Charles de Gaulle
November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (1890–1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946. Recalled in 1958 during the Algiers crisis, he was appointed Prime Minister, commissioned the 1958 constitution establishing the French Fifth Republic, and was subsequently elected President of France.
Biography
Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille in 1890 and became a career army officer. He was wounded and captured at Verdun in 1916. Between the wars he argued for mechanised armoured warfare.
When France fell in June 1940 he flew to London and called on the French to fight on. He led the Free French and became head of the provisional government after the liberation of Paris in 1944. He resigned in 1946 over the new constitution.
The crisis of the Algerian War brought him back to power in 1958. He founded the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency, served as its first president, and granted Algeria independence in 1962. He developed French nuclear weapons, took France out of NATO's integrated command and twice vetoed British entry to the European Community. He resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum and died in 1970.
Offices held
Philippe Pétain Succeeded by
Michel Debré
2 terms
- Jun 3, 1944 – Jan 20, 1946 Chairman of the Provisional Government Preceded by Philippe Pétain Succeeded by Félix Gouin
- Jun 1, 1958 – Jan 8, 1959 Preceded by Guy Mollet Succeeded by Michel Debré
Military service
- Jan 1, 1912 – Jan 1, 1944 French Army
