12axes-testTake the test
Charles de Gaulle
Historical figureFrance1890-1970

Charles de Gaulle

President of France (1959-1969) · Leader of Free France (1940-1944)

French general who led Free France against Nazi Germany, then built the Fifth Republic in 1958 and, as its first president, made national independence his guide.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axesAll 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Charles de Gaulle, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-15
    PublicPrivate
  2. 02Markets-35
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare-25
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority+45
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He built a strong presidency and liked referendums. But he also restored republican rule, faced voters, and quit when he lost the 1969 vote.

  5. 05Security+35
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06Structure+35
    LocalCentral

    He favoured a strong centre, though the 1969 referendum he lost proposed reform of the regions.

  7. 07Morality+45
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion+25
    SecularReligious
  9. 09Technology-30
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture+55
    MulticulturalNational identity
  11. 11Trade+15
    GlobalProtected

    He accepted the Common Market while protecting French farmers and vetoing British entry twice, so he sits close to the middle.

  12. 12Foreign policy+70
    CooperationStrength

    He put national independence first, building France's own nuclear force and leaving NATO's integrated command while remaining in the alliance.

Who was Charles de Gaulle?

Charles de Gaulle was a career army officer. When France signed an armistice with Germany in 1940, he rejected it and urged his countrymen on 18 June to keep fighting. Britain's Churchill accepted him as the leader of the Free French nine days later. He later joined the exiled forces to the Resistance inside France. After heading the Provisional Government from 1944 to 1946, he left politics. The Algerian crisis brought him back in 1958. He wrote a new constitution, which voters approved, and became the first president of the Fifth Republic. He stepped down in April 1969 after losing a referendum.

Political views

  • Wanted a strong executive. He set out the idea in 1946, and the 1958 constitution put it into practice.Source: elysee.fr
  • In 1962 a referendum approved his plan to have the president chosen by direct popular vote.Source: elysee.fr
  • Accepted that Algeria could decide its own future, and the 1962 Evian Agreements opened the way to independence.Source: elysee.fr
  • Made national independence the core of French policy. France left NATO's integrated command and built its own nuclear force.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Blocked Britain from joining the European Economic Community, using his veto twice.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Preferred a Europe of cooperating sovereign states to a supranational one. In wartime London he had invited Robert Schuman into his team.Source: elysee.fr
  • During the May 1968 protests he dissolved the National Assembly, and the election that followed gave him a strong majority.Source: european-union.europa.eu

Legacy

To admirers, de Gaulle stands for French resistance, a steady republic and independence from outside control. Gaullism still shapes French politics. Critics said the Fifth Republic gave the president too much power, and Mitterrand called it a permanent coup. May 1968 and the defeat in the 1969 referendum showed where his authority ended. His Algeria policy upset both settlers and supporters of independence. In 1967 he shouted "Long Live Free Quebec!" on a visit to Canada, which caused a diplomatic row.

In their own words

“Paris! Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyred! But Paris liberated!”
Speech at the Hôtel de Ville, Paris, 25 August 1944

How close are you to Charles de Gaulle?

Take the 12 Axes test and see which historical figure is your political twin, axis by axis.

Take the test

Charles de Gaulle: questions

Was Charles de Gaulle a conservative?

Most historians call him a conservative nationalist, so the right is where he is normally placed. His governments still nationalised some industries and backed state planning. He also kept republican institutions and left office after losing a vote.

Why did France leave NATO's command under de Gaulle?

He believed France should hold the controls of its own defence and its nuclear arms. In 1966 he took France out of the integrated military command. France stayed in the Atlantic Alliance.

Did de Gaulle belong to a political party?

He liked to stand above party politics. The groups that rallied to him are called Gaullist. Examples are the Rally of the French People and, later, the Union for the New Republic.

Sources