In unison, French Communists stood up in the National Assembly and cried, 150 voices strong: "Popular Front!" The other politicians in the divided Assembly, though they clapped their hands over their ears and refused to listen, could not entirely shut out the echoing, uncomfortable sound.
In the new National Assembly's organizing sessions, the Communists politely withdrew their own candidate, aged hack Marcel Cachin, and made possible the speedy election of 71-year-old Socialist André Le Troquer as Assembly president (Speaker). Without their support, he had been a poor third in the voting.
Then came time for that oft-repeated ritual, the summoning of...
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