A LIFE OF GENERAL DE GAULLE
BY CHARLES WILLIAMS
An excellent book on all aspects of General Charles De Gaulle
5 stars out of 5 stars
On the last two pages of “The Last Great Frenchman – A Life of General De Gaulle”, author Charles Williams, an English historian, wrote:
“ ….but the essence of Charles de Gaulle remains clear. Colombe, his home, was the home of a very affectionate, emotional, and private man. France was the home of a very cold, ruthless and proud public man.”
The details of these two personalities are narrated on the 493 pages preceding these two sentences. The events, involving many personalities and precise timelines, are described in excruciating detail. One cannot but applaud and marvel at the tremendous amount of effort the author has put into the research and the writing of this book.
There were different stages of General Charles De Gaulle, who was, in addition to the last great Frenchman, a towering world figure in the twentieth century. The following are several interesting aspects of his life, some of which are probably not well known.
During World War I, he was in active combat, wounded twice and taken prisoner. He tried to escape five times, each time unsuccessful. He suffered the punishment each time he was caught. It is interesting to note that another towering figure in the twentieth century, Dwight D Eisenhower, had not seen combat but rose to command millions of men.
In his later careers, there were several assassinations attempts of his life, one of which nearly succeeded. Nevertheless, nothing seemed to induce fear on the man.
In 1934, he wrote Vers l'Armée de Métier (Towards a Professional Army). He proposed mechanization of the infantry, He foresaw the importance of tanks in the next war. His views were taken to practice much more in Germany than in France, with Germany building up mechanized units. In May 1940, when Hitler attacked France, his panzer divisions were able to smash through slow-moving French formations.
When France was defeated by Germany, the Vichy Government signed an armistice with Germany, which allowed the latter to occupy large regions of France, including Paris. The Vichy Government was headed by Philippe Petain, hero of Verdun in World War I and Marshal of France. He was also a mentor of De Gaulle. De Galle was totally against the armistice. He took exile in England to lead the Free French and continued the fight, claiming himself to be the leader of France. In the war with Germany, his insistence that Free French be treated as a power on equal standing with Britain and the U. S. led to his frequent clashes with Churchill and especially Roosevelt, who still wanted to deal with the Viche Government. FDR’s hatred of De Gaulle never abated. The feeling was mutual. French/American relations soured through the Presidencies of Truman, Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Not until President Nixon, whose Secretary of State Henry Kessinger was a great admirer of the General, did the two countries’ relation improved.
De Gaulle’s relationship with Churchill was very different to that with FDR. They had admiration for each other, despite the frequent clashes. De Gaulle opposed any development of a supernational Europe, favoring Europe as a continent of sovereign nations. He particularly was opposed to the United States meddling in European affairs, despite the central role contributed by the U.S. in defeating Germany. This upset Churchill, who in a burst of anger, said that, between the United States and France, he’ll choose the United States as collaborator anytime. De Gaulle was annoyed that he was excluded from several wartime conferences of the Allied Leaders, including the Casablanca Conference, the Potsdam Conference, and the Yalta Conference. Nevertheless, Churchill and De Gaulle had high regard for each other.
The following words by the three giants do shed some light on their relationships:
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt on De Gaulle: “autocratic as a leader and insignificant as an ally”
2. Winston Churchill on De Gaulle: “I have never forgotten, and can never forget, that he stood forth as the first eminent Frenchman to face the common foe in what seemed to be the hour of ruin of his country and possibly, of ours.”
3. De Gaulle on Churchill “In the great drama he was the greatest of all.”
4. On Churchill when De Gaulle was upset: “When I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. We are angry at each other much of the time.”
When World War II ended, De Gaulle returned to France. His postwar career included periods of peaks and valleys. On 13 November 1945, he was elected unanimously by the new Parliament assembly to be head of the government. However, when he failed to block the communists to important ministries and felt that the draft constitution placed too much power in the hands of parliament, he abruptly resigned on 20 January 1946. He was hoping that as a war hero, he would be soon brought back as a more powerful executive by the French people. However, that did not turn out to be the case. Not for a long time, He dropped out of sight and returned to his home in Colombe to write his war memoirs. During this period of retirement, however, de Gaulle maintained regular contact with past political lieutenants.
In May 1958, France was in chaos. The Government of the Fourth Republic was collapsing, wracked by political instability, failures in Indochina and inability to resolve the Algerian question. The French people again turned to their hero, and De Gaulle became President of France in January 1959. France entered the era of the Fifth Republic. Among the actions De Gaulle took were the introduction of a new Franc, ending the War in Algeria, and France became a fourth nuclear power. In December 1965, de Gaulle returned as president for a second seven-year term.
The period of tranquility ended in May 1968, with the riots of students and the strikes of the workers. The General had become personally unpopular. Following the rejection of his proposed reform of the Senate and local governments in a nationalwide referendum, De Gaulle resigned the presidency at noon, 28 April 1969.
De Gaulle returned to his home in Colombe, leading a quiet retired life with his wife Yvonne and daughter little Anne. The couple were married on April 6, 1921. They had three children, a son Phillippe and daughters Elizabeth and Anne. Although Yvonne preferred the quiet life of an ordinary citizen to the life of the wife of a famous politician, she was by the General’s side all the time, in London, Algiers, and Paris.
De Gaulle’s life at home in Colombe was indeed tranquil. He rose early in the morning, had a walk in the garden, and sat down to write his memoir while Yvonne sat close by with her knitting. There were short breaks and lunch breaks, with writing continued in the afternoon. There were several vacation trips and gatherings with his son, Phillippe and daughter Elizabeth.
Little Anne had Down Syndrome. De Gaulle was particularly tender towards her. He was seen having long walks with her, patiently conversing with her on things she could comprehend. Anne died in his father’s arms at the young age of twenty. It was said that it had the effect of changing De Gaulle to a kinder person.
De Gaulle was a skilled orator. In more than one occasions, he was able to garner public support after delivering a rousing speech. In addition to the texts of the speeches which he himself wrote, often taking many hours deep into the night. He was effective in utilizing hand gestures. At 6 feet 4 inches, his imposing physical appearance also helped. Several of his renowned speeches are available on YouTube. Unfortunately, you have to know French to appreciate their effectiveness.
In summary, it is an excellent book on all aspects of General Charles De Gaulle.
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