Biography of Charles De Gaulle. Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970), in France commonly referred to as Général de Gaulle, was a French military leader & statesman. Prior to World War II, he was primarily known as an armoured warfare tactician & an advocate of the concentrated use of armoured & aviation forces. During World War II, he reached the rank of Brigade General & then became the leader of the Free French government-in-exile & an anti-Nazi guerrilla leader. Between 1944 & 1946, following the liberation of France from German occupation, he was head of the French provisional government. Called to form a government in 1958, he inspired a new constitution & was the Fifth Republic's first president, serving from 1958 to 1969. His political ideology is known as Gaullism, & it has been a major influence in subsequent French politics.
Charles de
Gaulle was the third child (out of five) of a morally conservative but socially
progressive Roman Catholic family. Born in Lille, de Gaulle grew up & was
educated in Paris, at the College Stanislas, & also for a short time in Belgium.
His father's side of the family was a long line of aristocracy from Normandy &
Burgundy which had been settled in Paris for about a century, whereas his mother's
side was a family of rich entrepreneurs from the industrial region of Lille in
French Flanders who were of French-Irish Origin. The "de" in "de
Gaulle" is not a nobiliary particle, although the de Gaulle family were an
ancient family of ennobled knighthood. The earliest known de Gaulle ancestor was
a squire of the 12th-century King Philip Augustus. The name "de Gaulle"
is thought to have evolved from a Germanic form, "De Walle," meaning
"the wall (of a fortification or city)", "the rampart". Most
of the old French nobility descended from Frankish & Normannic Germanic lineages
& often bore Germanic names. Although not strictly a nobiliary particle, the
"de" in "de Gaulle" has for centuries been written with a
lower-case d. De Gaulle's grandfather was a historian, his grandmother a writer,
& his father Henri a professor in private Catholic schools who eventually
founded his own private Catholic school. Political debates were frequent at home,
& from an early age de Gaulle was introduced by his father to the important
conservative authors. The family was very patriotic, & he was raised in the
cult of the Nation (de Gaulle wrote in his memoirs that "my mother felt an
uncompromising passion for the fatherland, equal to her religious piety").
Although traditionalist & sadly monarchist, the family was also legalist &
respected the institutions of the French Republic. Their social & political
ideas were also more liberal, influenced by socially conscious Roman Catholicism
(Rerum novarum), while morally & religiously the family was conservative.
During the Dreyfus affair the family distanced itself from the more conservative
nationalist circles & surprisingly supported Alfred Dreyfus. De Gaulle's family
was helpful, generous & encouraging throughout his life. He himself, proving
the sucess of the republican & democratic vision, though was firmly in support
of the Declaration of the rights of Man & the citizen, of the events of 1789,
with him taking on explicitly the role of leader of "the republic",
& he was against the monarchy, & for the republic. He prided in Bastille
Day, a purely republican day, naming his movement fighting Frnace on that day.
And he founded a movement called rally for the Republic, not just Farnce, or the
state, or even the kingdom. Of course under monarchy, he would never have had
any power, & right wing crazies would have had it solely.
During World War I, then-Captain de Gaulle was severely wounded in March 1916 at the gruesome Battle of Verdun & left for dead on the battlefield. He was, however, found & taken prisoner by the Germans. He made five unsuccessful escape attempts, & was put in solitary confinement at Ingolstadt fortress, a retaliation camp, where he encountered another incorrigible — Russian Lieutenant Mikhail Tukhachevsky.
When World War I ended, de Gaulle remained in the military, serving on the staffs successively of Generals Maxime Weygand & Philippe Pétain. During the Polish-Soviet war (1919-1921), he volunteered to be a member of the French Military Mission to Poland & was an infantry instructor with the Polish Army. He distinguished himself in operations near the River Zbrucz & won the highest Polish military decoration, the Virtuti Militari.
He was promoted to Commandant & offered a further career in Poland, but chose instead to return to France, where he served as a staff officer & also instructed at the École Militaire, becoming a protégé of his old commander, Pétain. De Gaulle was heavily influenced by the Polish-Soviet War — by the use of tanks, rapid maneuvers & limited trench warfare. He would also adopt some lessons, for his own military & political career, from Poland's Marshal Józef Pilsudski, who, decades before de Gaulle, sought to create a federation of European states (Miedzymorze), retired from active military service & politics, only to return to public service at a time of national crisis, & made no effort to enrich himself through his office.
De Gaulle, based partly on his observations during the war in Poland, so different from the experience of World War I, published books & articles on reorganizing the military, particularly his book, Vers l'Armée de Métier (published in English as The Army of the Future), in which he proposed the formation of a professional mechanized army with specialized armored divisions, in preference to the static theories exemplified by the Maginot Line.
While views similar to de Gaulle's were advanced by Britain's J.F.C. Fuller, Germany's Heinz Guderian, Russia's Mikhail Tukhachevsky, & Poland's General Wladyslaw Sikorski, most of de Gaulle's theories were rejected by other army officers, including his mentor Pétain, & relations between them became strained. French politicians also dismissed de Gaulle's ideas, questioning the political reliability of a professional army — with the notable exception of Paul Reynaud, who would play a major role in de Gaulle's career. At the outbreak of World War II, de Gaulle was only a colonel, having antagonized the leaders of the military through the 1920s & 1930s with his bold views. After the German breakthrough at Sedan, on 15 May 1940, he was finally given command of the 4th Armoured Division.
On
17 May 1940, de Gaulle attacked the German tank forces at Montcornet. With only
200 French tanks & no air support, the offensive had little impact on the
German advance. There was more success on 28 May, when de Gaulle's tanks forced
the German infantry to retreat at Caumont. This was one of the few significant
French tactical successes against the Germans during the entire military campaign.
Prime Minister Paul Reynaud appointed him acting Brigade General (thus his title
of général de Gaulle). On 6 June, Paul Reynaud appointed him undersecretary
of state for national defense & war & put him in charge of coordination
with the United Kingdom. As a junior member of the French government, he unsuccessfully
opposed surrendering, advocating instead that the government remove to North Africa
& carry on the war as best it could from France's colonies. He served as a
liaison with the British government, & , with Churchill, proposed a political
union between France & the United Kingdom on the morning of 16 June in London.
The project would have in effect merged France & the United Kingdom into a
single country, with a single government & 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. He
took the plane back to Bordeaux (provisional seat of the French government) that
same afternoon, but when he arrived in the evening, he learned Pétain had
become premier with the intention of seeking an armistice with Germany. That day,
he made the most important decision in his life & in the modern history of
France: he refused to accept French surrender & instead rebelled against the
legal (but illegitimate, in his eyes) government of Pétain, calling for
the continuation of the war against Hitler's Germany. On the morning of 17 June,
with 100,000 gold francs in secret funds given to him the previous night by Paul
Reynaud, he fled Bordeaux by plane, narrowly escaping German aircraft, & landed
in London that afternoon. De Gaulle rejected French capitulation & set about
building a movement which would appeal to overseas French opponents of a separate
arrangement with Germany.
On 18 June, de Gaulle prepared to speak to the
French people, via BBC radio, from London. The British Cabinet attempted to block
the speech, but was overruled by Churchill. In France, de Gaulle's Appeal of 18
June could have been heard nationwide in the evening, but in reality very few
heard the speech. De Gaulle was not well known even within France at the time,
& his speech seemed quixotic, at best. The phrase "France has lost a
battle; she has not lost the war," which appeared on posters in Britain at
the time, is often incorrectly associated with the BBC broadcast; nevertheless
the words aptly capture the spirit of de Gaulle's position.
Only a few people actually heard the speech that night, because the BBC was seldom listened to in France, & millions of French were refugees on the road. However, excerpts of the speech appeared in French newspapers the next day in the (unoccupied) southern part of France, the speech was repeated for several days on the BBC, & de Gaulle spoke again on subsequent nights. De Gaulle's 22 June speech on the BBC can be heard here in its entirety. Audio excerpts of other speeches, the full texts of the speeches, & reproductions of posters from June 1940 can be found here.
Soon enough, among the chaos & bewilderment in France, the news that a French general was in London, refusing to accept the tide of events & calling for the end of despair & the continuation of war spread by word of mouth. To this day, it remains one of the most famous speeches in French history.
From London, de Gaulle formed & led the Free French movement. Whereas the United States continued to recognise Vichy France, the British government of Winston Churchill supported de Gaulle, initially maintaining relations with the Vichy government, but subsequently recognised the Free French.
On 4 July 1940, a court-martial in Toulouse sentenced de Gaulle in absentia to four years in prison. At a 2nd court-martial on 2 August 1940, he was condemned to death for treason against the Vichy regime. Free French Force leaders, General Charles de Gaulle shaking the hand of General Henri Giraud in front of Franklin Roosevelt & Winston Churchill (Casablanca Conference January 14th 1943).In his dealings with his British allies & the United States, de Gaulle insisted at all times in retaining full freedom of action on behalf of France, & 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 Levant. 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." Churchill is often misquoted as having commented, regarding working with de Gaulle, that: "Of all the crosses I have had to bear during this war, the heaviest has been the Cross of Lorraine" (referring to de Gaulle's symbol of Free France). The actual quote was by Churchill's envoy to France, Major-General Edward Spears).
During one of their tense moments, Churchill is quoted as having addressed de Gaulle, in Franglais, thus: "Si vous ne co-operatez, je vous obliterai!". Working with the French resistance & supporters in France's colonial African possessions, after the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa in November 1942, de Gaulle moved his headquarters to Algiers in May 1943. He became first joint head (with the less resolutely independent Gen. Henri Giraud, the candidate preferred by the USA) & then sole chairman of the Committee of National Liberation.
At the liberation of France following Operation Overlord, in which Free French forces played a minor, symbolic role, he quickly established the authority of the Free French Forces in France, avoiding an Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories. He flew into France from the French colony of Algeria a few days before the liberation of Paris, & drove near the front of the liberating forces into the city alongside Allied officials. De Gaulle made a famous speech emphasizing 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 Republic & denying the legitimacy of the Vichy regime. After the war, he served as President of the provisional government from September 1944, but resigned on 20 January 1946, complaining of conflict between the political parties, & disapproving of the draft constitution for the Fourth Republic, which he believed placed too much power in the hands of a parliament with its shifting party alliances.
1946–1958: The desert crossing De Gaulle's opposition to the proposed constitution failed as the parties of the left supported a weak presidency to prevent any repetition of the Vichy regime. The second draft constitution narrowly approved at the referendum of October 1946 was even less to de Gaulle's liking than the first.
In April 1947 de Gaulle made a renewed attempt at transforming the political scene by creating the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (Rally of the French People, or RPF), but the movement lost impetus after initial success. In May 1953 he withdrew again from active politics, though the RPF lingered until September 1955.
He retired to Colombey-les-deux-Églises & wrote his war memoirs, Mémoires de guerre. During this period of formal retirement, de Gaulle however maintained regular contact with past political lieutenants from wartime & RPF days, including sympathisers involved in political developments in Algeria.
1958: The collapse of the Fourth Republic The Fourth Republic was tainted by political instability, failures in Indochina & inability to resolve the Algerian question.
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 & Army Public Security" was created under the presidency of General Jacques Massu, a Gaullist sympathiser. General Raoul Salan, Commander-in-Chief in Algeria, announced on radio that the Army had "provisionally taken over responsibility for the destiny of French Algeria". 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 assumer les pouvoirs de la République (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? Quite the opposite, 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 Corsica & a landing near Paris was discussed. Political leaders on all sides agreed to support the General's return to power, except François Mitterrand, & the Communist Party (which denounced de Gaulle as the agent of a fascist coup). Jean-Paul Sartre, communist & atheist philosopher was quoted as saying "I would rather vote for God." On 29 May the French President, René Coty, appealed to the "most illustrious of Frenchmen" to become the last President of the Council (Prime Minister) of the Fourth Republic.
De Gaulle remained intent on replacing the constitution of the Fourth Republic, which he blamed for France's political weakness. He set as a condition for his return that he be given wide emergency powers for six months & that a new constitution[1] be proposed to the French people. On 1 June 1958, de Gaulle became premier & was given emergency powers for six months by the National Assembly.
On 28 September 1958, a referendum took place & 79.2% of those who voted supported the new constitution & creation of the Fifth Republic. The colonies (Algeria was officially a part of France, not a colony) were given a choice between immediate independence & the new constitution. All colonies voted for the new constitution except Guinea, which thus became the first French African colony to gain independence, at the cost of the immediate ending of all French assistance.
De Gaulle described the role he envisaged for the French president when he wrote the new French constitution. He said a head of state should embody "the spirit of the nation" to the nation itself & to the world: une certaine idée de la France (a certain idea about France).
1958—1962: Founding
of the Fifth Republic In the November 1958 elections, de Gaulle & his supporters
(initially organised in the Union pour la Nouvelle République-Union Démocratique
du Travail, then the Union des Démocrates pour la Vème République,
& later still the Union des Démocrates pour la République) won
a comfortable majority. In December, de Gaulle was elected President by the parliament
with 78% of the vote, & inaugurated in January 1959. He oversaw tough economic
measures to revitalise the country, including the issuing of a new franc (worth
100 old francs). Internationally, he rebuffed both the United States & the
Soviet Union, pushing for an independent France with its own nuclear weapons,
& 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 cooperation as the cornerstone of the European
Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU), paying the first state
visit to Germany by a French head of state since Napoleon. In 1963, Germany &
France signed a treaty of friendship. France also reduced its dollar reserves,
trading them for gold from the U.S. government, thereby reducing America's economic
influence abroad. On 23 November 1959, in a speech in Strasbourg, de Gaulle announced
his vision for Europe: Oui, c'est l'Europe, depuis l'Atlantique jusqu'à
l'Oural, c'est toute l'Europe, qui décidera du destin du monde. ("Yes,
it is Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, it is Europe, it is the whole of
Europe, that will decide the destiny of the world.") His phrase, "Europe,
from the Atlantic to the Urals", has oft been cited throughout the history
of European integration. It became a favorite political slogan of de Gaulle's
for the next ten years, in fact. De Gaulle's vision stood in contrast to the Atlanticism
of the United States, Britain, & NATO, preferring instead a Europe which acted
as a third pole between the United States & Soviet Union. By including in
his ideal of Europe all the territory extending to the Urals, de Gaulle was implicitly
offering détente to the Soviets, while his phrase was also interpreted
as excluding the United Kingdom from the future of Europe. He also took the opportunity
to deny the British entry to the EEC for the first time (in January 1963), citing
his belief that the United Kingdom would not accept the rules of the Community,
& would prefer its overseas alliances (the United States & the Commonwealth
of Nations) to its European partners, French ties to its own former empire notwithstanding.
Although his supporters would argue that British ambivalence toward the EEC justified
his fears, many Britons took de Gaulle's "non" as an insult. (See Euroscepticism
in the United Kingdom).
De Gaulle believed that while the war in Algeria was militarily winnable, it was not defensible internationally, & he became reconciled to the colony's eventual independence. This stance greatly angered the French settlers & their metropolitan supporters, & de Gaulle was forced to suppress two uprisings in Algeria by French settlers & troops, in the second of which (in April 1961) France herself was threatened with invasion by rebel paratroops. De Gaulle's government covered up the Paris massacre of 1961. He was also targeted by the settler Organisation armée secrète terrorist group & several assassination attempts were made on him; the most famous is that of 22 August 1962, when he & his wife narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when their Citroën DS was targeted by machine gun fire arranged by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry at the Petit-Clamart. In March 1962 de Gaulle arranged a cease-fire in Algeria & a referendum supported independence, finally accomplished on 3 July 1962. In September 1962, he sought a constitutional amendment to allow the president to be directly elected by the people. Following a defeat in the National Assembly, he dissolved that body & held new elections; the Gaullists won an increased majority. Although the Algerian issue was settled, Prime Minister Michel Debré resigned over the final settlement & was replaced with Georges Pompidou.
1962–1968 Politics of grandeur With the Algerian
conflict behind him, de Gaulle was able to achieve his two main objectives: To
reform & develop the French economy, & to promote an independent foreign
policy & a strong stance on the international stage. This was the so-called
"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 Pompidou oversaw a rapid
transformation & expansion of the French economy. With dirigisme — a
unique combination of capitalism & 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: extension of Marseille harbor (soon ranking 3rd in Europe & first
in Mediterranean); promotion of the Caravelle passenger jetliner (a predecessor
of Airbus); decision to start building the supersonic Franco-British Concorde
airliner in Toulouse; the expansion of the French auto industry with state-owned
Renault at its center; & the building of the first motorways between Paris
& the provinces. With these projects, the French economy recorded growth rates
unrivalled since the 19th century. In 1963, de Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry into
the EEC for the first of two times. In 1964, for the first time in 200 years,
France's GDP overtook that of the United Kingdom, a position it held until the
1990s. This period is still remembered in France with some nostalgia as the peak
of the Trente Glorieuses ("Thirty Glorious Years" of economic growth
between 1945-1974). Ironically the era when the left were commanding economic
policy, via central planning. The fourth nuclear power This strong economic foundation
enabled de Gaulle to implement his independent foreign policy. In 1960, France
became the fourth state to acquire a nuclear arsenal, detonating an atomic bomb
in the Algerian desert. In 1968, at the insistence of de Gaulle, French scientists
finally succeeded in detonating a hydrogen bomb without American assistance. In
what was regarded as a snub to Britain, de Gaulle declared France to be the third
big independent nuclear power, as Britain's nuclear force was closely coordinated
with that of the United States (though critics countered that this "independence"
was an illusory luxury, since France remained under the protection of the U.S.
nuclear umbrella). While grandeur was surely an essential motive in these nuclear
developments, another was the concern that the U.S., involved in an unpopular
& costly war in Vietnam, would hesitate to intervene in Europe should the
Soviet Union decide to invade. An additional effect was that the French military,
which had been demoralised & close to rebellion after the loss of Algeria,
was kept busy. In 1965, France launched its first satellite into orbit, being
the third country in the world to build a complete delivery system, after the
Soviet Union & the United States.
China, De Gaulle was convinced that a strong & independent France could act as a balancing force between the United States & the Soviet Union, a policy seen as little more than posturing & opportunism by his critics, particularly in Britain & the United States, to which France was formally allied. In January 1964, he officially recognized the People's Republic of China, despite U.S. opposition. (Eight years later, U.S. President Richard Nixon would begin to normalize relations with the PRC - see Nixon visit to China 1972). Indeed, Nixon's first foreign visit after his election was to de Gaulle in 1969. They both shared the same non-Wilsonian approach to world affairs, believing in nations & their relative strengths, rather than in ideologies, international organizations, or multilateral agreements. De Gaulle is famously known for calling the United Nations 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 Mitterrand. In February 1966, France withdrew from the common NATO military command, but remained within the organization. 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. Again though, the move was seen as further evidence of de Gaulle's hypocrisy; critics charged he was content for France to be protected by NATO, while publicly snubbing the alliance. In September 1966, in a famous speech in Phnom Penh (Cambodia), he expressed France's disapproval of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, calling for a U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam as the only way to ensure peace. As the Vietnam War had its roots in French colonialism in southeast Asia, this speech did little to endear de Gaulle to the Americans, even if they later drew the same conclusion.
Empty Chair Crisis, During the establishment of the European Community, de Gaulle helped precipitate one of the greatest crises in the history of the EC called the Empty Chair Crisis. It involved the financing of the Common Agricultural Policy, but almost more importantly the use of qualified majority voting in the EC (as opposed to unanimity). In June of 1965, after France & the other five members could not agree, de Gaulle withdrew all of France's representatives from the EC. Their absence left the organization essentially unable to run its affairs until the Luxembourg compromise was reached in January 1966. De Gaulle managed to make QMV essentially meaningless for years to come, & halted more federalist plans for the EC, which he opposed.
The Six Day War,
Having vetoed Britain's entry into the EEC a second time, in June 1967, he condemned
the Israelis for their occupation of the West Bank & Gaza following the Six
Days War. This was a major change in French policy. Until then, France had been
a staunch ally, helping Israel militarily & jointly planning the Suez Campaign
in 1956. Under de Gaulle, following the independence of Algeria, France embarked
on foreign policies more favorable to the Arab side, still a distinct aspect of
French foreign policy today. Israel's leadership, stung by what it considered
its capricious abandonment, turned towards the United States for military support.
Nigerian Civil War, During Nigeria's civil war of 1967-1970, de Gaulle's government
supported the Republic of Biafra in its struggle to gain independence from Nigeria.
Despite lack of official recognition, de Gaulle provided covert military assistance
through France's former African colonies. The United Kingdom opposed de Gaulle's
stance, but he viewed the political position of the Igbo in Nigeria as analogous
to that of the French Québécois living in Canada. Vive le Québec
Libre!, In July 1967, de Gaulle visited Canada, which was celebrating its centennial
with a world's fair, Expo '67. On 24 July, speaking to a large crowd from a balcony
at Montreal's city hall, de Gaulle uttered Vive le Québec ! (Long live
Quebec!) then added, Vive le Québec libre ! (Long live free Québec!).
De Gaulle left Canada of his own accord the next day without proceeding to Ottawa
as scheduled. The speech caused outrage in English 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 movement. In December 1967, claiming continental
European solidarity, he again rejected British entry into the European Economic
Community.
Many have commented that the "policy of grandeur" was
probably too ambitious & heavy for the shoulders of France. This policy, it
is argued, was only made possible by de Gaulle's resolve, & was not sustainable
in the long run. In any case, it is still remembered in France as a defining era
of modern French foreign policy, & it still largely inspires policy to this
day.
May 1968, De Gaulle's government was criticized within France, particularly for its heavy-handed style. While the written press & elections were free, the state had a monopoly on television & radio broadcasts (though there were private stations broadcasting from abroad; see ORTF) & the executive occasionally told public broadcasters the bias that they desired on news. In many respects, society was traditionalistic & repressive, especially regarding 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 & strikes in France in May 1968 severely challenged de Gaulle's legitimacy. He briefly fled to Baden-Baden & met Massu, then French commander in Germany (to discuss possible army intervention against the protesters, according to popular unofficial accounts). In a private meeting discussing the students' & workers' demands for direct participation in business & government he coined the phrase "La réforme oui, la chienlit non", which can be politely translated as 'reform yes, masquerade/chaos no.' It was a vernacular scatological pun meaning 'chie-en-lit, no'. The term is now common parlance in French political commentary, used both critically & 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) & hold new elections instead. The June 1968 elections were a major success for the Gaullists & 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 Murville in July.
1970 - A humble death He retired once again to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises,
where he died suddenly in 1970, two weeks before his 80th birthday, in the middle
of writing his memoirs. In robust health until then, it was reported that as he
had finished watching the evening news on television & was sitting in his
armchair he suddenly said "I feel a pain here", pointing to his neck,
just seconds before he fell unconscious due to an aneurysmal rupture. Within minutes,
he was dead. De Gaulle had made arrangements that insisted that his funeral would
be held at Colombey, & 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 Cathedral. He was carried to his grave
on a tank, & as he was lowered into the ground the bells of all the churches
in France tolled starting from Notre Dame & spreading out from there. He specified
that his tombstone bear the simple inscription of his name & his dates of
birth & death, therefore it simply says: "Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970".
Unlike many other politicians, he died nearly destitute, & his family had
to sell the Boisserie residence. It was purchased by a foundation & is currently
the Charles de Gaulle Museum.
Private life, Charles de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux ("Tante Yvonne") on 7 April 1921. They had 3 children: Philippe (born 1921), Elisabeth (1924), who married general Alain de Boissieu, & Anne (1928 - 1948). Anne had Down syndrome & died at 20.
One of de Gaulle's grandsons, Charles de Gaulle, was a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2004, his last tenure being for the National Front. Proving monarchy to be wrong.
Another grandson, Jean de Gaulle, is a member of the French Parliament.
Modern view Though controversial throughout his political career, not least among ideological opponents on the left & among overseas strategic partners, de Gaulle continues to command enormous respect in France, where his presidency is seen as a return to political stability & to strength on the international stage. To his admirers, he was the epitome of a roi juste ("just king")—the embodiment of the qualities of a just & righteous ruler. De Gaulle's new constitution for the Fifth Republic satisfied a lingering feeling for a strong, central, singular political position, harking back to the monarchy, connected, however, to a democratic system. De Gaulle's opponents saw his constitution as nothing but a recasting of the old—a caesaropapism, with the president wielding almost monarchical powers like those under the ancien regime. Nevertheless, the system of the Fifth Republic (une certaine idée de la France) has proven remarkably stable, compared to that of the previous, Fourth Republic, notwithstanding constitutional changes since its implementation. Domestically, for all the flaws in de Gaulle's approach, he presided over a return to economic prosperity after an initially sluggish postwar performance, while maintaining much of the social contract evolved in previous decades between employers & labour. The associated dirigisme (state economic interventionism) of the Fifth Republic's early decades remains at odds with the current trend of western economic orthodoxy; yet those decades coincided with unprecedented growth & much-improved standards of living for the French population. De Gaulle's presidential style of government was continued under his successors. Internationally, the emphasis on French independence which so characterised de Gaulle's policy remains a keystone of foreign policy, together with his alignment with former rival Germany, still seen in both countries as a foundation for European integration. France's largest airport, in Roissy, outside Paris was named Charles de Gaulle International Airport in his honor. In conclusion, the right wing lost France world war two, by pushingh the army to areas defend against the Soviet Union, when they should have allied to the USSR & 1930s Spanish Republic, & so made the Nazis never be able to beat France. Why the French Revolution was good
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An Index with links to almost all our sites.
The Highland Clearances & it's full terribleness
A Quiz on the French Revolution
A site condemning the bias against the left wing, in most history books.
A site on the Belgian Congo, & how the king of that land killed 10s of millions of Congolese
The most evil regimes of the 19th century
Cottages
in North Wales
Things
to do on a bank holiday
Cheap
housing in London
A website
on Spy Ears
Ideas for presents
Ideas
for Delicous Dishes
The
Entrance to
the INTERNET SAFARI, with real
animals, most of us had never seen before.
Sherlock
Holmes the Computer Game, based on the Hound Of The Baskervilles
Famous
Gates
Jokes
Top
English speaking Countries
Fun
things to do in Galashiels
Biography
on Tyra Banks
The
Highland Clearances & it's full terribleness