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    On this day in 1959, Charles de Gaulle became the first President of France’s Fifth Republic. He defied Washington, built a nuclear arsenal and cemented a vision of strategic military independence that is more relevant today than ever
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    On this day in 1959, Charles de Gaulle became the first President of France’s Fifth Republic. He defied Washington, built a nuclear arsenal and cemented a vision of strategic military independence that is more relevant today than ever


    On this day in 1959, Charles de Gaulle became the first President of France’s Fifth Republic. He defied Washington, built a nuclear arsenal and cemented a vision of strategic military independence that is more relevant today than ever

    https://i.redd.it/7zv0xblyc2cg1.jpeg

    Posted by goldstarflag

    View 28 Comments

    28 Comments

    1. goldstarflag on

      Imagine if all of Europe did the same as France and built their own equipment. We wouldn’t be in the situation we are in now.

      There’d still be the issue of fragmentation, but that can be solved through integration and streamlining through the EU; speeding up the ever-closer Union 🇪🇺.

    4. Elpsyth on

      On top of preventing the colonization plans that US had for France 10y prior. The US post war plans for France were completely unhinged with US soldier coming in during the landings with fake puppet money to destabilise the local economy and to legitimise setting up a US puppet state.

      Roosevelt personal distaste of the man nearly led to a massive conflict straight after the war.

      This chain if event led him to double down on the suspicion toward US and created the strategic planning that was followed by most presidents until the 2000s.

      Edit: It did not help either that he had the example from when the US established measures to prevent France from rebuilding after WW1 while flooding Germany with money to rebuild. They also engineered a financial crisis in France during that time and prevented the Treaty of Versailles to be applied (it being harsh and the reason if the Weimar republic failing is nazi propaganda, in practice it was never really applied nor enforceable)

      Edit²: Him and Adenauer had actually the vision of a strong integrated Europe independent from US and it nearly came to fruition in 1963 with the Elysee treaty. Unfortunately the US pulled the leash and the German parliament decided unilaterally to betray France and to spit on De Gaulle and Adenauer vision, trying Germany and any European initiatives evermore to the US. This actually pushed Dr Gaulle away from integration since Germany was not willing to play ball.

    5. loxiw on

      The only european with guts to say no and regain some sovereignty for his country whilst the rest of Europe remained as colonies.

    8. Top_Standard_5659 on

      This makes me want to read all the classic Asterix albums over again🇪🇺🇫🇷

    10. _Razeft_ on

      he understood that they couldn’t become subservient to the USA, too bad the rest of Europe didn’t understand that

    11. wilhelmtherealm on

      Someone like him would have been considered right wing on liberal forums like reddit lol

    12. VenitianBastard on

      He was still kind of a dick in inciting separatist movements in Canada during the ’67 Expo

    13. Flash_Haos on

      He was also always against any real European integration and against European defense community.

    17. Delcane on

      I remember thinking 15 years ago that the french obsession with having their own version of everything was redundant and moronic in a world that I assumed was heading towards global peace and cooperation. OMG how f wrong I was

    18. Menhkte on

      The fact he is still relevant 60 years later is a big failure. It shouldn’t be the case

    19. BeatTheMarket30 on

      He probably had negative experience with UK and US during WW2 which helped to form his opinions.

    20. JohannaFRC on

      The sole man to me who truly successfully overcame the right and left ideologies to create something unique and exceptionnaly powerful.

    22. Ambitious-Bit5982 on

      We have become a dependent colony of the US. It’s time to move out of mom and dad’s house and be independent.

    26. NecessaryStory4504 on

      “The truth is that the Americans will end up being hated by everyone. Even by their most unconditional allies,” General de Gaulle confided to Alain Peyrefitte in 1963. I’m rereading “It Was De Gaulle” by Alain Peyrfitte, a collection of conversations and observations recorded by Peyrfitte, a close minister and confidant of Charles de Gaulle. The book offers an intimate portrait of the General through direct dialogues, revealing his political philosophy, strategic thinking, personality, and vision for France. Sixty years later, these conversations are strikingly relevant (unfortunately not translated into English; it really should be).