Charles de Gaulle is the clearest example of the role of personality in history. Charles de Gaulle (short biography)

Life, true patriot, Frenchman Charles de Gaulle.

Charles de Gaulle himself explained his feelings this way: the love of France was instilled in him and his sister by their father and mother, and from childhood, the children could not even imagine how it could be otherwise.

Biography of Charles de Gaulle

De Gaulle was born in the autumn of 1890 in the city of Lille, in the house of his grandmother. He spent his childhood in Paris with his parents and sister.

Charles de Gaulle received a military profession and studied at a military school. He was a participant in the First World War, and was even captured.

By World War II he was already a general in the French armed forces. During World War II, Charles was against any compromise with the pro-fascist government.

It was at this time that his path as a successful politician began. He met with Winston Churchill several times in London, discussing with him the possibilities of the French resistance. Churchill called General de Gaulle the honor of France.

With his successful example and speeches, he raised the spirit of the French and encouraged them to continue resisting the fascists, despite the official policy of France.

He becomes the organizer of the Free France movement, which the French colonies are agitating to join, many of which do so.

Such as Chad, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon. Since the Second World War, de Gaulle has been trying with all his might to limit the interference of the United States and England in French politics.

At that time, the goal of Anglo-American policy was to exclude France from the leading countries of Europe and completely subordinate it to its influence.

How could de Gaulle, brought up on the principles of nationalism, allow this? That’s why he had to, being a military man, also become a politician and defend the freedoms of the French people.

The contribution that Charles de Gaulle made to the history of France and his successes in the political arena cannot be overestimated.

He was with her during the country's most difficult years, organized resistance during the Second World War, and for ten years, from 1959 to 1969, was president of the fifth French republic.

He was one of the authors of the French constitution, which is still used today. Nicolas Sarkozy, the sixth president of the Fifth French Republic, in one of his speeches spoke of de Gaulle as the savior of France, who returned the country's independence and, no less important, its prestige in the world community!

By the way, it was during the time of de Gaulle that France was considering the issue of creating its own nuclear weapons.

The first nuclear weapons tests were carried out in 1960 in the Sahara Desert. The tests were stopped by President Mitterrand.

During de Gaulle's time, France left NATO. De Gaulle already in those days understood that the dollar was just paper with a very small cost and tried even then to convert dollars into gold and thus reduce the influence of the United States on France. At that time, he partially succeeded.

He collected paper US dollars located in France, took them by plane to Washington and exchanged them for gold there, which discouraged the American senior leadership and eventually forced them to abandon the dollar-gold link.

November 22 brings together the presidents of France and the United States. It’s Charles de Gaulle’s birthday, John Kennedy’s is the day of his tragic death

At the same time, Soviet-French cooperation was actively developing. De Gaulle in the USSR saw his ally in the fight against the Anglo-American alliance, and his dislike for communism was becoming a thing of the past, for the success of promoting his national interests.

De Gaulle stands for a united Europe, it is in such a Europe that he sees an opportunity to resist NATO, and it is for this purpose that he openly comes out in support of Germany.

However, while pursuing an active, successful foreign policy, the situation inside the country was difficult: huge unemployment, the standard of living of the population was low.

All this led to dissatisfaction among the French with de Gaulle's tough policies. And in 1969 he left his post. And already in 1970, General de Gaulle dies.

The main French airport is named in honor of the world famous de Gaulle - Paris - Charles de Gaulle Airport or as it is also called Roissy - Charles de Gaulle and the pride of France - the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the only currently operating aircraft carrier of the French Navy " Charles de Gaulle."

And also a rose from the family of hybrid tea roses, the lilac rose “Charles de Gaulle,” is named after him.

Another little-known fact from the life of General de Gaulle is that he was a trustee of a medical foundation in France that helped families with children with Down syndrome.

Here is such an interesting, versatile person, a world-famous politician, public figure, and a true patriot of his country.

His personal success came from a goal, from a dream of the success of his country, a country with independent thinking. De Gaulle from a simple military man became a successful, respected politician, thinker, and business executive.

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Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (French: Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle). Born on November 22, 1890 in Lille - died on November 9, 1970 in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises (department of Haute-Marne). French military and statesman, general. During World War II it became a symbol of the French Resistance. Founder and first president of the Fifth Republic (1959-1969).

Charles de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890 into a patriotic Catholic family. Although the de Gaulley family is noble, the de in the surname is not the traditional French “particle” of noble surnames, but the Flemish form of the article. Charles, like his three brothers and sister, was born in Lille in his grandmother's house, where his mother came every time before giving birth, although the family lived in Paris. His father Henri de Gaulle was a professor of philosophy and literature at a Jesuit school, which greatly influenced Charles. From early childhood he loved to read. History struck him so much that he developed an almost mystical concept of serving France.

In his War Memoirs, de Gaulle wrote: “My father, an educated and thoughtful man, brought up in certain traditions, was filled with faith in the high mission of France. He first introduced me to her story. My mother had a feeling of boundless love for her homeland, which can only be compared with her piety. My three brothers, my sister, myself - we were all proud of our homeland. This pride, mixed with a sense of anxiety for her fate, was second nature to us.”.

Jacques Chaban-Delmas, the hero of the Liberation, then the permanent chairman of the National Assembly during the years of the General's presidency, recalls that this “second nature” surprised not only people of the younger generation, to which Chaban-Delmas himself belonged, but also de Gaulle’s peers. Subsequently, de Gaulle recalled his youth: “I believed that the meaning of life was to accomplish an outstanding feat in the name of France, and that the day would come when I would have such an opportunity.”.

Already as a boy he showed great interest in military affairs. After a year of preparatory exercises at the Stanislas College in Paris, he was accepted into the Special Military School in Saint-Cyr. He chooses the infantry as his branch of the army: it is more “military” because it is closest to combat operations. After graduating 13th from Saint-Cyr in 1912, de Gaulle served in the 33rd Infantry Regiment under the command of the then Colonel Pétain.

Since the beginning of the First World War on August 12, 1914, Lieutenant de Gaulle has taken part in military operations as part of the 5th Army of Charles Lanrezac, stationed in the northeast. Already on August 15 in Dinan he received his first wound; he returned to duty after treatment only in October.

On March 10, 1916, at the Battle of Mesnil-le-Hurlu, he was wounded for the second time. He returns to the 33rd Regiment with the rank of captain and becomes company commander. In the Battle of Verdun near the village of Douaumont in 1916, he was wounded for the third time. Left on the battlefield, he - posthumously - receives honors from the army. However, Charles survives and is captured by the Germans; he is treated at the Mayenne hospital and held in various fortresses.

De Gaulle makes six attempts to escape. Mikhail Tukhachevsky, the future marshal of the Red Army, was also captured with him; Communication begins between them, including on military-theoretical topics.

De Gaulle was released from captivity only after the armistice on November 11, 1918. From 1919 to 1921, de Gaulle was in Poland, where he taught the theory of tactics at the former imperial guard school in Rembertow near Warsaw, and in July - August 1920 he fought for a short time on the front of the Soviet-Polish war of 1919-1921 with the rank of major (in the troops of the RSFSR in this conflict, the commander, ironically, is Tukhachevsky).

Having rejected the offer to take a permanent position in the Polish Army and returning to his homeland, on April 6, 1921 he married Yvonne Vandroux. On December 28, 1921, his son Philippe was born, named after his boss - later the notorious collaborator and antagonist of de Gaulle, Marshal Philippe Pétain.

Captain de Gaulle taught at the Saint-Cyr school, then in 1922 he was admitted to the Higher Military School.

On May 15, 1924, daughter Elizabeth is born. In 1928, the youngest daughter Anna was born, suffering from Down syndrome (Anna died in 1948; de Gaulle was subsequently a trustee of the Foundation for Children with Down Syndrome).

In the 1930s, Lieutenant Colonel and then Colonel de Gaulle became widely known as the author of military theoretical works, such as “For a Professional Army”, “On the Edge of the Sword”, “France and Its Army”. In his books, de Gaulle, in particular, pointed out the need for the comprehensive development of tank forces as the main weapon of a future war. In this, his works come close to the works of Germany's leading military theorist, Heinz Guderian. However, de Gaulle's proposals did not evoke understanding among the French military command and in political circles. In 1935, the National Assembly rejected the army reform bill prepared by future Prime Minister Paul Reynaud according to de Gaulle's plans as "useless, undesirable and contrary to logic and history."

In 1932-1936, Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council. In 1937-1939, commander of a tank regiment.

By the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle had the rank of colonel. The day before the start of the war (August 31, 1939), he was appointed commander of tank forces in the Saarland, and wrote on this occasion: “It fell to my lot to play a role in a terrible hoax... The several dozen light tanks that I command are just a speck of dust. We will lose the war in the most pathetic way if we don't act."

In January 1940 de Gaulle wrote the article “The Phenomenon of Mechanized Troops”, in which he emphasized the importance of interaction between diverse ground forces, primarily tank forces, and the Air Force.

On May 14, 1940, he was given command of the fledgling 4th Panzer Division (initially 5,000 soldiers and 85 tanks). From June 1, he temporarily acted as a brigadier general (he was never officially confirmed in this rank, and after the war he received only a colonel’s pension from the Fourth Republic).

On June 6, Prime Minister Paul Reynaud appointed de Gaulle Deputy Minister of War. The general invested with this position tried to counteract the plans for a truce, which were favored by the leaders of the French military department and, above all, Minister Philippe Pétain.

On June 14, de Gaulle traveled to London to negotiate ships for the evacuation of the French government to Africa; at the same time, he argued to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that "that some dramatic step is required to provide Reynaud with the support he needs to induce the government to continue the war". However, on the same day, Paul Reynaud resigned, after which the government was headed by Pétain; Negotiations with Germany about an armistice immediately began.

On June 17, 1940, de Gaulle flew from Bordeaux, where the evacuated government was based, not wanting to participate in this process, and arrived again in London. According to the assessment, “on this plane de Gaulle took with him the honor of France.”

It was this moment that became a turning point in de Gaulle’s biography. In "Memoirs of Hope" he writes: “On June 18, 1940, answering the call of his homeland, deprived of any other help to save his soul and honor, de Gaulle, alone, unknown to anyone, had to take responsibility for France.”. On this day, the BBC broadcast de Gaulle's radio speech - a speech on June 18 calling for the creation of a French Resistance. Soon leaflets were distributed in which the general addressed “to all the French” (A tous les Français) with the statement:

“France lost the battle, but she did not lose the war! Nothing is lost, because this war is a world war. The day will come when France will regain freedom and greatness... That is why I appeal to all French people to unite around me in the name of action, sacrifice and hope.” .

The general accused the Pétain government of treason and declared that “with full consciousness of duty he speaks on behalf of France.” Other appeals from de Gaulle also appeared.

So de Gaulle became the head of “Free (later “Fighting”) France”- an organization designed to resist the occupiers and the collaborationist Vichy regime. The legitimacy of this organization was based, in his eyes, on the following principle: “The legitimacy of power is based on the feelings that it inspires, on its ability to ensure national unity and continuity when the homeland is in danger.”

At first he had to face considerable difficulties. “I... at first did not represent anything... In France, there was no one who could vouch for me, and I did not enjoy any fame in the country. Abroad - no trust and no justification for my activities.” The formation of the Free French organization was quite protracted. De Gaulle managed to enlist Churchill's support. On June 24, 1940, Churchill reported to General G. L. Ismay: “It seems extremely important to create now, before the trap has yet slammed shut, an organization that would allow French officers and soldiers, as well as prominent specialists who want to continue the fight, to break into various ports. It is necessary to create a kind of "underground railroad"... I have no doubt that there will be a continuous stream of determined people - and we need to get everything we can - for the defense of the French colonies. The Navy Department and the Air Force must cooperate.

General de Gaulle and his committee will, of course, be the operational body.” The desire to create an alternative to the Vichy government led Churchill not only to a military, but also to a political decision: recognizing de Gaulle as “the head of all free French” (June 28, 1940) and helping to strengthen de Gaulle’s position internationally.

Militarily, the main task was to transfer to the side of the French patriots the “French Empire” - vast colonial possessions in Africa, Indochina and Oceania.

After an unsuccessful attempt to capture Dakar, de Gaulle created the Imperial Defense Council in Brazzaville (Congo), the manifesto of which began with the words: "We, General de Gaulle (nous général de Gaulle), head of the free French, decree" etc. The Council includes anti-fascist military governors of the French (usually African) colonies: generals Catroux, Eboue, Colonel Leclerc. From this point on, de Gaulle emphasized the national and historical roots of his movement. He establishes the Order of Liberation, the main sign of which is the Lorraine cross with two crossbars - an ancient symbol of the French nation, dating back to the era of feudalism. At the same time, adherence to the constitutional traditions of the French Republic was also emphasized, for example, the “Organic Declaration” (the legal document of the political regime of “Fighting France”), promulgated in Brazzaville, proved the illegitimacy of the Vichy regime, citing the fact that it expelled “from its quasi-constitutional acts even the very the word “republic”, giving the head the so-called. "of the French State" unlimited power, similar to the power of an unlimited monarch."

The great success of Free France was the establishment, shortly after June 22, 1941, of direct ties with the USSR - without hesitation, the Soviet leadership decided to transfer A.E. Bogomolov, its plenipotentiary representative under the Vichy regime, to London. During 1941-1942, the network of partisan organizations in occupied France also grew. Since October 1941, after the first mass executions of hostages by the Germans, de Gaulle called on all French people for a total strike and mass actions of disobedience.

Meanwhile, the actions of the “monarch” irritated the West. The apparatus openly talked about the “so-called free French”, “sowing poisonous propaganda” and interfering with the conduct of the war.

On November 8, 1942, American troops landed in Algeria and Morocco and negotiated with local French military leaders who supported Vichy. De Gaulle tried to convince the leaders of England and the United States that cooperation with the Vichys in Algeria would lead to the loss of moral support for the allies in France. “The United States,” said de Gaulle, “brings elementary feelings and complex politics to great affairs.”

The head of Algeria, Admiral Francois Darlan, who by that time had already gone over to the Allied side, was killed on December 24, 1942 by 20-year-old Frenchman Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, who, after a quick trial, was shot the next day. The Allied leadership appoints Army General Henri Giraud as the “civil and military commander-in-chief” of Algeria. In January 1943, at a conference in Casablanca, de Gaulle became aware of the Allied plan: to replace the leadership of “Fighting France” with a committee headed by Giraud, which was planned to include a large number of people who had once supported the Pétain government. In Casablanca, de Gaulle shows understandable intransigence towards such a plan. He insists on unconditional respect for the country’s national interests (in the sense as they were understood in “Fighting France”). This leads to the split of “Fighting France” into two wings: nationalist, led by de Gaulle (supported by the British government led by W. Churchill), and pro-American, grouped around Henri Giraud.

On May 27, 1943, the National Council of the Resistance meets at a founding conspiratorial meeting in Paris, which (under the auspices of de Gaulle) assumes many powers to organize the internal struggle in the occupied country. De Gaulle's position became increasingly stronger, and Giraud was forced to compromise: almost simultaneously with the opening of the NSS, he invited the general to the ruling structures of Algeria. He demands the immediate submission of Giraud (the commander of the troops) to civil authority. The situation is heating up. Finally, on June 3, 1943, the French Committee of National Liberation was formed, headed by de Gaulle and Giraud on equal terms. The majority in it, however, goes to the Gaullists, and some adherents of his rival (including Couve de Murville, the future prime minister of the Fifth Republic) go over to de Gaulle's side. In November 1943, Giraud was removed from the committee.

On June 4, 1944, de Gaulle was summoned by Churchill to London. The British prime minister announced the upcoming landing of allied forces in Normandy and, at the same time, full support for Roosevelt's line of complete dictate of the will of the United States. De Gaulle was made to understand that his services were not needed. The draft address, written by General Dwight Eisenhower, ordered the French people to comply with all orders of the Allied command “until the election of legitimate authorities”; in Washington, the DeGaulle Committee was not considered such. De Gaulle's strong protest forced Churchill to grant him the right to speak separately to the French on the radio (rather than join Eisenhower's text). In the address, the general declared the legitimacy of the government formed by Fighting France and strongly opposed plans to subordinate it to American command.

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces successfully landed in Normandy, thereby opening a second front in Europe.

De Gaulle, after a short stay on liberated French soil, again headed to Washington for negotiations with President Roosevelt, the goal of which was still the same - to restore the independence and greatness of France (a key expression in the general’s political vocabulary). “Listening to the American president, I was finally convinced that in business relations between two states, logic and feeling mean very little in comparison with real force, that the one who knows how to grab and hold what is captured is valued here; and if France wants to take its former place, it must rely only on itself,” writes de Gaulle.

After the Resistance rebels led by Colonel Rolle-Tanguy open the way to Paris for the tank troops of the military governor of Chad, Philippe de Hautecloque (who went down in history under the name Leclerc), de Gaulle arrives in the liberated capital. A grandiose performance takes place - de Gaulle’s solemn procession through the streets of Paris, with a huge crowd of people, to which a lot of space is devoted in the general’s “War Memoirs”. The procession passes by historical places of the capital, consecrated by the heroic history of France; de Gaulle subsequently spoke about these points: “With every step I take, walking through the most famous places in the world, it seems to me that the glory of the past is, as it were, added to the glory of today.”.

Since August 1944, de Gaulle has been Chairman of the French Council of Ministers (Provisional Government). He subsequently characterizes his short, one-and-a-half-year activity in this post as “salvation.” France had to be “saved” from the plans of the Anglo-American bloc: the partial remilitarization of Germany, the exclusion of France from the list of great powers. Both at Dumbarton Oaks, at the Great Powers Conference on the creation of the UN, and at the Yalta Conference in January 1945, representatives of France are absent. Shortly before the Yalta meeting, de Gaulle went to Moscow with the aim of concluding an alliance with the USSR in the face of the Anglo-American danger. The general first visited the USSR from December 2 to 10, 1944, arriving in Moscow via Baku.

On the last day of this visit, the Kremlin and de Gaulle signed an agreement on “alliance and military assistance.” The significance of this act was, first of all, to return France to the status of a great power and recognize it among the victorious states. French General de Lattre de Tassigny, together with the commanders of the Allied powers, accepted the surrender of the German armed forces in Karlshorst on the night of May 8-9, 1945. France has occupation zones in Germany and Austria.

After the war, the standard of living remained low and unemployment increased. It was not even possible to properly define the political structure of the country. Elections to the Constituent Assembly did not give an advantage to any party (the Communists received a relative majority, Maurice Thorez became Deputy Prime Minister), the draft Constitution was repeatedly rejected. After one of the next conflicts over the expansion of the military budget, de Gaulle left the post of head of government on January 20, 1946 and retired to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises (French Colombey-les-Deux-Églises), a small estate in Champagne (Haute-Marne department ). He himself compares his situation to exile. But, unlike the idol of his youth, de Gaulle has the opportunity to observe French politics from the outside - not without the hope of returning to it.

The general’s further political career is connected with the “Unification of the French People” (according to the French abbreviation RPF), with the help of which de Gaulle planned to come to power through parliamentary means. The RPF staged a noisy campaign. The slogans are still the same: nationalism (the fight against US influence), adherence to the traditions of the Resistance (the emblem of the RPF becomes the Cross of Lorraine, which once shone in the middle of the “Order of Liberation”), the fight against a significant communist faction in the National Assembly. Success, it would seem, accompanied de Gaulle.

In the autumn of 1947, the RPF won the municipal elections. In 1951, 118 seats in the National Assembly were already at the disposal of the Gaullists. But the triumph that de Gaulle dreamed of is far away. These elections did not give the RPF an absolute majority, the communists further strengthened their positions, and most importantly, de Gaulle’s electoral strategy brought bad results.

Indeed, the general declared war on the system of the Fourth Republic, constantly noting his right to power in the country due to the fact that he and only he led it to liberation, devoted a significant part of his speeches to sharp criticism of the communists, etc. A large number of careerists joined de Gaulle , people who did not perform well during the Vichy regime. Within the walls of the National Assembly, they joined the parliamentary “mouse race”, giving their votes to the extreme right. Finally, the complete collapse of the RPF came - in the same municipal elections as those from which the story of its rise began. On May 6, 1953, the general dissolved his party.

The least open period of de Gaulle's life began - the so-called “crossing the desert.” He spent five years in seclusion in Colombey, working on the famous “War Memoirs” in three volumes (“Conscription”, “Unity” and “Salvation”). The general not only outlined the events that had become history, but also sought to find in them the answer to the question: what led him, an unknown brigadier general, to the role of a national leader? Only the deep conviction that “our country, in the face of other countries, must strive for great goals and not bow to anything, because otherwise it may find itself in mortal danger.”

1957-1958 became the years of deep political crisis of the IV Republic. A protracted war in Algeria, unsuccessful attempts to form a Council of Ministers, and finally an economic crisis. According to de Gaulle’s later assessment, “many leaders of the regime realized that the problem required a radical solution. But to take the tough decisions that this problem required, to remove all obstacles to their implementation... was beyond the strength of unstable governments... The regime limited itself to supporting the struggle that raged throughout Algeria and along the borders with the help of soldiers, weapons and money. Financially, it was very expensive, because it was necessary to maintain armed forces there with a total number of 500 thousand people; this was also costly from a foreign policy point of view, because the whole world condemned the hopeless drama. As for, finally, the authority of the state, it was literally destructive.”

The so-called “far-right” military groups putting strong pressure on the Algerian military leadership. On May 10, 1958, four Algerian generals addressed President Rene Coty with an essentially ultimatum to prevent the abandonment of Algeria. On May 13, armed ultra forces seize the colonial administration building in the city of Algiers; the generals telegraphed to Paris with a demand addressed to Charles de Gaulle to “break the silence” and make an appeal to the citizens of the country with the aim of creating a “government of public trust.”

“For 12 years now, France has been trying to solve problems beyond the power of the party regime, and is heading towards disaster. Once, in a difficult hour, the country trusted me to lead it to salvation. Today, when the country faces new trials, let it know that I am ready to assume all the powers of the Republic."

If this statement had been made a year ago, at the height of the economic crisis, it would have been perceived as a call for a coup d'etat. Now, in the face of the serious danger of a coup, the centrists of Pflimlen, the moderate socialists of Guy Mollet, and - above all - the Algerian rebels, whom he did not directly condemn, are pinning their hopes on de Gaulle. The scales tip towards de Gaulle after the putschists capture the island of Corsica in a matter of hours. Rumors are circulating about a parachute regiment landing in Paris. At this time, the general confidently turns to the rebels demanding that they obey their command. On May 27, the “ghost government” of Pierre Pflimlen resigns. President Rene Coty, addressing the National Assembly, demands the election of de Gaulle as prime minister and the transfer of emergency powers to him to form a government and revise the Constitution. On June 1, with 329 votes, de Gaulle was confirmed as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Decisive opponents of de Gaulle's coming to power were: radicals led by Mendes-France, left-wing socialists (including future President Francois Mitterrand) and communists led by Thorez and Duclos. They insisted on unconditional compliance with the democratic foundations of the state, which de Gaulle wanted to revise in the very near future.

Already in August, a draft of a new Constitution, according to which France has lived to this day, was placed on the Prime Minister’s desk. The powers of parliament were significantly limited. The government's fundamental responsibility to the National Assembly remained (it can declare a vote of no confidence in the government, but the president, when appointing the prime minister, should not submit his candidacy to parliament for approval). The President, according to Article 16, in the case when “the independence of the Republic, the integrity of its territory or the fulfillment of its international obligations is under serious and immediate threat, and the normal functioning of state institutions has been terminated” (what is meant by this concept is not specified), may temporarily take completely unlimited power into your own hands.

The principle of electing the president also changed fundamentally. From now on, the head of state was elected not at a meeting of Parliament, but by an electoral college consisting of 80 thousand people's representatives (since 1962, after the adoption of constitutional amendments in a referendum, by direct and universal vote of the French people).

On September 28, 1958, the twelve-year history of the IV Republic ended. The French people supported the Constitution with more than 79% of the votes. It was a direct vote of confidence in the general. If before this, all his claims, starting from 1940, for the post of “head of the free French” were dictated by some subjective “calling”, then the results of the referendum eloquently confirmed: yes, the people recognized de Gaulle as their leader, and it is in him that they see a way out of the current situation.

On December 21, 1958, less than three months later, 76 thousand electors in all cities of France elect a president. 75.5% of the electors cast their votes for the prime minister. On January 8, 1959, de Gaulle was solemnly inaugurated.

The post of Prime Minister of France during the presidency of de Gaulle was held by such figures of the Gaullist movement as the “knight of Gaullistism” Michel Debreu (1959-1962), the “Dauphine” Georges Pompidou (1962-1968) and his permanent Minister of Foreign Affairs (1958-1968) Maurice Couve de Murville (1968-1969).

De Gaulle puts the problem of decolonization first. Indeed, in the wake of the Algerian crisis, he came to power; he must now reaffirm his role as a national leader by finding a way out. In trying to accomplish this task, the president encountered desperate opposition not only from the Algerian commanders, but also from the right-wing lobby in the government. Only on September 16, 1959, the head of state proposed three options for resolving the Algerian issue: a break with France, “integration” with France (to completely equate Algeria with the metropolis and extend the same rights and responsibilities to the population) and “association” (an Algerian government by national composition , which relied on the help of France and had a close economic and foreign policy alliance with the metropolis). The general clearly preferred the latter option, which was supported by the National Assembly. However, this further consolidated the ultra-right, which was fueled by the never-replaced Algerian military authorities.

On September 8, 1961, an attempt was made on de Gaulle's life - the first of fifteen organized by the right-wing "Organisation of the Secret Army" (Organisation de l'Armée Secrète) - abbreviated as OAS. The story of the assassination attempts on de Gaulle formed the basis of the famous book “The Day of the Jackal” by Frederick Forsythe. Throughout his life, there were 32 attempts on de Gaulle's life.

The war in Algeria ended after the signing of the bilateral agreements in Evian (March 18, 1962), which led to a referendum and the formation of an independent Algerian state. Significant de Gaulle's statement: "The era of organized continents is replacing the colonial era".

De Gaulle became the founder of France's new policy in the post-colonial space: the policy of cultural relations between francophone (that is, French-speaking) states and territories. Algeria was not the only country to abandon the French Empire that de Gaulle fought for in the forties. Behind 1960 (“Year of Africa”) More than two dozen African states gained independence. Vietnam and Cambodia also became independent. In all these countries, thousands of French remained who did not want to lose ties with the mother country. The main goal was to ensure French influence in the world, the two poles of which - the USA and the USSR - had already been determined.

In 1959, the president transferred air defense, missile forces and troops withdrawn from Algeria to French command. The decision, taken unilaterally, could not but cause friction with, and then with his successor Kennedy. De Gaulle repeatedly asserts the right of France to do everything “as the mistress of its policy and on its own initiative.” The first nuclear weapons test, carried out in February 1960 in the Sahara Desert, marked the beginning of a series of French nuclear explosions, stopped under Mitterrand and briefly resumed by Chirac. De Gaulle personally visited nuclear facilities several times, paying great attention to both the peaceful and military development of the latest technologies.

1965 - the year of de Gaulle's re-election to a second presidential term - was the year of two blows to the policy of the NATO bloc. February 4 the general announces the refusal to use the dollar in international payments and the transition to a single gold standard. In the spring of 1965, a French ship delivered 750 million US dollars to the United States - the first tranche of 1.5 billion that France intended to exchange for gold.

On September 9, 1965, the President reports that France does not consider itself bound by obligations to the North Atlantic bloc.

On February 21, 1966, France withdrew from the NATO military organization, and the headquarters of the organization was urgently transferred from Paris to Brussels. In an official note, the Pompidou government announced the evacuation of 29 bases with 33 thousand personnel from the country.

Since that time, France's official position in international politics has become sharply anti-American. The general, during his visits to the USSR and Cambodia in 1966, condemns US actions towards the countries of Indochina, and later Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

In 1967, during a visit to Quebec (a French-speaking province of Canada), De Gaulle, concluding a speech in front of a huge crowd of people, exclaimed: "Long live Quebec!", and then added the instantly famous words: "Long live free Quebec!" (French: Vive le Québec libre!). A scandal broke out. De Gaulle and his official advisers subsequently proposed a number of versions that made it possible to deflect the charge of separatism, among them that they meant the freedom of Quebec and Canada as a whole from foreign military blocs (that is, again, NATO). According to another version, based on the entire context of de Gaulle’s speech, he meant Quebec comrades in the Resistance who fought for the freedom of the whole world from Nazism. One way or another, supporters of Quebec independence referred to this incident for a very long time.

At the beginning of his reign, On November 23, 1959, de Gaulle gave his famous speech on “Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals”. In the upcoming political union of European countries (the integration of the EEC was then associated mainly with the economic side of the issue), the president saw an alternative to the “Anglo-Saxon” NATO (the UK was not included in his concept of Europe). In his activities to create European unity, he made a number of compromises that determined the further uniqueness of French foreign policy to the present day.

De Gaulle's first compromise concerned the Federal Republic of Germany formed in 1949. It quickly restored its economic and military potential, nevertheless in dire need of political legalization of its fortune through an agreement with the USSR. De Gaulle made Chancellor Adenauer undertake to oppose the British plan for a “European free trade area,” which was seizing the initiative from de Gaulle, in exchange for mediation services in relations with the USSR. De Gaulle's visit to Germany on September 4-9, 1962 shocked the world community with open support for Germany from a man who fought against it in two wars; but this was the first step in the reconciliation of countries and the creation of European unity.

The second compromise was due to the fact that in the fight against NATO it was natural for the general to enlist the support of the USSR - a country that he viewed not so much as a “communist totalitarian empire” but as “eternal Russia” (cf. the establishment of diplomatic relations between the “Free France” and the leadership of the USSR in 1941-1942, a visit in 1944, pursuing one goal - to prevent the usurpation of power in post-war France by the Americans). De Gaulle's personal hostility to communism faded into the background for the sake of the country's national interests.

In 1964, the two countries entered into a trade agreement, then an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation. In 1966, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N.V. Podgorny, de Gaulle paid an official visit to the USSR (June 20 - July 1, 1966). The President visited, in addition to the capital, Leningrad, Kyiv, Volgograd and Novosibirsk, where he visited the newly created Siberian Scientific Center - Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. The political successes of the visit included the conclusion of an agreement to expand political, economic and cultural ties. Both sides condemned American interference in the internal affairs of Vietnam and founded a special political Franco-Russian commission. An agreement was even concluded to create a direct line of communication between the Kremlin and the Elysee Palace.

De Gaulle's seven-year presidential term expired at the end of 1965. According to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, new elections were to be held by an expanded electoral college. But the president, who was planning to run for a second term, insisted on the popular election of the head of state, and the corresponding amendments were adopted in a referendum on October 28, 1962, for which de Gaulle had to use his powers and dissolve the National Assembly.

The 1965 election was the second direct election of a French president: the first took place more than a century ago, in 1848, and was won by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Napoleon III. The victory in the first round (December 5, 1965), which the general was counting on, did not happen. Second place was taken, receiving 31%, by socialist François Mitterrand, representing a broad opposition bloc, who consistently criticized the Fifth Republic as a “permanent coup d’etat.” Although de Gaulle prevailed over Mitterrand in the second round on December 19, 1965 (54% to 45%), this election was the first warning signal.

The government monopoly on television and radio was unpopular (only print media were free). An important reason for the loss of confidence in de Gaulle was his socio-economic policy. The growing influence of domestic monopolies, the agrarian reform, which was expressed in the liquidation of a large number of peasant farms, and finally, the arms race led to the fact that the standard of living in the country not only did not increase, but in many ways became lower (the government had been calling for self-restraint since 1963). Finally, the personality of de Gaulle himself gradually caused more and more irritation - he is beginning to seem to many, especially young people, to be an inadequately authoritarian and out-of-date politician. The May 1968 events in France led to the fall of the de Gaulle administration.

On May 2, 1968, a student revolt broke out in the Latin Quarter - a Parisian area where many institutes, faculties of the University of Paris, and student dormitories are located. Students are demanding the opening of the Faculty of Sociology in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, which was closed after similar unrest caused by ancient, “mechanical” methods of education and a number of domestic conflicts with the administration. Cars are set on fire. Barricades are erected around the Sorbonne. Police units are urgently called in, and in the fight against them, several hundred students are injured. The rebels' demands include the release of their arrested colleagues and the withdrawal of police from the neighborhoods. The government does not dare to satisfy these demands. Trade unions declare a daily strike. De Gaulle's position is tough: there can be no negotiations with the rebels. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou proposes to open the Sorbonne and satisfy the demands of the students. But the moment is already lost.

On May 13, trade unions staged a grand demonstration throughout Paris. Ten years have passed since the day when, in the wake of the Algerian rebellion, de Gaulle announced his readiness to take power. Now slogans flutter over the columns of demonstrators: “De Gaulle - to the archives!”, “Farewell, de Gaulle!”, “05/13/58-05/13/68 - it’s time to leave, Charles!” Anarchist students fill the Sorbonne.

The strike not only does not stop, but develops into an indefinite one. 10 million people are on strike across the country. The country's economy is paralyzed. Everyone has already forgotten about the students with whom it all started. The workers demand a forty-hour work week and an increase in the minimum wage to 1,000 francs. On May 24, the President speaks on television. He says that “the country is on the brink of civil war” and that the president should be given, through a referendum, broad powers for “renewal” (French rennouveau), although the latter concept was not specified. De Gaulle had no self-confidence. On May 29, Pompidou holds a meeting of his cabinet. De Gaulle is expected at the meeting, but the shocked prime minister learns that the president, having taken the archives from the Elysee Palace, left for Colombey. In the evening, the ministers learn that the helicopter carrying the general did not land in Colombey. The President went to the French occupation forces in Germany, in Baden-Baden, and almost immediately returned to Paris. The absurdity of the situation is evidenced by the fact that Pompidou was forced to look for the boss with the help of air defense.

On May 30, de Gaulle reads another radio speech at the Elysee Palace. He declares that he will not leave his post, dissolves the National Assembly and calls early elections. For the last time in his life, de Gaulle takes the chance to put an end to the “rebellion” with a firm hand. He views parliamentary elections as a vote of confidence. The elections of June 23-30, 1968 brought the Gaullists (UNR, “Union for the Republic”) 73.8% of the seats in the National Assembly. This meant that for the first time one party had an absolute majority in the lower house, and the vast majority of the French expressed confidence in General de Gaulle.

The general's fate was sealed. The short “respite” did not bear any fruit, except for the replacement of Pompidou by Maurice Couve de Murville and the announced plans to reorganize the Senate - the upper house of parliament - into an economic and social body representing the interests of entrepreneurs and trade unions. In February 1969, the general put this reform to a referendum, announcing in advance that if he lost, he would leave. On the eve of the referendum, de Gaulle with all the documents moved from Paris to Colombey and waited for the results of the vote, about which he probably had no illusions. After defeat became apparent at 10 pm on April 27, 1969, after midnight on April 28, the President telephoned Couve de Murville with the following document: “I cease to serve as President of the Republic. This decision comes into effect at noon today."

After his resignation, de Gaulle and his wife went to Ireland, then rested in Spain, worked in Colombey on “Memoirs of Hope” (not completed, until 1962). He criticized the new authorities as having “done away” with the greatness of France.

On November 9, 1970, at seven o'clock in the evening, Charles de Gaulle died suddenly in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises from a ruptured aorta. At the funeral on November 12 (at the village cemetery in Colombey next to his daughter Anna), according to the general’s will drawn up back in 1952, only immediate relatives and comrades in the Resistance were present.

After the resignation and death of de Gaulle, his temporary unpopularity remained a thing of the past; he is recognized primarily as a major historical figure, a national leader, on a par with such figures as Napoleon I. More often than during the years of his presidency, the French associate his name with his activities during World War II, usually calling him "General de Gaulle" rather than simply by his first and last name. Rejection of the figure of de Gaulle in our time is characteristic mainly of the extreme left.

The Rally for the Republic party, created by de Gaulle, after a series of reorganizations and renamings, continues to remain an influential force in France. The party, now called the Union for a Presidential Majority, or, with the same acronym, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), is represented by former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who in his inaugural speech in 2007 said: “Assuming the functions of President of the Republic “, I think about General de Gaulle, who saved the Republic twice, returned independence to France, and its prestige to the state.” Even during the life of the general, the supporters of this center-right course were given the name Gaullists. Deviations from the principles of Gaullism (in particular, towards the restoration of relations with NATO) were characteristic of the Socialist government under Francois Mitterrand (1981-1995); Critics often accused Sarkozy of a similar “Atlanticization” of the course.

Announcing de Gaulle's death on television, his successor Pompidou said: "General de Gaulle is dead, France is widowed." The Parisian airport (French Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, Charles de Gaulle International Airport), the Parisian Place des Stars and a number of other memorable places, as well as the nuclear aircraft carrier of the French Navy, are named in his honor. A monument to the general was erected near the Champs Elysees in Paris. In 1990, the square in front of the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow was named after him, and in 2005, a monument to de Gaulle was erected there in the presence of Jacques Chirac.

In 2014, a monument to the general was erected in Astana. The city also has Rue Charles de Gaulle, where the French Quarter is concentrated.

General de Gaulle's awards:

Grand Master of the Legion of Honor (as President of France)
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (France)
Grand Master of the Order of Liberation (as founder of the order)
Military Cross 1939-1945 (France)
Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (UK)
Grand Cross decorated with the ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit (Poland)
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (Norway)
Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Thailand)
Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Republic of the Congo, 01/20/1962).

Biography and episodes of life Charles de Gaulle. When born and died Charles de Gaulle, memorable places and dates of important events of his life. Politician Quotes, Photo and video.

Years of life of Charles de Gaulle:

born November 22, 1890, died November 9, 1970

Epitaph

We love you, we are proud of you,
And in our memory you are always alive.

Biography

He was an outstanding man and, like any man of his stature, caused much controversy regarding his personality and methods of government. And yet the biography of Charles de Gaulle is the biography of an undoubtedly great politician and military commander. De Gaulle's lifelong goal was to liberate France and return it to its former greatness, and he did everything to achieve it.

Charles de Gaulle was born into an aristocratic, patriotic Catholic family. De Gaulle's military biography was predetermined - first the Saint-Cyr School, and then participation in the First World War. At the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle had already received the rank of general. It was a war that turned de Gaulle's whole life upside down, a war in which he showed all his leadership qualities and declared himself throughout the country as a decisive politician. Thus, Charles de Gaulle categorically rejected the defeatist policy towards fascism pursued by the then French Prime Minister Henri Pétain. De Gaulle led the Free French movement and became the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic. True, not all of de Gaulle’s views were shared by his contemporaries, and, after serving as prime minister for two years, the ambitious general left politics for a while. But he returned later - when “Gaullism” had already formed as a political movement and the number of de Gaulle’s supporters was impressive.

De Gaulle became the first president of the Fifth Republic and in this post did a lot of important things for his country: he was able to resolve the Algerian crisis, make serious amendments to the Constitution, achieve good results in relations with Germany, the USSR, China, third world countries, and carry out a number of other significant reforms . It was President de Gaulle who came up with the idea of ​​greatness not only of France, but of all of Europe; he was the first to put forward a proposal to create a “united Europe” in which each country would maintain its independence. De Gaulle voluntarily resigned as president when he began to realize that he was losing the support of his people. After de Gaulle's death, the French were still able to rethink the role of their former ruler and appreciate it. Today in France, an airport in Paris is named in honor of “General de Gaulle” (no other name is given to him), and a monument to the general was erected in memory of de Gaulle not far from the Champs-Elysees. Today, de Gaulle is considered one of the most significant people in French history, along with Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

He resigned as president in April 1969. He traveled for some time and then settled in the small French commune of Colombey-les-deux-Eglises with his wife, where he worked on his memoirs. Alas, a quiet life apparently did not suit de Gaulle. De Gaulle's death came a year and a half after his retirement from politics. The cause of de Gaulle's death was a rupture of the aorta. De Gaulle's funeral took place there, in Colombey; de Gaulle's grave is located in the village cemetery.

All his life, de Gaulle was devoted to two women - France and his wife Yvonne. In the photo on the left is a bronze monument to the de Gaulles in front of the cathedral in Calais, where their wedding took place.

Life line

November 22, 1890 Date of birth of Charles de Gaulle (full name Charles Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle).
1921 Marriage to Yvonne de Gaulle, birth of son Philip.
1924 Birth of daughter Elizabeth.
1928 Birth of daughter Anna.
1940 Receiving the rank of brigadier general.
1941 De Gaulle's leadership of the French National Committee.
July 3, 1944 Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
June 1, 1958 Prime Minister of France, Minister of National Defense of France.
January 8, 1959 President of the Fifth Republic, President of France, Prince of Andorra.
April 28, 1969 Resignation from the presidency.
November 9, 1970 Date of death of de Gaulle.
November 12, 1970 De Gaulle's funeral.

Memorable places

1. The city of Lille, where Charles de Gaulle was born.
2. De Gaulle's house in Lille, where he spent his childhood, is today the de Gaulle house-museum.
3. Notre Dame Cathedral in Calais, where de Gaulle married his wife and in front of which today there is a monument to the couple.
4. Saint-Cyr Military Academy, where de Gaulle studied.
5. Higher military school in Paris, where de Gaulle taught.
6. Monument to de Gaulle in Paris.
7. Monument to de Gaulle in Warsaw.
8. De Gaulle Memorial in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises, where Charles de Gaulle died and was buried.

Episodes of life

When de Gaulle was studying at the Saint-Cyr Academy, one of his friends told him that Charles was destined for a great destiny. The young man answered quite seriously: “Yes, I think so too.” It is not surprising that at the Academy de Gaulle was considered an arrogant youth and a troublemaker, for which he was even nicknamed “the king in exile.” De Gaulle himself would later say: “A real leader keeps others at a distance. There is no power without authority, and no authority without distance.”

De Gaulle was famous for his excellent oratory skills. People close to de Gaulle claimed that the general was able to easily learn large speeches by heart. During his speeches, he almost never used written text and always spoke very smoothly. Former USSR Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko recalled that de Gaulle never answered sensitive questions directly, preferring to avoid answering with the words “anything can happen,” rather than baffling his opponents.

Charles de Gaulle died while working on his memoirs, just a few days shy of his eightieth birthday. Before his death, de Gaulle bequeathed that he should be buried modestly in a small cemetery and not have public ceremonies. In accordance with his will, only members of his family and comrades in the Resistance were invited to the funeral of Charles de Gaulle. But when the funeral bell sounded from a small church where farewell to the former President of France took place, thousands of church bells throughout the country responded to it.

Covenant

“Always choose the most difficult path - you will not meet competitors on it.”

Documentary film “Charles de Gaulle. His Majesty the President"

Condolences

"General de Gaulle died, France became a widow."
Georges Pompidou, 19th President of France

, Statesman, Minister, Prime Minister, President

Charles de Gaulle (Gaulle) (1890-1970) - French politician and statesman, founder and first president (1959-1969) of the Fifth Republic. In 1940, he founded the patriotic movement “Free France” (from 1942 “Fighting France”) in London, which joined the anti-Hitler coalition; in 1941 he became the head of the French National Committee, in 1943 - the French Committee for National Liberation, created in Algeria. From 1944 to January 1946, de Gaulle was the head of the French Provisional Government. After the war, he was the founder and leader of the Rally of the French People party. In 1958, Prime Minister of France. On de Gaulle's initiative, a new constitution was prepared (1958), which expanded the rights of the president. During his presidency, France implemented plans to create its own nuclear forces and withdrew from the NATO military organization; Soviet-French cooperation received significant development.

In this world, no one can separate opinion from politics.

de Gaulle Charles

Origin. Formation of worldview

Charles De Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890, in Lille, into an aristocratic family and was brought up in the spirit of patriotism and Catholicism. In 1912, he graduated from the Saint-Cyr military school, becoming a professional soldier. He fought on the fields of the First World War 1914-1918, was captured, and was released in 1918.

De Gaulle's worldview was influenced by such contemporaries as philosophers Henri Bergson and Emile Boutroux, writer Maurice Barrès, and poet and publicist Charles Péguy.

Even during the interwar period, Charles became a supporter of French nationalism and a supporter of a strong executive. This is confirmed by the books published by de Gaulle in the 1920-1930s - “Discord in the Land of the Enemy” (1924), “On the Edge of the Sword” (1932), “For a Professional Army” (1934), “France and Its Army” (1938). In these works devoted to military problems, de Gaulle was essentially the first in France to predict the decisive role of tank forces in a future war.

People, in essence, can do no more without control than they can without eating, drinking and sleeping. These political animals need organization, that is, order and leaders.

de Gaulle Charles

The Second World War

The Second World War, at the beginning of which Charles de Gaulle received the rank of general, turned his whole life upside down. He decisively refused the truce concluded by Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain with Nazi Germany and flew to England to organize the struggle for the liberation of France. On June 18, 1940, de Gaulle spoke on London radio with an appeal to his compatriots, in which he urged them not to lay down their arms and to join the Free France association he founded in exile (after 1942, Fighting France).

At the first stage of the war, de Gaulle directed his main efforts towards establishing control over the French colonies, which were under the rule of the pro-fascist Vichy government. As a result, Chad, Congo, Ubangi-Chari, Gabon, Cameroon, and later other colonies joined the Free French. Free French officers and soldiers constantly took part in Allied military operations. De Gaulle sought to build relations with England, the USA and the USSR on the basis of equality and upholding the national interests of France. After the landing of Anglo-American troops in North Africa in June 1943, the French Committee for National Liberation (FCNL) was created in the city of Algiers. Charles De Gaulle was appointed its co-chairman (along with General Henri Giraud), and then its sole chairman.

When I want to know what France thinks, I ask myself.

de Gaulle Charles

In June 1944, the FCNO was renamed the Provisional Government of the French Republic. De Gaulle became its first head. Under his leadership, the government restored democratic freedoms in France and carried out socio-economic reforms. In January 1946, de Gaulle left the post of prime minister, disagreeing on major domestic political issues with representatives of the left parties of France.

Charles de Gaulle during the Fourth Republic

That same year, the Fourth Republic was established in France. According to the 1946 Constitution, real power in the country belonged not to the president of the republic (as de Gaulle proposed), but to the National Assembly. In 1947, de Gaulle again became involved in the political life of France. He founded the Rally of the French People (RPF). The main goal of the RPF was to fight for the abolition of the 1946 Constitution and the conquest of power through parliamentary means to establish a new political regime in the spirit of de Gaulle’s ideas. The RPF was initially a great success. 1 million people joined its ranks. But the Gaullists failed to achieve their goal. In 1953, de Gaulle dissolved the RPF and withdrew from political activities. During this period, Gaullism finally took shape as an ideological and political movement (ideas of the state and “national greatness” of France, social policy).

Politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians.

de Gaulle Charles

Fifth Republic

The Algerian crisis of 1958 (Algeria's struggle for independence) paved the way for de Gaulle to power. Under his direct leadership, the 1958 Constitution was developed, which significantly expanded the prerogatives of the country's president (executive branch) at the expense of parliament. This is how the Fifth Republic, which still exists today, began its history. Charles de Gaulle was elected its first president for a seven-year term. The priority task of the president and government was to resolve the “Algerian problem.”

De Gaulle firmly pursued a course for self-determination in Algeria, despite serious opposition (rebellions of the French army and ultra-colonialists in 1960-1961, terrorist activities of the OAS, a number of assassination attempts on de Gaulle). Algeria was granted independence with the signing of the Evian Accords in April 1962. In October of the same year, the most important amendment to the 1958 Constitution was adopted in a general referendum - on the election of the president of the republic by universal suffrage. On its basis, in 1965, de Gaulle was re-elected president for a new seven-year term.

You will live. Only the best are killed.

de Gaulle Charles

Charles de Gaulle sought to implement his foreign policy in line with his idea of ​​the “national greatness” of France. He insisted on equal rights for France, the United States and Great Britain within NATO. Having failed to achieve success, the president withdrew France from the NATO military organization in 1966. In relations with Germany, de Gaulle managed to achieve noticeable results. In 1963, a Franco-German cooperation agreement was signed. De Gaulle was one of the first to put forward the idea of ​​a “united Europe”. He thought of it as a “Europe of fatherlands,” in which each country would retain its political independence and national identity. De Gaulle was a supporter of the idea of ​​détente. He set his country on the path of cooperation with the USSR, China and third world countries.

Charles de Gaulle paid less attention to domestic policy than to foreign policy. The student unrest in May 1968 indicated a serious crisis engulfing French society. Soon the president put forward a project on a new administrative division of France and Senate reform to a general referendum. However, the project did not receive the approval of the majority of the French. In April 1969, de Gaulle voluntarily resigned, finally abandoning political activity.

When I'm right, I usually get angry. And he gets angry when he is wrong. So it turned out that we were very often angry with each other.

de Gaulle Charles

How General de Gaulle defeated America

In 1965, General Charles de Gaulle flew to the United States and, at a meeting with American President Lyndon Johnson, announced that he intended to exchange 1.5 billion paper dollars for gold at the official rate of $35 per ounce. Johnson was informed that a French ship loaded with dollars was in the New York port, and a French plane had landed at the airport with the same cargo on board. Johnson promised the French president serious problems. De Gaulle responded by announcing the evacuation of NATO headquarters, 29 NATO and US military bases from French territory and the withdrawal of 33 thousand alliance troops.

Ultimately, both were done.

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born in Lille on November 22, 1890 and died in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises on November 9, 1970. Over the eighty years of his life, this man managed to become the greatest hero of France after Joan of Arc. He managed to lead the country twice, both times taking leadership at the peak of a national catastrophe and leaving the state in a state of economic recovery and growing international prestige. At the same time, he wrote more than a dozen books - memoirs and theoretical works on the art of war, some of which remain bestsellers to this day.

Being himself, admittedly, an extremely authoritarian person, de Gaulle, having, in fact, sovereign powers, twice voluntarily renounced his power and resigned. Moreover, this man, feared by his allies as a potential new dictator of the Hitlerite type, left to his descendants one of the most stable political systems among European democracies, called the Fifth Republic, under whose constitution France lives today.

The mysterious, mystical hero de Gaulle - the savior of France, the unifier of the French people, the liberator of Algeria and other colonies of the empire - remains to this day one of the most controversial figures in the modern history of Europe. His techniques were used more than once by many figures in the political scene; his life, attitude towards himself, towards duty, aspirations and beliefs became a model for many generations.

An aura of mystery has surrounded de Gaulle since his voice was first heard on British radio in 1940 in Nazi-occupied France, and for many French people for several years de Gaulle remained just a voice - the voice of freedom, uttering twice a day five-minute speeches, remained the name of hope that members of the Resistance movement conveyed to each other. De Gaulle himself used this mystery more than once to achieve certain political goals. However, in practice, Charles de Gaulle was not such a mysterious person at all. Ambiguous - yes. But all the general’s “secrets” are hidden in his biography. After all, first of all, the figure of the great general was a product of the extraordinary circumstances in which all of France found itself. And one of her soldiers in particular.

Complex of Joan of Arc

Charles de Gaulle was born into a wealthy family; his parents were right-wing Catholics. His father, Henri de Gaulle, was a teacher of philosophy and history at the Jesuit College on the Rue Vaugirard. Charles received a religious education, read a lot, showed great interest in literature from childhood, and even wrote poetry. Having won a school poetry competition, young de Gaulle chose the latter of two possible prizes - a cash prize or publication. De Gaulle was keen on history, especially since the de Gaulle family was proud not only of its noble origins and deep roots, but also of the exploits of its ancestors: according to family legend, one of the de Gaulle family, Zhegan, participated in the campaign of Joan of Arc. Little de Gaulle listened his father's stories about the glorious past of his family with sparkling eyes. Many, for example, Winston Churchill, later laughed at de Gaulle, saying that he suffered from a “Joan of Arc complex.” But the future general dreamed of the most revered French saint as a child; in his dream, he fought side by side with her for the salvation of France.

Even as a child, de Gaulle's character showed obsessive persistence and the ability to control people. So, he taught himself and forced his brothers and sister to learn a coded language in which words were read backwards. It must be said that this is much more difficult to achieve for French spelling than for Russian, English or German, and yet Charles could speak such a language in long phrases without hesitation. He constantly trained his memory, the phenomenal qualities of which amazed those around him later, when he delivered speeches of 30-40 pages by heart, without changing a single word compared to the text he had jotted down the day before.

From his youth, de Gaulle had an interest in four disciplines: literature, history, philosophy and the art of war. The philosopher who had the greatest influence on him was Henri Bergson, from whose teaching the young man could glean two important points that determined not only his general worldview, but also practical actions in everyday life. The first is that Bergson considered the natural division of people into a privileged class and an oppressed people, on which he based the advantages of dictatorship over democracy. The second is the philosophy of intuitionism, according to which human activity was a combination of instinct and reason. The principle of acting on a whim after precise calculation was used by de Gaulle many times when making the most important decisions that led him to the heights, as well as those that overthrew him from them.

Family environment and hobbies shaped de Gaulle’s attitude towards his homeland, its history, and his mission. However, the desire for military affairs forced de Gaulle to put into practice the fulfillment of that duty to his homeland, which for many generations of de Gaulle philosophers and teachers remained a pure theorem. In 1909, Charles went to the Military Academy in Saint-Cyr.

There is a widespread opinion that military service deprives a person of the ability to think independently, teaches him only to follow orders that are not subject to discussion, and prepares martinets. There is hardly a more obvious refutation of such nonsense than the example of Charles de Gaulle. Every day of service was not wasted for him. Without ceasing to read and educate himself, he carefully observed the life of the French army, noticing all the shortcomings in its structure. Being a diligent cadet, without violating the regulations in any way, he remained a strict judge of what he saw. Fellow students at the academy considered de Gaulle arrogant. Due to his height and character, he was dubbed “long asparagus.” The same growth, it seems, played a significant role in his self-awareness. And that’s to say: every day in formation, when the corporal shouted “Be equal!”, he was the only one who did not turn his head - everyone was equal to him.

In 1913, with the rank of junior lieutenant, he enlisted in an infantry regiment under the command of the then Colonel Philippe Pétain (who was destined to raise de Gaulle to commanding heights, only to later, in 1945, be pardoned by his former protégé and thereby avoid death execution). At the very beginning of the war, Charles was wounded twice, after which he was captured, where he remained until the truce was concluded and from where he tried to escape five times - each time unsuccessfully.

After the war, de Gaulle participated in the intervention in Soviet Russia as an officer-instructor in the Polish forces. After that, he served in the occupation forces in the Rhineland and participated in the operation of the French invasion of the Ruhr, an adventure from which he warned his superiors and which ended in a resounding failure - under pressure from Germany and the allies, France was forced to retreat, and its share in reparations payments were reduced. At this time, he wrote several books, among which it is worth highlighting “Discord in the Enemy’s Camp,” a commentary on the actions of the German army and government during the First World War, begun while in captivity. The actions of the German headquarters in this work were sharply criticized. De Gaulle did not dwell on the objective reasons for Germany’s defeat, but gave an analysis from which it followed that the defeat was led, perhaps in the first place, by the internal and military policies of the German government and the General Staff. It must be said that at that time in France, paradoxically, the organization of the Wehrmacht military machine was considered a model. De Gaulle pointed out significant miscalculations of the Germans.

The book was subsequently appreciated for its many fresh ideas. For example, de Gaulle argued that even during war, the military administration of the state must be subordinate to the civil one. Now this statement, which directly follows from the thesis that wars are won on the home front, seems quite obvious. In the 20s of the 20th century in France it was sedition. It was not useful for a career military man to express such judgments. De Gaulle, in his views on the structure of the army, on the tactics and strategy of war, was very different from the mass of the French military establishment. At that time, his former commander, the winner at Verdun, Marshal Pétain was an unquestioned authority in the army. In 1925, Pétain drew his attention to the fact that de Gaulle did not take a worthy place in the headquarters, and appointed him as his adjutant, instructing him to soon prepare a report on the system of defensive measures in France.

De Gaulle prepared this report, but it came as a surprise to the patron, since it was completely at odds with his own views. Where the marshal's protagonists relied on a line of fortified defense, based on strategic and tactical lessons learned from the "positional" First World War, de Gaulle spoke about the need to create mobile tactical formations, argued the uselessness of defensive structures in the conditions of modern technological development, especially considering the fact that the borders of France were completely unprotected by nature, passing mostly through open plains. As a result, relations with Pétain were spoiled, and the headquarters headed for the notorious Maginot Line. The very first days of the new war proved de Gaulle right.

At the same time, de Gaulle first showed himself as a politician: despite the fact that he was unofficially in disgrace, he managed to continue the implementation of his initiatives and at the same time his career growth. Firstly, he was the only career military man who allowed himself to speak openly in the press. This was by no means welcomed by the military authorities, but it noticeably increased his popularity in the country. Secondly, when faced with obstacles in the military environment, he immediately turned to politicians, and did not at all find it difficult to sacrifice his principles to achieve his goals. In 1934, he approached the far-right politician Paul Reynaud, who liked the army reform project proposed by de Gaulle. Reynaud tried to push the project through parliament, but was unsuccessful. Then in 1936, Captain de Gaulle with the same initiative went personally to the socialist leader Leon Blum. It is difficult for us now to imagine how much this step contradicted at that time the very essence of a person of such upbringing and habits as de Gaulle. Nevertheless, Leon Blum, although interested in the captain’s projects, practically did not use his capabilities in parliament to implement them.

Already at this stage, it is possible to identify at least two features of de Gaulle, which manifested themselves even more fully in his managerial practice: the desire to bypass small tactical defeats to victory in the main thing and the passion for innovation as an administrative tool. Persistence, energy, inflexibility of will, loyalty to convictions (however, dubious) - all these qualities have been repeatedly described and sung by historians. However, the most important components of de Gaulle's methodology, which are often overlooked, are undoubtedly the breadth of strategic intent and innovation. For him there was one scale - the scale of France.

De Gaulle's efforts were not in vain, but their effect was negligible: in general, the minor reorganization did not affect the state of the army. De Gaulle, after moving up the staff career ladder, achieved that, with the rank of colonel, he was appointed to command the only tank regiment for the formation of which he so advocated. The regiment was short-staffed. The tanks were completely outdated. On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland, and France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. In a matter of days, a significant part of French territory was occupied.

This affected de Gaulle's career. He was immediately promoted to brigadier general (he chose to retain this rank for the rest of his life) and led the hastily formed 4th Panzer Division. At the cost of incredible efforts, de Gaulle even managed to stop the enemy’s advance from the north and put some of its units to flight, but this could not affect the overall course of the war. In June 1940, in a situation where capitulation was almost inevitable, Paul Reynaud appointed him to a high position in the Ministry of Defense. But it was already too late. Despite de Gaulle's efforts to continue the struggle by France, the Reynaud government resigned, and Marshal Pétain, who took his place, signed a capitulation.

At a time when the British were negotiating with the French government, which was preparing to capitulate, about the fate of its colonies, de Gaulle first met Churchill. After the capitulation, de Gaulle flew to London, where he immediately created the Free France organization and demanded that he be given airtime on British radio, which broadcast in the occupied territory and in the possessions of the Vichy regime. On June 18, 1940, de Gaulle made his first address to the nation.

Quarrelsome Frenchman

The French say: "De Gaulle will remain in the history of France as a sacred figure, since he was the first to draw the sword." However, the situation in which de Gaulle found himself was not easy. According to historian Grosset, the Free French fought on three fronts: against German and Japanese enemies, against Vichy, whose spirit of capitulation it exposed, and against the Anglo-Americans. Sometimes it was unclear who the main enemy was."

Churchill hoped, by sheltering the fugitive general, to get into his hands a person with whose help he could influence the policy of internal resistance and the free colonies, but this was a cruel delusion. With amazing speed, de Gaulle, practically from scratch, created a centralized organization, completely independent of the allies and anyone else, with its own information headquarters and armed forces. Around him he gathered people practically unknown to him before. Moreover, everyone who signed the Act of Accession, which meant joining the Free France, necessarily signed an obligation to unconditionally obey de Gaulle.

“I believed,” de Gaulle wrote in his “War Memoirs,” that the honor, unity and independence of France would be lost forever if in this world war France alone capitulated and reconciled with such an outcome. For in this case, no matter how the war ended "Whether the conquered nation were liberated from invaders by foreign armies or remained enslaved, the contempt which it would inspire in other nations would long poison its soul and the lives of many generations of Frenchmen." He was convinced: “Before philosophizing, you need to win the right to life, that is, win.”

From 1940 to 1942, the number of soldiers alone fighting under the banner of Free (later Fighting) France grew from 7 to 70 thousand. The Americans had already printed the occupation currency and expected to transfer power to the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Eisenhower, but as a result of the political and military struggle, by the time of D-Day, as the Allies called the day of the Normandy landing on June 7, 1944, de Gaulle had achieved international recognition of those subordinate to him National Liberation Committee as the provisional government of France. Moreover, thanks to the efforts of this man, France, formally under the leadership of the Vichy government in an alliance with Nazi Germany, practically “occupied” by the Allies, received the right to its own occupation zone in Germany as a victorious country, and a little later, a seat in the UN Security Council. Without exaggeration, such successes can be called phenomenal, considering that at the beginning of this struggle he was just a deserter of the French army, warmed by Britain, whom a military tribunal in his homeland sentenced to death for treason.

To what did Brigadier General de Gaulle owe such successes? Firstly, the idea of ​​​​creating “Free France” and daily broadcasting in the occupied territory. Emissaries of the Free French traveled to all the free French colonies and countries of the current “third world”, trying to achieve recognition of de Gaulle as a representative of the “free French”. And, it must be said, the methodical work of de Gaulle’s secret agents eventually yielded results. Secondly, de Gaulle immediately established close contact with the Resistance, supplying it with what little funds he had. Thirdly, from the very beginning he positioned himself as an equal in relation to the allies. Often de Gaulle's arrogance infuriated Churchill. Everything went well if their positions agreed, but if disagreements arose, they began to argue. At the same time, de Gaulle accused Churchill of drinking too much and the whiskey went to his head. Churchill responded by stating that de Gaulle imagined himself as Joan of Arc. Once this almost ended in de Gaulle’s deportation from the island. However, stubbornness and arrogance, which gave de Gaulle’s figure authority in the eyes of his fellow citizens, helped him defend France’s rights to the former colonies and avoid literally their rejection.

Churchill and Roosevelt were extremely annoyed by the obstinate general. Roosevelt called him a “capricious bride” and irritably suggested that Churchill send de Gaulle “governor to Madagascar.” Churchill shared Roosevelt's dislike for the "arrogant Frenchman", calling him a "hidden fascist", "a quarrelsome individual who imagines himself the savior of France", saying that "the unbearable rudeness and impudence in this man's behavior are complemented by active Anglophobia." Secret British archives were recently opened, and it turned out that Churchill even sent an encrypted message from Washington to London: “I ask my colleagues to immediately answer whether we can, without delaying this question, eliminate de Gaulle as a political force... Personally I am ready to defend this position in parliament and can prove to everyone that the French Resistance movement, around which the legend of de Gaulle is created, and he himself - a vain and malicious man - have nothing in common... He hates England and sows this everywhere with him hatred... Therefore, based on our vital interests, which consist in maintaining good relations with the United States, it seems to me unacceptable to allow this quarrelsome and hostile person to continue to do evil." Further, Churchill justifies his attitude towards de Gaulle (it should be noted that it was Roosevelt who supplied Churchill with compromising evidence on de Gaulle - information from the American intelligence services): dictatorial habits, hidden fascist tendencies in actions and plans, the desire to come to terms with Moscow behind the backs of the allies and in a separate way " settle things with Germany." Allegedly, de Gaulle was especially favorable towards the USSR, and Stalin had already twice suggested that he move his residence from London to Moscow. However, Roosevelt’s game, which pitted Churchill against de Gaulle, ran into the position of the British Cabinet, which responded to its prime minister: “It is likely that de Gaulle as a person is in fact very far from the idealized mythical figure that the French see before them. However, one must give oneself The report is that any propaganda efforts on our part against de Gaulle will not convince the French that their idol has feet of clay. Moreover, we risk allowing interference in the purely internal affairs of the French, which is completely unjustified from any point of view, and we are simply "will be accused of trying to turn France into an Anglo-American protectorate."

The “Anglophobe with dictatorial habits” himself always emphasized his respect for Churchill. Only once did he misspoke in irritation. Offended that he was not invited to the conference of three leaders in Yalta, when asked which of them he would like to spend the weekend with, he replied: “Of course, with Roosevelt! Or, at least, with Stalin...” A little he later told Eisenhower: “Churchill thinks I take myself for Joan of Arc. But he is wrong. I take myself only for General de Gaulle."

When American and British troops occupied Algeria, they attempted to remove de Gaulle from power and form a government in exile led by General Giraud. De Gaulle acted quickly. Relying on the forces of the Resistance and, importantly, on Moscow, he immediately flew to Algeria, where he proposed organizing a Committee of National Liberation, co-chaired by Giraud and himself. Giraud agreed. Churchill and Roosevelt were forced to agree. Soon de Gaulle pushes Giraud into the background, and then removes him from leadership without any problems.

In general, de Gaulle constantly played on the contradictions of his allies. In particular, both the occupation zone and a seat in the Security Council went to France mainly thanks to the support of Stalin. De Gaulle, who sympathized with Stalin, convinced him that France would help establish a balance of power in the UN, which was leaning rather towards the Soviets.

After the provisional government under the leadership of de Gaulle came to power in France, he proclaimed the slogan in domestic policy: “Order, law, justice,” and in foreign policy - the greatness of France. De Gaulle's tasks included not only economic restoration, but also political restructuring of the country. De Gaulle achieved the first: he nationalized the largest enterprises, carried out social reforms, while simultaneously purposefully developing the most important industries. The second one turned out worse. From the very beginning, de Gaulle resorted to the political technique of “above the fray.” He did not openly support any of the parties, including the “Gaullists” - a movement of supporters of the general, believing that, being above the political struggle, he could win the sympathy of all voters. However, despite his high personal authority among the people, he was defeated in the main battle - the battle for a new constitution.

The “Gaullist” party, which was not personally supported by the general, did not receive a majority in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, called upon to develop a constitution. The Provisional Parliament, through compromises, developed the constitution of the Fourth Republic, which had a unicameral parliament that appointed the government and a president with limited power functions. De Gaulle waited until recently and finally proposed his own version of the constitution with a strong executive branch in the person of the president. He hoped to outplay the parliamentarians with massive propaganda and the effect of surprise. But the version of the constitution of the Fourth Republic proposed by parliament in a referendum attracted 52.5% “for” and 45.5% “against”. So de Gaulle himself became a victim of “supra-class arbitration,” as he called it. In the elections to the National Assembly, the "Gaullists" received only 3% of the votes. In January 1946, de Gaulle resigned and his political career took 12 years off.

Solitaire is patience

To say that at the age of 68 de Gaulle returned to politics from complete social oblivion is an exaggeration. Of course, while in retirement, he was involved in social activities. But the main thing was the waiting. De Gaulle lived in the family home in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises with his wife: he wrote memoirs, gave interviews, and walked a lot. In 1947, he tried to organize a new political movement, using the old technique of uniting in a coalition “above parties and movements,” but the movement was not successful, and in 1953 he completely retired. De Gaulle loved to play solitaire. "Solitaire" means patience in French.

Many say that Colombe was Napoleonic Elba for de Gaulle. In this case, we can say that time in power is in progressive proportion to time in exile. Napoleon spent a year on Elba and was in power for 100 days. De Gaulle spent 12 years in Colombey. He remained in power from 1958 to 1969, after which he voluntarily resigned, having earned general respect.

In the 50s, France was torn apart by crises. In 1954, France suffered a brutal defeat in Indochina from national liberation movements. De Gaulle did not comment. Unrest began in Algeria and other countries of North Africa, where the bulk of the former or actual French colonies were located. Despite economic growth, the population suffered severely from the devaluation of the franc and from inflation. Waves of strikes swept across the country. Governments replaced each other. De Gaulle was silent. By 1957, the situation had worsened: left- and right-wing extremist tendencies in society simultaneously intensified. The fascist military in Algeria, fighting against the rebels, threatened a coup. On May 13, 1958, such a coup almost happened. Newspapers began to write about the “need for responsibility.” In conditions of an acute government crisis, on May 16, the president turned to de Gaulle with a proposal to take over the post of prime minister with the approval of parliament. After this, in December 1958, de Gaulle himself was elected president with an unusually wide range of powers (for France at that time): in case of an emergency, he could dissolve parliament and call new elections, and also personally supervised issues of defense, foreign policy and the most important internal ministries. Interestingly, the text of the Russian constitution, approved by citizens in a referendum in 1993, largely coincides with the de Gaulle constitution, which, by all accounts, Russian reformers took as a model.

Despite the apparent speed and ease with which de Gaulle came to power for the second time, this event was preceded by the hard work of the general himself and his supporters. De Gaulle constantly conducted secret negotiations through intermediaries with political leaders of far-right parties, with parliamentarians, and organized a new “Gaullist” movement. Finally, choosing the moment when the threat of civil war reached its climax, de Gaulle spoke on the radio on May 15, and in front of parliament on the 16th. The first of these speeches was full of fog: “Once, in a difficult hour, the country trusted me so that I would lead it to salvation. Today, when the country faces new trials, let it know that I am ready to assume all the powers of the Republic.” In the texts of both speeches not even the word “Algeria” appeared. If the first one was frightening, then the speech in parliament could even be called amiable. This was the “carrot and stick” method - for the people and for the socialist leaders, who had to approve his candidacy for the post of prime minister in parliament and then elect him as president.

Mystery, secrecy, brevity, emotionality - these were de Gaulle’s weapons this time too. He relied not on this or that political inclination, but on the psychology of subordinating the crowd to the mysterious charm of the leader. Politicians in the government and the presidential apparatus were replaced by economists, lawyers, and managers. “I am a lonely man,” de Gaulle told the people in front of the parliament building, “who does not mix himself with any party or organization. I am a man who belongs to no one and belongs to everyone.” This is the whole essence of the general’s tactics. Considering that at that time, in parallel with the ultra-right demonstrations, “Gaullist” rallies were taking place throughout Paris, directly calling on the government to resign in favor of the general, there was a fair amount of slyness in his words.

In the relationship between de Gaulle and the "Gaullists", as well as in de Gaulle himself in 1958, one can see similarities with Vladimir Putin and the Unity movement. However, such an analogy seems a stretch, given that both of them came to power with an urgent need in society for an immediate solution to colonial problems and with the growth of nationalist sentiments in society.

The new constitution, approved in a referendum by a majority of almost 80%, introduced a presidential system of government for the first time in French history. With the strengthening of executive power, parliament was limited in legislative rights. It was supposed to work 2 sessions a year: autumn (October-December) was devoted to budget consideration, spring (April-June) to legislative activity. The agenda was determined by the government. Voting was carried out on the budget as a whole; when discussing the project, deputies did not have the right to make amendments providing for a reduction in revenues or an increase in state expenses.

Parliament was “pushed back”: de Gaulle communicated directly with the people through referendums, which he could call independently.

Gold instead of dollars

De Gaulle's authority was quite high. Without looking away from resolving the domestic political crisis, he took up economics and foreign policy, where he achieved some success. He dealt not with problems, but with a problem: how to make France a great power. One of the measures of a psychological nature was denomination: de Gaulle issued a new franc in denominations of 100 old ones. De Gaulle did not have a central bank. Money was multiplied through credit emission. A bunch of bankers fed on inflation. De Gaulle suggested that French banks should not exceed a 10 percent lending level. The franc became a hard currency for the first time in a long time.

At the end of 1960, the economy showed rapid growth, the fastest in all the post-war years. De Gaulle's foreign policy course was aimed at Europe gaining independence from two superpowers: the USSR and the USA. The European Common Market was being created, but de Gaulle blocked Britain's entry into it. Apparently, the wartime words of Churchill, uttered during one of the disputes about the status of France and its colonies - “Remember, whenever I have to choose between a free Europe and the seas, I will always choose the seas. Whenever I have to choose between Roosevelt and you, I will choose Roosevelt!" - sunk deep into de Gaulle’s soul, and now he refused to recognize the British islanders as Europeans.

In 1960, France successfully tested an atomic bomb in the Pacific Ocean. During these years, de Gaulle's administrative abilities did not appear in all their glory - the general needed a crisis to show the whole world what he was really capable of. He easily held a referendum on the issue of direct universal suffrage for the presidency, although he had to dissolve parliament to do so. In 1965, he was re-elected, although this time the voting took place in two rounds - a direct consequence of the new electoral system.

On February 4, he announced that his country would now switch to real gold in international payments. De Gaulle’s attitude towards the dollar as a “green piece of paper” was formed under the impression of an anecdote told to him long ago by the Minister of Finance in the Clemenceau government. "A Raphael painting is being sold at auction. The Arab offers oil, the Russian offers gold, and the American lays out a wad of hundred-dollar bills and buys Raphael for $10,000. As a result, the American got Raphael for three dollars, because the cost of paper for one hundred-dollar bill is three cents! ".

De Gaulle called the de-dollarization of France his “economic Austerlitz.” He stated: “We consider it necessary that international exchange should be established, as it was before the great misfortunes of the world, on an indisputable basis, not bearing the stamp of any particular country. On what basis? In truth, it is difficult to imagine that there could be some other standard other than gold. Yes, gold does not change its nature: it can be in bars, bars, coins; it has no nationality, it has long been accepted by the whole world as an unchanging value. There is no doubt that even today the value of any currency is determined on the basis of direct or indirect, real or presumed connections with gold.In international exchange, the supreme law, the golden rule (it is appropriate to say it here), the rule that should be restored, is the obligation to ensure the equilibrium of the balance of payments of the different currency zones by actual receipts and cost of gold."

And he demanded from the United States, in accordance with the Bretton Woods Agreement, real gold: at 35 dollars per ounce, exchange 1.5 billion dollars. In case of refusal, de Gaulle’s forceful argument was the threat of France’s withdrawal from NATO, the liquidation of all 189 NATO bases on French territory and the withdrawal of 35 thousand NATO soldiers. The militant general suggested that other countries follow the example of France - turn dollar reserves into gold. The US capitulated. The general in power even acted in the economy using military methods. He said: “The commissariat will follow.”

It is impossible to edit with "but"

However, his “dirigisme” in the economy, which led to the crisis of 1967, and his aggressive foreign policy - opposition to NATO and Great Britain, harsh criticism of the Vietnam War, support for Quebec separatists, sympathy for the Arabs in the Middle East - undermined his position in the domestic political arena. During the “revolution” in May 1968, when Paris was blocked off with barricades and posters “05/13/58 - 05/13/68 - time to leave, Charles!” hung on the walls, de Gaulle was at a loss. He was rescued by the faithful Prime Minister Georges Pompidou, a supporter of a softer, recommendatory state policy in the economy, the unrest more or less subsided, new social reforms were carried out, but after that de Gaulle for some reason dismissed Pompidou. When the general’s next legislative initiatives were rejected by parliament, he could not stand it and on April 28, 1969, ahead of schedule, he voluntarily resigned from his post.

Summarizing the information that can be obtained from a brief analysis of the biography of Charles de Gaulle, we see several prerequisites that determined his career from his youth. First of all, an excellent education and a constant thirst for knowledge and intellectual self-improvement. De Gaulle himself once said: “The true school, which gives the ability to command, is a common culture.” As examples, he cited Alexander the Great, whose teacher was Aristotle, and Caesar, brought up on the works and speeches of Cicero. De Gaulle could have repeated: “To manage means to foresee, and to foresee means to know a lot.” Another prerequisite, of course, is determination, faith in one’s destiny, born in childhood. At Saint-Cyr, a classmate told him before graduation: “Charles, I feel that you are destined for a great destiny.” Anyone else in de Gaulle’s place would naturally have laughed it off, but he answered without a trace of a smile: “Yes, I think so too.” For the most part, such people make up the clientele of psychiatric clinics, but some of them succeed - they become de Gaulles.

De Gaulle earned the ironic nickname of “the king in exile” from his superior at the Military Academy for his dry manner, demeanor and “turning up his nose.” A later biographer, describing de Gaulle in Britain in the 1940s, used the same expression without any irony, rather with admiration. Of course, to be de Gaulle, you had to look like de Gaulle. Here is what Jacques Chastanet writes: “Very tall, thin, of a monumental build, with a long nose over a small mustache, a slightly receding chin, an imperious gaze, he seemed much younger than fifty years old. Dressed in a khaki uniform and a headdress of the same color, decorated two stars of a brigadier general, he always walked with long strides, usually holding his hands at his sides. He spoke slowly, sharply, sometimes with sarcasm. His memory was amazing. He simply reeked of the power of a monarch, and now, more than ever, he justified the epithet "king in exile"

“Arrogant,” they said about de Gaulle. Here is what he himself wrote about this in the 30s: “A man of action cannot be imagined without a fair share of selfishness, arrogance, cruelty and cunning, but all this is forgiven him, and he even somehow rises more if he uses these qualities for doing great things." And later: “A true leader keeps others at a distance, since there is no power without prestige, and no prestige without distance.” It is characteristic that de Gaulle sympathized with Stalin. Although he understood that they had little in common in political and social beliefs, he believed that as leaders and as people they were similar to each other.

As for the qualities of de Gaulle as a leader and politician, to the extent that political activity is the art of managing people, here we can highlight five defining features, five properties of de Gaulle, which primarily allowed him to become one of the largest figures in France.

Firstly, de Gaulle was both phenomenally authoritarian as a leader and extremely independent as a subordinate. It is worth noting, however, that this authoritarianism strictly concerned action. De Gaulle the boss never asked - he ordered. Independence was entirely related to the area lying outside the military regulations. He carried out orders unquestioningly, everything that was outside them was at his own discretion. De Gaulle the guest did not ask the British government - he demanded and got his way.

Secondly, de Gaulle never became outdated. Both his rationalization proposals and his methods of political and military struggle were characterized by freshness and novelty. As has already been said, the characteristic feature of his method was innovation. He remained faithful to this principle both when he turned from a promising officer into a freethinker and oppositionist, in order to soon occupy one of the leading posts in the headquarters and confirm that he was right, and when in 1968, a few days before his resignation, he tried to achieve the adoption of a new law on Senate, which radically changed the relationship between the central and municipal authorities in the Republic.

Thirdly, de Gaulle combined a long wait for the moment with the swiftness of initiative, hidden intense, painstaking work in preparing any serious step with truly hussar pressure and the apparent ease with which he was able to storm each new bastion, be it the organization of the National Liberation Committee, the triumph in Paris or return to big politics in 1958. This lightness gave him a romantic, heroic aura with a mystical connotation, raised his already high authority, and instilled faith in his power.

Fourthly, de Gaulle was distinguished by his mystery and closedness, devoting few people to his plans, committing inexplicable, from the point of view of an outsider, actions, listening carefully to his comrades-in-arms, but never consulting and, finally, making exciting speeches, being able to say everything and nothing at the same time .

And finally, fifthly, de Gaulle always sought to remain above the situation, giving himself the status of a “supra-class arbiter”: on the one hand, he never openly took anyone’s side, allowing the situation to be resolved without his intervention, on the other hand, he sought support at the same time from everyone who could support him, and in general diligently cared about the prestige of a person rising above the vanity of this world. Even towards his allies, on whom he was completely dependent, he behaved not only as an equal, but sometimes even condescendingly. Their goal was to win the war, his was to elevate France to the pedestal of greatness. Ultimately, this method played a bad game with him twice: during the elections of 1946 and in 1968, when he himself did not find support from any of the political groups.

A lot can be said about de Gaulle's services to his fatherland, as well as about his mistakes. He, being a talented theorist of military art, did not conduct a single historically important battle, but managed to lead his country to victory where it was threatened with defeat from everywhere. Without being intimately familiar with the economy, he twice successfully ruled the country and twice brought it out of a deep crisis - I think solely thanks to his ability to competently organize the work of the structure entrusted to him, be it a rebel committee or the government of a multimillion-dollar state.

Charles de Gaulle quit smoking at age 63. He was very proud of both this fact and the method that helped him get rid of his bad habit. General Guichard's personal secretary decided to follow his patron's example and asked him how he did it. De Gaulle replied: “Very simple: tell your boss, your wife, your secretary that starting tomorrow you don’t smoke. That’s enough.”

Algeria: between two fires. Algeria was not just a French colony. The north of the country is practically Europeanized; the main civil and military positions here were occupied by immigrants from Europe. De Gaulle promised the Algerian French what they expected from him: “Algeria will remain French forever.” Demonstrations of the French and loyal Algerians took place throughout Algeria in support of the general. But supporters of independence (FLN) began a guerrilla war, attacking government agencies, police stations, and banks. Aid and weapons came from neighboring countries: Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. The French transferred more and more military units, special forces, mercenaries, and paratroopers from Indochina to Algeria. But the clashes did not stop. De Gaulle began to understand that sooner or later France would have to part with the Maghreb. Algeria costs Paris too much. On September 19, 1959, the president recognized Algeria’s right to self-determination, but did not say anything specific about the timing of independence. The response was the tightening of the actions of the TNF rebels and the rebellion of the French "ultra", whose leaders were military generals, recent war heroes, once loyal soldiers of the republic - Salan, Schall, Jouaux and Zeller. The military, having ceased to hope for help from Paris, themselves switched to tactics of retaliatory terror. The Secret Armed Organization (SLA) created by Alan was a real army: 110 combat groups, 60 weapons depots, 119 safe houses. The SLA began to pursue a “scorched earth” tactic in Algeria. The SLA soldiers now considered De Gaulle their blood enemy, a traitor to France. But Algerian independence was already a done deal by that time. The referendum held in France only confirmed this. On March 18, 1962, in the resort town of Evian, agreements were signed that guaranteed (under a number of conditions, however) complete independence for Algeria. The response from the OAS was the death sentence imposed on General de Gaulle. Six “major” attempts were made on de Gaulle’s life. The most famous is the “case of the Bastien-Thierry group.” On August 22, 1962, two groups of SLA activists took up positions on the Rue Petit-Clomart. The first detachment was supposed to stop the presidential motorcade, the second was to shoot de Gaulle and his bodyguards at point-blank range. The organizer of the assassination attempt, Lieutenant Colonel Bastien, measured the firing angles, calculated the speed of the motorcade, distributed everything by seconds, but in preparation he used the old calendar. On August 22, it got dark in Paris 25 minutes earlier than Bastien thought, so at dusk the terrorists did not see the approaching motorcade and started shooting too late. De Gaulle was also saved by the mistake of his own security service. Usually two motorcyclists with their headlights on moved in front of the motorcade. The terrorists would have seen them from afar. This time, for some reason, the motorcycle escort group ended up behind. And when de Gaulle’s car rushed forward at high speed, the militants barely had time to fire at the wheels and the rear window. The car skidded and some of the bullets missed. The president was also saved by the driver Francois Marroux, who managed to steer the car to the side. Sitting in front of the president, Colonel Alain de Boissier shouted to Yvonne and Charles de Gaulle: “Quickly, heads down!” It seemed that the president was just waiting for an assassination attempt, when the first shots rang out, he grumbled to his wife: “What, again?” The main organizers and perpetrators of the assassination attempt were soon captured. Some managed to escape abroad. But the fifth department of the special service SDEKE ("Counteraction Service") worked with its own methods, and if in some European country an OAS activist suddenly died under mysterious circumstances, it was clear to everyone whose hands it was. Charles de Gaulle himself seriously thought about guarantees of his security. The main bodyguard of the president was Victor Lucien Ott, a hero of Indochina, a landing officer who was captured at Dien Bien Phu and escaped from captivity six months later. The young veteran was downright obsessed with safety. “A bodyguard’s first weapon is his brain,” said Major Ott. According to his directives, all “security officials” - from provincial guards to gendarmerie prefects - were supposed to feel like “secret agents.” Ott's tactics paid off. In February 1963, Bastien-Thierry's successor in the OAS, Antoine Argot, organized a new assassination attempt. Sniper Georges Vatin was supposed to shoot at the president coming out of the central entrance of the Military Academy on the Champ de Mars. To get to the roof, the OAS members “recruited” an academy security guard. He, naturally, turned out to be “Ott’s man.” The murder plot failed again. All the main leaders of the OAS were killed and executed (like Bastien-Thierry, who appeared at the guillotine in the Orders) or were kept under heavy guard in prison (like Captain Antoine Argot). With the destruction of the SLA, “patriotic terror” in Europe faded into history for some time. Pavel Chernomorsky