When France and Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, he was given temporary command of the tanks of the 5th army. Promoted to Colonel in 1937, de Gaulle was given the command of the 507th tank regiment in Metz. At the same time he began his involvement with politics: in 1931 he was seconded to the General Secretariat for National Defence in Paris. Between the wars he wrote several works in which he was critical of French defence policy: in particular he believed that the army must be subject to the decisions of politicians and that it was essential for the defence of France, to raise a corps of armoured vehicles in order to face the threat of German mechanised power. Pursuing his military career, Captain De Gaulle saw active service in several countries (including Poland and The Lebanon). He was not freed until the Armistice, on 11th November 1918. Taken prisoner by the Germans, he attempted to escape on five occasions, but was recaptured each time. After four years of study, he was transferred to Arras in 1912 as a sub-lieutenant.ĭuring the First World War he was wounded in combat three times and left for dead in the Battle of Douaumont (1916). In 1908 he entered the special Military Academy at Saint-Cyr. He spent his childhood in Paris, studying with the Jesuits and very early opted for a career in the forces. A leader of the French resistance during World War II, he was the founding father of the Fifth Republic, which was particularly noteworthy due to the election of the president under universal suffrage.Ĭharles de Gaulle was born in Lille on 22 November 1890 to a patriotic Catholic family. He retired to his estate at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises and died of a heart attack on 9 November 1970.A French general and politician (1890-1970), Charles de Gaulle was the first person to advocate the need for France to have armoured military vehicles. In April 1969, De Gaulle resigned the presidency after losing a referendum on a reform proposal. De Gaulle held elections and the country rallied to him, ending the crisis. A general strike followed, paralysing France and jeopardising the Fifth Republic. 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.
#De gaulle free
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. © De Gaulle was a French general and statesman, leader of the Free French during World War Two and the architect of the Fifth Republic.
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