President of the Fifth Republic
The French government, known as the Fourth Republic, began to
crumble in the late 1950s, and de Gaulle once again returned to public
service to help his country. He helped form the country's next
government, becoming its president in January 1959. Establishing
France's Fifth Republic, de Gaulle dedicated himself to improving the
country's economic situation and maintaining its independence. He sought
to keep France separate from the two superpowers—the United States and
the Soviet Union. To show France's military relevance, de Gaulle
successfully campaigned for the country to press on with its nuclear
weapons program.
De Gaulle was not afraid to make controversial decisions. After
coping with uprisings in Algeria for years, he helped the French colony
achieve independence in 1962. This move was not widely popular at the
time. De Gaulle supported the idea of a united Europe, but he wanted
Europe to be free from the superpowers' influences. He fought to keep
Britain out of the European Economic Community because of its close ties
to the United States. In 1966, de Gaulle also pulled his country's
forces out of the North American Treaty Organization, acting again on
his concerns with the United States. To some, de Gaulle came off as
anti-American. Though he may have been, to some extent, his actions
seemed to truly reflected his deep nationalistic views.
Sometimes inflexible and intractable, de Gaulle nearly saw his
government toppled by student and worker protests in 1968. He managed to
restore order to the country, but left power soon after, following a
battle over political and economic reforms. In April 1969, de Gaulle
resigned from the presidency.
Death and Legacy
After his resignation, de Gaulle retired to his home in
Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises. He had little time to enjoy the quiet life of
this village, as he died of a heart attack on November 9, 1970. French
President George Pompidou, who had worked closely with de Gaulle before
succeeding him, delivered the terrible news to the public, saying
"General de Gaulle is dead.
France is a widow." France mourned the loss of its famous statesman and
military leader; the country had lost one of its greatest heroes—a hero
who had seen his people through war,
and proved to be instrumental in his country's recovery.
Other world leaders offered up words of praise for de Gaulle. Queen Elizabeth II
said that his "courage and tenacity in the allied cause during the dark
years of the Second World War will never be forgotten." Two American
presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry S. Truman, sent their condolences to the people of France, as well as to Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin. President Richard Nixon
was among the foreign dignitaries who attended a special service for de
Gaulle, held shortly after his death, at the Notre Dame Cathedral in
Paris.
Queen Elizabeth II was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on April 21, 1926, in London, to Prince Albert,
Duke of York (later King George VI), and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She
married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947, became queen on
February 6, 1952, and was crowned on June 2, 1953. During her reign, she
has tried to make the British monarchy more modern and sensitive to the
public.
Born in 1926, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned head of state, when she
was just 25 years old - after the death of her father, George IV, in
1952. Queen Elizabeth is now the second longest serving British monarch
and has presided over half a century of continual change both within the
Royal Family, Britain and the Commonweath.
Elizabeth
was the eldest child of Prince Albert, the Duke of York (later George
VI) and his wife Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother). Her father
Prince Albert was second in line to the throne, until his elder brother
Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 - pushing the shy Prince Albert into an
unexpected role of King. King George VI rose to the challenge though he
died early in 1952.
Elizabeth was educated at home, along with her sister
Princess Margaret. During the Second World War, they were evacuated to
Balmoral and later Windsor Castle. Towards the end of the war in 1945,
Elizabeth joined the womens Royal Auxilliary Territorial Service, where
she served as a driver and mechanic. After the war, she increasingly
stepped into her role of performing public service, and made her first
overseas trip to South Africa in 1947. Shortly before her 21st birthday,
she said:
"I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it
be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of
our great imperial family to which we all belong."
In
1947, she married Prince Phillip of Greece and Denmark in a ceremony at
Westminster; they had known each other for several years. Some where
opposed to the union because of his foreign ties, but this was overcome
by his service in the Royal Navy. They have been happily married for
over 65 years, and their relationship is a source of mutual strength,
even if Prince Phillip has a reputation for letting slip the odd
colourful remark about foreigners. Elizabeth gave birth to their first
child in 1948 - the future Prince Charles. They had four children in total (Charles, Anne, Andrew, Edward)
In
1952, her father, George VI passed away and Queen Elizabeth was crowned
to widespread enthusiasm. Her coronation set TV records around the
globe, and it appeared to usher in a new era for the monarchy and
British Commonwealth. News of Edmund Hilary reaching the peak of Mt
Everest were delayed to co-incide with her coronation. It appeared a
symbolic end to the post-war austerity.
The 1950s could be seen as the golden age for the Queen. Deference
and respect to the Royal family were still high, and the young Elizabeth
looked like the fairytale Princess. However, over the next few decades,
widespread social change saw a decline in traditional attitudes to the
monarchy. Also the new era of TV and intense media scrutiny led to many
unfavourable headlines as her children were caught up in marital
problems and related scandals.
Yet, there were still high points for the Royal Family, such as her
'Silver Jubiliee' in 1977 and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady
Diana in 1981. By the 1990s, the media had a widespread fascination with
Princess Diana,
but as their marriage broke down, the Queen was increasingly perceived
as being out of touch. In 1992, she famously declared the year to be her
'annus horribilus'
1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted
pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it
has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis'. (Christmas address)
- With media headlines dominated by the marriage breakup of Charles
and Diana, a fire in Windsor, and other criticisms. In 1996, Princess
Diana died in a car crash, and temporarily there was public dismay as
the Queen appeared distant and refused to fly flag at half mast. But,
after the Queen later expressed admiration for Princess Diana the
hostility evaporated. Nevertheless, the relationship between Princess
Diana and the Queen were best described as being 'cool'.
The
Queen placed great emphasis on her job as uniting the Commonwealth - a
difficult job in the post war period as de-colonisation led to many
differing problems. However, the Queen usually received widespread
acclaim, and many say she was a real unifying presence at the
Commonwealth meetings. In a speech at the United Nations, in 2010 she
spoke of the importance of countries working together:
In tomorrow's world we must all work together as hard as ever, if we're truly to be United Nations
After the difficulties of the 1990s, the 2000s saw a resurgence in
her popularity as the Royal Family put many difficulties behind them,
and they were able to celebrate good news. If 1992 was her annus
horribilus, 2012, was perhaps her annus mirabilis. Firstly, in April, Prince William
married Kate Middleton to widespread public support. Then in summer,
her golden jubilee was widely celebrated and popular despite the wet
weather. Finally in July 2012, she took part in the opening ceremony of
the London Olympics - which was a huge global sucess.
Despite nearing the age of 81 she appears remarkably mobile, and shows no sign of passing the throne to Charles early.
