Moch was born into a renowned French Jewish military family, the son of Captain
Gaston Moch and Rébecca Alice Pontremoli. His grandfather was Colonel
Jules Moch. His upbringing occurred during a growing socialist movement in France. He was in
Polytechnique along with
Alfred Dreyfus. As an engineer (
polytechnicien) who took part in the
X-Crise Group, he was a socialist member of Parliament for
Drôme and then
Hérault from 1928 to 1936 and from 1937 to 1940. He was
Under-secretary of State in prime minister
Léon Blum's office (1937) and became
Minister of Public Works in 1938. During
World War II Moch was critical of the
Vichy French government and was jailed but later was released. He joined and helped organise the Paris underground. He also helped other
French Resistance activities in France. When the
Free French Naval Forces was organized, he rallied to
de Gaulle in 1942 and participated in the
Invasion of Normandy toward the Free French
Liberation of France with the
Allies. After World War II, Moch was a member of the
Consultative Assembly (1944) and of the two
Constituent National Assemblies (1945–1946) and then of the
National Assembly (1946–1958 and 1962–1967). He was a
Cabinet Minister eight times during the
Fourth Republic, heading the Ministries of Public works and Transportation (1945–1947), Interior (1947–1950), and Defence (1950–1951). As
Transport Minister, he contributed to the rebuilding of railways, ports, roads, aviation, and the Navy. As Interior Minister, he had to deal with the communist-inspired
great strikes in November 1947 and showed great firmness. In the Defence Ministry, he contributed to the modernisation of the army, organised French participation in the
Korean War and the implementation of
NATO. He also suggested and participated in the forming of the
Baghdad Pact for the
Middle East. He fought the Gaullist and Communist Parties during the Fourth Republic and was one of the leaders of the
Troisième Force. Moch was
deputy prime minister from 1949 to 1950, and France's delegate at the
UN Disarmament Commission from 1951 to 1960. As
rapporteur of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he opposed the
European Community of Defence, which was defeated by the National Assembly in 1954. His last ministerial post was in
Pierre Pflimlin's government in May 1958 where he played an important role in the
May 1958 crisis of French Algeria, as Interior Minister. He left the
Socialist Party in 1975. He was married to Germaine Picard, one of the first woman lawyers of France. She was also an active advocate of the
women's rights movement in France and Europe. Though other noted individuals lay claim, it is alleged that the name
Cold War was officially "coined" after a speech he made in 1948 over his concern on the growing rift that developed between the
Allies of Western Europe and the
Warsaw Pact Forces of Eastern Europe. == Publications ==