After the rejection of a first constitutional draft (5 May 1946 referendum), a new provisional National Assembly was elected to elaborate a second text.

The Christian democrat leader Georges Bidault (Popular Republican Movement, MRP) led a government which included socialists (French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO) and Communists (French Communist Party, PCF).

Advocating a presidential government, General Charles de Gaulle campaigned for a "No" vote.

Consequently, the PCF leader Maurice Thorez demanded to lead the government but his allies refused.

The SFIO, the MRP, the Radicals and the classical right allied to form the Third Force coalition, against the Communists on the one hand and the Gaullists on the other.