Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890 in Lille, Nord, France as Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle.

Children - Philippe de Gaulle (b. 1921), Elisabeth (1924-2013), and Anne (1928-1948).

After his return to Paris in 1944, he moved back into his old office at the War Ministry where he had served undersecretary of state for national defense and war, underscoring the continuity of the Third Republic (which he had represented in the government in exile in London) and denying the legitimacy of Vichy France. He served as the President of the provisional government from September 1944 through January 20, 1946, when he resigned. De Gaulle was tired of the conflict between the political parties and did not approve of the draft constitution for the Fourth Republic which he believed placed too much power in the hands of parliament, which made the state vulnerable to shifts in party alliances.

Was recalled to power upon the collapse of the Fourth Republic due to its inability to resolve the Algerian War. The Fourth Republic was undermined by the May 13, 1958 seizure of government buildings in Algiers by French settlers, who acted with the support of the Army. The French settlers in Algeria were protesting what they saw as the French government's weakness in dealing with the Arab majority's quest for Algerian independence. The Gaullist General Jacques Massu was installed as president of a Committee of Civil and Army Public Security and the French military Commander-in-Chief in Algeria, General Raoul Salan, announced that the Army had "provisionally taken over responsibility for the destiny of French Algeria" During the crisis, De Gaulle widely increasingly seen as the only person who could settle the Algerian question and stop the military rebellion. General Salan had declared "Vive de Gaulle!" from the balcony of the Algiers Government-General building on May 15th. Two days later, de Gaulle answered that he was ready to "take on the powers of the Republic" in what essentially was a military coup d'etat to forestall an even more egregious coup. To questions that his ascendancy threatened civil liberties, de Gaulle responded that, to the contrary, "...I have reestablished them when they had disappeared. Who honestly believes that, at age 67, I would start a career as a dictator?" A republican by conviction, de Gaulle maintained throughout the crisis that he would accept power only from the lawfully constituted authorities of the state. De Gaulle's stock as savior of France rose as French paratroopers from Algeria seized Corsica and planned a landing near Paris to likely seize the National Assembly. Except for the Communists, leaders across the political spectrum agreed to support de Gaulle's return to power (with the notable exception of François Mitterrand, then a liberal). French President René Coty appealed to the "most illustrious of Frenchmen" to become the President of the Council (Prime Minister) of the Fourth Republic on May 29, 1958, and de Gaulle accepted, with the proviso that he was intent on abrogating the constitution of the Fourth Republic, which he blamed for France's political weakness. The other precondition of his return was that he be given wide emergency powers for six months and was permitted to propose a new constitution to the French people. De Gaulle became premier on June 1, 1958, and the National Assembly granted him emergency powers as befits a state of siege for six months. A referendum on a new constitution that created a strong presidency took place on September 28, 1958 and was approved by 79.2% of those who voted, thus creating the Fifth Republic, which has lasted nearly half a century. In the elections held in November 1958, de Gaulle and his supporters in the Union pour la Nouvelle République-Union Démocratique du Travail won a comfortable parliamentary majority. De Gaulle subsequently was elected President of the Republic by the National Assembly with 78% of the vote by an electoral college consisting of parliamentarians and local politicians and was inaugurated in January 1959. He won re-election in 1965 under the current system, beating Mitterand in the second round after failing to achieve a majority in the first round. In all, he served 10 years as president, resigning on April 28, 1969 after the failure of a referendum to reform the Senate and local government, feeling that he had lost the support of the people.

President of the French Republic (8 January 1959 to 28 April 1969).

He caused an international incident in July 1967 while in the francophone province of Quebec as part of a state visit to Canada to celebrate its centennial and to attend the world's fair, Expo '67, in Montreal. On July 24th, speaking to a large crowd from a balcony on Montreal's city hall, de Gaulle uttered "Vive le Québec!" ("Long live Quebec!") then added, "Vive le Québec libre!" ("Long live free Québec!"). (Ironically, many Quebecers had supported De Gaulle's antagonists in Vichy during the war.) The speech caused outrage in Canada and a serious diplomatic rift between the two countries; de Gaulle was forced to leave the country. However, the event is seen as a watershed moment by the Quebecois sovereignty movement.

All Parisian cinemas closed for the day, on November 12th 1970, as a mark of respect to him.

He was a writer, known for Une mauvaise rencontre (1981), Les manifestations du 18 Juin (1949) and L'Afrique noire française (1944). He was married to Yvonne de Gaulle.

Has his look-alike puppet in the French show Les Guignols de l'info (1988) (although it's rarely utilized).

De Gaulle was descended, on his father's side, from a long line of aristocracy from Normandy and Burgundy which had been settled in Paris for about a century, whereas his mother's family were rich entrepreneurs from the industrial region of Lille in French Flanders. The most ancient de Gaulle ancestor recorded was a squire of King Philip Augustus in the 12th century. The name de Gaulle is thought to have evolved from a Germanic form "De Walle" meaning "the wall". Most of the ancient French nobility descended from Germanic lineages and often bore Germanic names.