Wars, politics & history

Death of Charles de Gaulle

9 November 1970

Charles de Gaulle died on 9 November 1970 in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, aged 79. A French general and statesman, de Gaulle rose in the army and in June 1940, as France fell to Germany, refused the armistice and went to London, where he led the Free French forces and the resistance movement. He headed the provisional government after the liberation in 1944 but resigned in 1946. Called back to power in 1958 during the crisis over Algeria, he founded the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency and was president from 1959 to 1969. He ended the Algerian war, developed France's nuclear forces, withdrew from NATO's integrated command and promoted an independent French foreign policy. He resigned after losing a referendum.

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