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.
Charles de Gaulle rose from French soldier in World War I to exiled
leader and, eventually, president of the Fifth Republic, a position he
held until 1969. De Gaulle's time as a commander in World War II would
later influence his political career, providing him with a tenacious
drive. His time as president was marked by the student and worker
uprisings in 1968, which he responded to with an appeal for civil order.
Early Military Career
The son of a philosophy and literature professor, famed
French leader Charles de Gaulle was born in 1890, into a patriotic and
devoutly Catholic family. De Gaulle was a well-educated and well-read
child. Early on, he dreamed of being a military leader. He enrolled at
the country's top military academy, Saint-Cyr, in 1909. In 1912, he
completed his studies and joined an infantry regiment that was commanded
by Colonel Philippe Pétain, serving as a lieutenant.
During World War I, de Gaulle distinguished himself on the
battlefield. He was wounded twice early on, and received a medal for his
service. Promoted to captain, de Gaulle fought in one of the war's most
deadly confrontations—the Battle of Verdun—in 1916. During the fight,
he was injured and, subsequently, taken prisoner. After several failed
escape attempts, de Gaulle was freed at the end of the war.
A bright and skilled soldier, de Gaulle enrolled in a special
training program at the École Supérieure de Guerre after the war. He
later worked with Pétain and served on France's Supreme War Council.
Gaining some international experience, de Gaulle spent time in Germany
and the Middle East.
Also an insightful writer, de Gaulle explored a number of military
issues in his books. He published his examination of Germany, La Discorde chez l'ennemi, in 1924. Another important book was Vers l'armée de métier
(1932), in which he made suggestions for creating a better army. This
critical work was largely ignored by French military officials, but not
by the Germans. According to some reports, the German military followed
some of de Gaulle's recommendations in World War II. He and his mentor,
Petain, had a falling out over another book, a military history piece
entitled La France et son armée (1938).
World War II
At the time fighting broke out between Germany and France, de
Gaulle was leading a tank brigade. He was temporarily appointed the
brigadier general of the 4th Armored Division in May of 1940. Continuing
to rise up professionally, de Gaulle became the undersecretary for
defense and war for French leader Paul Reynaud that June. A short while
later, Reynaud was replaced by Pétain. Pétain's new government,
sometimes called the Vichy government, worked out a deal with Germany to
avoid further bloodshed. The Vichy regime became infamous for
collaborating with the Nazis.
A dedicated nationalist, de Gaulle did not accept France's surrender
to Germany in 1940. He instead fled to England, where he became a leader
of the Free French movement, with the support of British prime minister
Winston Churchill.
From London, de Gaulle broadcast a message across the English Channel
to his countrymen, calling for them to resist the German occupation. He
also organized soldiers from French colonies to fight alongside the
allied troops.
De Gaulle sometimes irritated other allied leaders with his demands and perceived arrogance. American President Franklin D. Roosevelt reportedly could not stand him. In fact, at the war's end,
de Gaulle was purposely left out of the Yalta Conference, as Germany
negotiated its surrender. He did, however, secure his nation an
occupation zone in Germany and a seat on the United Nation's Security
Council. De Gaulle enjoyed wide support at home and, in 1945, became
president of France's provisional government. In a dispute over greater
power for the country's executive branch, de Gaulle resigned this post.
For several years, de Gaulle led his own political movement, "Rally
for the French People," which did not gain much momentum. He retired
from politics in 1953.
Rise to Power
The Great Depression in Germany provided a political
opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent to the parliamentary
republic and increasingly open to extremist options. In 1932, Hitler ran
against Paul von Hindenburg
for the presidency. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the
election, garnering more than 35 percent of the vote in the final
election. The election established Hitler as a strong force in German
politics. Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor
in order to promote political balance.
Hitler used his position
as chancellor to form a de facto legal dictatorship. The Reichtag Fire
Decree, announced after a suspicious fire at the Reichtag, suspended
basic rights and allowed detention without trial. Hitler also engineered
the passage of the Enabling Act, which gave his cabinet full
legislative powers for a period of four years and allowed deviations
from the constitution.
Having achieved full control over the
legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his
political allies embarked on a systematic suppression of the remaining
political opposition. By the end of June, the other parties had been
intimidated into disbanding. On July 14, 1933, Hitler's Nazi Party was
declared the only legal political party in Germany.
Military
opposition was also punished. The demands of the SA for more political
and military power led to the Night of the Long Knives, which took place
from June 30 to July 2, 1934. Ernst Röhm and other SA leaders, along
with a number of Hitler's political enemies, were rounded up and shot.
The day before Hindenburg’s death in August 1934, the cabinet had
enacted a law abolishing the office of president and combining its
powers with those of the chancellor. Hitler thus became head of state as
well as head of government, and was formally named as leader and
chancellor. As head of state, Hitler became supreme commander of the
armed forces. He began to mobilize for war. Germany withdrew from the
League of Nations, and Hitler announced a massive expansion of Germany’s
armed forces.
The Nazi regime also included social reform measures. Hitler promoted
anti-smoking campaigns across the country. These campaigns stemmed from
Hitler’s self-imposed dietary restrictions, which included abstinence
from alcohol and meat. At dinners,
Hitler sometimes told graphic stories about the slaughter of animals in
an effort to shame his fellow diners. He encouraged all Germans to keep
their bodies pure of any intoxicating or unclean substance.
A
main Nazi concept was the notion of racial hygiene. New laws banned
marriage between non-Jewish and Jewish Germans, and deprived
"non-Aryans" of the benefits of German citizenship. Hitler's early
eugenic policies targeted children with physical and developmental
disabilities, and later authorized a euthanasia program for disabled
adults.
The Holocaust was also conducted under the auspices of
racial hygiene. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazis and their collaborators
were responsible for the deaths of 11 million to 14 million people,
including about 6 million Jews, representing two-thirds of the Jewish
population in Europe. Deaths took place in concentration and
extermination camps and through mass executions. Other persecuted groups
included Poles, communists, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and trade
unionists, among others. Hitler probably never visited the concentration
camps and did not speak publicly about the killings.
World War II
In 1938, Hitler, along with several other European leaders,
signed the Munich Agreement. The treaty ceded the Sudetenland districts
to Germany, reversing part of the Versailles Treaty. As a result of the
summit, Hitler was named Time magazine's Man of the Year for 1938. This
diplomatic win only whetted his appetite for a renewed German dominance.
On September 1, Germany invaded Poland. In response, Britain and France
declared war on Germany.
Hitler escalated his activities in
1940, invading Scandinavia as well as France, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Belgium. Hitler ordered bombing raids on the United
Kingdom, with the goal of invasion. Germany’s formal alliance with Japan
and Italy, known collectively as the Axis powers, was signed to deter
the United States from supporting and protecting the British.
On June 22, 1941, Hitler violated a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin,
sending 3 million German troops into the Soviet Union. The invading
force seized a huge area before the German advance was stopped outside
Moscow in December 1941.
On December 7, Japan attacked Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii. Hitler was now at war against a coalition that
included the world's largest empire (Britain), the world's greatest
financial power (the U.S.) and the world's largest army (the Soviet
Union).
Facing these odds, Hitler's military judgment became
increasingly erratic. Germany's military and economic position
deteriorated along with Hitler's health. Germany and the Axis could not
sustain Hitler’s aggressive and expansive war. In late 1942, German
forces failed to seize the Suez Canal. The German army also suffered
defeats at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk.
On June 6, 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France. As
a result of these significant setbacks, many German officers concluded
that defeat was inevitable and that Hitler's denial would result in the
destruction of the country.
Death and Legacy
By early 1945, Hitler realized that Germany was going to lose
the war. The Soviets had driven the German army back into Western
Europe, and the Allies were advancing into Germany. On April 29, 1945,
Hitler married his girlfriend, Eva Braun,
in a small civil ceremony in his Berlin bunker. Around this time,
Hitler was informed of the assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Afraid of falling into the hands of enemy troops, Hitler and Braun
committed suicide the day after their wedding, on April 30, 1945. Their
bodies were carried to the bombed-out garden behind the Reich
Chancellery, where they were burned. Berlin fell on May 2, 1945.
Hitler’s political program had brought about a world war, leaving
behind a devastated and impoverished Eastern and Central Europe,
including Germany. His policies inflicted human suffering on an
unprecedented scale and resulted in the death of an estimated 40 million
people, including about 27 million in the Soviet Union. Hitler's defeat
marked the end of a phase of European history dominated by Germany, and
the defeat of fascism. A new ideological global conflict, the Cold War,
emerged in the aftermath of World War II.
