![]() ![]() In May 1968, violent demonstrations by university students shook de Gaulle's government. He also granted independence to Algeria in the face of strong opposition at home and from French settlers in Algeria. ![]() He sanctioned the development of nuclear weapons, withdrew France from NATO and vetoed the entry of Britain into the Common Market. Strongly nationalistic, de Gaulle sought to strengthen his country financially and militarily. The French people approved a new constitution and voted de Gaulle president of the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle returned to lead France once more. In 1958, a revolt in French-held Algeria, combined with serious instability within France, destroyed the Fourth Republic. An attempt to transform the political scene with a new party failed, and in 1953 he withdrew into retirement again. However, when his desires for a strong presidency were ignored, he resigned. As president of the provisional government, he guided France through the writing of the constitution on which the Fourth Republic was based. He became leader of the Free French.Īfter the liberation of Paris in August 1944, de Gaulle was given a hero's welcome in the French capital. As under-secretary of national defence and war, de Gaulle refused to accept the French government's truce with the Germans and escaped to London, where he announced the formation of a French government in exile. His advice went unheeded and, in June 1940, German forces easily overran France. De Gaulle chose a military career and served with distinction in World War One.ĭuring the 1930s he wrote books and articles on military subjects, criticising France's reliance on the Maginot Line for defence against Germany and advocating the formation of mechanised armoured columns. Ĭharles de Gaulle was born in Lille on 22 November 1890 and grew up in Paris, where his father was a teacher. His political ideology, 'Gaullism', has become a major influence in French politics. Listen to Julian Jackson discuss Charles de Gaulle on the Bloomberg.© De Gaulle was a French general and statesman, leader of the Free French during World War Two and the architect of the Fifth Republic.No previous biography has so vividly depicted this towering figure whose legacy remains deeply contested. Drawing on the extensive resources of the recently opened de Gaulle archives, Jackson reveals the conservative roots of de Gaulle’s intellectual formation, sheds new light on his relationship with Churchill, and shows how he confronted riots at home and violent independence movements from the Middle East to Vietnam. Julian Jackson’s magnificent biography, the first major reconsideration in over twenty years, captures this titanic figure as never before. He challenged American hegemony, took France out of NATO, and twice vetoed British entry into the European Community in his pursuit of what he called “a certain idea of France.” ![]() Then, as President of the Fifth Republic, he brought France to the brink of a civil war over his controversial decision to pull out of Algeria. Thanks to de Gaulle, France was recognized as one of the victorious Allies when Germany was finally defeated. Yet they knew they would need his help to rebuild a shattered Europe. Sometimes aloof but confident in his leadership, he quarreled violently with Churchill and Roosevelt. Through sheer force of personality he inspired French men and women to risk their lives to resist the Nazi occupation. “Whatever happens,” he said, “the flame of French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.” At that moment, Charles de Gaulle entered history.įor the rest of the war, de Gaulle insisted he and his Free French movement were the true embodiment of France. He fled to London, where he took to the radio to address his compatriots back home. In the early summer of 1940, when France was overrun by German troops, one junior general who had fought in the trenches in Verdun refused to accept defeat. “Masterly…makes for awesome reading…an outstanding biography.”-Max Hastings, Sunday Times “In crafting the finest one-volume life of de Gaulle in English, Julian Jackson has come closer than anyone before him to demystifying this conservative at war with the status quo, for whom national interests were inseparable from personal honor.”-Richard Norton Smith, Wall Street Journal ![]()
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