and bring an end to the strikes. Blum brought in measures to control cereal prices, to insist for the Banque de France to place the national interest above that of the shareholders and nationalise the armaments industry. The left wanted further change, and the right was still displeased and believed that state involvement in a capitalist economy would bring disaster. The Radicals would not accept currency controls, and the unrest resulting in capital fleeing abroad, which weakened the economy. Employers trying to minimise the effects of the Matignon Agreements created more social tension and, in turn, a further flight of capital. Devaluation of the franc by 30% became inevitable, despite earlier government assurances that it would not happen. In January 1937, Blum went further and announced "a pause" to social reforms. The Senate refused to give him emergency powers to cope with the recession, and he resigned on 20 June 1937. The first Popular Front began to fall apart, and a second had even less success. French President Lebrun called on the Radical leader, Édouard Daladier, to form a new government without the Socialists. Daladier tried to rely on liberal economics to rescue or keep afloat the economy in a worldwide sea of financial difficulties. Employers and police acted harshly against strikers and were determined to root out "troublemakers". In 1938, the Senate gave Daladier the emergency powers that Blum had been denied, and the government favoured employers over workers in industrial disputes, particularly in companies that had come close to coming under the control of their workers. Under Daladier, economic conditions slightly improved, despite a backdrop of growing, increasingly vocal communist and fascist movements. The gains, however, were greatly caused by the growth of the armaments industry. On 3 September 1939, France declared war on Germany, which had invaded Poland. See also Groupe X-Crise References Further reading Beaudry, Paul, and Franck Portier. "The French depression in the 1930s." Review of Economic Dynamics(2002) 5#1 pp: 73–99; Uses mathematics and econometrics Bridji, Slim. "The French Great Depression: A business cycle accounting analysis." Explorations in Economic History (2013) 50#3 pp: 427–445; Uses econometrics Colton, Joel. Leon Blum: Humanist in Politics (1987) excerpt and text search Laufenburger, Henry. "France and the Depression," International Affairs (1936) 15#2 pp. 202–224 in JSTOR Peel, George. "The Economic Situation in France," International Affairs (1938) 17#2 pp. 168–186 in JSTOR Weber, Eugen. The Hollow Years: France in the