[[File:{{Infobox officeholder|name=Charles de Gaulle|image=De Gaulle-OWI.jpg|thumbbirth_date=November 22, 1890|Charles de Gaullebirth_place=Lille, France|death_date=November 9, 1970 |death_place=Grand Est, France|religion=|spouse=|children=|alma_mater=|party=|office=President of France|term_start=January 8, 1959|term_end=April 28, 1969|preceded=[[René Coty]]|succeeded=[[Georges Pompidou]]|allegiance= French Third Republic, [[Free France]]|branch=|battles=World War I*World War II}}'''Charles de Gaulle''' (November 22, 1890-November 9, 1970) was the dominant military and political leader of [[France]], 1940-19691940–1969. He was a conservative in the traditionalist sense, and helped restore the leadership of conservatives and Catholics while weakening the Communists and socialists.
He was an outspoken critic of President Lyndon Johnson's [[Vietnam war]] policy,<ref>https://academic.oup.com/dh/article-abstract/31/5/909/368115/Reexamining-de-Gaulle-s-Peace-Initiative-on-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext </ref> America's [[Two China policy]],<ref>[[Richard Nixon]] credits De Gaulle as the first urging him to seek ''raprochament'' with the [[People's Republic of China]] https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2014/03/nixon-de-gaulle/ </ref> and America's failure to recognize the [[Sino-Soviet split]], a division within the communist bloc.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=oFUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=sino+soviet+split+de+gaulle+nato&source=bl&ots=a5-sV45Brl&sig=gn58uyEOfbMJ9hFiun9dbTej_yg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4sr6V7-_SAhVoslQKHbk-BhAQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=sino%20soviet%20split%20de%20gaulle%20nato&f=false] </ref> For these reasons he pulled France out of the NATO military command, while maintaining political ties with the alliance.
Fleeing the victorious German invaders in 1940, he rejected the new [[Vichy regime]] that allied itself to Germany. Général de Gaulle set up his base in London, proclaimed himself the incarnation of France, created the Free French movement with British funding, rallied some of the oversees colonies (especially in Africa), organized a French non-Communist anti-fascist Resistance movement, and tried, but failed, to gain full recognition from the British and Americans. A firm proponent of democracy, he destroyed the vestiges of the collaborationist [[Vichy regime]]. He retired from office in 1946, but returned in 1958 as France verged on civil war over the Algeria crisis. As president (1958–69) during the Fifth Republic, he revised the constitution to provide for presidential control of foreign and military policy, granted independence to Algeria and the African colonies, and restored the nation's economic health. Forging a close bond with Germany, he sought to dominate the European Common Market by vetoing British entry and holding the U.S. at arms length. Exhausted politically and emotionally, he finally left office in 1969. His reputation as the strongest and greatest of French leaders since [[Napoleon]] continues into the 21st century.
==Career==
De Gaulle was born in Lille on November 22, 1890. His family moved to Paris in 1895, where his father became professor of philosophy in the Jesuit College of Paris. The father inculcated the son with a profound belief in the glory of traditional Catholic France. Charles received a rigorous classical education that included a year 1907-08 1907–08 at a Jesuit college in Belgium. He matriculated at the Saint Cyr military academy in 1908; in 1911 he was commissioned in the French army.
At the battle of Douaumont in the Verdun campaign in February–March 1916 Captain de Gaulle led the 10th Battalion of the 33d Infantry Regiment; he was then assigned to relieve the 110th Regiment from its position at the Verdun front. On 2 March 1916 his company came under attack from the Germans and despite his much praised bravery, he was badly injured and was captured, spending 32 months in a prisoner of war camp.
:The United States, delighting in her resources, feeling that she no longer had within herself sufficient scope for her energies, wishing to help those who were in misery or bondage the world over, yielded in her turn to that taste for intervention in which the instinct for domination cloaked itself.<ref>''The War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle,''(1959) vol. 2, p. 88</ref>
It turn [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] distrusted him. De Gaulle removed French forces from the planned invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He was not at [[D-Day]] and was excluded from all the top-level conferences. The British and American, gave his regime ''de jure'' recognition and allowed his armies to enter France and to be the first to enter Paris after the Germans fled in August 1944. French armies, 1.3 million strong, under de Gaulle as provisional president, thereupon fought alongside the British and Americans. To [[Stalin]]'s intense anger, France was given an occupation zone in Germany, and a permanent seat on the [[United Nations]] Security Council, with a [[veto]]. The origins of the [[Cold War]] dates from these events.<ref>https://archive.org/details/rooseveltandhopk006306mbp </ref>
==Fourth Republic: 1945-1958==
For four years France had fought a civil war in Algeria against the FLN, which demanded independence. The Frenchmen who lived in Algeria, their allies among the Arabs, and powerful elements of the military inside France, rejected the FLN and demanded that Algeria remain integrated into France. They insisted so vehemently they were prepared to overthrow the government in Paris if it wavered.
In May, 1958, Frenchmen in Algeria revolted, throwing France into turmoil that verged on civil war. Rebels comprised young nationalists, supported by the large planters, army officers, and other proponents of integration of the Muslim population with France, feared a new government in Paris would make concessions to the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN). The rebels proclaimed a committee of public safety; the revolt spread to Corsica. In Paris the National Assembly voted emergency powers to newly elected Premier Pierre Pflimlin. However, only de Gaulle could solve the crisis, for he had the support of the navy, the police, and such prominent politicians as Socialist Guy Mollet and Moderate Republican chief Georges Bidault. Pflimlin resigned and President René Coty summoned de Gaulle as prime minister. The National Assembly, under threat that parachutists would seize Paris if it refused, voted 329-224 329–224 to invest de Gaulle with extraordinary powers for six months beginning June 1, 1958; the National Assembly then went home and de Gaulle took charge. When a new constitution took effect, he became the president of the Fifth Republic.
====Interpretations====
These uprisings provided the long-awaited chance to supporters of Général de Gaulle, who sought a new regime in which the executive power would be strengthened. Underlying the views of Gaullists such as Jacques Soustelle, Michel Debré, and Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a faith in French grandeur, a new nationalism which transformed itself into a desire for order and maintenance of the French Empire. These interests momentarily coincided with those of the Algerian rebels who feared Anglo-American mediation of the Algerian rebellion.
At the same time France gave independence to most of its overseas colonies, although tying them closely to France with economic and military pacts.
===Foreign policy===
During the Berlin crisis from 1958 to 1962. De Gaulle took advantage to create an independent force de frappe—that is, nuclear weapons and bombers—in order to reassert France's role as a powerful world leader. De Gaulle enthusiastically supported American General Lauris Norstad's proposal in 1959 to establish a top secret quadripartite Allied military planning group (LIVE OAK), hoping that it would strengthen France's position and weaken US domination of NATO. De Gaulle created a bilateral alliance with West German chancellor [[Konrad Adenauer]], which tended to upset the delicate diplomatic balance of NATO. His supporters rationalized France's cavalier position by arguing that independent French nuclear capability would provide a second center of deterrence against the Soviet Union.
De Gaulle forced a serious clash with Britain regarding the NATO alliance. By opposing British attempts to incorporate Europe in a broader transatlantic economic, political, and military alliance, de Gaulle hoped to create a chance for France to become what she ceased to be since Waterloo; the first in the world through driving a wedge between Europe, on one hand, and Britain and the United States on the other. Initially successful in isolating Britain, particularly through France's veto power over the European Economic Community (EEC), de Gaulle sought to further his country's status through a critique of, and withdrawal from, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The move backfired, however, allowing British foreign policy to isolate France and de Gaulle, hold NATO together, and eventually led to British inclusion in the EEC by other European members to counter France's disruptive behavior. In 1967, as in 1961-631961–63, the French were determined to preserve their position of leadership within the EEC, and this was the reason for de Gaulle's second veto of Britain's application for membership. French diplomacy was based on the need to preserve the Community of Six while barring Britain. Although France succeeded in excluding Britain in the short term, in the longer term the French had to adjust their stance on enlargement in order to retain influence. Leadership within the community was the foundation of France's international status.<ref>James Ellison, "Separated by the Atlantic: the British and De Gaulle, 1958-1967." ''Diplomacy & Statecraft'' 2006 17(4): 853-870. Issn: 0959-2296 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]; Helen Parr, "Saving the Community: the French Response to Britain's Second EEC Application in 1967." ''Cold War History'' 2006 6(4): 425-454. Issn: 1468-2745 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>
In 1966 de Gaulle's decision to withdraw French forces from NATO (but to remain nominally a member) paradoxically reinforced the cohesion of NATO, leaving the U.S. wholly dominant in the organization. Meanwhile, he rebuilt the French army, restoring morale giving it a new and modern role in the economy and foreign affairs.
===Quotes about de Gaulle===
:''The hardest cross I have to bear is the [[Cross of Lorraine]].'' —attributed, falsely, to [[Winston Churchill]] (it was really uttered by Churchill's envoy to France)<ref>http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=112</ref>
==Further reading==
* Berstein, Serge, and Peter Morris. ''The Republic of de Gaulle 1958-1969'' (The Cambridge History of Modern France) (2006) [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Republic-Gaulle-1958-1969-Cambridge-History/dp/0521272394/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205076945&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* Cogan, Charles. ''Charles de Gaulle: A Brief Biography with Documents.'' (1995). 243 pp.
* De Gaulle, Charles. '' The Complete War Memoirs of Charles De Gaulle'' (1998) 1048pp; [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Complete-War-Memoirs-Charles-Gaulle/dp/0786705469/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205076110&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]* Lacouture, Jean. ''De Gaulle: The Rebel 1890-1944'' (1984; English ed. 1991), 640pp; [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Gaulle-Rebel-1890-1944-Norton-Paperback/dp/0393309991/ref=pd_sim_b_title_1 excerpt and text search]; vol 2. ''De Gaulle: The Ruler 1945-1970'' (1993), 700pp, The standard scholarly biography,
* Kolodziej, Edward A. ''French International Policy under de Gaulle and Pompidou: The Politics of Grandeur'' (1974) [http://www.questia.com/read/9120986 online edition]
* Ledwidge, Bernard. ''De Gaulle'' (1982),
* Shennan, Andrew. ''De Gaulle'' (1993) 200pp
* Williams, Charles. ''The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle'' (1997), 560pp [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Great-Frenchman-General-Gaulle/dp/0471180718/ref=pd_sim_b_img_3 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, Philip M. and Martin Harrison. ''De Gaulle's Republic'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/read/54328775 online edition]
==Detailed bibliography==
===Biographies===
* Cogan, Charles. ''Charles de Gaulle: A Brief Biography with Documents.'' (1995). 243 pp.
* Lacouture, Jean. ''De Gaulle: The Rebel 1890-1944'' (1984; English ed. 1991), 640pp; [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Gaulle-Rebel-1890-1944-Norton-Paperback/dp/0393309991/ref=pd_sim_b_title_1 excerpt and text search]; vol 2. ''De Gaulle: The Ruler 1945-1970'' (1993), 700pp, The standard scholarly biography, based on hundreds of interviews.
* Ledwidge, Bernard. ''De Gaulle'' (1982),
* Shennan, Andrew. ''De Gaulle'' (1993) 200pp
* Williams, Charles. ''The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle'' (1997), 560pp [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Great-Frenchman-General-Gaulle/dp/0471180718/ref=pd_sim_b_img_3 excerpt and text search]
===Politics===
* Berstein, Serge, and Peter Morris. ''The Republic of de Gaulle 1958-1969'' (The Cambridge History of Modern France) (2006) [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Republic-Gaulle-1958-1969-Cambridge-History/dp/0521272394/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205076945&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]* Cameron, David R. and Hofferbert, Richard I. "Continuity and Change in Gaullism: the General's Legacy." ''American Journal of Political Science'' 1973 17(1): 77-9877–98. Issn: 0092-58530092–5853, a statistcial analysis of the Gaullist voting coalition in elections 1958-73 Fulltext: [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0092-5853%28197302%2917%3A1%3C77%3ACACIGT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N Abstract in Jstor]
* Cogan, Charles G. "The Break-up: General de Gaulle's Separation from Power," ''Journal of Contemporary History'' Vol. 27, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), pp. 167–199, re: 1969 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-0094%28199201%2927%3A1%3C167%3ATBGDGS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K in JSTOR]
* Furniss,Edgar J., Jr. ''De Gaulle and the French Army.'' (1964)
===Primary sources===
* De Gaulle, Charles. '' The Complete War Memoirs of Charles De Gaulle'' (1998) 1048pp; [httphttps://www.amazon.com/Complete-War-Memoirs-Charles-Gaulle/dp/0786705469/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205076110&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* De Gaulle, Charles. ''Memoirs of Hope: Renewal and Endeavor'' (1971)
* De Gaulle, Charles. ''The Enemy's House Divided'' (2002), translation of ''La Discorde chez l'ennemi'' (1924), analysis of Germany's mistakes in World War I
====notes====
<references/>{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Gaullism]]
{{FrancePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaulle, Charles de}}
[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:World War II Commanders]]
[[Category:French People]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Patriots]]