1951 in France
Incumbents
- President: Vincent Auriol
- President of the Council of Ministers:
- until 10 March: René Pleven
- 10 March-11 August: Henri Queuille
- starting 11 August: René Pleven
Events
- 13 January – Battle of Vĩnh Yên begins in Vietnam.{{Cite book |last=Gras |first=Yves |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26705985 |title=Histoire de la guerre d'Indochine |date=1992 |publisher=Editions Denoël |isbn=2-207-23958-6 |location=[Paris] |oclc=26705985}}
- 17 January – Battle of Vĩnh Yên ends in decisive defeat for the Việt Minh forces.
- 23 March – Battle of Mạo Khê begins.
- 28 March – Battle of Mạo Khê ends in the defeat of Việt Minh forces.
- April – Magazine Cahiers du cinéma is first published.
- 18 April – Treaty of Paris adopted, establishing European Coal and Steel Community.
- 17 June – Legislative Election is held to elect the second National Assembly of the Fourth Republic.
- 11 August – René Pleven becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 10 November – Battle of Hòa Bình begins.
- December – Engagements in the Battle of Hòa Bình continue.
Sport
- The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand is conducted.{{Cite web |title=The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2CBVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3968,4148602 |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=news.google.com}}
- 4 July – Tour de France begins.
- 29 July – Tour de France ends, won by Hugo Koblet of Switzerland.
Births
- 10 January – Nicolas Philibert, film director and actor
- 13 January – Bernard Loiseau, chef (died 2003)
- 6 February – Jacques Villeret, actor (died 2005)
- 11 October – Jean-Jacques Goldman, singer and songwriter
- 6 November – Alain Etchegoyen, philosopher and novelist (died 2007)
Deaths
- 7 January
- René Guénon, orientalist and philosopher (born 1886)
- Lucien Cuénot, biologist (born 1866)
- 26 January – Henri Bard, international soccer player (born 1892)
- 19 February – André Gide, author and winner of Nobel Prize in literature in 1947 (born 1869)
- 2 June – Émile Chartier, philosopher, journalist and pacifist (born 1868)
- 21 June – Gustave Sandras, artistic gymnast (born 1872)
- 23 July – Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France, later Chief of State of Vichy France (born 1856)
- 11 November – César Vezzani, opera singer (born 1888)