Charles De Gaulle Essay Research Paper Charles

Charles De Gaulle Essay, Research Paper

Charles de Gaulle s Vision of France

At the end of World War II, many European countries were damaged politically, socially, and economically due to the invasion of Germany. Europe was in pieces and many people thought that it would never recover from such a devastating blow. However, during these hard times in search of hope and a better future, European countries pushed onward towards massive recovery and restoration of power. During this period a man by the name of Charles de Gaulle became a leader of the French people. He envisioned France to become recognized as a great power as it once was in the past and he would lead his country into its new future. De Gaulle was seen as a leader of France during World War II, but he disappointedly declined gaining government authority during the 1940 s. Finally in 1958, de Gaulle came back to power with great expectations to establish France s independence and to restore France as a world power, however his dreams fell short to reality.

Charles de Gaulle was born in 1890 and grew up in Lille. His father had a great impact towards his life, which helped develop de Gaulle s great patriotism for his country. Growing up as a child Charles was always smart and was a very good student. Instead of going to a polytechnic college, he went to a French military school because of the passion he had for his country. He fought in the trenches during World War I and made his way through the ranks to General during World War II. During this time, in disgust with his French leaders for not fighting the Germans, de Gaulle refused to surrender and fled to Great Britain. Soon after the fall of France in 1940, leaflets were published, signed by a virtually unknown brigadier general: France has lost a battle, it has not lost the war. De Gaulle had not given up the fight against the Germans and was determined to see France victorious.

In London during 1940 de Gaulle began to take action which gained him popularity and marked the beginning of the Free French Movement. De Gaulle was totally convinced that he had a historical mission to save France, to restore its honor and dignity, to make it again a great nation. The nation of France was in chaos, the people were looking for someone to turn to and de Gaulle was this man. De Gaulle was recognized as leader of the French government in exile and most of the resistance groups in Great Britain supported him. However, the British and the Americans did not take his leadership seriously. During 1943, the Casablanca Conference was held in which the British and Americans claimed unconditional surrender to Germany, however both countries refused to recognize de Gaulle as leader during this conference. De Gaulle saw himself as the leader of France but his allies did not, this lead to tension between them and made communication difficult. De Gaulle was stubborn and refused any help that would be given to France from his allies. He believed that he had whole authority over France and he should decide what it needed.

De Gaulle returned to France in August of 1944 embraced by the French people and looked upon as a hero. His main focus was on the liberation of France but other than this, his plan for the future of France was unclear. The French economy during this time was very bad and the people were not paying much attention to government authority. The war was not entirely over and all of France was not yet liberated but de Gaulle still pushed to restore the authority of the central government. As restoration took place social grievances became the main concern. The French people wanted to concentrate on problems caused by the war such as industry, agriculture, communication and transportation. However, economics was not de Gaulle s main concern, he was more focused on establishing France as a great power. Although he had different interests, De Gaulle was elected head of government in 1946, but due to limitations enforced on his power he resigned. The transition from war to peace was over; the political parties, he said, could now assume full responsibility for affairs of state; de Gaulle was no longer needed. De Gaulle did not like the political system or government that was established in the Fourth Republic. Although he was no longer an active participant in government he still continued to work in politics and had not forgotten his vision of France.

As de Gaulle predicted the Fourth Republic of France was unable to fulfill the needs of the French people. In 1958 by popular demand Charles de Gaulle came back into power. One of the first priorities on de Gaulle s agenda was to establish a constitution for the new Republic. The creation of a new constitution was of great importance to de Gaulle because he wanted more power as president. The constitution stated that the president of the Fifth Republic had the right to choose his own Prime Minister, to dissolve parliament, to call a referendum on specified issues if proposed either by the government or jointly by the two Assemblies; and above all, at times of grave crisis, to assume plenary powers under Article 16. With the influence of de Gaulle the constitution of the Fifth Republic contained key policies that he had been dreaming to obtain for many years. De Gaulle believed that in order for him to make France a great nation again he must obtain these presidential powers.

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