Born on 22 November 1890 in Lille, in the Nord department of northern France, de Gaulle, as a child of an intellectual family, he also lived up to his expectations and was admitted to the military profession he was interested in, eventually graduating from the most famous military school in France, Saint-Cyr.
In 1913, de Gaulle fought in World War I, suffered three injuries, and was finally captured by the Germans in a gambling coma, which began his 32-month german imprisonment. And even as a prisoner of war, he was extremely restless, escaping from prison five times, being captured five times, and being put in a punishment camp every time he came back, but even then he survived strongly and escaped from prison again, which was very powerful.
De Gaulle as a child
He finally returned home after the end of World War I in 1918, but soon returned to war. This time, he was on a military mission in Poland as a volunteer, helping the young Polish army fight the Red Army from 1919 to 1921, with some success, so that Poland was not liberated by Soviet Russia at that time.
In 1931 he served in the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Defence in Paris. His independent ideas gradually appeared, and he proposed that the leaders of the army should have the qualities of "bold action" and "personality", and wrote many military theories that influenced World War II and even later generations. In 1934, de Gaulle's "Building a Professional Army" was published in the French Army, which focused on the use of armored forces to fight quickly, and this style of play was famous in the German Army during World War II.
Charles de Gaulle during World War I
In 1940, de Gaulle co-published "The Birth of the Mechanical Force", which explained the importance of armored forces and aircraft fighting together, but at this time, the French army was also in war, and these theories were lost.
On 3 September 1939, as World War II began, Britain and France declared war on Germany, with de Gaulle commanding the tank units of the Fifth Army. He blocked the German offensive at Abbeville from 27 to 30 May 1940. He was rewarded by the army for his bravery and decisiveness as an "outstanding commander with courage and decisiveness". On 1 June, he was promoted to temporary brigadier general. But this did not help, the Germans had bypassed the Maginot Line, and soon after the French government of Pétain announced its surrender.
In the face of Pétain, who regarded himself as his successor, de Gaulle did not obey his orders to surrender to the Germans, but ran to London, England, to lead the French Resistance. On 28 June 1940 Churchill announced his recognition of charles de Gaulle as leader of the Free France. The armed forces organized by de Gaulle were known as the "Free French Army".
After the establishment of the Free France, de Gaulle did not get the favor of Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt and other giants at that time, but because he had been calling on the French to rebel against Germany through various channels, more and more French and French overseas colonies were willing to obey de Gaulle's command. And it is precisely de Gaulle's resistance, in the Second World War, France seems to have done nothing to become one of the five permanent members of the United Nations after the war, it can be said that there is no Charles de Gaulle, nor does France have the status of France in the world today.
But even such a charles de Gaulle still failed to gain the support of the French people after the war. After the end of World War II, France established the Fourth Republic, and de Gaulle came into direct conflict with parliament in terms of the concept of the state and the role of political parties, so de Gaulle announced his resignation for the first time. During this period, de Gaulle wanted to form a party, but did not receive effective support, and for a time de Gaulle was banned from speaking on radio and television.
France, which loved revolution, in the face of a de Gaulle who liberated France, can be said to be digging walls and feet for him everywhere, not only did he not grasp real power, but also did not relax the restrictions on him. But as time went on, de Gaulle soon had his second chance. On 1 June 1958, Parliament approved de Gaulle's plan for a new government, and France was still in conflict between the Cabinet and parliament, so under de Gaulle's leadership, France established the Fifth Republic.
In 1969, de Gaulle, who had served for 11 years, was rejected by parliament with a 52.4% negative vote, followed by de Gaulle's resignation for the last time. And a small incident after his resignation also highlighted de Gaulle's character. De Gaulle wanted to go through the resignation formalities after his resignation, needed the old bookcase in the Champs Elysées, wanted to buy it because he was used to it, and the administrator was in tears, saying that the whole of France was saved by you, let alone a bookcase? So he wanted to give the bookcase to de Gaulle, but de Gaulle insisted on not accepting it, but bought the bookcase, which can be said to not take advantage of the country at all.
When de Gaulle died, it can also be said that the pattern was very large. De Gaulle's will said: I want a funeral in the Colombe Church. If I die elsewhere, be sure to transport my body back to my hometown without any public sacrifice. My grave must be the place where my daughter Anna was buried, and please bury my wife together in the future, and the tombstone should only read: Charles de Gaulle (1890-?). ）
Elderly charles de Gaulle
Not only that, but de Gaulle demanded that the funeral be carried out with the help of his son, daughter and personal assistants, that no state funerals be held, that no government officials or public bodies should participate, that only the armed forces could formally participate, that no eulogies should be played, that no eulogies should be given, and that no titles, promotions, honors, and medals be refused.
France has always been a country where great people are often born, and After World War II, France can be said to be the only one who can be called a great man.