# Provisional Government restores republican legality (1944)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1944-provisional-government-restores-republican-legality
Location: France

De Gaulle’s government rejected Vichy as illegitimate and reestablished republican institutions. Within the broader Occupation, Liberation & Fourth Republic period, Defeat in 1940 divided France between Vichy, occupation and resistance. Liberation restored republican government, followed by reconstruction, welfare-state building, European integration and violent decolonization under the Fourth Republic. At this point in the timeline, the relevant governing authority is Charles de Gaulle (Leader of the Provisional Government). Provisional Government restores republican legality is a useful marker in the longer transformation of political authority, society and culture in France. The event is positioned here so visitors can read it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion, culture and France’s wider international setting.

## Why it matters
Provisional Government restores republican legality is a useful marker in the longer transformation of political authority, society and culture in France.

Ruler at the time: [Charles de Gaulle](https://history-france.com/rulers/charles-de-gaulle-1940)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Provisional Government restores republican legality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Provisional+Government+restores+republican+legality&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Provisional Government restores republican legality](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Provisional+Government+restores+republican+legality)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)