On August 26, 1944 Charles de Gol enters Paris. In front of Parisians, he delivers a speech: “Paris is embarrassed, Paris is broken, Paris is tormented - but Paris is liberated!
But who is Charles de Gaulle?
Charles-Andre-Joseph-Marie de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890. He was born in Lille, in the family of Catholic aristocrats. His father is a professor of philosophy and teaches literature at the local Jesuit school.
The young de Gaulle was greatly influenced by his father. From his early years, he was fascinated by military affairs. He studied at the Saint-Cyr Military School, graduating at the age of 22.
At the Military Academy, because of his dryness and constant manner of “sticking his nose”, the superiors gave de Gaulle an ironic nickname – “the king in exile”. About his arrogance, he himself later wrote: “The true leader keeps the others at a distance. There is no power without power and no power without distance.”
For his character and tall stature, his friends call him “the long asparagus“. In 1913, Second Lieutenant Charles de Gaulle was sent to serve in an infantry regiment. Immediately after the start of the war, he was wounded twice, captured by the Germans, making five unsuccessful attempts to escape, and was released only three years later , after the signing of the armistice in 1918
After that
De Gaulle participated in the Entente intervention in Russia as an instructor of the Polish troops,
He then served in the troops that occupied the Rhine and was among the troops that invaded the Ruhr.
In 1925, Marshal Pétain, the victor of Verdun and an undisputed authority among the French military, drew attention to the young de Gaulle, appointing him as his aide-de-camp. And soon the future general was instructed to report on a set of defensive measures to be taken in case of 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 of the army. Based on the strategic and tactical lessons from the “positional“ World War I, the marshal and his supporters emphasized the creation of lines of fortified defense, the infamous “Maginot Line”, the site "Pogled" recalls.
Irrespective of these attitudes, de Gaulle argued for the need to form mobile tactical units, proving the futility of defensive structures with the modern development of technology and taking into account the fact that the French frontiers ran mainly on open plains. As a result of the conflict that broke out, his relationship with Pétain was disrupted. The very first days of the Second World War, however, confirmed the rightness of Charles de Gaulle.
In June 1940, Paul Reynaud appointed Charles de Gaulle to a high post in the Ministry of Defence.
Charles concentrates fully to continue the fight, but it is too late.
During the Second World War, General Charles de Gaulle gradually began to transform from a military man into a politician. He came to London with like-minded people who rebelled against Pétain and collaboration with the Germans and created the Free French Forces, which met with strong support from the Allies.
The Free French National Council, a government-in-exile headed by de Gaulle, is also established. It includes from conservative Catholics to communists.
Of course, Maurice Torrez's men are loyal to Stalin, until the summer of '41 they are allied with the Germans and tame, enter the Resistance, only after Hitler attacks Russia.
During this period, de Gaulle's speeches were broadcast on the BBC and his appeals met with increasing support in France. However, for the left, a career military and practicing Catholic is not an acceptable political leader. The right does not like him because he is against the national hero Marshal Pétain.
De Gaulle had a hard time establishing himself among the Allies. The story with Senegal proves it. In 1940, Churchill discussed with de Gaulle the possibility of taking control of Senegal from the Vichy regime - the capital Dakar is an important port.
The British take the French units ashore with ships, but no one will fight, the governor of Senegal refuses to join the Free France voluntarily, remains loyal to the Vichy regime, and de Gaulle, instead of attacking, goes home infamous in London.
Such episodes are few and far between, but they do not help the already difficult relationship with the Anglo-Saxons, as he calls the Allies.
In 1943, the Allies drove the Germans out of North Africa and de Gaulle moved to Algeria. There, however, he meets another acting general - Henri Giraud, who joins the Allies. A unified French Committee for National Liberation is being created, BNR recalls.
Roosevelt imposes Giraud as leader, but de Gaulle with a series of political moves shames him and takes power alone.
In Algeria, he became close to Eisenhower, who promised him that as soon as the Allies entered Europe, he would send French units to Paris first. Two days before D-Day, Churchill informed de Gaulle and asked him to call on the French to cooperate with the Allies.
However, Charles de Gaulle is furious and refuses. First, they tell him about the plans again late and the landing will be without his participation. Second, Roosevelt continued to not recognize his government as legitimate and intended to appoint a military governor of France until elections were held. Appealed to reason with Roosevelt, Churchill declared that if London had to choose between France and the United States, it would choose the United States, and de Gaulle never forgot these words.
Third, he is suspicious of the idea of post-liberation France having a currency, because he thinks that this way the Allies will control the French economy. Above all, he worried that the withdrawal of the Germans and the actions of the future military administration would lead to chaos and banditry, and possibly a communist insurrection. So he refuses to speak and an incredible scandal ensues. In it, de Gaulle calls Churchill a “gangster”, and Churchill accuses him of treason and threatens to put him in chains. It didn't go all the way, but de Gaulle's attitude towards the Anglo-Saxons remained complicated even in the post-war period.
Days after the landing in Normandy, General de Gaulle arrived there. He immediately began to take orders on behalf of the provisional government, and after a month he received a kind of official recognition - he was invited to the USA for a meeting with Roosevelt. For the Allies then, the capture of Paris was a secondary task, but for De Gaulle it was a primary objective. An uprising is being prepared there and there are real fears that the communists will take over. Eisenhower allows the French General Leclerc's tank division to enter the city, Paris is liberated, de Gaulle enters it and makes a famous speech:
Paris! Paris is troubled, Paris is broken, Paris is tormented, but Paris is freed! It was freed from itself, it was freed from its inhabitants with the support of the French army, with the support of all of France…..
The situation is such that there is practically no one to oppose the general. In September, he headed a coalition government of national accord. It faces enormous problems. What Charles de Gaulle managed to do was by no means small, but the most important thing was that, despite Stalin's reluctance, France received the status of an allied state and its occupation zone in Germany, and also – that it becomes one of the five founding countries of the United Nations that have the right of veto in the Security Council.