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CHARLES DE GAULLE
1890 - 1970
 Pronounce
DE GAULLE
The man's full name was Charles Charles André Joseph Marie de
Gaulle. He was a French soldier and politician.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES DE GAULLE
Charles attended the Military Academy of Saint Cyr. He later
returned to the Academy for a year as a teacher.
He fought in both World Wars.
During World War I he saw battle at
Verdun.
During World War II he had to flee to
London because he opposed the German-French peace agreement. While
there, a French military court at home sentenced him to death. Also
while there, Charles organized and rallied the Free French forces,
which later set up headquarters in Algeria.
And speaking of Algeria.
Algeria came under French rule in 1848.
In the 1950s it became apparent that the people were ready to go
their own ways, and de Gaulle had his hands full. France recognized
Algeria's independence in 1962. Many people lost their lives in the
process.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS ON CHARLES DE GAULLE
September 8, 1961, at Crancey, France - The following is an
excerpt from the excellent book Just 2 Seconds (Gavin de
Becker et al.)
De Gaulle and his wife were being
driven in their Citroën Deesse to their country home. A bomb
made from a propane cylinder filled with 100 pounds of plastic
explosives was buried in a sand pile alongside the road. A
canister holding 15 liters of napalm lay next to the cylinder.
De Gaulle's car approached the site
at about 70mph as the bomb was detonated. The heavy car lurched
and de Gaulle ordered the chauffeur to drive through the
fireball. No one was harmed, but they stopped to change cars at
a nearby barracks.
There were 31 documented attempts to
assassinate de Gaulle, but they all failed.
August 22, 1962, at Petit-Clamart, France
De Gaulle and his wife were being
driven again to their country home, except this time an
identical Citroën with several bodyguards drove in front and
several motorcycles followed behind. Cars filled with fifteen
OAS terrorists armed with submachine guns, grenades, and Molotov
cocktails were waiting in ambush.
Due to the dark and the high speed
of de Gaulle's motorcade, the attackers didn't have time to
block the road, and simply opened fire on the motorcade. The
motorcade continued on without stopping, and the bodyguards
relied on evasive driving and speed to escape.
Twelve bullets pierced de Gaulle's
car, a front tire was shot out as well as the back window, but
the de Gaulle's were uninjured.
Check out
Assassinations in History.
THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DE GAULLE
1924 -
La Discorde chez l'ennemi (Discord Among the Enemy)
1932 - Le Fil de l'épée (The Edge of the Sword)
1934 -
Vers l'armée de métier (The Army of the Future)
1938 - La France et son armée (France and Her Army)
CHARLES DE GAULLE
TIMELINE
1890, November 22 - Birth in Lille, France
1913 Joins infantry
1914 - 1918
World War I
1916 Gets captured during WWI
1927 Promoted major
1939 - 1945
World War
II
1940 Promoted brigadier general; becomes undersecretary of war
1940, June - Flees to London
1943, June - Becomes co-president with Gen. Henri Giraud of the
French Committee of National Liberation at Algiers.
1944, June - the French Committee of National Liberation becomes
provisional government of France
1945, November - Elected provisional president of France
1946, January - resigns
1947 Becomes head of the party Rassemblement du Peuple Français
(Rally of the French People)
1953 Dissolves RPF and retires
1959 January - Inaugurated as the first president of the Fifth
Republic
1965 Re-elected as president
1969 Resigns
1970, November 9 - Death in Colombey-les-deux-Églises
CHARLES DE GAULLE AT THE
CASABLANCA CONFERENCE - JANUARY 1943
FROM LEFT: HENRI GIRAUD, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, CHARLES DE GAULLE,
WINSTON CHURCHILL
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