Charles André Joseph Marie De Gaulle (Lille, 1890 – Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, 1970 ) was a French military and politician, leader of ” Free France ” during World War II and creator of the Fifth Republic.
De Gaulle left an indelible mark on French politics in the past and present century, as a good part of his ideas are still present in today’s France, under the current of so-called ” Gaullism .” In his honor, the name of the Parisian square “L’Étoile” (the place where the Arc de Triomphe is located in Paris ) was changed to Place Charles de Gaulle .
Biographical synthesis
The beginning
Born into a middle-class Catholic family on November 22 , 1890 in Lille , he pursued a military career from 1909 to 1912 .
First World War
He fought in the First World War ( 1914 – 1918 ) and was later assigned to assist the Polish army in its war against Soviet Russia ( 1920 ). He made his career under the protection of General Pétain, who promoted him to positions of responsibility before breaking off relations in 1938 over a plagiarism issue; but de Gaulle rose slowly because he made himself known as an ambitious and undisciplined young man, who criticized the guidelines of national defense and published pretentious treatises on military strategy and philosophy.
WWII
At the time of the German invasion of France in 1940 , de Gaulle displayed a certain strategic brilliance in command of an armored unit, but he could not avoid being defeated by the sweeping advance of the German ‘blitzkrieg’. At that moment of defeat, however, he obtained the double personal victory of being promoted to general and accessing a first post in the government (undersecretary of war) because of his friendship with the new prime minister, Reynaud. He could do nothing in that position, because the defeat dragged the fall of the Reynaud government and his successor, Pétain, rushed to make peace with Hitler and accept the German occupation of most of France, establishing the collaborationist regime of France over the rest. Vichy.
De Gaulle took refuge in London , launching through the radio an appeal to the French to continue the resistance against Germany . Although he lacked support, he was recognized by Churchill as the legitimate representative of “free France” to the Allies. He asserted his leadership over the resistance movements of the interior, at the same time that he achieved control of some French colonies, where they could count on their own territories and armies to justify their role in the war. He adopted an uncompromising stance in defense of the dignity and independence of France, demanding to be treated on an equal footing by Great Britain and the United States.; This made relations with the allies difficult, especially with Roosevelt, who distrusted the ambitious general and his authoritarian temptations.
It was the Americans who left de Gaulle on the sidelines of the Allied landing in North Africa, replacing him with Giraud. But de Gaulle prevailed over Giraud as head of the French government in exile, gathering around him representatives of the old parties (including the Communists) with their promises to restore democracy and introduce social improvements ( 1943 ).
After the Normandy landing , de Gaulle settled in France at the head of a provisional government of concentration ( 1944 ) and quickly proceeded to assert central power and purge the collaborators. It reaped the fruits of the Allied victory, obtaining for France the great power treatment that it sought, by obtaining an occupation zone in Germany, as well as a permanent position on the UN Security Council .
Fourth Republic
But he resigned in 1946 , in disagreement with the Constitution of the Fourth Republic , in which he would have liked to introduce a stronger executive power in the face of the other parties’ insistence on the democratic preponderance of Parliament. Since then, he led an opposition movement that contributed to accentuate the political instability of which he accused the Fourth Republic. Failing to obtain the electoral triumph he hoped for, he retired from politics in 1953 , nevertheless leaving it to his supporters to keep the “Gaullist” movement alive.
It was the war in Algeria that allowed him to return to power: before the advance of the independence movement, the supporters of maintaining the French presence in Algeria in 1958 staged a coup d’état with Gaullist participation. To avoid the establishment of a military dictatorship, the leaders of the Republic agreed to call General De Gaulle to the government, as the rebels requested. With opposition from the left, he obtained full powers from Parliament and was commissioned to prepare a constitutional review.
Fifth Republic
The resulting 1958 Constitution gave rise to the Fifth Republic , which lasts in France to this day; Its institutions were tailored to De Gaulle and reflect his thinking halfway between the republican tradition and Bonapartist authoritarianism: everything centers on the figure of the president, endowed with very broad powers and elected for a long term (directly by the people since 1962).
De Gaulle himself held the presidency from 1958 to 1969 ; His work focused on recovering the international prominence that corresponded to the historical “greatness” of France; The basis for achieving this was the political stability created by the Constitution of 58 and by his own permanence in power. Once the thorny problem of Algeria (to which he granted independence in 1962 ) had been settled , he tried to emancipate France from North American tutelage by breaking the bipolar logic of the “cold war”: he endowed France with nuclear weapons, took the country out of the NATO’s military structure , vetoed Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community , established relations with China.
Resignation and death
But his conservatism in economic and social matters provoked an outbreak of worker and youth discontent in 1968 that threatened the foundations of his regime; He tried to rebuild it by submitting a draft constitutional reform to a referendum, but when he was defeated in the consultation he resigned as president, leaving the position to his faithful collaborator Pompidou. Defeated, he will retire from politics. He died of an aneurysm on November 9, 1970 , leaving his memories unfinished.
Works by Charles de Gaulle
Une mauvaise rencontre Imprenta de Montligeon, 1906 (written with 15 years)
La Congrégation, Hors de France Magazine of the collège de Antoing (n ° 6) 1908
Carnet de campagne d’un officier français Revue de Paris (n ° 6) 1920
The Discorde chez l’ennemi Berger-Levrault 1924
Le Flambeau (1st and 2nd part) Revue militaire (n ° 69 and 70) 1927
La Défaite, question morale 1927-1928
Philosophie du recrutement Revue de l’Infanterie (n ° 439) 1929
La Condition des cadres dans l’armée 1930-1931
Histoire des troupes du Levant Imprenta nationale 1931 (in collaboration with Major Yvon and Colonel de Mierry)
Le fil de l’épée Berger-Levrault 1932
Combats du Temps de paix Revue de l’Infanterie (n ° 476) 1932
Pour une politique de défense nationale Revue Bleue (n ° 3) 1933
Le soldat de l’Antiquité Revue de l’Infanterie 1933
Forgeons une armée de métiers Revue des Vivants 1934
Vers l’armée de métier Berger-Levrault 1934
Le problème belge Revue Défense Nationale 1936
La France et son Armée Plon 1938
Trois études Berger-Levrault 1945 (Historical role of fortresses; Economic mobilization abroad; How to build a professional army) followed by Mémorandum du 26 janvier 1940 .
Mémoires de guerre
Volume I – L’Appel, 1940-1942 Plon 1954
Volume II – L’Unité, 1942-1944 Plon 1956
Volume III – Le Salut, 1944-1946 Plon 1959
Mémoires d’espoir
Volume I – Le Renouveau, 1958-1962 Plon 1970
Volume II – L’effort, 1962 … Plon 1971
Discours et Messages
Volume I – Pendant la Guerre, 1940-1946 Plon 1970
Volume II – Dans l’attente, 1946-1958 Plon 1970
Volume III – Avec le Renouveau, 1958-1962 Plon 1970
Volume IV – Pour l’Effort, 1962-1965 Plon 1970
Volume V – Vers le Terme, 1966-1969 Plon 1970
Lettres, Notes et Carnets
Take 1 – 1905-1918 Plon 1980
Take 2 – 1919-June 1940 Plon 1980
Take 3 – June 1940-July 1941 Plon 1981
Take 4 – July 1941-May 1943 Plon 1982
Take 5 – June 1943-May 1945 Plon 1983
Tome 6 – May 1945-June 1951 Plon 1984
Tome 7 – June 1951-May 1958 Plon 1985
Take 8 – June 1958-December 1960 Plon 1985
Take 9 – January 1961-December 1963 Plon 1986
Take 10 – January 1964-June 1966 Plon 1986
Take 11 – July 1966-April 1969 Plon 1987
Tome 12 – May 1969-November 1970 Plon 1988
Take 13 – Complements from 1924 to 1970 Plon 1997
Texts, speeches, statements and notes . La Documentation française n ° 216 (September 25, 1967)