Charles de Gaulle

Leader of the Free French Forces

22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969. In France, he is commonly referred to as Général de Gaulle or simply Le Général, or by his detractors as "la Grande Zora".
A veteran of World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of armoured warfare and advocate of military aviation, which he considered a means to break the stalemate of trench warfare. During World War II, he reached the rank of Brigadier General, leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940 Fall of France, and then organised the Free French Forces with exiled French officers in England. He gave a famous radio address in June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist Nazi Germany. Following the liberation of France in 1944, de Gaulle became prime minister in the French Provisional Government. Although he retired from politics in 1946 due to political conflicts, he was returned to power with military support following the May 1958 crisis. De Gaulle led the writing of a new constitution founding the Fifth Republic, and was elected President of France.
As president, Charles de Gaulle ended the political chaos and violence that preceded his return to power. Although he initially supported French rule over Algeria, he controversially decided to grant independence to that country, ending an expensive and unpopular war but leaving France divided. A new currency was issued in January 1960 to control inflation and industrial growth was promoted. De Gaulle oversaw the development of atomic weapons and promoted a pan-European foreign policy, seeking to diminish U.S. and British influence; withdrawing France from the NATO military command, he objected to Britain's entry into the European Community and he recognised Communist China. During his term, de Gaulle also faced controversy and political opposition from Communists and Socialists, and a spate of widespread protests in May 1968. De Gaulle retired in 1969, but remains the most influential leader in modern French history.

General de Gaulle speaking on the BBC during the war.

The plaque commemorating the headquarters of General de Gaulle at 4 Carlton Gardens during the Second World War.


De Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in 1961 at the Köln/Bonn airport

Monument to de Gaulle in Moscow

A day after his Vive le Québec Libre! speech, Charles de Gaulle attracts a crowd at Montreal's Expo 67 on 25 July 1967.

de Gaulle at the inauguration of the German embassy in Paris, February 1968
Retirement and death

US president Richard Nixon visiting president Charles de Gaulle one month before de Gaulle's retirement.

Grave of Charles de Gaulle at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises