HIST 102 Other, Fall 2002
American University of Beirut · Survey of Modern Europe · 73 pages
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Charles de
Gaulle
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Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille, France, on 22nd November, 1890. The son
of a headmaster of a Jesuit school, he was educated in Paris. He was a good
student and at the Military Academy St. Cyr, he graduated 13th in the class of
1912.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant, the 6 feet 5 tall de Gaulle joined an
infantry regiment commanded by Colonel Henri-Philippe Petain in 1913.
In the First World War de Gaulle was wounded twice in the first few months of
the conflict. Promoted to the rank of captain in February, 1915, de Gaulle fought
at Verdun where he was wounded again and on 2nd March, 1916 was captured
by the German Army. Over the next 32 months he was held in several prisoner
of war camps and made five unsuccessful attempts to escape.
After the Armistice de Gaulle was assigned to a Polish division being formed in
France where he served under Maxime Weygand. He fought against the Red
Army during the Civil War and won Poland's highest military decoration, Virtuti
Militari.
De Gaulle lectured at the French War College where he worked closely with
Henri-Philippe Petain. Over the next few years the two men demanding a small,
mobile, highly mechanized army of professionals.
De Gaulle's military ideas appeared in his book, The Army of the Future (1934).
In the book he also criticized the static theories of war that was exemplified by
the Maginot Line. The book was unpopular with the politicians and the military
who favoured the idea of a mass army of conscripts during war. In 1936 de
Gaulle was punished for his views by having his name taken of the promotion
list.
In 1938 de Gaulle published France and Her Army. This book caused a
disagreement with Henri-Philippe Petain who accused de Gaulle of taking credit
for work done by the staff of the French War College.
On the outbreak of the Second World War de Gaulle took over command of the
5th Army's tank force in Alsace. He soon became frustrated with the military
hierarchy who had failed to grasp the importance of using tanks in mass-attacks
with air support.
When the German Army broke through at Sedan he was given command of the
recently formed 4th Armoured Division. With 200 tanks, de Gaulle attacked the
German panzers at Montcornet on 17th May, 1940. Lacking air support, de
Gaulle made little impact on halting the German advance.
De Gaulle was more successful at Caumont (28th May) when he became the
only French commanding officer to force the Germans to retreat during the
German Invasion of France.
On the 5th June, 1940, the French prime minister, Paul Reynaud, sacked
Edouard Daladier and appointed de Gaulle as his minister of war. De Gaulle
also visited London but when he returned to France on 16th June he discovered
the Henri-Philippe Petain had ousted Paul Reynaud as premier and was forming
a government that would seek an armistice with Germany. In danger of being
arrested by the new French government, de Gaulle returned to England. The
following day he made a radio broadcast calling for French people to continue
fighting against the German Army.
Whereas as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the USA recognized Vichy
France Winston Churchill refused and backed de Gaulle as leader of the "Free
French". Henri-Philippe Petain responded by denouncing de Gaulle. On 4th
July, 1940, a court-martial in Toulouse sentenced him in absentia to four years
in prison. At a second court-martial on 2nd August, 1940, sentenced him to
death.
De Gaulle made attempts to unify the resistance movements in France. In
March 1943 Jean Moulin, Charles Delestraint and Andre Dewavrin managed to
unite eight major resistance movements under de Gaulle's leadership. However,
this good work was undermined when in June, 1943, both Delestraint and
Moulin were both arrested by the Gestapo.
On 30th May 1943, de Gaulle moved to Algeria. The following month the French
Committee of National Liberation (FCNL) was established with de Gaulle and
Henri Giraud as co-presidents. De Gaulle had difficulty working with his co-
president and by July, 1943, had limited Giraud's power to command of the
armed forces.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were furious when de Gaulle's
announced on 26 May, 1944, that the FCNL will now be known as the
Provisional Government of the French Republic. Roosevelt and Churchill
refused to recognize de Gaulle's action and decided to exclude him from the
planning of Operation Overlord.
Despite objections from Britain and the USA, De Gaulle's Provisional
Government was recognized by Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Yugoslavia and Norway. On 13th July, 1944, the governments of
Britain and the USA also agreed that de Gaulle could help administer the
liberated portions of France.
De Gaulle reached France from Algiers on 20th August 1944. De Gaulle and his
2nd Armoured Division was allowed to join the USA Army when it entered Paris
on 25th August. At a public speech later that day he announced that the French
Forces of the Interior (FFI) would be integrated into the French Army and the
militia would be dissolved. He also offered posts in his government to leaders of
the resistance. Those who took office included Georges Bidault, Henry Frenay
and Charles Tillon.
De Gaulle was upset by not being invited to the Yalta Conference but he was
allowed to represent France as one of the four countries to sign the final
instrument of surrender with Germany. France was also given one of the four
occupation zones in Germany.
On 13th November, 1945, the first Constituent Assembly unanimously elected
de Gaulle as head of the French government. He held the post until resigning on
20th January, 1946. He then formed the right-wing group, the Rally of the
French People (RFP). After initial success it declined in popularity and de Gaulle
left it in 1953 and it was disbanded two years later.
After his retirement from politics de Gaulle wrote the first three volumes of his
memoirs. He returned to politics in 1958 when he was elected president during
the Algerian crisis. He granted independence to all 13 French African colonies
but the Algerian War continued until 1962.
De Gaulle decided that France should have its own atom bomb and repeatedly
blocked Britain's attempts to join the European Economic Community. In 1966
de Gaulle withdrew France from the integrated military command of NATO.
Following student riots against his government and negative results in a
referendum, de Gaulle resigned from office in April, 1969. In retirement he
completed his memoirs. Charles De Gaulle died on 9th November, 1970.
(1) General Charles de Gaulle, attempted to halt the German invasion of
France at Abbeville. He wrote about these events in his book, The Call to
Honour (1955)
By the evening (28th May, 1940) the objective was reached. Only Mont Caubert
still held out. There were a great many dead from both sides on the field. Our
tanks had been sorely tried. Barely a hundred were still in working order. But all
the same, an atmosphere of victory hovered over the battlefield. Everyone held
his head high. The wounded were smiling. The guns fired gaily. Before us, in a
pitched battle, the Germans had retired.
Alas! In the course of the Battle of France, what other ground had been or would
be won, except this strip of fourteen kilometres deep? If the State had played its
part; if, while there was time, it had directed its military system towards
enterprise, not passivity; if our leaders had in consequence had at their disposal
the instruments for shock and manoeuvre which had been often suggested to
the politicians and to the High Command; then our arms would have had their
chance, and France would have found her soul again.
(2) Robert Boothby, Boothby: Recollections of a Rebel (1978)
Within hours of the French capitulation, Louis Spears invited me to lunch to
meet what he called 'a French Brigadier whom I have just brought over from
Bordeaux. The Brigadier was de Gaulle; and the lunch party consisted of
Spears, his wife (Mary Borden), de Gaulle, Mme. de Gaulle, and myself. Spears
told us about their flight, how they had run out of petrol and had to make a
forced landing in the Channel Islands with two minutes to spare. De Gaulle, who
was going to make a broadcast that night, told us that he thought of saying:
"France has lost a battle, but not the war." We all thought that this was very
good. Later on Spears and de Gaulle quarrelled bitterly when Spears was head
of a British Mission to the Levant, and tried - rightly - to ease the French out of
Syria and the Lebanon. There is no doubt that, in addition to being a brave
soldier and, with Liddell Hart, the most brilliant military historian of our time,
Spears was a natural intriguer.
What is equally beyond doubt is that, if he had not pulled de Gaulle into that
aeroplane at Bordeaux, de Gaulle would never have been heard of. Spears, and
Spears alone, created de Gaulle; and in so doing made history. De Gaulle knew
it, and resented it. When Spears took him to see Churchill, the latter said: "Why
have you brought this lanky, gloomy Brigadier?" Spears replied: "Because no
one else would come."
(3) General Charles de Gaulle, BBC radio broadcast (18th June, 1940)
I, General de Gaulle, now in London, call on all French officers and men who
are at present on British soil, or may be in the future, with or without their arms; I
call on all engineers and skilled workmen from the armaments factories who are
at present on British soil, or may be in the future, to get in touch with me.
Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not and shall not
die.
(4) General Charles de Gaulle, wrote about Lend-Lease in his book, The
Call to Honour (1955)
On March 9th, at dawn, Mr. Churchill came and woke up to tell me, literally
dancing with joy, that the American Congress had passed the "Lend-Lease Bill,"
which had been under discussion for several weeks. There was, indeed, matter
of comfort here for us, not only from the fact that the belligerents were from now
on assured of receiving from the United States the material necessary for
fighting, but also because America, by becoming, in Roosevelt's phrase, "the
arsenal of the democracies," was taking a gigantic step toward war.
(5) General Charles de Gaulle, The Call to Honour (1955)
Jean Moulin was dropped by parachute in France during the night of January
1st. He carried credentials from me appointing him as my delegate for the non-
occupied zone of Metropolitan France and instructing him to endure unity of
action among the elements of the resistance there. This would mean that his
authority would not, in principle, be disputed. It was therefore agreed that it was
he who would be the centre of our communications in France, first with the
South Zone, then, as soon as possible, with the North Zone.
(6) General Charles de Gaulle, The Call to Honour (1955)
Churchill had made for himself a rule to do nothing important except in
agreement with Roosevelt. Though he felt, more than any other Englishman, the
awkwardness of Washington's methods, though he found it hard to bear the
conditions of subordination in which United States aid placed the British Empire,
and though he bitterly resented the tone of supremacy which the President
adopted towards him, Churchill had decided, once for all, to bow to the
imperious necessity of the American alliance.
(7) Winston Churchill, letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt (16th December,
1941)
The German setback in Russia, the British successes in Libya, the moral and
military collapse of Italy, above all the the declarations of war exchanged
between Germany and the United States, must strongly affect the mind of
France and the French Empire. Now is the time to offer to Vichy and to French
North Africa a blessing or a cursing. A blessing will consist in a promise by the
United States and great Britain to re-establish France as a Great Power with her
territories undiminished.
Our relations with General de Gaulle and the Free French movement will require
to be reviewed. Hitherto the United States have entered into no undertakings
similar to those comprised in my correspondence with him. Through no
particular fault of his own movement has created new antagonism in French
minds. Any action which the united states may now feel able to take in regard to
him should have the effect, inter alia, of redefining our obligations to him and
France so as to make these obligations more closely dependent upon the
eventual effort by him and the French nation to rehabilitate themselves.
(8) James F. Byrnes, as Secretary of State, attended the Yalta Conference
on 4th February, 1945.
In the fall of 1944 the Soviet Union and the Provisional Government of France
had entered into a treaty of friendship. It was immediately obvious at Yalta,
however, that the treaty and the friendly words exchanged over it by the
diplomats had not changed in any degree Marshal Stalin's opinion on the
contribution of France to the war. He thought France should play little part in the
control of Germany, and stated that Yugoslavia and Poland were more entitled
to consideration than France.
When Roosevelt and Churchill proposed that France be allotted a zone of
occupation, Stalin agreed. But it was clear he agreed only because the French
zone was to be taken out of the territory allotted to the United States and the
United Kingdom. And he especially opposed giving France a representative on
the Allied Control Council for Germany. He undoubtedly concurred in the
opinion expressed to the President by Mr. Molotov that this should be done
"only as a kindness to France and not because she is entitled to it."
"I am in favor of France being given a zone," Stalin declared, "but I cannot
forget that in this war France opened the gates to the enemy." He maintained it
would create difficulties to give France a zone of occupation and a
representative on the Allied Control Council and refuse the same treatment to
others who had fought more than France. He said France would soon demand
that de Gaulle attend the Big
Three's Conferences.
Churchill argued strongly in favor of France's being represented on the Council.
He said the British public would not understand if questions affecting France
and the French zone were settled without her participation in the discussion. It
did not follow, as Stalin had suggested, that France would' demand de Gaulle's
participation in the conferences of the Big Three, he added. And, in his best
humor, Mr. Churchill said the conference was "a very exclusive club, the
entrance fee being at least five million soldiers or the equivalent."
(9) Harold Macmillan, speech in the House of Commons (31st July 1961)
Therefore, after long and earnest consideration, Her Majesty's Government
have come to the conclusion that it would be right for Britain to make a formal
application under Article 237 of the Treaty for negotiations with a view to joining
the Community if satisfactory arrangements can be made to meet the special
needs of the United Kingdom, of the Commonwealth and of the European Free
Trade Association.
If, as I earnestly hope, our offer to enter into negotiations with the European
Economic Community is accepted, we shall spare no efforts to reach a
satisfactory agreement. These negotiations must inevitably be of a detailed and
technical character, covering a very large number of the most delicate and
difficult matters. They may, therefore, be protracted and there can, of course, be
no guarantee of success. When any negotiations are brought to a conclusion
then it will be the duty of the Government to recommend to the House what
course we should pursue.
(10) Charles De Gaulle, speech (4th January 1963)
The Treaty of Rome was concluded between six continental States - States
which are, economically speaking, one may say, of the same nature. Indeed,
whether it be a matter of their industrial or agricultural production, their external
exchanges, their habits or their commercial clientele, their living or working
conditions, there is between them much more resemblance than difference.
Moreover, they are adjacent, they inter-penetrate, they prolong each other
through their communications. It is therefore a fact to group them and to link
them in such a way that what they have to produce, to buy, to sell, to consume -
well, they do produce, buy, sell, consume, in preference in their own ensemble.
Doing that is conforming to realities.
Moreover, it must be added that from the point of view of their economic
development, their social progress, their technical capacity, they are, in short,
keeping pace. They are marching in similar fashion. It so happens, too, that
there is between them no kind of political grievance, no frontier question, no
rivalry in domination or power. On the contrary, they are joined in solidarity,
especially and primarily, from the aspect of the consciousness they have, of
defining together an important part of the sources of our civilisation; and also as
concerns their security, because they are continentals and have before them
one and the same menace from one extremity to the other of their territories;
finally, they are in solidarity through the fact that not one among them is bound
abroad by any particular political or military accord.
Thus, it was psychologically and materially possible to make an economic
community of the Six, though not without difficulties. When the Treaty of Rome
was signed in 1957, it was after long discussions; and when it was concluded, it
was necessary in order to achieve something that we French put in order our
economic, financial, and monetary affairs and that was done in 1959.
Thereupon Great Britain posed her candidature to the Common Market. She did
it after having earlier refused to participate in the communities we are now
building, as well as after creating a free trade area with six other States, and,
finally, after having - I may well say it, the negotiations held at such length on
this subject will be recalled - after having put some pressure on the Six to
prevent a real beginning being made in the application of the Common Market.
If England asks in turn to enter, but on her own conditions, this poses without
doubt to each of the six States, and poses to England, problems of a very great
dimension.
England in effect is insular, she is maritime, she is linked through her
exchanges, her markets, her supply lines to the most diverse and often the most
distant countries; she pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities,
and only slight agricultural ones. She has in all her doings very marked and very
original habits and traditions.
(11) Paul-Henri Spaak, The Continuing Battle: Memories of an European
(1971)
A new political event of extreme importance was in the making: General de
Gaulle had torpedoed our negotiations without having warned either his partners
or the British. He had acted with a lack of consideration unexampled in the
history of the EEC, showing utter contempt for his negotiating partners, allies
and opponents alike. He had brought to a halt negotiations which he himself put
in train in full agreement with his partners, and had done so on the flimsiest of
pretexts.
What had happened? There is every reason to believe that it was the attitude
adopted by Macmillan at his meeting with Kennedy in Bermuda which so upset
the President of the French Republic. Macmillan's crime was to have reached
agreement with the President of the United States on Britain's nuclear,
weaponry. He had in fact arranged for the purchase of Polaris missiles from the
United States. In General de Gaulle's eyes the cooperation with the Americans
was tantamount to treason against Europe's interests and justified his refusal to
allow Britain into the Common Market. The General's resentment was all the
greater because a few days before the Bermuda meeting he had received
Macmillan at Rambouillet. The British Prime Minister, he claimed, had told him
nothing of his nuclear plans. On the other hand, de Gaulle gave Macmillan no
warning that he was about to torpedo the negotiations in Brussels. I think the full
truth about these events still remains to be told. The French and British versions
which have been circulating in the chancelleries differ, but what is certain is that
France, without consulting her partners, unilaterally withdrew from negotiations
to which she had earlier agreed and that she did so, moreover, after first
insisting that the Six must present a united front.
We were faced with a complete volte-face. Stunned and angry, our first reaction
was to ignore what had been said in Paris and to continue the negotiation as if
nothing had happened. The British showed extraordinary sang-froid. Though,
deep down, they were greatly shocked, they gave no outward sign of this and
continued to present their arguments at the negotiating table with imperturbable
calm.
(12) Charles De Gaulle, speech (4th January 1963)
I should like to speak particularly about the objection to integration. People
counter this by saying: "Why not merge the six states together into a single
supranational entity? That would be very simple and practical". But such an
entity is impossible to achieve in the absence in Europe today of a federator
who has the necessary power, reputation and ability. Thus one has to fall back
on a sort of hybrid arrangement under which the six states agree to submit to
the decisions of a qualified majority. At the same time, although there are
already six national Parliaments as well as the
European Parliament and, in addition the Consultative Assembly of the Council
of Europe ... it would be necessary to elect over and above this, yet a further
Parliament, described as European, which would lay down the law to the six
states.
These are ideas that might appeal to certain minds but I entirely fail to see how
they could be put into practice, even with six signatures at the foot of a
document. Can we imagine France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg being prepared on a matter of importance to them in the national or
international sphere, to do something that appeared wrong to them, merely
bec