Who is Charles de Gaulle?

Charles de Gaulle may truly be said to be the founder of modern France. He led the nation to becoming a major player in world affairs during and after World War II. And though contemporaries and political enemies thought of him as the imperial French general and statesman whose increasing political independence alienated traditional allies, the French people nonetheless swooned with respect and delight at everything he did or said.

A French national hero almost on a par with Napoleon, de Gaulle was larger than life-a relatively obscure tank officer who became the president of the Fifth Republic. To the observer, the years of his ascent and presidency are fascinating and frustrating, marked by imperialism, arrogance and political gamesmanship as he changed French thought and France’s role in the world economy and political sphere.

What made him the President?

Charles de Gaulle came from a traditionally Catholic background (born in 1890 in Lille, France). He was fascinated by everything French as a young man, so it probably came as no surprise that he took a military education, graduating from the Ecole Militaire in 1912. This was the prelude to an entire life spent in service to France and its military.

Like most young men of his generation, he served in the massive French army of World War I, during which he was wounded and captured by the Germans. Between the wars, he stayed with his military career, advancing up the ladder and spending a lot of time thinking and writing about military and political affairs. France and her politicians were obsessed with national security, and with the political and economic control of a smaller, now weaker Germany. After all, France had fought Germany (or its various versions, such as Prussia) for generations.

“At the time, the great minds in France felt that fixed fortifications-the Maginot Line-were the solution to everything. The French built these massive fortifications with stationary guns facing Germany. Of course, in the next war, the Germans simply went around the fixed fortifications and were in Paris within months.”

De Gaulle, ever the iconoclast, wrote regularly explaining why the Maginot was the wrong strategy and that only a mechanized and specialized army (with a strong air force) would provide real protection to France. His theories were soundly rejected by his superiors-which is probably the reason that his military career did not advance beyond that of a colonel between the wars.

Like great men and heroes of all generations, it was world events that in many ways made the man. World War II was the stage that would propel de Gaulle from obscurity to prominence. Once the German advance through Belgium and Holland was complete, it was only a matter of time until the poorly defended French capitulated. For his part, de Gaulle would have none of it. He pleaded with his superiors in the army and with politicians to flee France and set up a government in absentia in North Africa.

He worked with Churchill in England on a scheme to combine the two countries and their armies for the duration of the war. Marshall Petain, the French hero from World War I and now head of government, arranged an armistice with Germany. The pro-German Vichy government was formed and de Gaulle fled to England to lead the charge for a continued French war effort. In the eyes of many, the creation of the Free French forces was a symbol of a free and independent France.

Even at this very early stage of development, the so-called French government in exile exhibited an often-frustrating need to be or at least appear to be independent of the Allied forces during the war. Churchill generally supported de Gaulle. Roosevelt, on the other hand, found de Gaulle outrageous, difficult and arrogant-probably much as Roosevelt would be in similar circumstances.

As the war progressed, Charles de Gaulle not only represented the Free French but was also considered the leader of French resistance on the continent. He used this status to gain a prominent position in post-war French politics. By 1944, his Committee for National Liberation was the provisional government of post-war France.

Unfortunately, a formal process for the new government could not be agreed upon, and de Gaulle resigned. He watched (impatiently) as the Fourth Republic-with its exhausting problems in Algeria and Vietnam-collapsed. As the only national hero with sufficient prominence, he waited for the people to call. And they did.

As a condition for coming back as head of government, de Gaulle demanded that the constitution be revised and that he be given sufficient emergency powers to institute economic and political reforms. He became, with overwhelming popular approval, the Fifth Republic, enacting strong economic reforms, dramatically centralizing control over many domestic issues and almost completely controlling international affairs. He had the potential to be a near dictator, if he so chose. He did not.

Few people outside France can understand the historical role of the French colonies, especially the importance of Algeria, in the national psyche. The geographical and political entity called France was defined by more than just its presence in Europe; it included French colonies around the world.

Algeria, especially, was considered part of France. When Algerian nationals started a civil war, they literally almost destroyed the national fabric of France. Military revolt, terrorism and political chaos resulted. Few Frenchmen wanted to give up Algeria; even fewer wanted to make the military and financial sacrifice of a prolonged civil war. The hero of the day was de Gaulle, but only if his role is taken in historical context.

At the time, his decision to allow Algerian independence was considered by many as treason. Several attempts were made on his life. But in 1962, de Gaulle arranged a cease-fire with the Algerian National Liberation Front, and Algerian independence was approved in a popular referendum in France. It was widely conceded even by critics hostile to de Gaulle that he had succeeded in ending a crisis that no other French political leader had been able to resolve. Soon, all other French colonies in Africa were also granted independence.

But the hero would not stay a hero for long. In his second term as president, he faced increasing opposition for his high-handed political maneuvering. He made every effort possible to concentrate political power in himself and his supporters. If his stature at home was weakening, the enthusiasm of his allies and his enemies was increasingly hostile.

De Gaulle did everything possible to separate France from American and British economic and political control. He refused to support the UK’s admittance into the European Union, and was repeatedly and often at odds with Washington over matters of foreign policy. His insistence that France develop its own nuclear program was a direct effort to assert France’s position in the world.

By 1968, his political capital at home had been used up. Inflation and a bad economy sent hundreds of thousands of students, farmers and radicals onto the streets of Paris to protest government policies and the economy. Attempts at reform failed and de Gaulle resigned the presidency in 1969. By 1970 he would be dead, nearly penniless-he never did manage to accumulate wealth, despite his personal and professional successes.

The Legacy of the Charles de Gaulle?

How should we view the man and his legacy to France and the world? If for no other reason, he is a national hero because of his unfailing belief in France, its culture and its people. He absolutely refused to allow France to become a second-rate country with a failing economy and little influence beyond Europe. His political views ensured that France and Europe would maintain independence from the two political extremes-the United States and the Soviet Union.

Some contemporaries and historians viewed his maverick ways with disdain, insisting that they were merely a reflection of the arrogance of the man himself. He personally was uncompromising and so were his domestic and international policies. In the end, however, many would accept that he was the founder of modern France. He stubbornly maintained a French political identity, including the importance of the European Union and French dominance of that Union.

Courtesy

A number of very readable biographies have been published about de Gaulle over the years, including The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General de Gaulle, Wiley, 1997.

The French embassy in the United States has some interesting information about de Gaulle. Visit www.info-france-usa.org.