Changes

France emerged from [[World War II]] to face a series of new problems. After a short period of provisional government initially led by Gen. [[Charles de Gaulle]], the Fourth Republic was set up by a new constitution and established as a parliamentary form of government controlled by a series of coalitions. French military involvement in both [[Vietnam]] and [[Algeria]] combined with the mixed nature of the coalitions and a consequent lack of agreement caused successive cabinet crises and changes of government.

France emerged from [[World War II]] to face a series of new problems. After a short period of provisional government initially led by Gen. [[Charles de Gaulle]], the Fourth Republic was set up by a new constitution and established as a parliamentary form of government controlled by a series of coalitions. French military involvement in both [[Vietnam]] and [[Algeria]] combined with the mixed nature of the coalitions and a consequent lack of agreement caused successive cabinet crises and changes of government.

===Fifth Republic===

===Fifth Republic (1958 - present)===

Finally, on May 13, 1958, the government structure collapsed as a result of the negative public opinion pressures generated by four years of war in Algeria. A threatened coup led the Parliament to call on General de Gaulle to head the government and prevent civil war. Marking the beginning of the Fifth Republic, he became prime minister in June 1958 and was elected president in December of that year. Also resulting from the Algerian conflict, were decades of increased immigration from the Maghreb states, which functioned to change the composition of French society.  The French had believed that the immigrants would assimilate into French society, but over time the opposite occurred as the groups came to think of themselves not so much by their separate African nation ancestry but instead by their Islamic background.  Enclaves of 'nations within a nation' would eventually form where all signs would be in Arabic.  This would cause further trouble in modern times.  

Finally, on May 13, 1958, the government structure collapsed as a result of the negative public opinion pressures generated by four years of war in Algeria. A threatened coup led the Parliament to call on General de Gaulle to head the government and prevent civil war. Marking the beginning of the Fifth Republic, he became prime minister in June 1958 and was elected president in December of that year. Also resulting from the Algerian conflict, were decades of increased immigration from the Maghreb states, which functioned to change the composition of French society.  The French had believed that the immigrants would assimilate into French society, but over time the opposite occurred as the groups came to think of themselves not so much by their separate African nation ancestry but instead by their Islamic background.  Enclaves of 'nations within a nation' would eventually form where all signs would be in Arabic.  This would cause further trouble in modern times.