View source for Le Monde

=== 1944–1968: Foundation and establishment as a newspaper of record ===
[[File:5, rue des italiens, Paris, France.JPG|thumb|The editorial offices of ''Le Monde'' were located at 5, Rue des Italiens, Paris, from its creation until 1989 (photograph taken in 2015).]]

The first issue of ''Le Monde'' was published on 18 December 1944,<ref>{{cite book |author=Collectif |title=Le guide de la presse |publisher=Alphom |year=2002 |isbn=2-9508627-1-3 |location=Mâcon |pages=108–110 |language=French |trans-title=The Press Guide}}</ref> dated 19 December 1944, and consisted of a single double-sided page. It succeeded the newspaper ''[[Le Temps (Paris)|Le Temps]]'', which had been shut down under the {{Interlanguage link|Ordinances of 1944 on the press|fr|Ordonnances de 1944 sur la presse}} targeting publications that appeared during the [[German occupation of France during World War II]]. The premises of ''Le Temps'' were requisitioned and its equipment seized. ''Le Monde'', as beneficiary of this confiscation, adopted its format and layout, took over much of its editorial staff, workers, and employees, as well as its former offices on Rue des Italiens, where it would remain for 44 years. This location earned it the nickname "the Rue des Italiens daily".

[[Charles de Gaulle|General de Gaulle]], who wished to provide [[France]] with a "prestige newspaper" oriented toward international affairs and serving as an unofficial voice of the Republic, was a driving force behind its creation.{{Sfn|Eveno|1996|p=53}} He tasked his [[Ministry of Information (France)|Minister of Information]], [[Pierre-Henri Teitgen]], with finding a director, a difficult task since many press figures of the time had either collaborated during the occupation or were already leading newspapers of the [[French Resistance|clandestine press]].{{Sfn|Eveno|2001|p=24}} [[Georges Bidault]], president of the [[National Council of the Resistance]], suggested Hubert Beuve-Méry. Beuve-Méry hesitated for a long time, as he sought to run a newspaper independent of political, economic, and religious powers.

On 11 December 1944, Hubert Beuve-Méry founded the limited liability company (SARL) ''Le Monde'' with capital of 200,000 francs divided into 200 shares. Its first editorial committee also included [[René Courtin]], a professor of law, and Christian Funck-Brentano, formerly responsible for press matters in General de Gaulle's cabinet.{{Sfn|Eveno|2004|p=33}} Like ''Le Temps'', the daily was intended for elites, and reached a circulation of 150,000 copies as early as 1945. Born in the shadow of political power, ''Le Monde'' gradually emancipated itself under Beuve-Méry, who secured its editorial independence during the [[Cold War]] and the [[First Indochina War]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Annie Finkeldei |title=Histoire et idéologie du journal Le Monde |publisher=Verlag Shaker |year=1993 |page=61 |language=French |trans-title=History and Ideology of the Newspaper Le Monde}}</ref>

Employees have played a central role in the management of the newspaper. In 1951, the ''Le Monde'' Journalists' Society was created to safeguard the paper's [[editorial independence]]. It was initially allocated just over 28% of the shares of SARL Le Monde.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jacques Thibau |title=Le Monde : Histoire d'un journal, un journal dans l'Histoire |publisher=J.-C. Simoën |year=1978 |page=239 |language=French |trans-title=Le Monde: History of a Newspaper, a Newspaper in History}}</ref> (This was followed by companies representing employees and managers in 1968, and readers in 1985.) In 1956, ''Le Monde'' became the owner of its building at 5 Rue des Italiens. From the early 1960s onward, its circulation expanded rapidly, tripling over 20 years, from 137,433 copies in 1960 to 347,783 in 1971, and nearly 500,000 by the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Laurent Martin |title=La presse écrite en France au XXe siècle |publisher=Le Livre de poche |language=French |trans-title=The Written Press in France in the 20th Century}}</ref>

This financial and editorial independence was also political. The newspaper became a meeting point for several major currents of thought, primarily linked to [[Christian democracy]] in domestic affairs and to moderate [[anti-colonialism]] in foreign policy.

These positions generated debate. In addition to tensions with de Gaulle, [[Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber]], head of the foreign affairs section, left the newspaper in the early 1950s, criticizing what he saw as its neutralism in East–West relations.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jacques Thibau |title=Le Monde : 1944–1996 |publisher=Plon |year=1996 |isbn=2-259-18299-2 |location=Paris |page=195 |language=French}}</ref> In 1954, ''[[Le Monde diplomatique]]'' was launched.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Le Monde diplomatique fête ses 50 ans
 |trans-title=Le Monde diplomatique celebrates its 50th anniversary
 |website=L'Obs
 |date=10 May 2004
 |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/culture/20040507.OBS8920/le-monde-diplomatique-fete-ses-50-ans.html
 |access-date=16 December 2025
}}</ref> In 1955–1956, the [[Conseil national du patronat français]], chaired by [[Georges Villiers]], considered ''Le Monde'' too left-leaning and decided to support the launch of a competing daily, ''{{Interlanguage link|Le Temps de Paris|fr}}''. The operation was coordinated by {{Interlanguage link|Jean Jardin|fr}}, a former close adviser to [[Pierre Laval]]. When the first issue appeared in March 1956, Beuve-Méry was reassured by what he considered the competitor's mediocre quality; publication ceased after only a few months.

In 1957, the newspaper refused to publish an article by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] on the use of [[torture during the Algerian War]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Anne Mathieu |date=1 November 2004 |title=Jean-Paul Sartre et la guerre d'Algérie |trans-title=Jean-Paul Sartre and the Algerian War |url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2004/11/MATHIEU/11678 |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> Under the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]], the newspaper supported General de Gaulle's foreign policy,<ref>{{cite book |author=Jacques Thibau |title=Le Monde : 1944–1996 |publisher=Plon |year=1996 |isbn=2-259-18299-2 |location=Paris |pages=322–323 |language=French}}</ref> while criticizing his domestic policies.