Last modified: 2008-12-06 by ivan sache
Keywords: fifth republic | de gaulle (charles) | pompidou (georges) | giscard d'estaing (valery) | mitterrand (francois) | president | cross: lorraine (red) | letters: cg (yellow) | letters: gp (yellow) | chirac (jacques) |
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A short biography of Charles de Gaulle
In June 1944, de Gaulle was aware of the project of allied administration of France and was able to ruin it. Five days after the allied landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944, de Gaulle landed on the French territory in Courseulles. The popular support he received definitively convinced the allied leaders of his representativity. His influence on the strategy to be set up to liberate France increased. He
was able to impose Leclerc's 2nd Armoured Division (2e DB) as a peak unit. The 2e DB was the first to enter Paris, where de Gaulle went down the Champs-Élysées on 26 August, along with the leaders of the Resistance still alived, acclamated by one million of Parisians.
On 3 September, de Gaulle appointed a provisory government, based on
the government he had been presiding for one year in Algiers. The new
government was based on tripartisme, including six Communist
ministers, Socialists and members of the Catholic MRP (Mouvement
Républicain Populaire, often nicknamed Mon Révérend Pere).
The Third Reich capitulated on 8 May 1945 and France was officially
represented during the Nuremberg trial. However, de Gaulle was not
invited to the Yalta conference, where he had expected to limit the
Soviet stranglehold on Eastern Europe.
De Gaulle realized in autumn 1945 that he would have a lot of problems
with the political parties, including the MRP. He supported a new
Constitution, which was adopted by referendum, and resigned on 20
January 1946.
It is highly probable that de Gaulle expected to be immediatly called
back by the public opinion and the parties, which did not happen. He
believed that the régime des partis was ruining France. He proposed a new Constitution, very close to the future Constitution of the Vth
Republic, and founded on 7 April 1947 the RPF (Rassemblement du Peuple Français).
Originally, the RPF had a very wide range of voters and some of his
leaders were from left parties, but the world situation - the Cold War
and the War of Indochina - made the RPF evolve to a very conservative,
anti-Communist party. However, the régime des partis progressively got rid of the RPF, which was disbanded in 1953.
De Gaulle retired in his estate in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, travelled and wrote his Mémoires de Guerre. This period of withdrawal from the public
life is known as la traversée du désert (the crossing of desert), an expression coined by André Malraux.
At the end of 1957, rumors started to spread around Colombey. De Gaulle said, privately, that the emancipation of Algeria was the only solution to the independence war that had broken out and complained about the lack of power granted to the government. In spring 1958, more and more people called for the return of de Gaulle to the power, which was prepared by Minister of National Defense Jacques Chaban-Delmas in Algiers. The insurrection broke out in Algiers on 13 May; on 15 May, de Gaulle said he was "prepared to conduct the powers of the Republic". Four days later, he said publicly he would respect the law ("Aged 67, I won't start a dictator's career"). On 29 May, President of the Republic René Coty invited de Gaulle, "the most famous of the French", at the Elysée and appointed him Head of the Government with full powers to revise the Constitution. On 1 and 2 June, de Gaulle exposed his projects at the National Assembly in a very modest way and rallied a large majority, including the MRP and the Socialists. The new Constitution, drafted during summer 1958, was approved by referendum (80% yes). In January 1959, a college of 80,000 notables elected de Gaulle President of the Fifth Republic.
De Gaulle had three main tasks: rebuilding the state, restore the currency and find a solution in Algeria. After several visits in Algeria, de Gaulle set up his strategy: first, a military victory, and then the peace and discussion on the self-determination of Algeria. On 16 September 1959, de Gaulle proposed three choices: francisation, association, warmly encouraged, and independence. However, de Gaulle's plan was perceived in Algeria as an attempt of liquidation of the Algérie Française. On 18 January 1960 and 22 April 1961, de Gaulle was challenged by a street insurrection in Algiers, commanded by four retired generals supported (or manipulated) by the OAS (Organisation Armée Secrète). On the two instances, de Gaulle, wearing a military uniform, gave a strong-minded speech on the national TV and turned the tables. The agreement signed in Evian on 18 March 1962 with the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) prepared the autodetermination of Algeria. The OAS started a violent terrorist campaign, which killed any residual possibility of coexistence in Algeria. The Évian agreement was therefore more the procedure of liquidation of the French interests in Algeria. For a few years, France preserved access to Algerian oil and used the Saharian part of the country for nuclear tests.
De Gaulle's foreign policy was based on three principles: the relations between countries, even allied, shall be considered in terms of a power struggle; the nations are more important than ideology; France must be on the first rank, for the benefit of all. Following these principles, de Gaulle refused to follow automatically the American point of view and withdrew from the operational command of NATO. After having failed to build a tripartite Atlantic directory with Britain and the USA, de Gaulle attempted to convince the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to build a Franco-German alliance, to no avail. De Gaulle also developed relations with the USSR and contributed to the East-West detente. He supported the emancipation of the eastern European states from the Soviet rule, which ended with the invasion of Czechoslovakia. De Gaulle then turned to the Third World, recognizing the People Republic of China in 1964 and supporting the Arab countries after the war with Israel in 1967.
In 1962, de Gaulle revised the Constitution adopted in 1958 in order to
increase the powers of the President of the Republic, who would then be
elected via universal suffrage for seven years and have extended powers
thanks to his domaine réservé (reserved area). However, this new system, expected to give the President a large and everlasting majority in the Parliament, completely blocked the evolution of the institutions and increased the split in trends of public opinion. A
students' revolt broke out in May 1968, quickly supported by factory
workers, unionists etc.. From 3 to 30 May, de Gaulle partially lost control of the country; on 29 May 1968, he left Paris in helicopter to Colombey and then diverted the flight to Baden Baden (Germany). He stayed there with General Massu for a 2.5 hours maximum and flew back to the original destination, his residence at Colombey. On 30 May, he was back to Paris and made one of his famous press conferences.
Prime Minister Georges Pompidou eventually got the situation back to normal, but the May 1968 events dramatically modified the country. De Gaulle decided to test his legitimity by calling a referendum on 27 April
1969. The question asked in the referendum was fairly complicated,
mixing questions on the regionalization and the Senate. Andre Malraux
called this referendum a "suicide". The majority of the voters answered
"no" to the referendum. On the evening of 27 April, short before
midnight, de Gaulle announced in a communique that he had ceased to exert
his office of President of the Republic.
De Gaulle, aged 78, retired in Colombey, where he wrote his
(uncompleted) Mémoires d'espoir. In June 1969, he travelled to Ireland during the presidential election won by Georges Pompidou. De Gaulle died on 9 November 1970.
Source: Jean Lacouture. Gaulle (Charles de). Encyclopaedia Universalis
Ivan Sache, 9 November 2004
De Gaulle's presidential standard
![[De Gaulle's standard]](../images/f/fr_prcdg.gif)
![[De Gaulle's standard]](../images/f/fr_prcd1.gif)
De Gaulle's standard
Left, as kept in the Navy archives - Image by by Željko Heimer, 9 November 2004
Right, as shown by Herzog & Wolf - Image by Ivan Sache, 24 March 2005
The flag used by President Charles de Gaulle is kept in the private archive HCC (Habillement, Couchage, Casernement - Outfit, Bedding, Barracks) of Direction du Commissariat de la Marine (Direction of the Admiralty Board) in Toulon. The flag is a French Tricolore flag with in the middle of the white stripe the letters C G in gold, and underneath a red Cross of Lorraine.
Armand du Payrat, 30 June 1998
Herzog & Wolf (Flaggen und Wappen, Leipzig, 1966) depict de Gaulle's presidential standard as a Tricolore with a red Cross of Lorraine in the white panel and with a golden fringe, while Pedersen [ped70] says the initials were placed under the cross without informing about the colours of the letters.
Jan Oskar Engene, 17 September 1996
![[Pompidou's standard]](../images/f/fr_prgpo.gif)
Pompidou's standard - Image by Željko Heimer, 27 September 2004
Georges Pompidou (1911-1974) was born in the small village of
Montboudif, in Cantal (Upper Auvergne). His parents were school
teachers. Pompidou graduated in the Ecole Normale Supérieure and
the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, and was agrégé (the
highest qualification available for teachers at the secondary level) in
literature. He tought literature in Marseilles and Paris from 1935 to
1944.
Pompidou started his political career as chargé d'affaires of General de Gaulle in 1944. After de Gaulle's resignation, Pompidou was Deputy
Minister of Tourism (1946-1948) and maître de requêtes (Counsel) at the State Council (1946-1954).
From 1956 to 1962, Pompidou worked for the Rotschild brothers as an
Administrator and Director General of several companies. From 1 June
1958 to 7 January 1959, he was de Gaulle's directeur de cabinet
(principal private secretary). He was also appointed member of the
Constitutional Council in 1959. In 1961, he was sent to Switzerland to
negociate with the leader of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), the main independentist party in Algeria.
On 16 April 1962, Pompidou succeeded Michel Debré as the Prime
Minister of President de Gaulle. The National Assembly defeated him on
5 October, but de Gaulle appointed him again Prime Minister on 28
November, as well as the leader of the presidential majority. Pompidou
remained Prime Minister until 10 July 1968, when he had te resign
following the insurrection of May 1968. He was succeeded by Maurice
Couve de Murville.
Pompidou went back to local political affairs in Cantal. He was elected
Municipal Councillor in Cajarc (1965-1969) and Deputy (March-May 1967;
June 1968-June 1969) in the circonscription of Saint-Flour-Mauriac.
After the negative result of the referendum on the Senate and the
regions, held on 27 April 1969, General de Gaulle resigned from the
Presidency of the Republic. The political bureau of UDR (Union pour la
Défense de la République) appointed Pompidou as its official candidate for the Presidential election. Pompidou was elected at the second round on 15 June, with 11,064,371 votes (58.22%) against Alain Poher, President of the Senate, who got 7,943,118 votes. Pompidou attempted to preserve the Gaullist heritage: he strengthened the cohesion of the
Presidential majority, developed the regional organization of the
country and increased the European coopeation. He promoted the nuclear
dissuasion force and national independence, apart from the "blocks".
Pompidou officially visited the USA, the USSR and Subsaharian Africa.
In September 1973, he was the first western head of government
received in Beijing, where he met Mao Zedong.
During 1973 and the beginning of 1974, repeated health problems
experienced by Pompidou created a weird atmosphere around the
Presidency. In October 1973, a proposal of limitation of the
Presidential mandate to five years (instead of seven) confirmed that
Pompidou was very ill. However, the President refused to resign and
passed away on 2 April 1974.
Georges Pompidou was fond of modern art. He promoted the revamping of the borough of Beaubourg-Saint-Martin, located in the IIIrd district of Paris. The Centre National d'Art et Culture Georges-Pompidou, better known as Centre Beaubourg, was built by the architects Rogers and Piano in 1977. The building houses the Bibliothèque Publique d'Information (BPI), a public library and the Muée National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), which includes the Centre de Création Industrielle (CCI). A neighbouring building houses the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique-Musique (IRCAM). The Stravinsky fountain, located below the building, was designed by the Swiss artist Nikki de Saint-Phalle.
Ivan Sache, 1 October 2004
The flag used by President Georges Pompidou is kept in the private archive HCC (Habillement, Couchage, Casernement - Outfit, Bedding, Barracks) of the Direction du Commissariat de la Marine (Direction of the Admiralty Board) in Toulon. The flag is a French Tricolore flag with in the middle of the white stripe the letters G P in gold.
Armand du Payrat, 30 June 1998
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing replaced the initials with a lictors' fasces, which was often erroneously interpreted as a Petainist francisque.
Ivan Sache, 29 June 1998
François Mitterrand replaced the initials FM in his first
flag with a "mix" of oak and olive-tree to symbolize Northern and
Southern France.
Flags of both the President and the Prime Minister are
erroneously depicted as rectangular in Talocci's French edition
[tal93].
Ivan Sache, 29 June 1998
![[Presidential Standard]](../images/f/fr_prjch.gif)
![[Car flag]](../images/f/fr_prjcc.gif)
Personal flag of President Jacques Chirac, left, flag at sea; right, car flag - Images by Željko Heimer, 23 September 2001
President Chirac did not choose any symbol. Thus his personal standard is now exactly the same as that of the French Prime Minister, that is
a square flag with three blue-white-red stripes, and the
optical proportions.
The presidential car flag is in proportion 7:8 with a golden fringe (not shown here).
Armand du Payrat & Željko Heimer, 23 September 2001
Every French town hall shall display the official picture of
the President of the Republic. There is one and only one such
official picture, made by a photograph selected by the President.
Jacques Chirac's official picture shows something weird: the Tricolore
French national flag appears to be red-white-blue.
The reversion of the colours was caused by a sudden wind gust when
the photograph Bettina Rheims took the picture. She pointed out the
problem, but Jacques Chirac found the picture really good and refused
to have another shot.
Wind gusts caused another weird effect during the funerals of President François Mitterrand in Jarnac. The Tricolore flag covering the coffin was blown away by a wind gust two times during the ceremony.
Ivan Sache, 18 April 2001