The son of
Eugène Caillaux, he studied law and attended lectures at the
École des Sciences Politiques. He entered the civil service in 1888 as an inspector of finance, and spent most of his official career in
Algiers. Standing as a
Republican candidate in the elections of 1898 for the department of the
Sarthe, in opposition to the Duc de la Rochefoucault-Bisaccia, he was elected to the
Chamber of Deputies by 12,929 votes to 11,737. He became
Minister of Finance in the
Waldeck-Rousseau Cabinet, and after its fall it was not until the
Clemenceau Ministry of 1906 that he returned to office, once more with the portfolio of Finance. During the
revolt of the Languedoc winegrowers on 22 May 1907 Caillaux tabled a bill on wine fraud. The text submitted to Parliament provided for an annual declaration of their harvest by wine growers, prohibition of second-cycle sweetening, and control and taxation of purchases of sugar. In 1911 he became prime minister. The leader of the
Radicals, he favored a policy of conciliation with Germany during his premiership from 1911 to 1912, which led to the maintenance of the peace during the
Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911. He and his ministers were forced to resign on 11 January 1912, after it was revealed that he had secretly negotiated with Germany without the knowledge of President
Armand Fallières. Nevertheless, thanks to his undoubted qualities as a financier, he remained a great power in French politics. He fought the
Three Years' Service bill with the utmost tenacity. Although that measure became law, it was he who finally, on the financial aspect of that bill, brought about the downfall of the
Barthou Ministry in the autumn of 1913. After a long delay, he was convicted of high treason by the High Court of the Senate, and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, the term he had already served. He was also forbidden to reside in French territory for five years and deprived of civil rights for ten years. On 10 July 1940, Caillaux voted as a Senator in favour of granting the cabinet presided by Marshal
Philippe Pétain authority to draw up a new constitution, thereby effectively ending the
French Third Republic and establishing
Vichy France. Joseph Caillaux is interred in the
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His political collaborators included the Nord region journalist and politician
Émile Roche. ==Caillaux's Ministry, 27 June 1911 – 11 January 1912==