Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born exactly 125 years ago.
Charles de Gaulle's parents Jeanne Mayo and Henri de Gaulle.
In the family of Jeanne and Henri de Gaulle, he was the third child. The family was quite wealthy, his parents were right-wing Catholics. His father, Henri de Gaulle, was a professor of philosophy and history at the Jesuit College in rue Vaugirard.
Pious Catholics, the parents sent their 11-year-old son to a Jesuit college in Paris. Having entered a class with a mathematical bias, he finished it in 1908 with a dream of a military career.
Determined to become an officer, in 1909 Charles de Gaulle entered the military school of Saint-Cyr, where Napoleon Bonaparte studied at one time.
At the construction, de Gaulle always stood first, which, however, with his almost two-meter height, no one objected. But at the same time, fellow students joked that Charles would be the first, even if he was a dwarf.
Recalling his youth, de Gaulle wrote:
"I was sure that France was destined to go through the crucible of trials. I believed that the meaning of life is to accomplish an outstanding feat in the name of France, and that the day will come when I will have such an opportunity."
de Gaulle at the front
On his return from Poland in 1921, de Gaulle married the 21-year-old daughter of the owner of a pastry shop from Calais, Yvonne Vandroux.
In a happy marriage, a boy and two girls will be born. However, their marriage was definitely not cloudless - the youngest daughter Anna was born with Down syndrome and died only at the age of 20. Despite the girl's illness, de Gaulle treated her very warmly and sincerely loved her.
"Without her, I could not have done what I did. She gave me courage."
De Gaulle, commander of the 19th Jaeger Regiment (in the first row, third from the left) among the officers.
Before the outbreak of World War II, Colonel Charles de Gaulle taught at Saint-Cyr, graduated from a higher military school, served in the Rhine Demilitarized Zone, Beirut and at F. Petain's headquarters.
On May 28, 1940, he was promoted to brigadier general, and he agreed to take the post of deputy minister of defense in the last government of France before the surrender.
On June 18, 1940, after moving to England, which was left alone against Hitler's Germany and its allies, de Gaulle appealed to the French people for resistance:
"France lost the battle. But she didn't lose the war. "
De Gaulle strove to build relations with Britain, the USA and the USSR on the basis of equality and the defense of the national interests of France. However, not everything went smoothly. At first, de Gaulle had normal relations only with Stalin. Churchill did not trust de Gaulle, and Roosevelt even called him a "capricious prima donna."
After the landing of Anglo-American troops in North Africa in June 1943, the French Committee for National Liberation (FKLO) was created in the city of Algeria. Charles de Gaulle was appointed its co-chairman (along with General Henri Giraud), and then the sole chairman. In June 1944, the FKNO 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, carried out socio-economic reforms.
However, in January 1946, Charles de Gaulle resigned as prime minister because he did not agree with the new constitution, which made France a parliamentary republic.
In the 1950s, France was torn apart by crises. In 1954, France suffered a severe defeat in Indochina from national liberation movements. In 1958, the Algerian crisis was in full swing - the military in Algeria, who fought against the rebels, threatened to stage a coup. On May 13, 1958, the coup was practically carried out.
Three days after the events of May 13, then French President Rene Coty, with the approval of parliament, himself proposed de Gaulle to take the post of prime minister.
" Once, in a difficult hour, the country trusted me so that I would lead it to salvation. Today, when the country faces new tests, let it know that I am ready to assume all the powers of the Republic, "de Gaulle said then.
Already in September 1958, a new constitution was adopted, developed under the clear leadership of de Gaulle and corresponding to his ideas about effective public administration in France - this is how the Fifth Republic, which still exists today, was born.
De Gaulle's constitution was "approved" by a referendum - 80% of those who voted for it.
Despite the fact that de Gaulle practically did not conduct an election campaign, on December 21, 1958, 75% of voters elected him as the new president.
De Gaulle's authority was high, he immediately undertook to carry out the reforms necessary for the country. At the end of 1960, the economy showed rapid growth, the fastest in all the post-war years. De Gaulle's course in foreign policy was aimed at Europe's gaining independence from two superpowers: the USSR and the USA. To this end, he successfully balanced between the two "poles", "knocking out" the most favorable conditions for France.
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 announces that his country will henceforth switch to real gold in international settlements. De Gaulle called the de-dollarization of France his "economic Austerlitz".
De Gaulle demanded living gold from the United States in accordance with the Bretton Woods Agreement: $ 35 per ounce (1 ounce = 28.35 grams) to exchange $ 1.5 billion. In case of refusal, de Gaulle's military argument was the threat of France's withdrawal from NATO, the elimination of all 189 NATO bases on French territory and the withdrawal of 35,000 NATO soldiers. The United States surrendered.
One of de Gaulle's projects - on the new territorial and administrative structure of France and the reorganization of the Senate - was put to a referendum on the condition that if it was rejected, the president would resign. The project was rejected by 52% of voters on April 27, 1968.
Despite the fact that it was not necessary, de Gaulle fulfilled his promise - the French for the first time did not support him and on April 28, 1969, ahead of schedule, he voluntarily resigned from his post.
In 1970, General Charles de Gaulle's heart stopped. His ashes are buried in a rural cemetery in Colombey-les-deuces-Eglise, 300 kilometers from Paris.
Charles de Gaulle - President of the French Republic (1959-1969)
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born in Lille on November 22, 1890. He was the third child of Jeanne and Henri de Gaulle. The family was quite wealthy, his parents were right-wing Catholics. The parents raised their five children in the spirit of patriotism, thoroughly acquainting them with the history and culture of France. The events of the revolution at the end of the 18th century. were regarded as a tragic mistake of the French nation, and Henri de Gaulle called the Marseillaise a "godless song"
His father, Henri de Gaulle, was a professor of philosophy and history at the Jesuit College in rue Vaugirard. In 1901 Charles begins his studies at this college. Proud and obstinate, Charles was at the same time a romantic-minded young man who knew how to admire and think deeply about the future of his homeland. Many years later, in his memoirs, he wrote: "I was sure that France was destined to go through the crucible of trials." I believed that the meaning of life is to accomplish an outstanding feat in the name of France, and that the day will come when I will have such an opportunity. "
Charles received a religious education, read a lot, from childhood showed a great interest in literature, even wrote poetry. Having become the winner of the school poetry competition, young de Gaulle chose the latter from two possible prizes - a cash prize or a publication. De Gaulle was fond of history, especially since the de Gaulle family was proud not only of their noble origin and deep roots, but also of the exploits of their ancestors: according to family legend, one of the de Gaulle family, Jegan, participated in the campaign of Jeanne d'Arc. Little de Gaulle listened his father's stories of the glorious past of his family with burning eyes. ”Many, for example, Winston Churchill, subsequently laughed at de Gaulle, saying that he suffered from the" Jeanne d'Arc complex. " But the most revered French saint dreamed of the future general as a child, in a dream he fought side by side with her to save France.
Even in childhood, de Gaulle's character showed obsessive perseverance and the ability to manage people. So, he learned himself and made his brothers and sister learn an encrypted language in which words were read backwards. It must be said that this is much more difficult for French orthography than for Russian, English or German, and, nevertheless, 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 recited speeches of 30-40 pages by heart, without changing a single word in comparison with the text sketched 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 teachings the young man could learn two important points that determined not only his general outlook, but also practical actions in everyday life. The first is what Bergson considered a natural, 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 intuitive action, after accurate calculation, was applied by de Gaulle many times in making the most important decisions that led him to the heights, as, incidentally, overthrew him from them.
The family environment and hobbies shaped de Gaulle's attitude to his homeland, to its history, to his mission. However, the craving for military affairs forced de Gaulle to carry out in practice the fulfillment of that duty to his homeland, which for many generations of de Gaulle's philosophers and teachers remained a pure theorem. In 1909, after graduating from college, Charles entered the military school of Saint-Cyr.
It is widely believed that military service deprives a person of the ability to think independently, teaches him only to follow orders that are not subject to discussion, prepares martyrs. There is hardly a more graphic refutation of such nonsense than the example of Charles de Gaulle. Every day of service was not wasted for him. Without ceasing to read, educate himself, he carefully watched the life of the French army, noting all the shortcomings in its structure. Being a diligent cadet, without violating the charter, he remained a strict judge of what he saw.
In 1913, with the rank of junior lieutenant, de Gaulle entered service in an infantry regiment under the command of the then Colonel Philippe Petain (who was destined to raise de Gaulle to command heights, so that later, in 1945, he would be pardoned by his former protégé and thereby avoid death penalty).
Having brilliantly studied, young de Gaulle went to the front of the First World War. Three times wounded after a hand-to-hand fight near Verdun, he is captured by a German prisoner, from which he tries to escape 5 times. Only at the end of the war did he return to France, where he continued to improve at a higher military school in Paris. At the same time, he wrote several books, seeing the possibility of widespread use of tanks and aircraft in hostilities. In the 20s. de Gaulle makes reports, publishes articles and books, in which, in particular, analyzes the results of the First World War, sets out his military doctrine, draws the image of a strong personality, a leader (under the influence of the ideas of the philosopher Nietzsche)
After the war, de Gaulle took part in the intervention in Soviet Russia as an officer-instructor in the Polish troops. After that, he served in the occupation forces in the Rhineland and participated in the operation to invade the French troops in the Ruhr, in an adventure that he warned his superiors against and which ended in a deafening failure - under pressure from Germany and the allies, France was forced to retreat, and its share in reparations payout has been reduced. At this time, he wrote several books, among which it is worth highlighting "Discord in the Camp of the Enemy", a commentary on the actions of the German army and government during the First World War, begun in captivity. The actions of the German headquarters in this work were sharply criticized. De Gaulle did not dwell on the objective reasons for the defeat of Germany, but gave an analysis, from which it followed that the internal and military policy of the German government and the General Staff led, almost in the first place, to the defeat. It must be said that at that time in France, paradoxically, the organization of the Wehrmacht's military machine was considered a model. De Gaulle, however, pointed to the significant miscalculations of the Germans.
The book was subsequently appreciated for its many fresh ideas. For example, de Gaulle argued that even in times of war, the military administration of a state must obey the civil one. Now this statement, which directly follows from the thesis that wars are won in the rear, seems obvious enough. In the 1920s, it was sedition in France. It was not useful for a career soldier to make 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, its former commander, the victor at Verdun, Marshal Pétain, was an indisputable authority in the army. In 1925, Pétain turned his attention to the fact that de Gaulle had not taken a worthy place in the headquarters, and appointed him his adjutant, instructing him to soon prepare a report on the system of defensive measures in France.
Meanwhile, Hitler comes to power in Germany and the Second World War becomes inevitable. De Gaulle foresees the impending danger, but, alas, not everyone heeds his warnings.
Being engaged in military pedagogical activities, he came out with a number of theoretical works on strategy and tactics, proposed a new model of interaction between various types of troops. In 1937 de Gaulle became a colonel. Two years later, having unleashed World War II, Germany also struck at France; in 1940, having broken the resistance, the Germans forced the French army to retreat. De Gaulle was promoted to the rank of general and became the commander of a tank division. The newly minted brigadier general, who commanded the division, insists on continuing the war, although the government is leaning towards ending it.
The French say: "De Gaulle will remain in French history as a sacred person, since he was the first to take out the sword." However, the situation in which de Gaulle found himself was not easy. According to the historian Grosse, "Free France" fought on three fronts: against German and Japanese enemies, against Vichy, whose spirit of surrender she exposed, and against the Anglo - Americans. Sometimes it was not clear who the main enemy was. "
Churchill hoped, having sheltered the fugitive general, to get his hands on a man with the help of whom he could influence the policy of internal resistance, the free colonies, but this was a cruel delusion. With astonishing 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 himself, he gathered people who were practically not familiar to him before. At the same time, 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 surrenders and reconciles with such an outcome. For in this case, no matter how the war ends , regardless of whether a defeated nation was freed from invaders by foreign armies or remained enslaved, the contempt that it would instill in other nations would permanently poison its soul and the lives of many generations of French. " He was convinced: "Before philosophizing, you need to win the right to life, that is, to win."
After leaving for England (for negotiations with Churchll, to gain support), he learns about the armistice of the French government with Hitler.
An aura of mystery has surrounded de Gaulle since his voice first sounded on British radio in 1940 in Nazi-occupied France (De Gaulle was calling on the radio to fight against fascism), and for many French de Gaulle for several years so and remained just a voice - the voice of freedom, making five-minute speeches twice a day, remained the name of hope that the 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 at all such a mysterious person. Ambiguous - yes. But all the "secrets" of the general are hidden in his biography. After all, first of all, the figure of the great general was the product of extraordinary circumstances in which the whole of France found itself. And one of her soldiers in particular.
De Gaulle himself remains in England (his family is also moving there). The organization "Free French" (later renamed "Fighting France") was formed, the motto of which was the words "Honor and Homeland". De Gaulle is doing an enormous amount of work to develop the Resistance movement, negotiations to unite various groups. The indefatigable general, together with Giraud, the "civil and military commander-in-chief", establishes the French Committee for National Liberation (FKLO), forms the Provisional Government of France. The committee and the government were recognized by the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition: Britain, the USSR and the USA.
From 1940 to 1942, the number of soldiers alone who fought under the banner of "Free (later - Fighting) France" increased from 7 to 70 thousand. The Americans had already stamped the occupation currency and hoped to transfer power to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces 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 landing in Normandy on June 7, 1944, de Gaulle achieved international recognition of his subordinate Committee for National Liberation as the interim government of France. Moreover, thanks to the efforts of this man, France, formally under the leadership of the Vichy government, was an alliance by 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 place in the UN Security Council. Without exaggeration, such successes can be called phenomenal, given that at the beginning of this struggle he was just a deserter of the French army warmed up by Britain, who was sentenced to death by a military tribunal in his homeland for treason.
To what was Brigadier General de Gaulle indebted for such successes? First, the idea of creating a "Free French" and daily broadcasting in the occupied territory. Free French emissaries traveled to all the free French colonies and countries of the current Third World, trying to get de Gaulle to be recognized as a representative of the Free French. And, I must say, the methodical work of de Gaulle's secret agents finally yielded results. Secondly, de Gaulle immediately established close contact with the Resistance, supplying it with the little means that he had. Third, 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 were in agreement, but if disagreements arose, they began to argue. At the same time, de Gaulle accused Churchill that he drank too much and whiskey hit him in the head. Churchill responded by saying that de Gaulle imagined himself as Joan of Arc. Once this almost ended with de Gaulle's deportation from the island. literally their rejection.
Like all great statesmen, Charles de Gaulle remained in the memory of people in a very contradictory way. Sometimes it seems that talking about him, they are talking about completely different people. Regardless of subjective opinions, he is the founding father of the modern French state, proudly calling itself the Fifth Republic. For 42 years after his death, the political husk flew off the image of this man, and it became clear that this military general saw the future better than most of his contemporaries.
Biography
He was born in the century before last, in 1890 in Lille, from childhood he dreamed of accomplishments to the glory of France, so, quite logically, he chose a military career. He graduated from the military school in Saint-Cyr. Baptism of fire took place on the fronts of the First World War, was seriously wounded, was enlisted in the dead, was taken prisoner. I tried to run regularly. He was imprisoned in a fortress, where he met the Russian lieutenant Mikhail Tukhachevsky. He, in the end, fled, but de Gaulle did not succeed. It was not only after the defeat of Germany that he was released, but did not go home, but remained in Poland as an instructor. There he had to take part in repelling the blow of the Red Army, which was led by his acquaintance Tukhachevsky.
The behavior of Marshal Pétain, who surrendered France to the Germans, was regarded by de Gaulle as a betrayal. From that moment on, a new life began for General Charles de Gaulle - the leader of the struggle for the liberation of the Motherland from the invaders. The enormous moral authority acquired in this role became the reason that at the end of the war France was among the victors of Nazism. The struggle was not only military, but also political, so a public figure was forged, rallying (often against their will) in order to bring France to the first row of world powers.
Although he was the head of the Provisional Government of France since 1944, after the adoption of the constitution of the Fourth Republic in 1946, he left because of disagreements with left-wing politicians. To him, a staunch supporter of a strong centralized power, it seemed disastrous to hand over power in the country to a collective body - the National Assembly. Time has shown that he was right. When the Algerian crisis hit in 1958, Charles de Gaulle returned to politics, his party wins elections, holds a referendum on a new constitution, and he becomes its first full-fledged president. 
And first of all, de Gaulle ends the war in Algeria. This deed of his earned him the gratitude of many Frenchmen, but also the hatred of those who were forced to leave this colony, and after it, many others. 15 assassination attempts were organized against de Gaulle, but he happily escaped death. His indisputable merit was the technical breakthrough made by France in the post-war years. The French mastered nuclear technology and equipped their army with atomic weapons, and their power grids with nuclear power plants.
Charles' opinion on American monetary expansion then surprised many. Back in 1965, during an official visit to America, he brought Lyndon Johnson a whole ship, loaded to the brim with dollars, and demanded their exchange at the official rate of $ 35 per ounce of gold. Johnson tried to scare the old soldier with trouble, but attacked the wrong one. De Gaulle threatened to leave the NATO bloc, which he soon did, despite the fact that the exchange was made. After this episode, America completely abandoned the gold standard, and we are all reaping the fruits of this today. The wise French president saw this danger long ago.
By his name ...
France appreciated its general shortly after his death. Today, in the eyes of the French, de Gaulle is almost equal to Napoleon I. His name is given to the flagship of the French navy, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier built outside the United States and without their help, the largest ship launched in France in 1994. Today it is the most efficient ship in Europe.
Many thousands of visitors to France have set foot on its soil at the airport. Its ultra-modern design, combined with fantastic technical facilities, makes this airport a true masterpiece of architecture and technology.
One of the central squares of Paris - d'Etoile, Place de l'Etoile, now bears the name of de Gaulle. Only knowing the desire of the French in every possible way to preserve any details of history, one can understand how much this means in their eyes. There is a monument to the general on the square (by the way, the French most often refer to him as "General de Gaulle"). Another square named after him is located in Moscow, in front of the Cosmos Hotel.
You can still talk a lot about this extraordinary person. But especially touching is the fact that he bequeathed to bury himself next to his early death daughter, disabled from birth. It turns out that he was also capable of deep and tender love, this soldier and politician who was not afraid of anyone or anything ...
Life, a true patriot, the Frenchman Charles de Gaulle.
Charles de Gaulle himself explained his feelings as follows: love for France was instilled in him and his sister by their father and mother, and from childhood, the children did not even imagine how it could be otherwise.
Biography of Charles de Gaulle
De Gaulle was born in the fall of 1890 in the city of Lille, in the house of his grandmother. He spent his childhood in Paris, together with his parents and sister.
Charles de Gaulle received a military profession, 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 of a successful politician began. He met several times in London with Winston Churchill, discussing with him the possibility of French resistance. Churchill called General de Gaulle an honor of France.
With his successful example and performances, he raised the spirit of the French and encouraged them to continue to resist the Nazis, despite the official policy of France.
He becomes the organizer of the Free France movement, to 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 intervention of the United States and Britain in French politics.
At that time, the goal of Anglo-American policy was to exclude France from the leading countries of Europe, to completely subordinate it to its influence.
And how could de Gaulle, brought up on the principles of nationalism, have allowed this. Therefore, he had to, being a military man, also become a politician and defend the freedoms of the French people.
It is impossible to overestimate the contribution that Charles de Gaulle made to the history of France, his successes in the political arena.
He was with her in the most difficult years of the country, organized resistance during the Second World War, 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 in use 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 independence to the country and, no less important, its prestige in the world community!
By the way, it was during de Gaulle's time in France that the question of creating its own nuclear weapons was being considered.
The first tests of nuclear weapons were carried out in 1960 in the Sahara Desert. The tests were terminated by President Mitterrand.
During de Gaulle's time, France leaves NATO. De Gaulle, already at that time, understood that the dollar was just a paper with a very small prime cost, and already then tried to convert dollars into gold and thus reduce the influence of the United States on France. Partially he succeeded at that time.
He collected paper US dollars in France, took them by plane to Washington and exchanged them for gold, which discouraged American senior management and eventually forced them to abandon the dollar's link to gold.
November 22 unites the presidents of France and the United States. Charles de Gaulle's birthday, John F. Kennedy's 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 that he openly supports Germany.
However, pursuing an active successful foreign policy, the situation inside the country was difficult: huge unemployment, the population's standard of living is low.
All this led to dissatisfaction among the French with de Gaulle's harsh policies. And in 1969 he leaves his post. And already in 1970, General de Gaulle dies.
In honor of the world famous de Gaulle, the main French airport is named - Paris - Charles de Gaulle Airport or as it is also called Roissy - Charles de Gaulle and the pride of France - the first nuclear aircraft carrier and the only operating, at the moment, aircraft carrier of the French Navy " Charles de Gaulle ".
And also a rose from the family of hybrid tea roses, a rose of lilac varieties "Charles de Gaulle" is named in his honor.
Another little-known fact about General de Gaulle's life is that he was the trustee of a medical foundation in France that helped families with children with Down syndrome.
Here is such an interesting, diversified person, a world-famous politician, public figure, 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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“Historical fatalism exists for cowards. Courage and good luck changed the course of events more than once. This teaches us. There are times when the will of a few people crushes all obstacles and opens up new roads. "
Charles de Gaulle
General Charles de Gaulle, who saved France, united the French people, liberated Algeria and other colonies of the empire, still remains one of the most mysterious and controversial figures in the modern history of Europe. His methods have been repeatedly used by many politicians, and his attitude to duty, to life, to himself, aspirations and beliefs have become an example for entire generations.
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890 in the town of Lille, in the house of his grandmother, although his family lived in Paris. Father's name was Henri de Gaulle, and all his life he worked as a teacher of philosophy and history. De Gaully were rightfully proud of their deep roots, many of their ancestors were famous teachers and philosophers. And one of the family members took part in the uprising of Jeanne d'Arc. Following the wishes of his parents, de Gaulle received an excellent education. Young Charles read a lot, tried to write poetry, was fond of history, especially since his father constantly told him about the glorious past. In his youth, de Gaulle showed remarkable perseverance and talent in managing people. He systematically trained his memory, which would allow him later to amaze others, memorizing speeches of thirty to forty pages. De Gaulle was also amused in a specific way. For example, he learned to pronounce words backwards. it is much more difficult for French orthography than for English or Russian, but Charles could speak in such long phrases without problems. At school he was interested in only four subjects: philosophy, literature, history and military affairs. It was the craving for the art of war that made Charles go to Saint -Sira, where the Military Academy was located.
In Saint-Cyr, a friend said to de Gaulle: "Charles, it seems to me that a great destiny is predetermined for you." Without a shadow of a smile, de Gaulle answered him: "Yes, I think so too." At the Military Academy, for his dryness and constant manner of "turning up his nose", the authorities gave de Gaulle an ironic nickname - "the king in exile." Later he would write about his arrogance: “The real leader keeps the others at a distance. There is no power without authority, and there is no authority without distance. "
There is an opinion that military service takes away from a person the ability to think independently, makes him mindlessly follow orders, turns him into a stupid soldier. One can hardly find a more graphic refutation of this delusion than the life of Charles de Gaulle. Every day was not wasted for him. He never stopped reading, closely followed the structure of the French army and noted its shortcomings. In his studies, de Gaulle was diligent and responsible, but among his fellow students he behaved arrogantly. Comrades nicknamed him "long asparagus" for his character and tall stature. In 1913, junior lieutenant Charles de Gaulle was sent to serve in an infantry regiment. As soon as the war began, he was wounded twice, was taken prisoner by Germany, in which he made five unsuccessful attempts to escape and was released only three years after the conclusion of an armistice. After that, de Gaulle took part in the intervention in Russia as an instructor of the Polish troops, then served in the troops occupying the Rhine, and was among the soldiers who invaded the Ruhr. He warned the authorities about the stupidity of this operation, which eventually ended in a deafening fiasco, which led to a decrease in France's share in reparation payments. At the same time, Charles wrote a number of books, including "Strife in the Camp of the Enemy", begun in captivity and representing a sharp criticism of the actions of the German government and army during the First World War. It should be noted here that in France at that time the organization of the German military machine was considered an ideal. Charles, on the other hand, clearly pointed out the essential mistakes of the Germans. In general, de Gaulle's views on tactics and strategy, on the structure of the army as a whole, were very different from the convictions of the bulk of the French headquarters.
In 1921, Charles de Gaulle married Yvonne Vandroux, the twenty-year-old daughter of a prominent businessman who owned a number of confectionery factories. The girl was distinguished by her modesty, beauty and excellent upbringing. Until the moment the young people met, Yvonne was firmly convinced that she would never become the wife of a military man. They got married six months later, they had three children: son Philip and daughters Elizabeth and Anna.
In 1925, Marshal Petain, the winner of Verdun and an indisputable authority among the French military, drew attention to the young de Gaulle, appointing him as his adjutant. And soon the future general was instructed to make a report on the complex of defensive measures taken in case of a future war. De Gaulle, of course, prepared this work, but for Pétain it came as a complete surprise, since it fundamentally contradicted the views existing at the headquarters. Drawing on the strategic and tactical lessons of the "positional" First World War, the Marshal and his supporters focused on the fortified defensive line, the infamous Maginot Line. However, de Gaulle argued about the need to form mobile tactical units, proving the worthlessness of defensive structures with the modern development of technology and taking into account the fact that the French borders run mainly over open plains. As a result of the outbreak of conflict, his relationship with Pétain was ruined. However, the very first days of the Second World War confirmed the correctness of Charles de Gaulle.
Charles liked to repeat: "Before philosophizing, it is necessary to win the right to life."
Being in disgrace, de Gaulle managed to successfully implement his undertakings. He was also almost the only career military man who allowed himself open conversations in print. Of course, this was not welcomed by the authorities, but it noticeably added to his popularity in the country. Historians know that when faced with difficulties, de Gaulle often turned to politicians, repeatedly compromising his principles in order to achieve a goal. He was seen among representatives of the ultra-right forces, and, despite all his upbringing and habits, among the socialists. Already in this period of time, one could find two main traits of de Gaulle's character - a tendency to win in the main thing through small tactical defeats and a craving for innovation. Also, the most important component of Charles' methodology was the breadth of his strategic intention. For this man, there was only one scale - the scale of his country.
Not all of de Gaulle's innovations were in vain, but their overall effect was negligible. The reorganization carried out had practically no effect on the state of the army. And de Gaulle, who had risen to the rank of colonel by that time, as if in mockery was appointed to command the only tank regiment, the creation of which he so defended. The unit was incomplete, and the existing tanks were very outdated. Nevertheless, after Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, and Great Britain and France declared war on it, de Gaulle, at the cost of incredible efforts, managed to stop the Nazi advance from the north and even push back some parts of it. Charles was immediately promoted to brigadier general, a rank he preferred to retain for the rest of his life. Despite the successes of his hastily organized 4th Panzer Division, this did not have any significant effect on the general course of hostilities, and in a matter of days most of French land was occupied.
The French say: “Charles de Gaulle will forever remain in our history as a sacred person. He was the first to take out the sword. "
In June 1940, Paul Reynaud appointed de Gaulle to a high position in the Ministry of Defense. Charles concentrated all his energies on continuing the struggle, but it was too late. Reynaud's government resigned, and Marshal Pétain signed the French surrender. De Gaulle reached London, where in a matter of days he created the Free France organization and demanded from the British authorities to provide him with radio air, broadcasting to the lands occupied by the Nazis, as well as to the territory of the Vichy regime. For many years, for thousands of his compatriots, participants in the Resistance movement, his voice, the voice of freedom, which was first heard on June 18, 1940 and delivered five-minute speeches twice a day, remained the only hope for future victory. He began his first message in the manner of the French kings: "We, General de Gaulle, appeal to France."
Here is how de Gaulle's biographers described in the 1940s: “Very tall, thin, strong build. A long nose over a small mustache, a running chin, a domineering look. He is constantly wearing a khaki uniform. The headdress is adorned with two stars of the brigadier general. The step is always wide, the arms are usually at the seams. Speech is slow but harsh, sometimes sarcastic. An amazing memory. "
The Free French envoys visited all the free French colonies and countries of the modern Third World, seeking recognition of Charles de Gaulle as the leader of the Free French. The closest contact was also established with the Resistance, the general supplied him with all the little means that he had. In relation to the leaders of the Allies, de Gaulle from the very beginning set himself up as an equal. With his obstinacy, he constantly pissed off Churchill and Roosevelt. Having sheltered the general, the British prime minister first of all hoped to manipulate internal resistance and free colonies, but he was cruelly mistaken. When their gazes converged, everything went well, but as soon as disagreements arose, a furious argument ensued. It is known that de Gaulle often reproached Churchill with an irrepressible passion for alcohol, and the Prime Minister shouted to him in response that the general imagined himself to be the new Joan of Arc. Once their conflict almost ended in de Gaulle's deportation. In letters to Roosevelt, Churchill called the arrogant Frenchman “a contentious person who imagines himself the liberator of France”, complaining that “unbearable impudence and rudeness in his behavior is complemented by active Anglophobia.” Roosevelt also did not remain in debt, calling de Gaulle a “capricious bride” and inviting Churchill to send Charles “governor to Madagascar” "However, Roosevelt's clever combinations, rebuilding Churchill against the general, stumbled upon the firm position of the British Cabinet, which announced to its prime minister:" At the risk of allowing from any point of view completely unjustified interference in the purely internal affairs of the French, we may be accused of trying to turn this country into an Anglo -American protectorate ".
Once, in a conversation with the American President, de Gaulle said: "Churchill believes that I identify myself with Jeanne d'Arc. He is mistaken. I take myself only for General Charles de Gaulle."
Despite all the difficulties, Charles de Gaulle practically from scratch with staggering speed created a centralized organization, completely independent of the allied forces and in general from anyone else, with its own information headquarters and armed forces. Each of the people practically unknown to him earlier, whom the general gathered around him, signed the Act of Accession, which meant not only entry into the "Free (later Fighting) France", but also unconditional submission to de Gaulle. From 1940 to 1942, the number of soldiers alone who fought under the banners of the Free French increased from seven to seventy thousand. As a result of military and political struggle, by the beginning of D-Day, June 7, 1944, Charles achieved that the National Liberation Committee subordinate to him was recognized by all allied countries as the provisional government of France. Further more. Thanks to the efforts of only one person, France, which in fact entered into an alliance with the Nazis, received the right as a victorious country to its own occupation zone in Germany, and a little later a place in the UN Security Council. Such successes can be called fantastic without exaggeration, especially considering that at the very beginning of the struggle, de Gaulle was actually a deserter warmed by England, who was sentenced to death by the military tribunal of the French army for treason.
Andrei Gromyko, a former foreign minister of the Soviet Union, recalled: “De Gaulle never really answered a sensitive question. In such cases, he usually used the phrase "everything can be." ... De Gaulle was an excellent speaker. When speaking at official receptions, he spoke fluently and almost never used written text. And it really made an impression. People close to him said that he can easily memorize long speeches written the day before ... ".
De Gaulle loved to play on the enmity of his allies. Both the seat on the Security Council and the occupation zone went to France only thanks to the fact that the general was supported by Stalin. De Gaulle was able to convince him that France would help in establishing the balance of power in the UN, inclined towards the Soviets. After the end of the war, de Gaulle's interim government came to power in France. His main slogan in domestic policy was: "Order, law and justice", and in foreign policy: "The greatness of France." The main tasks of Charles were not only the resurrection of the country's economy, but also its political restructuring. Today we can firmly say that the general successfully coped with the first - the nationalization of the largest enterprises was carried out, social reforms were carried out with the simultaneous purposeful development of the most important industries. It turned out much worse with the second. Following his convictions, de Gaulle did not openly support any of the existing parties, including the Gaullists, who were active supporters of the general. When the provisional parliament proposed a constitution for the Fourth Republic with a unicameral parliament that appointed a government and a president with limited powers, De Gaulle, who waited until the last moment, presented the world with his own version, distinguished by the functions of a president endowed with strong executive power. Despite the high prestige among the people, his earlier position over the political struggle ("supra-class arbitration" in his own words) played a cruel joke with Charles. In the battle for a new constitution, he was defeated, the version proposed by parliament was adopted in a referendum, and in the elections to the National Assembly, representatives of the Gaullists received only three percent of the vote. In January 1946, Charles de Gaulle voluntarily resigned.
Famous phrases belong to the French general: "I respect only my opponents, but I am not going to tolerate them", "Politics is too serious a matter to entrust politicians with it."
His leave from the political life of the country lasted twelve years. During this time, the general led social activities and simply enjoyed life with his wife in a family house located in the town of Colombey-le-Deuze-Eglise, two hundred and fifty kilometers from Paris. Charles communicated with journalists from different countries, wrote memoirs, traveled a lot. He liked to play solitaire games (“solitaire” in French means patience). The country was torn apart by crises at that time. In 1954, France suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the national liberation movements in Indochina. Unrest arose in Algeria and a number of other North African countries that are French colonies. The franc's exchange rate fell and the population suffered from inflation. Strikes took place across the country, governments replaced each other. De Gaulle preferred to remain silent, without commenting on the situation. In 1957, the situation worsened even more: the right and left-wing extremist movements intensified in society, the government was in an acute crisis, and the military, waging a war with the rebels in Algeria, threatened a coup.
After a similar coup almost happened on May 13, 1958, on May 16, the French president, with the approval of parliament, asked de Gaulle to take the post of prime minister. And in December 1958, de Gaulle was elected president with an unusually wide range of powers for France. The general could declare an emergency and dissolve parliament, call new elections, personally oversee all issues related to foreign policy, defense and the most important internal ministries.
Despite the seeming ease and speed with which the general was at the helm of power for the second time, historians have unearthed facts testifying to the hard work of Charles himself and his followers. In recent years, he has constantly negotiated through intermediaries with parliamentarians and leaders of far-right parties. This time de Gaulle relied on the psychology of the crowd's admiration for the mystery, secrecy, brevity and emotional charm of the leader. “I am a man who does not belong to anyone and belongs to everyone,” de Gaulle said on the steps of parliament, while rallies of “Gaullists” were held in Paris, calling on the government to resign. De Gaulle's new constitution was approved by almost eighty percent of the vote and for the first time in French history introduced a presidential form of government, limiting parliament's legislative rights. Charles' authority skyrocketed, and the retracted "parliament" could not prevent him from communicating directly with the people through independently appointed referendums.
The text of the Russian constitution, approved in 1993, coincides in many respects with the constitution of Charles de Gaulle, which, according to a number of experts, domestic reformers used as a model.
Trying to solve problems of an economic, external and internal political nature, his goal was still one - to turn France into a great power. De Gaulle led the denomination by issuing a new franc in denominations of one hundred old. At the end of 1960, the economy showed the fastest growth rates in all the post-war years. Realizing the futility of a military solution to the Algerian issue, de Gaulle for four years prepared the country for the inevitability of granting independence to Algeria and sought a compromise that would allow France to maintain access to oil and other natural resources in the Sahara. The Algerian operation ended in March 1962 with the recognition of this country's right to self-determination and the signing in Evian of ceasefire treaties, the transfer of sovereignty and further relations between states.
And here is another curious aphorism from Charles de Gaulle: “In politics, sometimes you have to betray either your country or your voters. I choose the latter. "
In foreign policy, Charles advocated for Europe to gain independence and independence from the United States and the Soviet Union. Offended during the war years by Churchill's reasoning about the status of France, he refused to recognize the British as full Europeans. When the Common Market was created in Europe, the general managed to block the entry of Great Britain into it. Deciding on the election of the President of France by direct and universal suffrage, de Gaulle had to dissolve parliament. On December 19, 1965, the general was re-elected for a new seven-year term, and soon he announced that the country was turning to real gold in international settlements. He said: “... I consider it necessary to establish an international exchange on an indisputable basis, not bearing the stamp of any particular country .... It is difficult to imagine any other standard other than gold. Gold never changes nature: it can be in bars, ingots, coins; has no nationality; it has long been accepted by the whole world as an invariable value ”. Soon Charles, in accordance with the Bretton Woods Agreement, demanded that the United States exchange $ 1.5 billion for living gold at thirty-five dollars an ounce. In case of refusal, de Gaulle threatened to withdraw the country from NATO, eliminating all (about two hundred) NATO bases on its territory and removing thirty-five thousand NATO soldiers from France. Even in economics, the general worked by military means. The United States surrendered. Nevertheless, France nevertheless left NATO after Eisenhower rejected de Gaulle's proposal to organize a trilateral directorate in the military-political bloc, which would include the United States, Britain and France. After the separation of France from the North Atlantic Alliance was completed by the fall of 1967, de Gaulle proposed the concept of "national defense in all azimuths", allowing to repel an attack from any direction. Shortly thereafter, France successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific.
De Gaulle can be accused of being tough, but he was never violent. Even after a whole detachment of militants shot from machine guns the car in which his wife was sitting with the general in August 1962, de Gaulle commuted five of the six death sentences handed down by the court to life imprisonment. Only the leader of the gang, the thirty-six-year-old colonel of the air force of Bastien-Thierry, was refused a pardon, and that was only because he, an officer of the French army, holder of the Legion of Honor Cross, in de Gaulle's opinion, did not know how to shoot accurately. In total, historians know about thirty-one attempts on his life. Near the general, grenades and bombs exploded, bullets flew, but, fortunately, everything went by. And the proud and arrogant president did not allow himself to be intimidated by such "trifles". One incident in which, during de Gaulle's visit to Central France, the police caught a sniper awaiting his speech to the population, served as the basis for the plot of Forsythe's novel The Day of the Jackal.
However, in calm years, all of de Gaulle's abilities and talents were not revealed in all their glory, the general always needed a crisis in order to show the world what he was really capable of. Charles's "dirigism" in the life of the country ultimately led to the crisis of 1967, and an aggressive foreign policy, which consisted in the fact that he publicly condemned the dangerous militaristic actions of NATO countries, fiercely criticized the Washington administration (especially for the Vietnam conflict) , sympathized with the Quebec separatists and Arabs in the Middle East, undermined de Gaulle's status in the domestic political arena. In May 1968, Parisian streets were blocked by barricades, the population went on strike, and posters “Time to leave, Charles!” Hung everywhere on the walls. For the first time, de Gaulle was at a loss. After the parliament rejected the general's next legislative proposals, he resigned his post for the second time on April 28, 1969. “The French seem to be tired of me,” Charles joked sadly.
At the age of sixty-three, de Gaulle quit smoking. The general's secretary, determined to follow suit, asked how he had succeeded. De Gaulle replied: “Tell your boss, your wife and your friends that from tomorrow you will not smoke. This will be enough".
After retiring, Charles de Gaulle returned to his humble home in Colombey de lès Eglise. He did not ask for any pension, protection or benefits for himself. De Gaulle died at home on November 9, 1970. According to his will, he was buried in a small local cemetery without public ceremony. However, over eight hundred thousand people took part in the funeral events on the day of the funeral in Paris. Representatives of eighty-five countries of the world came to express their condolences.
In fact, one can endlessly talk about de Gaulle's merits, exactly as about his mistakes. A gifted military theorist, he did not participate in any historically important battle, but he was able to lead France to victory where it seemed to be inevitable defeat. Not familiar with the economy, he twice successfully led the country and twice brought it out of the crisis, primarily due to his ability to organize the work of the structures entrusted to him, be it a rebel committee or the government of an entire state. For his compatriots, Charles de Gaulle is the greatest hero on a par with Jeanne d'Arc. He managed to write more than a dozen books, both memoirs and theoretical works on military affairs, some of which are still considered bestsellers. resignation, respected and feared by the allies, believing that he represents the new dictator of the Hitler type.General Charles de Gaulle left to descendants one of the most stable European political systems, called the Fifth Republic, according to the constitution of which the country lives today.
Sources of information:
http://x-files.org.ua/articles.php?article_id=2765
http://www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_g/goll_sharl.php
http://www.peoples.ru/state/king/france/gaulle/
http://www.c-cafe.ru/days/bio/29/gaulle.php
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