I.

Introduction

Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), French general and statesman, the architect of the Fifth French Republic and its first president (1959-1969).

De Gaulle was born in Lille and educated at Saint-Cyr Military Academy. During World War I he served with distinction at the Battle of Verdun in 1916, was wounded three times, and was finally taken prisoner by the Germans. After the war he was aide-de-camp to Marshal Henri Pétain. De Gaulle won prominence by his advocacy of a highly mechanized French army that he described in his books on military tactics. Early in World War II (1939-1945) he attained the rank of brigadier general. After the fall of France he escaped to London, where he announced the formation of a French national committee in exile. In 1942 this committee was officially recognized by the Allied governments and the Resistance leaders in France. As president of the Free French, de Gaulle commanded French troops fighting with the Allied armies as well as those participating in the Resistance in German-occupied France.