques Duclos called the election “a referendum on the dirty war.” He urged workers to vote for “peace, bread and the independence of France.” Communist and CGT organisers have called a day of action across the industrial north and the Paris region for Saturday, prompting the Prefecture of Police to cancel all leave for the coming week.}

_{Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, who signed the treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community in Paris only last month, warned that the crisis put more than the government at stake. “France has given Europe a path to peace, and I would ask the electors to remember that a France divided at home cannot lead abroad.” His words pointing to the fears of the French Diplomatic Corps in Paris who say that ratification of the treaty is now unlikely before the autumn.}

_{Publishing a survey of public opinion earlier this week, the French Institute of Public Opinion suggests the outcome is wide open. It puts the RPF and the Communists close together at the head of the field, with the parties of the Third Force divided among themselves and trailing. According to the results, nearly one elector in four said they had not yet decided how to vote, leaving a wide margin of growth for any party to capitalize upon in the weeks ahead. In the Salle des Quatre-Colonnes, as deputies left the chamber in the early hours, a senior Radical deputy who has served in every Assembly since the Liberation summed up the mood. “For six years we have governed by making do, [...] Tonight the making-do ran out. In seven weeks the French will tell us whether they want to keep this Republic, or whether they want the General to build them another one.”}

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