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IN BETWEEN convulsions, France is one of the most conservative countries in Europe. The average Frenchman prizes stability and tranquility above all other political ideals and is prepared to lean over the edge of chaos in quest of them; but he enjoys the counterpoint of a good crisis, too, provided he can feel sure that it will not get out of hand and does not really mean anything.

For nearly two years the Fifth Republic served him well. Stability seemed assured by the mere presence in the presidential palace of General Charles de Gaulle. At the same time there was an almost continuous crisis: the perpetually bubbling caldron of the Algerian war, Soustelle's resignation, trouble with the army, the "barricades" uprising in Algiers, the torture controversy, the seizure of opposition papers, the teachers' campaign against the subsidization of Catholic Schools, Pinay's departure, the revolt of the moderates against the General's European and nuclear policies.

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