Fourth Republic

American  

noun

1. the republic established in France in 1945 and replaced by the Fifth Republic in 1958.

---

Fourth Republic British  

noun

1. the fourth period of republican government in France or the republic itself (1945–58)

---

Example Sentences

The move is perfectly legal, and it has been enshrined in the Constitution since its inception in 1958 — part of several institutional tools that Charles de Gaulle, then France’s leader, insisted upon in order to rein in the parliamentary instability of France’s Fourth Republic and give the executive stronger control.

From New York Times

“The government was forced to repress these social movements, for months and months,” said Mr. Blanchard, author of a notable study of boisterous 1958 police demonstrations that helped to bring down the French Fourth Republic.

From New York Times

It was the third head of state under the Fourth Republic, President Atta Mills, who wanted to celebrate Nkrumah as Ghana's founder.

From BBC

With a disgusted look, she said, “It’s been like this since the Fourth Republic,” the forty-year period of democracy that preceded Chávez.

From The New Yorker

Political instability festered in mainland France during the war, leading to the 1958 collapse of the Fourth Republic, which had been erected in the wake of France’s liberation from Nazi Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal