Charles de Gaulle

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Charles de Gaulle is one of the most important men to lead France during the 20th century. He was a soldier and a general who led the Free French during World War II and later became the President of France. Charles de Gaulle was born in 1899. He entered the army as a young man. He fought bravely during World War One and was wounded three times before being captured by the Germans at Verdun. His height (nearly 2 metres) made it very difficult for him to escape successfully but he had five attempts.

After the First World War, he became Secretary General at the Council of National Defence. He began to question many of the ideas the French had for defending their country. He realised that the new German Republic was beginning to rebuild its army. He could see that the strong German Air Force could be a big threat to France in the future.

De Gaulle thought that France should build up and modernise her armed forces since he believed that the Nazis in Germany were preparing for war. He wanted France to concentrate on building tanks as he saw that this could be the way in which the next war would be fought. However, most other generals and the government did not agree with him.

In 1939, World War II began and in May 1940 France was attacked by Germany and the Battle of France was fought. General de Gaulle was only 49, the youngest general in the French Army. He organized his new forces of tank battalions to the southern edge of the German breakthrough to cover several infantry formations defending Paris. On May 18, De Gaulle began the only counter-attack against Germany. De Gaulle desperately tried to save France from invasion, but the situation got worse, and the French government surrendured to the Nazis.

De Gaulle managed to escape to England just before the armistice was signed by the French government handing France to the Nazis. From England, he spent the next 4 years organizing increasing French resistance and calling for support from French colonies. He proclaimed himself the leader of the Free French (later the Fighting French) forces. De Gaulle found himself with a French navy, air force, and army, which were under the general command of the British.

Back in France, the government controlled by the Nazis declared that he was a national enemy and a traitor and sentenced him to death. I n 1944, the invasion of France by the Allies on D-Day, brought De Gaulle back to France. He triumphantly entered Paris on August 26, 1944 and became the President of the country. De Gaulle and the victorious Free French forces marched through the Arc de Triomphe when they liberated Paris.

In 1946, he resigned but he returned to politics in 1958 when he was asked to draw up another constitution. He became President of France in 1959 and served for ten years until 1969.

De Gaulle died suddenly on Novermber 10, 1970 at his home in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises.

 

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