The French statesman Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934) served as president of France during World War I and four times as its premier.

French politics from 1912 to 1929 was largely dominated by the figures of Raymond Poincaré and Georges Clemenceau. As premier, and then as president before World War I, Poincaré pursued a nationalistic policy that contributed toward world tension. During World War I he entrusted the premiership to Clemenceau. Returning to active politics in 1922, Poincaré, as premier, followed an intransigent policy toward Germany, occupying the Ruhr in order to ensure German payment of reparations, an action that contributed to economic collapse in Germany. He also dealt effectively with French financial crises in 1924 and 1926.

Education and Early Career

Poincaré was born at Bar-le-Duc in Lorraine on Aug. 20, 1860. The son of a meteorologist and civil servant, he was educated at the lycées of Bar-le-Duc and...