National Security Strategy of Charles De Gaulle
Abstract
Charles de Gaulle was recalled to leadership during a series of political crises in France in 1958. There had been 24 governments in the 12 years since he had resigned as President in 1946. The costly war in Indochina and now the rebellion in Algeria were disintegrating the French Empire abroad and riots threatened civil war at home. Out of the morass of competing political factions, only two had any cohesion: the communists and the Army. It was the French Army that summoned de Gaulle from retirement. De Gaulle's terms for accepting the burden of leadership were nonnegotiable: he was granted constitutional authority for a powerful executive branch that stood above any legislative authority. Having at last been imbued with the power he believed necessary to govern France, he set about an ambitious agenda to restore France to "greatness." His visions of France as an equal partner in a triumvirate with Great Britain and the United States and as the uncontested leader of a unified European Community were never realized. He did succeed, however, in restoring France's self-confidence and dignity, both as a people and a nation, and in placing her on more equal terms in the competitive international system.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA440721
Entities
People
- Nancy F. Davis
Organizations
- National War College