On May 10, 1981, François Mitterrand (PS) won the second round of the presidential election against Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (UDF) and became the first socialist president of the Fifth Republic founded in 1958. With nearly 52% of the vote facing the outgoing, the election of François Mitterrand capsizes with joy the people on the left and terrorizes those on the right, afraid to see Communist tanks land on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

20 Minutes

returns, thanks to archive images, in the effervescence of the country between May 10 and May 21, 1981. 

From election day to the handover of power, relive this moment of history forty years later.


Director:

Olivier JUSZCZAK

See the slideshow

  • Slideshow

  • François Mitterrand

  • History

  • Photo

  • Politics