<P> However, the depression had some effects on the local economy, and partly explains the February 6, 1934 riots and even more the formation of the Popular Front, led by SFIO socialist leader Léon Blum, which won the elections in 1936 . </P> <P> France's relatively high degree of self - sufficiency meant the damage was considerably less than in nations like Germany . </P> <P> Hardship and unemployment were high enough to lead to rioting and the rise of the socialist Popular Front, which won the 1936 elections with a coalition of Socialists and Radicals, and support from the Communists . Léon Blum became the first Socialist prime minister . </P> <P> The election brought a massive wave of strikes, with involving 2 million workers, and their seizure of many factories and stores . The strikes were spontaneous and unorganized, but nevertheless the business community panicked and met secretly with Blum, Who negotiated a series of reforms, and then gave labor unions the credit for the Matignon Accords . The new laws: </P>

By late 1794 the french army was larger than any other in european history