Today we’re looking at Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle (11/22/1890 – 11/9/1970) was a French general, statesman, and first president of the Fifth RepublicSome notable feats or facts include:>born to an aristocratic, cultured, conservative Catholic monarchist family and of widely mixed European ancestry--he was only about 1/4th French>was steeped in literature, religion, history, philosophy, and rhetoric from an early age, he began writing poetry in his teens and spoke of wanting to avenge France's loss in the Franco-Prussian War>when De Gaulle began college in Paris, he found that his conservative beliefs were out of touch with the city's strongly left wing populace>he decided on a military career despite his intellectual leanings and enrolled in the Saint-Cyr military academy, where he was only a middling student but ultimately managed to graduate 13th in his 1912 class>his regiment was one of the first to the front lines when World War I began, was wounded a couple of times, and gained a reputation for utter fearlessness in combat>he was captured by the Germans in 1916 and held prisoner for 32 months during which time he had to be moved to steadily higher security facilities after repeated escape attempts
>postwar he taught and studied at the Ecole de Guerre and became an advocate of tank warfare>when World War II began, de Gaulle's tank division made a brave if hopeless attempt to stave off the German onslaught in May 1940>France surrendered and he became the leader of the exiled Free French movement>after liberation in 1944, de Gaulle returned and made plans to become the nation's postwar president, especially with there being no serious political opposition at that point>by 1946, conditions in France were relatively stable and he ended up resigning as head of the government and retired to write his memoirs>the eruption of independence wars in the overseas colonies fractured the Fourth Republic>de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, the only figure in the country who commanded respect from everyone except the left, and conceded Algerian independence in 1962>under the new Fifth Republic, France experienced a record economic boom but young people and leftists were discontented with de Gaulle's age (nearly 80) and stuffy, autocratic, conservative, and Catholic beliefs>the eruption of mass student demonstrations in May 1968 finally compelled the 78 year old de Gaulle to step down>he passed away in 1970, only two years after his fallWhat do you think of the man who yelled "Libre Quebec!"?Link to previous thread >>18722274
>>18724197>What do you think of the man who yelled "Libre Quebec!"?old fool and tyrant that the people finally revolted against in 68 and forced to step down
>>18724191His power grab was very cynical and populist. Declaring the armistice and Vichy government as treasonous was no different from the German stab-in-the-back-myth, or Hitler insisting on pointlessly fighting until the very end. Petain's imprisonment(under the guise of "sparing him from a death sentence") was especially disgusting, and the torture of all those poor women was a direct result of sentiments he incited to boost his own political prospects.
>>18724197Pretty based but he would have been more based if he just had the 68ers shot. Vgh, where France would be today if he had...
>>18724191>>18724191the bgc victim
>>18724197>the eruption of mass student demonstrations in May 1968 finally compelled the 78 year old de Gaulle to step downNot exactly what happened. There were elections in France a month after May 68, and the Gaullists won an absolute majority in a landslide. He resigned a year later after he lost a referendum.
>>18724374Shades of Nixon.
He basically designed the Fifth Republic constitution to give himself monarchical powers.
>>18724197France had mostly stabilized by 1948 and food shortages and whatnot ended while bongs still had rationing into the mid-50s.
>>18724191Lot of incorrect/incoherent informations :>During the battle of France, he was appointed in the government, as part of Petain's cabinet. That was because of that post he could pretend legitimacy as Free France's head.>His post as post-war France was provisory from the beginning. It was even named Gouvernement Provisoire. He resigning was normal once a new constitution was proclamed. >After may 68, a won referendum gave him confidence from the french. But he lost another shortly after, unrelated to the civil unrests (it was about the regions at an administrative level)
>>18724219He was a honorable man so the prospect of staying put under german boot until USA rescue them wasn't too apealing for him
De Gaulle created the postwar myth of the French Resistance that covered up the embarrassing reality that 80% of French not only willingly collaborated with the Germans but the few actual Resistance people were communists.
>>18724680that is true the French system has a very powerful executive branch compared to most Western cunts outside the US
>>18724876Due to the Molotov-Ribentrop Pact, the first resistants were monarchist/nationalist.After Barbarossa, the simple fact of having a communist party card made you a resistant somehow so it pumped the number up.
>>18724191De Gaulle was right. About what? About everything.
>While meeting with Khrushchev in June 1960, De Gaulle remarked on the recent Soviet Korabl Sputnik 1 spacecraft flight, telling him "The satellite you launched last month overflew France four times without my permission. How do I know it didn't have cameras in there taking photographs of my country?"[9]
>>18724876granted, but the French left didn't do squat for the first year of occupation. only after Operation Barbarossa when Daddy Stalin told them it was ok to oppose the Nazis did they fight back.
>>18724191>he was captured by the Germans in 1916 and held prisoner for 32 months during which time he had to be moved to steadily higher security facilities after repeated escape attemptsforgot that he remained a prisoner until after the Armistice when he was finally released, he was disappointed at having missed a good deal of the war
