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Charles De Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F010324-0002, Flughafen Köln-Bonn, Adenauer, de Gaulle-cropped.jpg
18th President of France
In office
8 January 1959 – 28 April 1969
Prime Minister Michel Debré
Georges Pompidou
Maurice Couve de Murville
Preceded by René Coty
Succeeded by Alain Poher (Acting)
98th Prime Minister of France
In office
1 June 1958 – 8 January 1959
President René Coty
Preceded by Pierre Pflimlin
Succeeded by Michel Debré
Chairman of the Provisional Government of France
In office
20 August 1944 – 20 January 1946
Preceded by Philippe Pétain (Chief of the French State)
Succeeded by Félix Gouin
Leader of the Free French
In office
18 June 1940 – 3 July 1944
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Position abolished
Minister of Defence
In office
1 June 1958 – 8 January 1959
Preceded by Pierre de Chevigné
Succeeded by Pierre Guillaumat
Minister of Algerian Affairs
In office
12 June 1958 – 9 January 1959
Preceded by André Mutter
Succeeded by Louis Joxe
Personal details
Born Charles André Joseph Pierre Marie de Gaulle
(1890-11-22)22 November 1890
Lille, France
Died 9 November 1970(1970-11-09) (aged 79)
Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, France
Resting place Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises Churchyard
Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, France
Spouse(s) Yvonne Vendroux (1921–1970)
Children Philippe
Élisabeth
Anne
Alma mater École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  French Third Republic
 Free France
Service/branch French Army
French Armed Forces
Free French Forces
Years of service 1912–1944
Rank Brigade general
Unit Infantry
Armoured cavalry
Commands Free French Forces
Battles/wars World War I
 • Battle of Verdun
 • Battle of the Somme
World War II
 • Battle of France
 • Battle of Montcornet
 • Battle of Dakar
 • Liberation of Paris
Awards See list

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (French: [ʃaʁl də ɡol]; 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France (1940–44) and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–46). In 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era and his memory continues to influence French politics.

Born in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was a decorated officer of the First World War, wounded several times, and later taken prisoner at Verdun. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division which counterattacked the invaders; he was then appointed Under-Secretary for War. Refusing to accept his government's armistice with Nazi Germany, de Gaulle exhorted the French population to resist occupation and to continue the fight in his Appeal of 18 June. He led a government in exile and the Free French Forces against the Axis. Despite frosty relations with Britain and especially the United States, he emerged as the undisputed leader of the French resistance. He became Head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, the interim government of France following its Liberation. As early as 1944, de Gaulle introduced a dirigist economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy which contributed to thirty years of unprecedented growth.


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