De Gaulle, Charles

A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, First Edition

Gen. Charles de Gaulle was a French statesman who, having escaped to London, symbolized French resistance and led a government-in-exile during Nazi occupation in 1940–44 and was the founder of the Fifth Republic in 1958. He was also the founding father of the French political movement Gaullism.

Born on 22 November 1890 in Lille, de Gaulle graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy and entered the infantry. He fought in the First World War and was taken prisoner in 1916. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1937 and was named Secretary of State for National Defence and War in 1940. On the eve of the Nazi occupation of France, de Gaulle went to London and with the help of Winston Churchill made a speech on 18 June 1940 on BBC radio urging the French to offer resistance. From London he organized the Free French Forces, later the French Committee of National Liberation and Provisional Government of the French Republic.

Following the liberation of France de Gaulle resigned as President of the Provisional Government in 1946, disagreeing with the proposed Constitution of the Fourth Republic, which he thought lacked clear executive leadership. He founded the Rally of the French People movement (Rassemblement du Peuple Français) in 1947.

In the midst of the Algeria crisis in 1958 de Gaulle was called to become Prime Minister, and was given full powers to draft a new constitution. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic was adopted by referendum on 28 September 1958, and de Gaulle became the Republic’s first President. As President, de Gaulle favoured European integration, adopting the Common Agricultural Policy in 1963 and forging close links with the Federal Republic of Germany through the Elysée Treaty in 1963. He blocked the United Kingdom’s application to become a member of the European Economic Community as he considered the country too closely allied to the USA.

De Gaulle served a second term as President after winning 54.8% of the vote on the second ballot against François Mitterrand in 1965. Faced with the challenge of the May 1968 student protests, he dissolved the Assemblée Nationale and called new elections. His party made gains in the elections held in June 1968, winning 358 of 487 seats. De Gaulle resigned as President on 28 May 1969 following a failed referendum on political reform. Charles de Gaulle died on 9 November 1970. He was married to Yvonne Vendroux and had three children.