# Nationalization program expands (1946)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1946-nationalization-program-expands
Location: France

Banks, energy companies and major industries entered public ownership during reconstruction. 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 Free France / Provisional Government). Nationalization program expands mattered because it changed material life, state capacity, economic networks or France’s ability to project power. 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
Nationalization program expands mattered because it changed material life, state capacity, economic networks or France’s ability to project power.

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

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