Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
generalA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
and statesman who led the
Free French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He later founded the
French Fifth RepublicThe Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on 5 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969.
In France, he is commonly referred to as
Général de Gaulle or simply
Le Général, or by his detractors as "la Grande Zora".
A veteran of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, in the 1920s and 1930s de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of armoured warfare and advocate of military aviation, which he considered a means to break the stalemate of
trench warfareTrench warfare was a form of warfare in which both combatants occupied static fortified fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops were largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and were substantially sheltered from artillery. It has become a byword for stalemate in...
. During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he reached the temporary rank of
Brigadier GeneralBrigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General.The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade in the field...
, leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940
Fall of FranceIn World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed from 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations...
, and then organised the
Free French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
with exiled French officers in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Prior to escaping to England, he gave a famous radio address in June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
.
Following the liberation of France in 1944, de Gaulle became
prime ministerThe Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the functional head of the government and Council of Ministers of France. The head of state in France is the President of the French Republic...
in the
French Provisional GovernmentThe Provisional Government of the French Republic was an interim government which governed France from 1944 to 1946, following the fall of Vichy France and prior to the Fourth French Republic....
.
Although he retired from politics in 1946 due to political conflicts, he was returned to power with military support following the May 1958 crisis. De Gaulle led the writing of a new constitution founding the Fifth Republic,
and was elected President of France.
As president, Charles de Gaulle ended the political chaos and violence that preceded his return to power. Although he initially supported French rule over
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
, he controversially decided to grant independence to that country, ending an expensive and unpopular war but leaving France divided. A new currency was issued in January 1960 to control inflation and industrial growth was promoted. De Gaulle oversaw the development of atomic weapons and promoted a pan-European foreign policy, seeking to diminish U.S. and British influence; withdrawing France from the
NATO military commandThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
, he objected to Britain's entry into the
European CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
and he recognised
Communist ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
. During his term, de Gaulle also faced controversy and political opposition from
CommunistsThe French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, it is the forth french party and remains the largest party in France advocating communist views, and retains a large membership The...
and Socialists, and a spate of widespread protests in May 1968. De Gaulle retired in 1969, but remains the most influential leader in modern French history.
Early life and military career
De Gaulle was born in
LilleLille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, the second of five children of
Henri de GaulleHenri de Gaulle was a French bureaucrat and later a teacher. He was the father of Charles de Gaulle, a military general and President of France....
, a professor of philosophy and literature at a Jesuit college, who eventually founded his own school. He was raised in a family of devout Roman Catholics who were nationalist and traditionalist, but also quite progressive.
De Gaulle's father, Henri, came from a long line of
aristocratsThe aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in society, who traditionally have land, money, and power. They are often members of a hereditary nobility that derives its stature from a lineage traceable to the original inhabitants or rulers of a region...
from
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
and Burgundy, while his mother, Jeanne Maillot, descended from a family of rich entrepreneurs from the industrial region of
LilleLille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
in
French FlandersFrench Flanders is a part of the historical, originally Dutch-speaking region Flanders in present-day France. The region today lies in the modern-day region of Nord-Pas de Calais, the department of Nord, and roughly corresponds to the arrondissements of Lille, Douai and Dunkirk on the Belgian...
.
According to Henri, the family's true origin was never determined, but could have been Celtic or Flemish. He thought that the name could be derived from the word
gaule—a long pole which was used in the Middle Ages to beat olives from the trees. Another source has the name deriving from
Galle, meaning "oak" in the
Gaulish languageThe Gaulish language is the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul, Switzerland, eastern Belgium and western Germany before being supplanted by Vulgar Latin, Dutch and German from around the 4th century A.D onwards. Gaulish is paraphyletically grouped with Celtiberian, Lepontic, and Galatian as...
, and the sacred tree of the druids.
Since de Gaulle's family hailed from French Flanders, the name could also be a francisised form of the common
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
Van de walle meaning
From the moat.
De Gaulle was educated in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the
College StanislasCollège Stanislas is the name of three schools:*Collège Stanislas de Paris, France*Collège Stanislas, with two locations in Quebec, Canada*Stanislas College, The Netherlands...
and also briefly in
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. Since childhood, he had displayed a keen interest in reading and studying history. Choosing a military career, de Gaulle spent four years studying and training at the elite military academy,
Saint-CyrThe École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr. Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish." or "Training for victory". French cadet officers are named "saint-cyriens", or "cyrards"...
. While there, and because of his height, high forehead, and nose, he acquired the nicknames of "the great asparagus". and "Cyrano". Graduating in 1912, he joined the 33rd
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
regimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
of the
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
, based at
ArrasArras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
. While serving during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, he was wounded and captured at
DouaumontDouaumont is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.The village was destroyed during World War I. Today the Douaumont ossuary, which contains the remains of more than 100,000 unknown soldiers of both nationalities found on the battlefield, stands high above the...
in the
Battle of VerdunThe Battle of Verdun was one of the critical battles during World War I on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February to 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
in March 1916. While being held as a
prisoner of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
by the
German ArmyThe German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed of Army, the Navy, and an Air Force after World War I. It was reinstalled in 1955 as the West German Army and as a part of the newly formed...
, de Gaulle wrote his first book, co-written by Matthieu Butler, "L'Ennemi et le vrai ennemi" (
The Enemy and the True Enemy), analyzing the issues and divisions within the
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
and its forces; the book was published in 1924. After the
armisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
, de Gaulle continued to serve in the army and on the staff of General
Maxime WeygandMaxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II. Weygand is remembered for initially fighting the German invasion of France in 1940, then surrendering to and collaborating with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime.-Early years:Weygand was born in Brussels...
's
military mission to PolandThe French Military Mission to Poland was an effort by France to aid the nascent Second Polish Republic after it achieved its independence in November, 1918, at the end of the First World War. The aim was to provide aid during the Polish-Soviet War , and to create a strong Polish military to serve...
during its
war with Communist RussiaThe Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, four states in post-World War I Europe. The war was the result of the belligerents' desire to expand their territories and their influence...
(1919-1921), working as an instructor to Polish infantry forces. He distinguished himself in operations near the River Zbrucz and won the highest Polish military decoration, the
Virtuti MilitariThe Order Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for courage in the face of the enemy. It was created in 1792 by Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski and is considered as one of the oldest military decorations in the world still in use.It is awarded in five classes either...
.
He was promoted to
CommandantCommandant is a military or police title or rank. In the French, Spanish and Irish militaries it is a rank equivalent to Major. In anglophone nations it is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy.-India:In the British Indian Army, the...
and offered a further career in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, but chose instead to return to France, where he served as a staff officer and also taught at the
École MilitaireThe École Militaire is a vast complex of buildings housing various military training facilities located in Paris, France, southeast of the Champ de Mars....
, becoming a protégé of his old commander, Marshal
Philippe PétainHenri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
. De Gaulle was heavily influenced by the use of tanks, rapid maneuvers and limited trench warfare.
In the 1930 - early 1940s, de Gaulle wrote various books and articles on military subjects that revealed him to be a gifted writer and an imaginative thinker. In 1931, he published
Le fil de l’épée (Eng. tr.,
The Edge of the Sword, 1960), an analysis of military and political leadership. He also published
Vers l’armée de métier (1934; Eng. tr.,
The Army of the Future, 1941) and
La France et son armée (1938; Eng. tr.,
France and Her Army, 1945). He urged the creation of a mechanised army with special armoured divisions manned by a corps of professional specialist soldiers instead of the static theories exemplified by the
Maginot LineThe Maginot Line , named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in the light of experience from World War I,...
. While views similar to de Gaulle's were later advanced by Britain's
J.F.C. FullerMajor General John Frederick Charles Fuller CB, CBE, DSO, commonly J.F.C. Fuller, , was a British Army officer, military historian and strategist, notable as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising principles of warfare...
, Germany's
Heinz GuderianHeinz Wilhelm Guderian was a military theorist and innovative General of the German Army during the Second World War. Germany's panzer forces were raised and fought according to his works, best-known among them Achtung - Panzer!...
, United States'
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
and
George S. PattonGeorge Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer most famous for his leadership commanding corps and armies as a general in World War II...
, Russia's
Mikhail TukhachevskyMikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Soviet military commander, chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Stalin's Great Purge of the late 1930s.-Early life:...
, and Poland's General Władysław Sikorski, most of de Gaulle's theories were rejected by other French army officers, including his mentor Pétain with whom relations consequently became strained. French politicians also dismissed de Gaulle's ideas, questioning the political reliability of a professional army — with the notable exception of
Paul ReynaudPaul Reynaud was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany...
, who would play a major role in de Gaulle's career. According to
Albert SpeerAlbert Speer was a German architect who was, for part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...
,
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
himself claimed to have planned the invasion of western Europe with de Gaulle's theories in mind.
De Gaulle would have some contacts with
Ordre Nouveau- 1930s :The Ordre Nouveau was a non-conformist political organization in the 1930s in France, created by Alexandre Marc and influenced by Robert Aron and Arnaud Dandieu's works...
, a
Non-ConformistThe Non-Conformists of the 1930s refers to a nebula of groups and individuals during the inter-war period in France which was looking for new solutions to face the political, economical and social crisis. The name was coined in 1969 by the historian Jean-Louis Loubet del Bayle to describe a...
group with fascist leanings at the end of 1934 and the beginning of 1935.
Free French leader during World War II
At the outbreak of World War II, de Gaulle was only a
colonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, having antagonised the leaders of the military through the 1920s and 1930s with his bold views. Initially commanding a tank brigade in the French 5th Army, de Gaulle implemented many of his theories and tactics for armoured warfare. After the German breakthrough at
SedanSedan is a town and commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France.-Geography:The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around from the Belgian border, and around from Paris.-History:Sedan was founded in 1424...
on 15 May 1940 he was given command of the 4th Armoured Division. On 17 May, de Gaulle attacked
GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
tank forces at
MontcornetMontcornet is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardie in northern France.-Battle of Montcornet:On 14 May 1940, Charles de Gaulle was given command of the new 4th Armored Division and ordered to execute a counterattack toward Montcornet, with the objective of slowing the German advance...
with 200 tanks but no air support; on 28 May, de Gaulle's tanks forced the German infantry to retreat to
CaumontCaumont is the same as Chaumont in common French and the name or part of the name of several communes in France:*Caumont, Aisne, Picardy*Caumont, Ariège, Aquitaine*Caumont, Eure, Haute-Normandie*Caumont, Gers, Aquitaine*Caumont, Gironde, Aquitaine...
—some of the few tactical successes the French enjoyed while suffering defeats across the country. De Gaulle was promoted to the rank of
brigadier generalBrigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General.The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade in the field...
, which he would hold for the rest of his life.
On 6 June, Prime Minister
Paul ReynaudPaul Reynaud was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany...
appointed him Undersecretary of State for National Defense and War and put him in charge of coordination with the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
As a junior member of the French government, he unsuccessfully opposed surrender, advocating instead that the government remove itself to North Africa and carry on the war as best it could from France's African colonies. While serving as a liaison with the British government, de Gaulle telephoned Paul Reynaud, the French prime minister, from London on 16 June informing him of the offer by Britain of a Declaration of Union. This would have in effect merged France and the United Kingdom into a single country, with a single government and a single army for the duration of the war. This was a desperate last-minute effort to strengthen the resolve of those members of the French government who were in favor of fighting on.
The man behind the offer of a declaration of union was
Jean MonnetJean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity. Never elected to public office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.-Early years:Monnet was born in Cognac, Charente, into a...
, who was based in London as President of the Franco-British Committee of Co-operation. Monnet had first sought the advice of Desmond Morton, Churchill's Personal Assistant, who suggested that the proposal be put to Churchill through
Neville ChamberlainArthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940...
. The latter interceded with Churchill and the idea was put before the Cabinet, where it was approved. The final document was drafted by
Robert VansittartRobert Gilbert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart, GCB, GCMG, PC was a senior British diplomat in the period before and during World War II. He was also the second cousin of Thomas Edward Lawrence -Diplomatic career:He was educated at Eton College...
, Permanent Secretary to the Foreign Office, in conjunction with Monnet himself, Morton, Sir Arthur Salter, MP for Oxford University, and Monnet's deputy at the Franco-British Committee of Co-operation,
René PlevenRené Pleven was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance , a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement...
.
When the proposal was put before Churchill, he was initially unenthusiastic. However, de Gaulle managed to convince him that "some dramatic move was essential to give Reynaud the support which he needed to keep his Government in the war". Yet despite his endorsement of the extraordinary proposal at the time, de Gaulle later sought to distance himself from it. During an interview in 1964, which was reported in Paris Match shortly after the general's death, de Gaulle had remarked that he and Churchill had tried to improvise something but that neither of them had any illusions. It had been a myth, like other myths, dreamed up by Jean Monnet. This report brought an instant rebuttal from Monnet, who insisted that he had personally informed de Gaulle of the proposition and that the latter had simply acquiesced, albeit with great hesitation. De Gaulle's intervention in the matter had been later.
Returning the same day to
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
, the temporary wartime capital, de Gaulle learned that Marshal Pétain had become prime minister and was planning to seek an
armisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
with Nazi Germany. De Gaulle and allied officers rebelled against the new French government; on the morning of 17 June, de Gaulle and other senior French officers fled the country with 100,000 gold francs in secret funds provided to him by the ex-prime minister Paul Reynaud. Narrowly escaping the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
, he landed safely in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
that afternoon. De Gaulle strongly denounced the French government's decision to seek peace with the Nazis and set about building the
Free French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
out of the soldiers and officers who were deployed outside France and in its colonies or had fled France with him. On 18 June, de Gaulle delivered a famous radio address via the
BBCBBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927...
radio service. Although the British cabinet initially attempted to block the speech, they were overruled by Churchill. De Gaulle's
Appeal of 18 June exhorted the French people to not be demoralised and to continue to resist the occupation of France and work against the
Vichy regimeVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
, which had signed an armistice with Nazi Germany. Although the original speech could only be heard in a few parts of occupied France, de Gaulle's subsequent ones reached many parts of the territories under the Vichy regime, helping to rally the French resistance movement and earning him much popularity amongst the French people and soldiers. On 4 July 1940, a
court-martialA court-martial is a military court. These military courts can determine punishments for members of the military subject to military law who are found guilty or may dismiss the charges based on the evidence and the case presented. Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in...
in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
sentenced de Gaulle
in absentia to four years in prison. At a second court-martial on 2 August 1940 de Gaulle was condemned to death for
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
against the
Vichy regimeVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
.
With British support, de Gaulle settled himself in Berkhamstead (36 miles northwest of London) and began organising the Free French forces. Gradually, the Allies gave increasing support and recognition to de Gaulle's efforts. In dealings with his British allies and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, de Gaulle insisted at all times on retaining full freedom of action on behalf of France, and he was constantly on the verge of being cut off by the Allies. He harbored a suspicion of the British in particular, believing that they were surreptitiously seeking to steal France's colonial possessions in the
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
. Clementine Churchill, who admired de Gaulle, once cautioned him, "General, you must not hate your friends more than you hate your enemies." De Gaulle himself stated famously, "France has no friends, only interests." The situation was nonetheless complex, and de Gaulle's mistrust of both British and U.S. intentions with regards to France was mirrored in particular by a mistrust of the Free French among the U.S. political leadership, who for a long time refused to recognise de Gaulle as the representative of France, preferring to deal with representatives of the Vichy government. Roosevelt in particular hoped that it would be possible to wean Pétain away from Germany.
Working with the
French resistanceThe French Resistance is the collective name used for the French resistance movements which fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy Regime during World War II...
and supporters in France's colonial African possessions after the
Anglo-U.S. invasion of North AfricaOperation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started 8 November 1942....
in November 1942, de Gaulle moved his headquarters to
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
in May, 1943. He became first joint head (with the less resolutely independent General
Henri GiraudHenri Honoré Giraud was a French general who fought in World War I and World War II. Captured in both wars, he escaped each time. After his second escape, he joined the Free French Forces.- Early life :...
, the candidate preferred by the U.S.) and then sole chairman of the
French Committee of National LiberationThe French Committee of National Liberation was a body formed by the French leaders Gens. Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle to provide united leadership, organize and coordinate the campaign to liberate France from Nazi Germany during World War II. The committee was formed on June 3, 1943 and...
.
At the liberation of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
following
Operation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
, he quickly established the authority of the
Free French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
in France, avoiding an
Allied Military Government for Occupied TerritoriesThe Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories was the form of military rule administered by Allied forces during and after World War II within European territories they occupied.-Notable AMGOT:...
. He flew into France from the French colony of
AlgeriaFrench rule of Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. One of France's longest-held overseas territories, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, known as colons and later, as pieds-noirs...
a few days before the liberation of Paris, and drove near the front of the liberating forces into the city alongside Allied officials. De Gaulle made a famous speech emphasising the role of France's people in her liberation.
After his return to Paris, he moved back into his office at the War Ministry, thus proclaiming continuity of the
Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France between the end of the Second French Empire in 1870 and the Vichy Regime after the invasion of France by the German...
and denying the legitimacy of the Vichy regime.
He served as President of the
Provisional Government of the French RepublicThe Provisional Government of the French Republic was an interim government which governed France from 1944 to 1946, following the fall of Vichy France and prior to the Fourth French Republic....
starting in September, 1944. As such he sent the
French Far East Expeditionary CorpsThe French Far East Expeditionary Corps was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army sent in French Indochina in 1945 during the Pacific War.-Pacific War :...
to re-establish French sovereignty in
French Indochina||-|French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900...
in 1945. He made
Admiral d'ArgenlieuGeorges Thierry d'Argenlieu, in religion Louis de la Trinité was a priest, diplomat and French Navy officer and admiral; he became one of the major personalities of the Free French Forces and the Forces navales françaises libres...
High commissioner of French Indochina and
General LeclercPhilippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque , was a French general during World War II; he became Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952....
commander-in-chief in French Indochina and commander of the expeditionary corps. Under de Gaulle's leadership, a joint force of his Free French together with French colonial troops from North Africa enabled France to field an entire army on the western front after
Operation DragoonOperation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France, on August 15, 1944, as part of World War II. The invasion took place between Toulon and Cannes.- Background :...
, the invasion of southern France. This force, the
French First ArmyThe First Army was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.-First World War:...
, helped to liberate almost one third of the country and meant that France actively rejoined the Allies in the struggle against Germany. The French First Army captured a large section of German territory after the allied invasion thus enabling France to be an active participant in the signing of the German surrender. Also, through the intervention of the British and Americans at
YaltaYalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
and despite the resistance of the Russians, a French zone of occupation was created in Germany. De Gaulle finally resigned on 20 January 1946, complaining of conflict between the political parties, and disapproving of the draft constitution for the
Fourth RepublicThe Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
, which he believed placed too much power in the hands of a parliament with its shifting party alliances.
He was succeeded by
Félix GouinFélix Gouin was a French Socialist politician, member of the French Section of the Workers' International .-Personal life:Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of school teachers...
(French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO), then
Georges BidaultGeorges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance...
(
Popular Republican MovementThe Popular Republican Movement was a French Christian democratic party of the Fourth Republic...
, MRP) and finally
Léon BlumAndré Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-Childhood and education:...
(SFIO).
1946–58: Out of power
De Gaulle's opposition to the proposed constitution failed as the parties of the left supported a parliamentary regime. The second draft constitution narrowly approved at the
referendum of October 1946Following the rejection of the constitution proposed to voters in the May 1946 referendum, a new referendum was held that, following its approval, created the French Fourth Republic. Abstention was higher than in the May referendum.-Results:...
was even less to de Gaulle's liking than the first. He then returned to his home at
Colombey-les-Deux-EglisesColombey-les-Deux-Églises is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.The municipality Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises was created administratively in 1793, and it became part of the district of Chaumont and the canton Blaise. In 1801, under the name Colombey, it passed to the...
to write his war memoirs.
In April 1947 de Gaulle made a renewed attempt to transform the political scene by creating a
Rassemblement du Peuple Français (Rally of the French People, or
RPF), but after initial success the movement lost momentum. In May 1953, he withdrew again from active politics, though the
RPF lingered until September 1955.
He once more retired to his country home to continue his war memoirs,
Mémoires de guerre. During this period of formal retirement, however, de Gaulle maintained regular contact with past political lieutenants from wartime and
RPF days, including sympathisers involved in political developments in French Algeria.
1958: Collapse of the Fourth Republic
The
Fourth RepublicThe Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
was tainted by political instability, failures in
Indochina||-|French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900...
and inability to resolve the
Algerian questionThe Algerian War, also known as the Algerian War of Independence or in , was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France...
. It did, however, pass the 1956
loi-cadre Deferre which granted independence to
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
and
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, while the Premier
Pierre Mendès-FrancePierre Mendès France was a French politician.-Third Republic and World War II:Mendès France was educated at the University of Paris, graduating with a doctorate in law and becoming the youngest member of the Paris Bar association in 1928...
put an end to the Indochina War through the
Geneva ConferenceThe Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
of 1954.
On 13 May 1958, settlers seized the government buildings in Algiers, attacking what they saw as French government weakness in the face of demands among the Arab majority for Algerian independence. A "Committee of Civil and Army Public Security" was created under the presidency of General
Jacques MassuJacques Émile Massu was a French general who fought in World War II, First Indochina War, Algerian War and the Suez crisis.-Early life:...
, a Gaullist sympathiser. General
Raoul SalanRaoul Albin Louis Salan was a French Army general and the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. Salan was one of four generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch operation and then founded the Organisation de l'armée secrète.-Biography:Salan was born in Roquecourbe,...
, Commander-in-Chief in Algeria, announced on radio that he was assuming provisional power, and appealed for "confidence in the Army and its leaders".
Under the pressure of Massu, Salan declared
Vive de Gaulle! from the balcony of the Algiers Government-General building on 15 May. De Gaulle answered two days later that he was ready to "assume the powers of the Republic". Many worried as they saw this answer as support for the army.
At a 19 May press conference, de Gaulle asserted again that he was at the disposal of the country. As a journalist expressed the concerns of some who feared that he would violate civil liberties, de Gaulle retorted vehemently:
"Have I ever done that? On the contrary, I have reestablished them when they had disappeared. Who honestly believes that, at age 67, I would start a career as a dictator?"
A republican by conviction, de Gaulle maintained throughout the crisis that he would accept power only from the lawfully constituted authorities.
The crisis deepened as French paratroops from Algeria seized
CorsicaCorsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and a landing near Paris was discussed (
Operation ResurrectionOperation Resurrection was a planned military operation of the French Army that sought to take over the capital Paris in order to force the return of French leader Charles de Gaulle to head the government. Masterminded by Gen. Jacques Massu, the operation was preceded by the "Operation Corse",...
). Political leaders on many sides agreed to support the General's return to power, except
François MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand served as the President of France from 1981 to 1995, elected as representative of the Socialist Party . First elected during the May 1981 presidential election, he became the first socialist President of the Fifth Republic and the first left-wing head of...
,
Pierre Mendès-FrancePierre Mendès France was a French politician.-Third Republic and World War II:Mendès France was educated at the University of Paris, graduating with a doctorate in law and becoming the youngest member of the Paris Bar association in 1928...
,
Alain SavaryAlain Savary was a French Socialist politician, deputy during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party and who held ministerial functions in the 1950s and in 1981, when he was nominated by President François Mitterrand as Minister of National Education.- Life :In 1940, as...
, the Communist Party, and certain other leftists. On 29 May the French President,
René CotyRené Jules Gustave Coty was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president under the French Fourth Republic.-Early life and politics:...
, appealed to the "most illustrious of Frenchmen" to confer with him and to examine what was immediately necessary for the creation of a government of national safety, and what could be done to bring about a profound reform of the country's institutions.
De Gaulle remained intent on replacing the constitution of the Fourth Republic, which he blamed for France's political weakness. (Indeed he had resigned 12 years previously because he believed the parties made the task of government too difficult.) He set as a condition for his return that he be given wide emergency powers for six months and that a new constitution be proposed to the
French peopleFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
. On 1 June 1958, de Gaulle became Premier and was given emergency powers for six months by the National Assembly.
On 28 September 1958, a
referendumFollowing the political crisis that marked the end of the French Fourth Republic in 1958, a referendum on the adoption of a constitution for the French Fifth Republic was held. The new constitution, written by Charles de Gaulle, was overwhelmingly approved....
took place and 79.2 percent of those who voted supported the new constitution and the creation of the
Fifth RepublicThe Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on 5 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
. The colonies (Algeria was officially a part of France, not a colony) were given the choice between immediate
independenceIndependence is the self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, or some portion thereof, generally exercising sovereignty....
and the new constitution. All African colonies voted for the new constitution and the replacement of the
French UnionThe French Union was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial system, the "French Empire" and to abolish its "indigenous" status.-History:...
by the
French CommunityThe French Community was the political entity that replaced the French Union, in 1958. The French Union was the descendant of the French colonial empire following the Second World War. It is included in the 1958 Constitution...
, except
GuineaGuinea, officially Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea . The country's current population is estimated at 10,211,437 ....
, which thus became the first French African colony to gain independence, at the cost of the immediate ending of all French assistance.
According to de Gaulle, the head of state should represent "the spirit of the nation" to the nation itself and to the world: "
une certaine idée de la France" (a certain idea of France).
1958–62: Founding of the Fifth Republic
In the
November 1958 electionsThe French legislative elections took place on 23 and 30 November 1958 to elect the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic.Since 1954, the French Fourth Republic had been mired in the Algerian War. In May 1958, Pierre Pflimlin, a Christian-Democrat, became Prime Minister...
, de Gaulle and his supporters (initially organised in the
Union pour la Nouvelle République-Union Démocratique du Travail, then the
Union des Démocrates pour la Vème République, and later still the
Union des Démocrates pour la RépubliqueUnion of Democrats for the Republic was a Gaullist political party of France from 1971 to 1976.It was the successor to Charles de Gaulle's earlier party, Rally of the French People, and was organised in 1958, along with the founding of the Fifth Republic as the Union for the New Republic , and in...
, UDR) won a comfortable majority. In December, de Gaulle was
elected President by the electoral collegeThe French presidential election of 1958, the first of the French Fifth Republic, took place on December 21, 1958. This was the only French presidential election by the electoral college .-First round:To win, a candidate...
with 78% of the vote, and inaugurated in January 1959.
He oversaw tough economic measures to revitalise the country, including the issuing of a new
francThe franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the French franc, the currency of France until it adopted the euro in 1999 , and the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions...
(worth 100 old francs). Internationally, he rebuffed both the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, pushing for an independent France with its own
nuclear weaponA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion...
s, and strongly encouraged a "Free Europe", believing that a confederation of all European nations would restore the past glories of the great European empires. He set about building
Franco-German cooperationThe relations between France and Germany is embodied in a cooperation called Franco-German Friendship . This came about after 1945, when a French-German enmity between the two countries ended....
as the cornerstone of the
European Economic CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
(EEC), paying the first
state visitA state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
to
GermanyWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
by a French head of state since Napoleon. In January 1963, Germany and France signed a treaty of friendship, the
Élysée TreatyÉlysée Treaty also known as the Treaty of Friendship, was concluded by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in 1963.
It set the seal on reconciliation between the two countries. With it, Germany and France established a new foundation for relations that ended centuries of rivalry between them...
. France also reduced its
dollarThe dollar is the name of the official currency in several countries, including Australia, Canada, the Eastern Caribbean territories, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States.-History:...
reserves, trading them for
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
from the U.S. government, thereby reducing the US' economic influence abroad.
On 23 November 1959, in a speech in
StrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in France...
, de Gaulle announced his vision for Europe:
His expression, "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals", has often been cited throughout the history of
European integrationEuropean integration is the process of political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
. It became, for the next ten years, a favourite political rallying cry of de Gaulle's. His vision stood in contrast to the
AtlanticismAtlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations regarding political, economic, and defense issues, with the purpose to maintain the security of the participating countries, and to protect the values that unite them: "democracy, individual liberty and...
of the United States and Britain, preferring instead a Europe that would act as a third pole between the United States and the Soviet Union. By including in his ideal of Europe all the territory up to the Urals, de Gaulle was implicitly offering
détenteDétente is a French term, meaning a relaxing or easing; the term has been used in international politics since the early 1970s. Generally, it may be applied to any international situation where previously hostile nations not involved in an open war de-escalate tensions through diplomacy and...
to the Soviets, while his phrase was also interpreted as excluding the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
from a future Europe.
Upon becoming president, de Gaulle was faced with the urgent task of finding a way to bring to an end the bloody and divisive war in Algeria. French left-wingers were in favour of granting independence to Algeria and urged him to seek a way to achieve peace while, at the same time, avoiding a French loss of face. This stance greatly angered the French settlers and their metropolitan supporters, and de Gaulle was forced to suppress two uprisings in Algeria by French settlers and troops, in the second of which (the Generals' Putsch in April 1961) France herself was threatened with
invasionAn invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
by rebel paratroops. De Gaulle's government also covered up the
Paris massacre of 1961The Paris massacre of 1961 refers to a massacre in Paris on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War . Under orders from the head of the Parisian police, Maurice Papon, the French police attacked a peaceful but illegal demonstration of some 30,000 pro-FLN Algerians...
, issued under the orders of the police prefect
Maurice PaponMaurice Papon was a French civil servant, industrial leader and Gaullist politician, convicted for crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II when he was secretary general for police of the Prefecture of Bordeaux.Papon also participated...
. He was also targeted by the settlers' resistance group Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS) and several
assassinationAn Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....
attempts were made on him; the most famous is that of 22 August 1962, when he and his wife narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when their
Citroën DSThe Citroën DS is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1955 and 1975. Styled by Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni, the DS is known for its futuristic body design and innovative technology, including a hydropneumatic self-levelling...
was targeted by
machine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rifle bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute...
fire arranged by Colonel
Jean-Marie Bastien-ThiryJean Bastien-Thiry was a French military air weaponry engineer who attempted to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle on 22 August 1962, to try to prevent Algerian independence.-Life:...
at the Petit-
ClamartClamart is a commune in the south-western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 8.7 km from the center of Paris.The city is divided into two parts, separated by a forest: bas Clamart, the historical centre, and petit Clamart with urbanization developed in the 1960s replacing pea...
. After a
referendum on Algerian self-determinationA referendum concerning self-determination for French Algeria was held on January 8, 1961. Three-quarters of voters approved the referendum....
carried out in 1961, de Gaulle arranged a cease-fire in Algeria with the March 1962
Evian AccordsThe Évian Accords comprise a treaty which was signed on March 18, 1962 in Évian-les-Bains, France by France and the F.L.N. . The Accords put an end to the Algerian War with a formal cease-fire proclaimed for March 19, and formalized the idea of cooperative exchange between the two countries...
, legitimated by another
referendumA referendum to approve the Évian Accords ending the Algerian War and granting self determination to Algeria was held in France on April 8, 1962...
a month later. Although the Algerian issue was settled, Prime Minister Michel Debré resigned over the final settlement and was replaced with Georges Pompidou on 14 April 1962. Algeria became independent in July 1962, while an amnesty was belatedly issued covering all crimes committed during the
warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
, including the genocide against the Harkis. In just a few months in 1962, 900,000 French settlers left the country. The exodus accelerated after the
Oran massacre of 1962The Oran massacre of 1962 was a massacre of European—mostly French—civilians in Oran, Algeria on July 5, 1962, at the end of the Algerian War . Estimates of the death toll vary widely, from a low of 95 to a high of 3,500. -Background:...
when it became clear that the
Evian AccordsThe Évian Accords comprise a treaty which was signed on March 18, 1962 in Évian-les-Bains, France by France and the F.L.N. . The Accords put an end to the Algerian War with a formal cease-fire proclaimed for March 19, and formalized the idea of cooperative exchange between the two countries...
would not be enforced and that the French government had no intention of protecting the settlers there.
In September 1962, de Gaulle sought a constitutional amendment to allow the president to be directly elected by the people and issued another
referendum to this endA referendum concerning the election of the President of France through universal suffrage was held in France on 28 October 1962, at the behest of president Charles de Gaulle...
. After a motion of censure voted by the Parliament on 4 October 1962, de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and held
new electionsFrench legislative elections took place on 18 November and 25 November 1962 to elect the 2nd National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.Since 1959 and the change of Algerian policy , France faced bomb attacks by the Secret Armed Organization which opposed the...
. Although the left progressed, the Gaullists won an increased majority—this despite opposition from the Christian democratic
Popular Republican MovementThe Popular Republican Movement was a French Christian democratic party of the Fourth Republic...
(MRP) and the
National Centre of Independents and PeasantsThe National Centre of Independents and Peasants is a liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal political party in France, founded in 1949 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents with...
(CNIP) who criticised de Gaulle's
euroscepticismEuroscepticism is a general term used to describe opposition and criticism of the European Union , and the process of European integration...
and presidentialism. De Gaulle's proposal to change the election procedure for the French presidency was approved at the referendum on 28 October 1962 by more than three-fifths of voters despite a broad "coalition of no" formed by most of the parties, opposed to a presidential regime. Thereafter the President was to be elected by direct universal suffrage.
1962–68: Politics of grandeur
With the Algerian conflict behind him, de Gaulle was able to achieve his two main objectives: to reform and develop the French economy, and to promote an independent foreign policy and a strong stance on the international stage. This was named by foreign observers the "politics of grandeur" (
politique de grandeur).
"Thirty glorious years"
In the context of a population boom unseen in France since the 18th century, the government under prime minister
Georges PompidouGeorges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974....
oversaw a rapid transformation and expansion of the French economy. With
dirigismeDirigisme is an economic term designating an economy where the government exerts strong directive influence....
—a unique combination of capitalism and state-directed economy—the government intervened heavily in the economy, using indicative five-year plans as its main tool.
High-profile projects, mostly but not always financially successful, were launched: the extension of
MarseilleMarseille , formerly known as Massalia , is the 2nd most populous French city as well as the oldest city in France...
harbor (soon ranking third in Europe and first in the
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
); the promotion of the
CaravelleCaravelle may be a reference to:* Caravelle is the French marketing name for the typeface Folio* Sud Aviation Caravelle, the short/medium-range jet airliner, produced by Sud Aviation...
passenger jetliner (a predecessor of
AirbusAirbus
SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Toulouse, France, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners.Airbus began as a consortium of aerospace manufacturers...
); the decision to start building the supersonic Franco-British
ConcordeThe Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde aircraft was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
airliner in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
; the expansion of the French auto industry with state-owned
RenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, buses, tractors, and trucks. Due to its alliance with Nissan, it is currently the world's fourth largest automaker. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Renault owns the Romanian automaker Automobile Dacia and the Korean automaker Renault...
at its center; and the building of the first motorways between Paris and the provinces.
With these projects, the French economy recorded growth rates unrivalled since the 19th century. In 1964, for the first time in 200 years, France's
GDPThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year...
overtook that of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, a position it held until the 1990s. This period is still remembered in France with some nostalgia as the peak of the
Trente GlorieusesLes Trente Glorieuses refers to the thirty years from 1945-1975 following the end of the Second World War in 1945 in France. The name was first used by the French demographer Jean Fourastié...
("Thirty Glorious Years" of economic growth between 1945 and 1974).
He vetoed the British application to join the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
(EEC) in 1963 because, he said, he thought the United Kingdom lacked the necessary political will to be part of a strong Europe. He further saw Britain as a "
Trojan HorseThe Trojan Horse was a tale from the Trojan War, as told in Virgil's Latin epic poem The Aeneid. The events in this story from the Bronze Age took place after Homer's Iliad, and before Homer's Odyssey. It was the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the...
" for the USA. He maintained there were incompatibilities between continental European and British economic interests. In addition, he demanded that the United Kingdom accept all the conditions laid down by the six existing members of the EEC (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands) and revoke its commitments to countries within its own free trade area. He supported a deepening and an acceleration of common market integration rather than expansion. However, in this latter respect, a detailed study of the formative years of the EEC argues that the defence of French economic interests, especially in agriculture, in fact played a more dominant role in determining de Gaulle's stance towards British entry than the various political and foreign policy considerations that have often been cited. The General's attitude was also influenced by resentments which had come about during his exile in Britain during the Second World War. Added to these were fears of an Anglo-American agreement in regard to nuclear weapons – the USA had provided Britain with
PolarisThe Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy. It was designed to be used as part of the Navy's contribution to the United States arsenal of nuclear...
missiles the previous year.
Fourth nuclear power
France became the world's fourth nuclear power on 13 February 1960 when a nuclear device was exploded in the
SaharaThe Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...
some 700 miles south-south-west of Algiers.
Recognition of the People's Republic of China
De Gaulle was convinced that a strong and independent France could act as a balancing force between the United States and the Soviet Union, a policy seen as little more than posturing and opportunism by his critics, particularly in Britain and the United States, to which France was formally allied. In January 1964, France established diplomatic relations with the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
(PRC)—the first step towards formal recognition. This was done without first severing links with the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
(
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
), led by
Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen's close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925...
. Hitherto the PRC had insisted that all nations abide by a "one China" condition, and at first it was unclear how the matter would be settled. However, the agreement to exchange ambassadors was subject to a delay of three months and in February, Chiang Kai-shek resolved the problem by cutting off diplomatic relations with France. Eight years later U.S. President
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
visited the PRC and began normalising relations - a policy which was confirmed in the
Shanghai CommuniquéThe Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, also known as the Shanghai Communiqué , was an important diplomatic document issued by the United States of America and the People's Republic of China. on February 27, 1972 during President Richard Nixon's...
of 28 February 1972.
As part of a European tour, Nixon visited France in 1969. He and de Gaulle both shared the same non-Wilsonian approach to world affairs, believing in nations and their relative strengths, rather than in ideologies, international organisations, or multilateral agreements. De Gaulle is famously known for calling the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
le Machin ("the thing").
Second round
In December 1965, de Gaulle returned as president for a second seven-year term, but this time he had to go through a second round of voting in which he defeated
François MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand served as the President of France from 1981 to 1995, elected as representative of the Socialist Party . First elected during the May 1981 presidential election, he became the first socialist President of the Fifth Republic and the first left-wing head of...
, who did far better than anyone dreamed possible, gaining 45% of the vote. In February 1966, France withdrew from the common
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
military command, but remained within the organisation. De Gaulle, haunted by the memories of 1940, wanted France to remain the master of the decisions affecting it, unlike in the 1930s, when France had to follow in step with her British ally. He also declared that all foreign military forces had to leave French territory and gave them one year to redeploy.
In September 1966, in a famous speech in
Phnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. It is also the capital of the Phnom Penh municipality...
(
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
), he expressed France's disapproval of the U.S. involvement in the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, calling for a U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam as the only way to ensure peace.
As the Vietnam War had its roots in the previous
Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union’s French Far East Expeditionary...
, in which the United States had provided France with aid, this speech did little to endear de Gaulle to the Americans, even if their leaders later came to the same conclusion.
Empty Chair Crisis
During the establishment of the
European CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
, de Gaulle helped precipitate one of the greatest crises in the history of the EC, the
Empty Chair Crisis. It involved the financing of the
Common Agricultural PolicyThe Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programs. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
, but almost more importantly the use of qualified majority voting in the EC (as opposed to unanimity). In June 1965, after France and the other five members could not agree, de Gaulle withdrew France's representatives from the EC. Their absence left the organisation essentially unable to run its affairs until the
Luxembourg compromiseThe Luxembourg compromise or Luxembourg Accords was an agreement reached in January 1966 which resolved differences within the European Economic Community....
was reached in January 1966. De Gaulle succeeded in influencing the decision-making mechanism written into the Treaty of Rome by insisting on solidarity founded on mutual understanding. He vetoed Britain's entry into the EEC a second time, in June 1967.
Six-Day War
With tension rising in the Middle East in 1967, de Gaulle on 2 June declared an arms embargo against Israel, just three days before the outbreak of the
Six-Day WarThe Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 was a war between the Israel army and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the...
. This, however, did not affect spare parts for the French military hardware with which the Israeli armed forces were equipped.
This was an abrupt change in policy. In 1956 France, Britain, and Israel had cooperated in an elaborate effort to retake the
Suez CanalThe Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa...
from Egypt. Israel's air force operated French
MirageMirage is the name of a series of military jets produced by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Note also that except for the Mirage F1, the wings of all the other variant comes without flaps.-Versions:*Dassault Mirage III...
and
MystèreThe Dassault MD.452 Mystère is a 1950s French fighter-bomber.-Development:After the success of the Ouragan, Dassault was working on a more advanced machine based on it, which would take to the air in early 1951 as the MD.452 Mystère I....
jets in the Six-Day War, and its navy was building its new missile boats in
CherbourgCherbourg-Octeville is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.It was formed when the city of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville on 28 February 2000, and was officially renamed Cherbourg-Octeville....
. Though paid for, their transfer to Israel was now blocked by de Gaulle's government. But they were smuggled out in an operation that drew further denunciations from the French government. The last boats took to the sea in December 1969, directly after a major deal between France and now-independent Algeria exchanging French armaments for Algerian oil.
Under de Gaulle, following the independence of
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
, France embarked on foreign policy more favourable to the
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
side. General de Gaulle's position in 1967 at the time of the Six Day War played a part in France's newfound popularity in the Arab world. Israel turned towards the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for arms, and toward its own industry.
In a televised news conference on 27 November 1967, de Gaulle described the Jewish people as "this elite people, sure of themselves and domineering". In his letter to
David Ben-Gurion' was the first Prime Minister of Israel. Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, culminated in his instrumental role in the founding of the state of Israel...
dated 9 January 1968, he explained that he was convinced that Israel had ignored his warnings and overstepped the bounds of moderation by taking possession of Jerusalem, and so much Jordanian, Egyptian, and Syrian territory by force of arms. He felt Israel had exercised repression and expulsions during the occupation and that it amounted to annexation. He said that provided Israel withdrew her forces, it appeared that it might be possible to reach a solution through the UN framework which could include assurances of a dignified and fair future for refugees and minorities in the Middle East, recognition from Israel's neighbors, and freedom of navigation through the Gulf of Aqaba and the Suez Canal.
Nigerian Civil War
The Eastern Region of
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
declared itself independent under the name of The Independent Republic of
BiafraThe Republic of Biafra was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria. Biafra was inhabited mostly by the Igbo people and existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970. The secession was led by the Igbo due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria...
on 30 May 1967. On July 6 the first shots in the Nigerian civil war were fired, marking the start of a conflict would last until January 1970. Britain provided military aid to the Federal Republic of Nigeria—yet more was made available by the Soviet Union. Under de Gaulle's leadership, France embarked on a period of interference outside the traditional French zone of influence. A policy geared toward the break-up of Nigeria put Britain and France into opposing camps. Relations between France and Nigeria had been under strain since the third French nuclear explosion in the
SaharaThe Sahara , , "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean...
in December 1960. From August 1968, when its embargo was lifted, France provided limited and covert support to the breakaway province. Although French arms helped to keep Biafra in action for the final 15 months of the civil war, its involvement was seen as insufficient and counterproductive. The Biafran Chief of Staff stated that the French "did more harm than good by raising false hopes and by providing the British with an excuse to reinforce Nigeria."
Vive le Québec libre!
In July 1967, de Gaulle visited
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which was celebrating its centennial with a
world's fairUniversal Exposition or Expo is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the mid-19th century. They are the third largest event in the world in terms of economic and cultural impact after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games...
,
Expo 67The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, or Expo 67 as it was commonly known, was the first First Category exhibition approved by the Bureau of International Exhibition in the Americas. It was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 28 to October 29, 1967...
. On 24 July, speaking to a large crowd from a balcony at
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
's city hall, de Gaulle shouted
Vive le Québec! (Long live Quebec!) then added,
Vive le Québec libre! (Long live Free Québec!). The Canadian media harshly criticised the statement, and the
Prime Minister of CanadaThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada. The office is not outlined in any of the documents that constitute the written portion of the constitution of Canada; executive authority is formally vested in the...
,
Lester B. PearsonLester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian statesman, diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
stated that "Canadians do not need to be liberated." De Gaulle left Canada two days later without proceeding to
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
as scheduled. He never returned to Canada. The speech caused outrage in most of Canada; it led to a serious diplomatic rift between the two countries. However, the event was seen as a watershed moment by the
Quebec sovereignty movementThe Quebec sovereignty movement refers to the history and present status of multiple, multi-lateral political movements aimed at attaining statehood for the Canadian province of Quebec. Supporters of the movement advocate a variety of proposals...
.
In the following year, de Gaulle visited
BrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Brittany was previously a kingdom and then as a duchy it was a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, where he declaimed a poem written by his uncle (also called
Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle was a French writer who was a pioneer of Pan-Celticism and the bardic revival. He is also known as Charlez Vro-C'hall, the Breton language version of his name. He was the uncle of General de Gaulle....
) in the
Breton languageThe Breton language is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France.-History:Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish,...
. The speech followed a series of crackdowns on
Breton nationalismBreton nationalism is the nationalism of the traditional province of Brittany in France. Brittany is considered to be one of the six Celtic nations...
. De Gaulle was accused of double standards for on the one hand demanding a "free" Quebec because of its differences from English-speaking Canada, while on the other oppressing a regionalist movement in Brittany.
In December 1967, claiming continental European solidarity, de Gaulle again rejected British entry into the
European Economic CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
. The United Kingdom nevertheless became a member of the EEC in January 1973.
Visit to Paraguay
During the mid-1960s, de Gaulle paid a visit to
AsunciónAsunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department....
,
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
, making him the first foreign head of state to ever pay a visit to the country.
May 1968
De Gaulle's government was criticised within France, particularly for its heavy-handed style. While the written press and elections were free, and private stations were able to broadcast in French from abroad (see
Europe 1Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately-owned radio network created in 1955. It is one of the leading French radio broadcasters and heard throughout France...
), the state had a monopoly on television and radio (see
ORTFRadiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the French national public broadcasting company established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "Radiodiffusion Française" , which had been founded in 1945...
). This monopoly meant that the executive was in a position to bias the news. In many respects, society was traditionalistic and repressive—this included the position of women. Many factors contributed to a general weariness of sections of the public, particularly the student youth, which led to the events of May 1968.
The huge demonstrations and strikes in France in May 1968 severely challenged de Gaulle's legitimacy. He made a flying visit to Germany and met with
Jacques MassuJacques Émile Massu was a French general who fought in World War II, First Indochina War, Algerian War and the Suez crisis.-Early life:...
, the then chief of the French forces occupying Germany, to discuss possible army intervention against the protesters.
In a private meeting discussing the students' and workers' demands for direct participation in business and government he coined the phrase "La réforme oui, la
chienlitChienlit is a traditional French term typically translated as masquerade or carnival/chaos which was brought to notoriety by General Charles de Gaulle in an angry speech during the student protests in Paris during May 1968 in France, when he used the vernacular term as a scatological pun "La...
non", which can be politely translated as 'reform yes, masquerade/chaos no.' It was a
vernacularVernacular is the native language of a country or a locality. In general linguistics, it is used to describe local languages as opposed to lingua francas, official standards or global languages. It is sometimes applied to nonstandard dialects of a global language...
scatological
punA pun, or paronomasia, is a form of word play that deliberately exploits ambiguity between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect...
meaning '
chie-en-litChienlit is a traditional French term typically translated as masquerade or carnival/chaos which was brought to notoriety by General Charles de Gaulle in an angry speech during the student protests in Paris during May 1968 in France, when he used the vernacular term as a scatological pun "La...
, no'. The term is now common parlance in French political commentary, used both critically and ironically referring back to de Gaulle.
But de Gaulle offered to accept some of the reforms the demonstrators sought. He again considered a referendum to support his moves, but Pompidou persuaded him to dissolve parliament (in which the government had all but lost its majority in the March 1967 elections) and hold new elections instead. The June 1968 elections were a major success for the Gaullists and their allies; when shown the spectre of revolution or even civil war, the majority of the country rallied to him. His party won 358 of 487 seats. Pompidou was suddenly replaced by
Maurice Couve de MurvilleMaurice Couve de Murville was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaulle....
in July.
Retirement and death
Charles de Gaulle resigned and quit the presidency on noon, 28 April 1969, following the rejection of his proposed reform of the Senate and local governments
in a nationwide referendumA referendum on constitutional amendments that would have led to government decentralization and Senate reform was held in France on April 27, 1969. The failure of the amendments led to President Charles de Gaulle's resignation.- Sources:*...
. De Gaulle vowed that if the referendum failed, he would resign his office. Despite an eight-minute-long speech by de Gaulle, the referendum failed and he duly resigned, whereupon he was replaced by
Georges PompidouGeorges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974....
.
De Gaulle retired once again to
Colombey-les-Deux-ÉglisesColombey-les-Deux-Églises is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.The municipality Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises was created administratively in 1793, and it became part of the district of Chaumont and the canton Blaise. In 1801, under the name Colombey, it passed to the...
, where he died suddenly in 1970, two weeks before his 80th birthday and in the middle of writing his memoirs. He was generally in very robust health until then, despite an operation on his
prostateThe prostate is a compound tubuloalveolar exocrine gland of the male mammalian reproductive system. Females do not have prostate glands...
some years before. He had been sitting in front of the television while waiting for the start of the news when he felt unwell and collapsed. His wife called the doctor and the local priest, but by the time they arrived he had died: the cause of death was an
aneurysmAn aneurysm or aneurism , is a localized, blood-filled dilation of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall....
of the
aortaThe aorta is the largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and bringing oxygenated blood to all parts of the body in the systemic circulation....
.
De Gaulle had made arrangements that insisted that his funeral would be held at Colombey, and that no presidents or ministers attend his funeral - only his
Compagnons de la Libération.
Heads of state had to content themselves with a simultaneous service at
Notre-Dame CathedralNotre Dame de Paris is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the "cathedra", or official chair, of the Archbishop...
. He was carried to his grave on an armoured reconnaissance vehicle, and as he was lowered into the ground the bells of all the churches in France tolled starting from Notre Dame and spreading out from there. He was buried on November 12.
He specified that his tombstone bear the simple inscription of his name and his dates of birth and death. Therefore, it simply says: "Charles de Gaulle, 1890–1970".
De Gaulle was nearly destitute when he died. When he retired, he did not accept the pensions to which he was entitled as a retired president and as a retired general. Instead, he only accepted a pension to which colonels are entitled.
His family had to sell the Boisserie residence. It was purchased by a foundation and is currently the Charles de Gaulle Museum.
Private life
Charles de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux on 7 April 1921. They had three children: Philippe (born 1921), Élisabeth (1924), who married general
Alain de BoissieuAlain de Boissieu was a French general, Free French, Compagnon de la Libération, Army chief of staff and son-in-law of general Charles de Gaulle.-Life:...
, and
AnneAnne de Gaulle was the youngest daughter of General Charles de Gaulle and his wife, Yvonne. She was born in Trier, Germany, where her father was stationed....
(1928–1948). Anne had
Down's syndromeDown syndrome , Down's syndrome , trisomy 21, or trisomy G is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British doctor who described the syndrome in 1866...
and died at 20.
One of Charles de Gaulle's grandsons, also named Charles de Gaulle, was a
member of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is the English name for a person who has been elected to the European Parliament, one of the European Union's two legislative bodies. MEPs are the European Union's equivalents of a country's national legislators in either the lower house or unicameral...
from 1994 to 2004, his last tenure being for the National Front.
Another grandson, Jean de Gaulle, was a member of the French Parliament until his retirement in 2007.
Charles de Gaulle Airport
France's largest airport, in
RoissyRoissy can refer to:*Roissy-en-Brie in the Seine-et-Marne département in France*Roissy-en-France in the Val-d'Oise département in France*The hamlet of Roissy, within the commune of Ormoy, Essonne in France...
outside Paris, is named Charles de Gaulle Airport in his honour. Many however still call it simply Roissy Airport.
French editions
- La Discorde Chez l’Ennemi (1924)
- Histoire des Troupes du Levant (1931) Written by Major de Gaulle and Major Yvon, with Staff Colonel de Mierry collaborating in the preparation of the final text.
- Le Fil de l’Épée (1932)
- Vers l’Armée de Métier (1934)
- La France et son Armée (1938)
- Trois Études (1945) (Rôle Historique des Places Fortes; Mobilisation Economique à l’Étranger; Comment Faire une Armée de Métier) followed by the Memorandum of 26 January 1940.
- Mémoires de Guerre
- Volume I - L’Appel 1940–1942 (1954)
- Volume II - L’Unité, 1942–1944 (1956)
- Volume III - Le Salut, 1944–1946 (1959)
- Mémoires d’Espoir
- Volume I - Le Renouveau 1958–1962 (1970)
- Discours et Messages
- Volume I - Pendant la Guerre 1940–1946 (1970)
- Volume II - Dans l’attente 1946–1958 (1970)
- Volume III - Avec le Renouveau 1958–1962 (1970)
- Volume IV - Pour l’Effort 1962–1965 (1970)
- Volume V - Vers le Terme 1966–1969
English translations
- The Enemy's House Divided (La Discorde chez l’ennemi). Tr. by Robert Eden. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2002.
- The Edge of the Sword (Le Fil de l’Épée). Tr. by Gerard Hopkins. Faber, London, 1960 Criterion Books, New York, 1960
- The Army of the Future (Vers l’Armée de Métier). Hutchinson, London-Melbourne, 1940. Lippincott, New York, 1940
- France and Her Army (La France et son Armée). Tr. by F.L. Dash. Hutchinson London, 1945. Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1945
- War Memoirs: Call to Honour, 1940–1942 (L’Appel). Tr. by Jonathan Griffin. Collins, London, 1955 (2 volumes). Viking Press, New York, 1955.
- War Memoirs: Unity, 1942–1944 (L’Unité). Tr. by Richard Howard (narrative) and Joyce Murchie and Hamish Erskine (documents). Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1959 (2 volumes). Simon and Schuster, New York, 1959 (2 volumes).
- War Memoirs: Salvation, 1944–1946 (Le Salut). Tr. by Richard Howard (narrative) and Joyce Murchie and Hamish Erskine (documents). Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1960 (2 volumes). Simon and Schuster, New York, 1960 (2 volumes).
De Gaulle's Second Government, 21 December 1945 - 26 January 1946
- Charles de Gaulle: Chairman of the Provisional Government
- Georges Bidault
Georges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance...
: Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Edmond Michelet
Edmond Michelet was a French politician.He helped many victims of the Nazis in occupied France, including Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand. In 1943 he was arrested and incarcerated at the Dachau concentration camp where he assisted other prisoners during a typhus epidemic and was...
: Armed Forces Minister
- Charles Tillon
Charles Tillon was a French politician.- Biography :Tillon was born in Rennes in the Ille-et-Vilaine département....
: Minister of Armaments
- Adrien Tixier
Adrien Tixier was a French politician.He was the son of Pierre-Edouard Tixier, a blacksmith, and Marie-Françoise Derosier. Destined for a career in education, he studied at the Ecole Normale at Châteauroux and became a teacher of technical subects...
: Minister of the Interior
- René Pleven
René Pleven was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance , a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement...
: Minister of Finance
- François Billoux: Minister of National Economy
- Marcel Paul
Marcel Paul was a French trade unionist and communist politician.General Secretary of an electricity workers' branch inside the Confédération Générale du Travail, he joined the French Communist Party in 1927, and became close to Maurice Thorez - without breaking his link to the unions.Drafted...
: Minister of Industrial Production
- Ambroise Croizat: Minister of Labour
- Pierre-Henri Teitgen
Pierre-Henri Teitgen was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Made prisoner of war in 1940, he played a major role in the French Resistance....
: Minister of Justice
- Paul Giacobbi
Paul Giacobbi is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Haute-Corse department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche....
: Minister of National Education
- Laurent Casanova: Minister of Veterans and War Victims
- François Tanguy-Prigent
François Tanguy-Prigent was a French politician and resistance fighter. ....
: Minister of Agriculture and Supply
- Jacques Soustelle
Jacques Soustelle was a French anthropologist specializing in pre-Columbian civilizations. He became vice-director of the Musée de l'Homme in Paris in 1938.Soustelle was born in Montpellier in a Protestant family...
: Minister of Colonies
- Jules Moch
Jules Salvador Moch was a French politician.-Biography:...
: Minister of Public Works and Transport
- Robert Prigent: Minister of Population
- Raoul Dautry
Raoul Dautry was a French engineer, business leader and politician. He was born on 16 September 1880 at Montluçon in the department of Allier; he died on 21 August 1951 at Lourmarin in the department of Vaucluse.- Education and career :...
: Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning
- Eugène Thomas
Eugene Thomas is an African-American martial artist and B-movie actor, who went to Taiwan and Hong Kong in the early 1980s, where he made about a dozen movies, mostly about Ninjas, like Mafia vs. Ninja or USA Ninja, where he frequently collaborated with the tae kwon do specialist Alexander Lou...
: Minister of Posts
- André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French author, adventurer and statesman.-Biography:Malraux was born in Paris during 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux , and Berthe Lamy . His parents separated during 1905 and eventually divorced. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Berthe and...
: Minister of Information
- Vincent Auriol
Vincent Jules Auriol was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954...
: Minister of State
- Francisque Gay: Minister of State
- Louis Jacquinot
Louis Jacquinot was a French lawyer and politician, and chief of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré's office.Jacquinot was born in Gondrecourt-le-Château in 1898. Entering parliament in 1932, he later served for a short time as under-secretary of state for home affairs in Paul Reynaud's cabinet...
: Minister of State
- Maurice Thorez
thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting Maurice ThorezMaurice Thorez was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party from 1930 until his death. He also served as vice premier of France from 1946 to 1947....
: Minister of State
De Gaulle's Third Ministry, 9 June 1958 - 8 January 1959
- Charles de Gaulle: President of the Council and Minister of National Defense
- Maurice Couve de Murville
Maurice Couve de Murville was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaulle....
: Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Émile Pelletier: Minister of the Interior
- Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:...
: Minister of Finance and interim Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
- Édouard Ramonet: Minister of Industry
- Paul Bacon
Paul Bacon was a French politician.During World War 2, Bacon was active in the French Resistance. He was a member of Georges Bidault's National Liberation Movement, and distributed a manifesto about trade unionism in December 1940. Bacon was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943.After the war, Bacon...
: Minister of Labour
- Edmond Michelet
Edmond Michelet was a French politician.He helped many victims of the Nazis in occupied France, including Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand. In 1943 he was arrested and incarcerated at the Dachau concentration camp where he assisted other prisoners during a typhus epidemic and was...
: Minister of Veterans and War Victims
- Michel Debré
Michel Debré was a French Gaullist politician. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France, and was the first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic...
: Minister of Justice
- Jean Berthoin
Jean Berthoin was a French Politician....
: Minister of National Education
- Roger Houdet: Minister of Agriculture
- Bernard Cornut-Gentille
Bernard Cornut-Gentille was a French administrator and politician.Born in Brest, Cornut-Gentille studied at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques. In 1943 he was appointed as the Subprefect of Reims, but resigned to assist the Free French delegate Émile Bollaert...
: Minister of Overseas France
- Robert Buron
Robert Buron was a French politician and Minister of Finance from 20 January 1955 to 23 February 1955 and Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism during Charles de Gaulle's third term from 9 June 1958 to 8 January 1959.Buron was born in Paris, where he also died. He was kidnapped during...
: Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
- Eugène Thomas
Eugene Thomas is an African-American martial artist and B-movie actor, who went to Taiwan and Hong Kong in the early 1980s, where he made about a dozen movies, mostly about Ninjas, like Mafia vs. Ninja or USA Ninja, where he frequently collaborated with the tae kwon do specialist Alexander Lou...
: Minister of Posts
- Édouard Ramonet: Minister of Commerce
- Pierre Sudreau
-References:...
: Minister of Construction
- Max Lejeune: Minister of Sahara
- Guy Mollet
Guy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956-1957.-Early life and World War II:...
: Minister of State
- Pierre Pflimlin
Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin was a French Christian democratic politician who served as the penultimate Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the crisis of that year.-Life:Pfilimlin was born in Roubaix in the département...
: Minister of State
- Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny , affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux, was the first President of Côte d'Ivoire...
: Minister of State
- Louis Jacquinot
Louis Jacquinot was a French lawyer and politician, and chief of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré's office.Jacquinot was born in Gondrecourt-le-Château in 1898. Entering parliament in 1932, he later served for a short time as under-secretary of state for home affairs in Paul Reynaud's cabinet...
: Minister of State
Changes
- 12 June 1958: André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French author, adventurer and statesman.-Biography:Malraux was born in Paris during 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux , and Berthe Lamy . His parents separated during 1905 and eventually divorced. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Berthe and...
enters the cabinet as Minister of Radio, Television, and Press.
- 14 June 1958: Guy Mollet
Guy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956-1957.-Early life and World War II:...
becomes Minister of General Civil Servants Status.
- 7 July 1958: Bernard Chenot
Bernard Chenot was a French politician and senior official....
enters the cabinet as Minister of Public Health and Population. Jacques SoustelleJacques Soustelle was a French anthropologist specializing in pre-Columbian civilizations. He became vice-director of the Musée de l'Homme in Paris in 1938.Soustelle was born in Montpellier in a Protestant family...
succeeds Malraux as Minister of Information.
- 23 July 1958: Antoine Pinay becomes Minister of Economic Affairs, remaining also Minister of Finance.
See also
- Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:The main theme of de Gaulle's foreign policy was of national independence, with, as some practical consequences, some degree of opposition to international organizations such as NATO or the...
- Gaullist Party
In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift...
- Names and terms of address used for Charles de Gaulle
In France, Charles de Gaulle is called or referred to with different names, depending on who is talking, and possibly what are feelings of the person talking about De Gaulle are...
- Things named after Charles de Gaulle
Many streets and public buildings in France bear the name of Charles de Gaulle. They include:* Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport* Charles de Gaulle, an aircraft carrier in the Marine Nationale...
External links
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