Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French military officer and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the Algerian War, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969.
Haute-Marne is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.
The Appeal of 18 June was the first speech made by Charles de Gaulle after his arrival in London in 1940 following the Battle of France. Broadcast to France by the radio services of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is often considered to have marked the beginning of the French Resistance in World War II. It is regarded as one of the most important speeches in French history. In spite of its significance in French collective memory, historians have shown that the appeal was heard only by a minority of French people. De Gaulle's 22 June 1940 speech was more widely heard. The historic importance of these radio broadcasts and de Gaulle's future status as the emblem of the French resistance gave de Gaulle the nickname L'Homme du 18 juin.
Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under Louis XV – and then as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1972 to 1974. A member of the French Foreign Legion, he was considered one of the historical Gaullists, and died aged 91 in the military hospital of the Val-de-Grâce in August 2007. He was elected a member of the Académie française in 1999; his seat was taken over by Simone Veil.
Colombey-les-Deux-Églises is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It is best known as the home of Charles de Gaulle.
Hara-Kiri was a monthly French satirical magazine, first published in 1960, the precursor to Charlie Hebdo. It was created by Georges Bernier, François Cavanna and Fred Aristidès. A weekly counterpart, Hara-Kiri Hebdo, was first published in 1969.
Yvonne Charlotte Anne-Marie de Gaulle was the wife of Charles de Gaulle. The couple had three children: Philippe (1921–2024), Élisabeth (1924–2013), and Anne (1928–1948), who was born with Down syndrome. Yvonne de Gaulle, along with her husband, set up a charity, La fondation Anne-de-Gaulle, to help children with disabilities.
Anne de Gaulle was the youngest daughter of General Charles de Gaulle and his wife, Yvonne. She was born in Trier, Germany, where her father was stationed with the Army of Occupation in the Rhineland.
The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 22 January 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germany and France established a new foundation for relations, bringing an end to centuries of French–German enmity and wars.
The Battle of Borny–Colombey or the Battle of Colombey-Nouilly took place on 14 August 1870 as part of the Franco-Prussian War. During the battle the escape route of the French army under François Bazaine was blocked when the French encountered the First Army under von Steinmetz. The outcome of the battle itself was indecisive as although the French were able to escape to Metz, they were delayed for 12 hours.
Pierre Beuffeuil is a former French professional road bicycle racer. He won a stage of the Tour de France after the rest of the field had stopped to greet Charles de Gaulle, the president.
The Departmental Committee of Liberation was a structure of the French Resistance. In 1944, in each French department, the Resistance unified around a civil resistance structure and a military one. The Committees developed out of the desire of the MUR and the Free French Forces in London under general De Gaulle to give political representation to the Resistance forces fighting in France. In each commune, a Local Committee of Liberation represented the Departmental Committee of Liberation.
Yves-André Hubert is a French television film director, theatre metteur en scèneand actor. He received a Sept d'or award in 1988 for L'Affaire Marie Besnard.
The National Council of European Resistance is a France-based pan-European far-right political organization co-founded by Renaud Camus and Karim Ouchikh on 9 November 2017 by analogy to the National Council of the Resistance. It has links to the identitarian movement.
The Empire Defense Council was a deliberative body established within Free France in 1940. It was subsequently replaced by the French National Committee.
Free French Africa was the political entity which collectively represented the colonial territories of French Equatorial Africa and Cameroon under the control of Free France in World War II.
The French National Committee was the coordinating body created by General Charles de Gaulle which acted as the government in exile of Free France from 1941 to 1943. The committee was the successor of the smaller Empire Defense Council.
A Companion of Liberation is a member of the Order of the Liberation, created on November 16, 1940, by General de Gaulle as "leader of the Free French" to "reward the people or military and civilian communities who have distinguished themselves in the work of liberation of France and its empire".
The Mémorial Charles-de-Gaulle is a monument located in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises in Haute-Marne. Retracing, through the person of Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), the major historical events of the 20th century, it was produced by the Charles-de-Gaulle foundation and the general council of Haute-Marne at a cost of 22 million euros. It replaces the General de Gaulle memorial inaugurated on June 18, 1972, which until then housed a small exhibition and controlled access to the monumental Cross of Lorraine.
La Boisserie is the former personal residence of General Charles de Gaulle, leader of Free France during World War II and the first President of the French Fifth Republic. It is located in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises in the Haute-Marne department of northeastern France, 120 miles (190 km) southeast of Paris. It has been a museum open to the public since 1980, and was owned by the General's only son, Admiral Philippe de Gaulle, until the latter's death in 2024.
