Charles de Gaulle years of life. Charles de Gaulle (different views on life and activities)

French military and public figure. Full name - Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle. During World War II it became a symbol of the French Resistance. First President of the Fifth Republic (1959-1969).

Childhood. Carier start

Charles de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890 into a patriotic Catholic family. Although the de Gaulley family is noble, de in the surname is not a traditional French “particle” noble families, and 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. WITH early childhood he loved to read. History struck him so much that he developed an almost mystical concept of serving France.

Already as a boy he showed great interest in military affairs. After a year of preparatory exercises at the Stanislav 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. The training took place in the 33rd Infantry Regiment under the command of the then Colonel Pétain. He graduated from military college in 1912 with 13th rank.

World War I

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, 1915, 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 five attempts to escape. M. N. Tukhachevsky, the future marshal of the Red Army, was also captured with him; Communication begins between them, including on military-theoretical topics. While in captivity, de Gaulle read German authors, learned more and more about Germany, this later greatly helped him in his military command. It was then that he wrote his first book, “Discord in the Enemy's Camp” (published in 1916).

1920s. Family

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 of a permanent position in the Polish Army and returning to his homeland, on April 6, 1921 he married Yvonne Vandrou. On December 28 of the following year, his son Philippe is born, named after the boss - later the notorious traitor 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 (the girl died in 1948; de Gaulle was subsequently a trustee of the Foundation for Children with Down Syndrome).

Military theorist

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 the leading military theorist in Germany, Guderian. However, de Gaulle's proposals did not evoke sympathy from the French military command.

The Second World War. Leader of the Resistance

First declarations

By the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle had the rank of colonel. On May 14, 1940, he was given command of the new 4th Regiment (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 as deputy foreign minister during the war. The general invested with this position did not accept the terms of the truce, and on June 15, after the transfer of power to Marshal Pétain, he emigrated to Great Britain.

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 broadcasts a radio speech by de Gaulle calling for the creation of the Resistance. Leaflets were soon distributed in which the general addressed “To all the French” (A tous les Français) with the statement:

“France lost the battle, but it 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.

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. Who knows what de Gaulle's fate would have been like if he had not enlisted the support of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The desire to create an alternative to the Vichy government led Churchill to recognize de Gaulle as “the head of all free Frenchmen” (June 28, 1940) and to help “promote” de Gaulle internationally. However, in his memoirs about the Second World War, Churchill does not give de Gaulle a very high assessment, and considers his cooperation with him forced - there was simply no other alternative.

Control over the colonies. Development of the Resistance

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 creates in Brazzaville (Congo) the Council of Defense of the Empire, 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. The decree on the creation of the order is reminiscent of the statutes of the orders of the times of royal France.

The great success of the Free French was the establishment, shortly after June 22, 1941, of direct ties with the USSR (without hesitation Soviet leadership decided to transfer Bogomolov, its ambassador under the Vichy regime, to London). For 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.

Conflict with the Allies

Meanwhile, the actions of the “monarch” irritated the West. Roosevelt's staff spoke openly about the “so-called free French” who were “sowing poisonous propaganda” and interfering with the conduct of the war. On November 7, 1942, American troops land in Algeria and Morocco and negotiate 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, “introduces elementary feelings and complex politics into great affairs.” The contradiction between de Gaulle's patriotic ideals and Roosevelt's indifference in choosing supporters (“I like all those who help solve my problems,” as he openly declared) became one of the most important obstacles to the conduct of coordinated action in North Africa.

The head of Algeria, Admiral 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. The suspiciously quick investigation ended in the hasty execution of La Chapelle just a day after Darlan's murder. 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 led by Giraud, in which it was planned to include big number persons who once supported the Peten government. In Casablanca, de Gaulle shows understandable intransigence towards such a plan. He insists on unconditional compliance national interests countries (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 gathers 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. The story of Giraud is precisely the moment when the military leader de Gaulle becomes a politician. For the first time he is faced with the question of political struggle: “Either I, or him.” For the first time, de Gaulle uses effective political means of struggle, rather than declarations.

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. In the draft appeal written by Gen. D. D. Eisenhower ordered the French people to comply with all instructions of the allied command until the elections of legitimate authorities. It is clear that in Washington the de-Gaulle 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.

Liberation of France

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces carry out a successful landing 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 business relations between two states, logic and feeling mean very little in comparison with real power 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 Resistance rebels led by Colonel Rol-Tanguy open tank troops One of de Gaulle's most faithful associates, the military governor of Chad Philippe de Hautecloque (who went down in history under the name Leclerc), on his way to Paris, 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 the historical sites of the capital, consecrated by the heroic history of France, and the general admits: “With every step that I take, walking through the most famous places in the world, it seems to me that the glory of the past seems to join the glory of today.” De Gaulle never considered himself a politician only of his time, did not put himself on a par with such figures as Churchill or Roosevelt, but was aware of his significance, his mission in the context of centuries-old French history.

Post-war government

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 Moscow from December 2 to December 10, 1944. On the last day of this visit in the Kremlin, J.V. Stalin and de Gaulle signed an agreement on “alliance and military assistance.” The significance of this act was primarily in the return of France to the status of a great power and its recognition as one of the victorious states. French General Delattre de Tassigny, together with the commanders of the Allied powers, accepts the surrender of the Germans in Karlshorst on the night of May 8-9, 1945 armed forces. France has occupation zones in Germany and Austria.

This period was marked by an intensified contradiction between the foreign policy “greatness” of the country and the poor internal situation. After the war it remained low level life, unemployment grew against the background of the strengthening military-industrial complex. It was not even possible to properly define the political structure of the country. The elections to the Constituent Assembly did not give an advantage to any party (the Communists received a relative majority - which eloquently demonstrates the situation; 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, a small estate in Champagne (Haute-Marne department). He himself compares his situation with the expulsion of Napoleon. 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.

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 person and, like any man of his stature, caused much controversy as to 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 political current 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 national defense 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 the small church where farewell to former president France, 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

Gaulle Charles de (De Gaulle, Charles André Marie) (1890-1970), President of France. Born November 22, 1890 in Lille. Graduated in 1912 military academy Saint-Cyr. During the First World War he was wounded three times and captured near Verdun in 1916. In the 1920-1921 centuries. With the rank of major, he served in Poland at the headquarters of General Weygand's military mission.

Between the two world wars, de Gaulle taught military history at the Saint-Cyr School, served as an assistant to Marshal Pétain, and wrote several books on military strategy and tactics. In one of them, called For a Professional Army (1934), he insisted on the mechanization of ground forces and the use of tanks in cooperation with aviation and infantry.

Leader of the French Resistance during World War II. In April 1940, de Gaulle received the rank of brigadier general. On June 6 he was appointed Deputy Minister of National Defense. On June 16, 1940, when Marshal Pétain was negotiating surrender, de Gaulle flew to London, from where on June 18 he made a radio call to his compatriots to continue the fight against the invaders.

Founded the Free France movement in London. After the landing of Anglo-American troops in North Africa in June 1943, the French Committee for National Liberation (FCNL) was created in Algeria. De Gaulle was first appointed as its co-chairman (with General Henri Giraud) and then as its sole chairman. In June 1944, the FKNO was renamed the Provisional Government of the French Republic.

Political activity after the war. After the liberation of France in August 1944, de Gaulle returned to Paris in triumph as head of the provisional government. However, the Gaullist principle of a strong executive was rejected at the end of 1945 by voters, who preferred a constitution in many ways similar to that of the Third Republic. In January 1946, de Gaulle resigned.

In 1947, de Gaulle founded a new party, the Rally of the French People (RPF), whose main goal was to fight for the abolition of the 1946 Constitution, which proclaimed the Fourth Republic. However, the RPF failed to achieve the desired result, and in 1955 the party was dissolved.

Like many Frenchmen, de Gaulle continued to be suspicious of a “strong Germany” and in 1949 opposed the Bonn Constitution, which ended Western military occupation, but did not correspond to the plans of Schumann and Pleven (1951).

In 1953 de Gaulle resigned from political activity, settled in his house in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises and began writing his War Memoirs.

The general himself, with the support of his supporters, skillfully took advantage of this and achieved the consent of the National Assembly to create his own government on the terms dictated by him.

Fifth Republic. The first years after returning to power, de Gaulle was engaged in strengthening the Fifth Republic, financial reform, and searching for a solution to the Algerian issue. On September 28, 1958, a new constitution was adopted in a referendum.

In response to this, there were mutinies of the French army and ultra-colonialists in 1960×1961, the terrorist activities of the Armed Secret Organization (OAS), and the assassination attempt on de Gaulle. However, after the signing of the Evian Accords, Algeria gained independence.

In September 1962, de Gaulle proposed an amendment to the constitution, according to which the election of the president of the republic should be held by universal suffrage. Faced with resistance from the National Assembly, he decided to resort to a referendum. At a referendum held in October, the amendment was approved by a majority of votes. The November elections brought victory to the Gaullist party.

In 1963, de Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry into the Common Market and blocked the US attempt to join NATO nuclear missiles, refused to sign a partial test ban agreement nuclear weapons. His foreign policy led to a new alliance between France and West Germany. In 1963, de Gaulle visited the Middle East and the Balkans, and in 1964 - Latin America.

On December 21, 1965, de Gaulle was re-elected as president for another 7-year term. The long standoff between NATO reached its climax in early 1966, when the French president withdrew his country from the bloc's military organization. Nevertheless, France remained a member of the Atlantic Alliance.

Elections to the National Assembly in March 1967 brought the Gaullist party and its allies a slight majority, and in May 1968 student unrest and a nationwide strike began. The President again dissolved the National Assembly and called new elections, which were won by the Gaullists. On April 28, 1969, after defeat in the April 27 referendum on the reorganization of the Senate, de Gaulle resigned.

The content of the article

DE GAULLE, CHARLES(De Gaulle, Charles André Marie) (1890–1970), President of France. Born November 22, 1890 in Lille. In 1912 he graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. During the First World War, he was wounded three times and captured near Verdun in 1916. In 1920–1921, with the rank of major, he served in Poland at the headquarters of General Weygand's military mission. In the period between the two world wars, de Gaulle taught military history at the Saint-Cyr School, served as an assistant to Marshal Pétain, and wrote several books on military strategy and tactics. In one of them, called For a professional army(1934), insisted on the mechanization of ground forces and the use of tanks in cooperation with aviation and infantry.

Leader of the French Resistance during World War II.

In April 1940, de Gaulle received the rank of brigadier general. On June 6 he was appointed Deputy Minister of National Defense. On June 16, 1940, when Marshal Pétain was negotiating surrender, de Gaulle flew to London, from where on June 18 he made a radio call to his compatriots to continue the fight against the invaders. Founded the Free France movement in London. After the landing of Anglo-American troops in North Africa in June 1943, the French Committee for National Liberation (FCNL) was created in Algeria. De Gaulle was first appointed as its co-chairman (with General Henri Giraud) and then as its sole chairman. In June 1944, the FKNO was renamed the Provisional Government of the French Republic.

Political activity after the war.

After the liberation of France in August 1944, de Gaulle returned to Paris in triumph as head of the provisional government. However, the Gaullist principle of a strong executive was rejected at the end of 1945 by voters, who preferred a constitution in many ways similar to that of the Third Republic. In January 1946, de Gaulle resigned.

In order to preserve the prestige of France and strengthen its national security, de Gaulle supported the European Reconstruction Program and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In the course of coordinating the armed forces of Western Europe at the end of 1948, thanks to the influence of de Gaulle, the French were given command of the ground forces and navy. Like many Frenchmen, de Gaulle continued to be suspicious of a “strong Germany” and in 1949 opposed the Bonn Constitution, which ended Western military occupation, but did not correspond to the plans of Schumann and Pleven (1951).

In 1953, de Gaulle retired from political activity, settled in his house in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises and began writing his War memoirs.

In 1958, the protracted colonial war in Algeria caused an acute political crisis. On May 13, 1958, ultra-colonialists and representatives of the French army rebelled in the Algerian capital. They were soon joined by supporters of General de Gaulle. All of them advocated keeping Algeria within France. The general himself, with the support of his supporters, skillfully took advantage of this and achieved the consent of the National Assembly to create his own government on the terms dictated by him.

Fifth Republic.

The first years after returning to power, de Gaulle was engaged in strengthening the Fifth Republic, financial reform, and searching for a solution to the Algerian issue. On September 28, 1958, a new constitution was adopted in a referendum.

On December 21, 1958, de Gaulle was elected president of the republic. Under his leadership, France's influence in the international arena increased. However, de Gaulle faced problems in colonial policy. Having begun to resolve the Algerian problem, de Gaulle firmly pursued a course towards Algerian self-determination. In response to this, there were mutinies of the French army and ultra-colonialists in 1960 and 1961, the terrorist activities of the Armed Secret Organization (OAS), and the assassination attempt on de Gaulle. However, after the signing of the Evian Accords, Algeria gained independence.

In 1963, de Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry into the Common Market, blocked the US attempt to supply nuclear missiles to NATO, and refused to sign an agreement on a partial ban on nuclear weapons testing. His foreign policy led to a new alliance between France and West Germany. In 1963, de Gaulle visited the Middle East and the Balkans, and in 1964 – Latin America.

Charles Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle (1890-1970) - French statesman, general. During World War II, it was recognized as a symbol of the French Resistance. Considered the founder and was the first president of the Fifth Republic. Twice he led the country and each time took it at the peak of a national catastrophe, and during his reign he raised the economy and international prestige of France. During his eighty-year life, he managed to become the second greatest national hero after Joan of Arc.

Childhood

Charles was born on November 22, 1890 in the French city of Lille. My grandmother lived here, and my mother came to her every time to give birth. Charles also had a sister and three brothers. Having recovered a little from the birth, the mother and baby returned to Paris to her family. De Gaulle lived quite prosperously, professed Catholicism and were deeply patriotic people.

Charles's father, Henri de Gaulle, born in 1848, was a thinking and educated man. He was brought up in patriotic traditions, as a result of which Henri believed in the high mission of France. He had a professorship and taught philosophy, history and literature at a Jesuit school. All this had a huge impact on little Charles. WITH early years the boy really liked reading. The father thoroughly introduced his son to French history and culture. This knowledge made such an impression on the child that he developed a mystical concept - it is obligatory to serve his country.

Mom, Zhanna Mayo, loved her homeland infinitely. This feeling was comparable only to her piety. The parents raised their children in this spirit of patriotism; all five of them loved their country from childhood and were worried about its fate. Little Charles was literally in awe of the French heroine Joan of Arc. Moreover, the de Gaulle family, although indirectly, was connected with this great French woman; their ancestor took part in the D’Arc campaign. Charles was incredibly proud and repeatedly repeated this fact, even when he became an adult, and therefore received the nickname “Joan of Arc with a mustache” from the sharp-tongued Churchill.

When Charles was a little boy and suddenly began to cry for some reason, his father came up to him and said: “Son, do generals cry?” And the child fell silent. From an early age, Charles felt that his fate was predetermined: he would definitely be a military man, and not a simple man, but a general.

College studies

He showed great interest in military affairs; from childhood he knew how to organize and educate himself. For example, Charles independently invented and learned an encrypted language, when all the words are read backwards. It should be noted that in French this is much more difficult to do than in English or Russian. The boy trained himself so much that he could speak long phrases in this way without hesitation. At the same time, his ability to manage people and obsessive persistence manifested itself, because Charles forced his brothers and sister to learn the encrypted language.

He also independently developed willpower. If all his lessons were not learned, Charles forbade himself to sit down to dinner. When it seemed to him that he had not completed some task well enough, the boy deprived himself of dessert. De Gaulle was eleven years old when his parents sent him to a Jesuit college in Paris. The boy entered a class with a mathematical bias and graduated in 1908.

In his early youth, Charles also developed a thirst for fame. For example, when he won a poetry competition, the boy was asked to choose his own reward - a cash prize or the opportunity to be published. He chose the latter.

Military education

By the time he graduated from college, Charles already had a firm decision - to build a military career. He completed one year preparatory training at Stanislas College and in 1909 continued to receive education at the Special military school in Saint-Cyr, where Napoleon Bonaparte once studied. Among all branches of the military, de Gaulle's choice fell on the infantry, since he considered it more “military” and closer to combat operations.

During the formation, Charles always stood first, which is not surprising given his almost two-meter height (for this he even received the nickname “asparagus” from his fellow students). But at the same time, friends joked: “Even if de Gaulle was a dwarf, he would still be first.” His leadership qualities were so evident.

Even then, in his youth, he clearly realized: the meaning of his life was to accomplish an outstanding feat in the name of his beloved France. And I was sure that the day was not far off when such an opportunity would present itself.

In 1912, de Gaulle graduated from his studies as a junior lieutenant. He was thirteenth in academic achievement among all graduates of the military school.

The path from lieutenant to general

Charles was assigned to the 33rd Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Henri-Philippe Pétain. In the summer of 1914, de Gaulle's combat path began on the fields of the First World War. He ended up in the army of the famous French military leader and division general Charles Lanrezac. Already on the third day he was wounded and returned to duty two months later.

In 1916, Charles received two wounds, the second was so severe that he was considered killed and left on the battlefield. This is how de Gaulle ended up in German captivity. He attempted to escape six times, but was unsuccessful, and was released only in November 1918 after the armistice. In captivity, Charles met and became close to the future Soviet Marshal Tukhachevsky, they talked a lot about military theoretic topics. At the same time, de Gaulle was working on his first book, Discord in the Enemy's Camp.

After Charles's release, three years was in Poland, where he was first engaged in teaching - he taught cadets at the Imperial Guard School the theory of tactics. For a couple of months he fought on the fronts of the Soviet-Polish war, received an offer of a permanent position in the Polish Army, but refused and returned to his homeland.

In the 1930s, he already held the rank of lieutenant colonel, wrote and published a number of well-known military theoretical books, in which he analyzed the results of the First World War.

From 1932 to 1936 he held the post Secretary General at the French Supreme Defense Council. In 1937, he was assigned to command a tank regiment.

By the beginning of World War II, Charles was already a colonel. In 1939, Germany attacked France and the following year, 1940, forced the French army to retreat. In May 1940, Charles was promoted to brigadier general and appointed deputy minister of defense before the capitulation of the French government.

A month later, he moved to London, from where he addressed the people of France with a call for resistance: "We lost the battle, but not the war." Painstaking work began to create the strength of the Free French. He called on the French people for mass actions of disobedience and total strikes, thanks to which in 1941-1942 a riot grew in the territory of occupied France. partisan movement. Charles established control over the colonies; as a result, Cameroon, Ubangi-Shari, Chad, Congo, Gabon joined the Free French, and their military personnel participated in allied operations.

In the summer of 1944, de Gaulle became Provisional Ruler of the French Republic. Charles's undoubted merit in saving the dignity of France. He spared the country the disdain that would have been experienced after 1940. And when the war ended, thanks to de Gaulle, France regained its status as a member of the Big Five.

Policy

At the beginning of 1946, Charles left the government because he did not agree with the adopted constitution, according to which France became a parliamentary Republic. He modestly retired to the Colombe estate and wrote his famous “War Memoirs”.

They remembered him at the end of the 1950s, when France was mired in crises - a severe defeat from the national liberation movement in Indochina, the height of the Algerian coup. On May 13, 1958, French President Rene Coty himself offered de Gaulle the post of prime minister. And already in September 1958, they adopted a new constitution, which was developed under the clear leadership of the general. In essence, this was the birth of the Fifth Republic that still exists today. In December of the same year, 75% of voters gave their vote to de Gaulle in the elections for the President of France, while he practically did not conduct any election campaign.

He immediately began to carry out reforms in the country and introduced a new franc. Under de Gaulle, the economy showed rapid growth, the greatest in all post-war years. In 1960, in Pacific waters, the French tested atomic bomb.

In foreign policy he set a course to make Europe independent of the two superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union. He successfully balanced between these two poles, while extracting the most favorable conditions for France.

In 1965, Charles was re-elected to a second presidential term and immediately dealt two blows to US policy:

announced that France was moving to a single gold standard and refusing to use the dollar in international payments;
France left the NATO military organization.

WITH Soviet Union On the contrary, de Gaulle built friendly relations, agreements on scientific and technical cooperation and trade were concluded. In 1966, Charles visited the USSR, and visited not only Moscow, but also Volgograd, Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Kyiv. During this visit, an agreement was concluded on direct communication between the Elysee Palace and the Kremlin.

In the spring of 1969, the French did not support the Senate reform project put forward by de Gaulle, after which the President resigned.

Personal life

From a young age, Charles dreamed of marrying a girl from a good, wealthy family. In 1921, his wish came true; he met Yvonne Vandroux, the daughter of a pastry shop owner from Calais.

De Gaulle liked the girl so much that he invited her to prom to your military school. How could she refuse a hero who fought at the front, survived injury, capture and made so many attempts to escape. Although before this, Yvonne categorically stated that she would never become a military wife. When she returned home after festive event, then told her family that she was not bored with this young man.

A few more days passed, and Yvonne announced to her parents that she would only marry Charles. On April 6, 1921, the newlyweds got married and spent their honeymoon in Italy. Returning from vacation, the couple began to expect their first child. De Gaulle studied at the Higher Military School and really wanted a son to be born. And so it happened, on December 28, 1921, their boy Philip was born.

In May 1924, a girl, Elizabeth, was born. Charles was an insane workaholic, but at the same time he managed to pay attention to his wife and children, he made an excellent father and an exemplary family man. Although even during rest, his favorite pastime was work. Yvonne always treated this with understanding; when they were going on vacation, she packed two suitcases - one with things, the second with her husband’s books.

In 1928, the de Gaulle couple gave birth to their youngest girl, Anna; unfortunately, the baby turned out to have one of the forms of genomic pathology - Down syndrome. The mother's joy gave way to despair and grief, Yvonne was ready for any hardship, if only her little daughter would suffer less. Charles often came home from military exercises, at least for one night, to be with the baby as a nurse, to sing her a lullaby of his own composition, and so that his wife could rest a little during this time. One day he told his spiritual father: “Anna is our pain and trial, but at the same time our joy, strength and mercy of God. Without her, I wouldn't have done what I did. She gave me courage."

Their youngest daughter was destined to live only twenty years, she died in 1948. After this tragedy, Yvonne became the founder of the Foundation for Sick Children, and Charles was a trustee of the Foundation for Children with Down Syndrome.

The de Gaulle family never gave rise to gossip or special attention from journalists. Always together they experienced all life's difficulties - the diagnosis of their youngest daughter and her death, moving to London, Second world war, numerous assassination attempts.

A total of 32 attempts were made on de Gaulle's life, but he died quietly and calmly. On November 9, 1970, on his Colombe estate, Charles was playing his favorite card game of solitaire when his aorta ruptured, and “the last great Frenchman” passed away. He was buried in a modest village cemetery next to his daughter Anna; only family and close comrades were present at the ceremony.