Charles de Gaulle: The man behind the myth

This week, we're exploring the life and legacy of Charles de Gaulle, who died 50 years ago this week. To many, he's the undisputed French hero: a wartime leader who led the Resistance to the Nazis in World War II before years later becoming the first president of the Fifth Republic. For much of his life, he lived in the village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, where he and his wife Yvonne raised their children. We visit his much-loved home and learn more about the man behind the myth.
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[@RASinger]

As Churchill once called him: “The Constable of France”.

[@flamingkusarigama2726]

un héros loué pour son excellence face au défi de son pays, vive la france. Salut de maroc 🇲🇦.

[@avalonjustin]

He was a hero for his country!

[@islemmmn4502]

Dfk hero ?? R u serious ?? Did u know how many Algerian he killed ??

[@avalonjustin]

@@islemmmn4502 Shouldn't you be out beheading infidels?

[@islemmmn4502]

@@avalonjustin LMAO .. where did you get that from ?! CNN ? BBC ? Or cartoon

[@islemmmn4502]

@@avalonjustin and don't change the subject killer to ya is hero ??

[@missymiami6798]

He was a hero to France not a hero to Africa He did it for France not for africa

[@EndingSimple]

This man knew what love of country was.

[@pauldh62]

I couldn't have been more than 10 when, during the school holidays, I was watching tv - short film snaps of disjointed modern history - and one was of de Gaulle and his wife tending their daughter's grave. It was taken from a distance and in secret. I immediately felt ashamed and embarrassed as I saw those long sweeping arms take a wreath and a petite lady busying herself around him. I felt that I had intruded upon a private family moment and sensed that somehow he knew.

[@wonjubhoy]

The greatest Frenchman of all time.

[@samadams1691]

the man with ultimate courage and wisdom ...

[@scottmurphy650]

Courage? He hid out in Britain.

[@Feras_Plays]

And killed many africans ​@@scottmurphy650

[@jeanvaljean4876]

​@@scottmurphy650he fought during ww1 in verdun. Tried to escape 3 times when prisonner of war. Tell me more about hiding in britain please

[@didierroux1547]

@@scottmurphy650 While the traitor Petain handed over the sovereignty of France to the Nazis who bled France dry from 1940 to 1944, plunging the French into poverty and famine, thus increasing mortality.

[@drlca6601]

Merci beaucoup pour ce documentaire.

[@grrumakemeangry]

Lol I might be a bit scared standing up there. I can imagine being clumsy enough to fall lol

[@jml8914]

De Gaulle’s history has influenced a lot in my life. He was extraordinary.

[@reevanamin5865]

My favorite modern European leader.

[@DianaKazimiera-]

Général De Gaulle 🇫🇷 absolument, fantastique person et armée Leader. Respect, honoré et SALUT ! 🕊️🇵🇱🤝 (très intéressant archives)

[@gandigooglegandigoogle7202]

this guy was a great great man !

[@nowhereman6019]

"Maintenant, elle est comme les autres."

[@nicolemilman1795]

As the mother of a daughter with quite moderate autism, his connection to Anne is very touching to me 🕊💛🙏

[@jme104]

They were richer people than De Gaulle, but if you'd give me his house, I would accept the gift .

[@mrpeel3239]

Great history and presentation.

[@wendihong19]

C'est beau

[@drusif85]

Great feature!!

[@nicbahtin4774]

He was based

[@muhammadazfar97]

Impressive...

[@miadahhajbi6442]

He was my very rich grandfather's very best friend he used to put my mom when she was a baby in his lap and feed her his favorite cookies! Oh yah my mom she used to love him too much all her life

[@NOC1TIME]

Deeper questions. What was Allan Dulles's issue with De Gaulle ?

[@Booer]

the grinch: "...what are you doing up there!?!?!"

[@DJS11811]

"Austere"? It's still a Mansion.

[@robertfawcett332]

Yeah but this is France. 😂

[@sophicakes22]

Is the house a museum now ??

[@markfalcoff1743]

Yes

[@pierrevanhalteren5733]

Je lis bien la fascination pour de Gaulle et suis certains qu'il avait plein de qualités mais qu'a-t-il exactement FAIT pour mérité cet aura ? Je veux dire ce sont les alliés qui ont libéré la France, pas lui. Pour ce qui est de la résistance en France, elle était de tous bords politiques et notamment en grande partie communiste. Pas l'impression que c'était la tasse de thé de De Gaulle le communisme, donc on ne peut absolument pas dire qu'il était à la tête de la résistance française, la résistance étant aussi principalement en contact direct avec les alliés. Mon impression est qu'il représente la stabilité politique Française de l'après-guerre et qu'il a permis aux Français en quelque sorte de s'auto-convaincre d'une sorte d'auto-libération totalement imaginaire. A ce jours on se rend compte que paradoxalement la libération a été mal vécue comme car étant si étroitement associée aux anglo-saxons, envers lesquels une méfiance subsiste à ce jour. Une déroute si brutale en 1939 suivie par une libération par les anglo-saxons. Une forme de double humiliation et la "fabrication" en quelque sorte d'un héro de la libération a permis d'édulcorer ce narratif. Juste une théorie.

[@didierroux1547]

@pierrevanhalteren Ce qu il fait ? De Gaulle s'est battu en Mai 1940 a Montcornet le 17 mai 1940, pendant que petain arrivant a Paris le même jour, après trois lâches refus depuis 1939, (planqué en Espagne) refusait d occuper le poste de Ministre de la Guerre qu'on lui proposait logiquement car petain l'avait déjà occupé l'année 1934 (On est très loin du soi disant stratège de 14-18) Pour les alliés il y avait la 2eme DB de Leclerc qui rentrera dans Paris le 25 aout 1944. Et puis des militaires Français avaient rejoint en 1940 la France libre de De Gaulle, dont des pilotes Français qui combattront même dans la bataille d Angleterre juillet-octobre 1940

[@joachim_007]

He was a hero for his country only but not for Europe.

[@Backwardlooking]

👍🏻✌️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@ddeeddee1380]

Main street in New Orleans

[@teodytrinidad9497]

For the love that you did not find.

[@ScrapironRyann]

And I’ve got toothache and a gammy nail

[@ripper2045]

Dinosaur obsessed with his colonies

[@wizard380]

So much propaganda....he begged the americans and the brits to let him march first into paris so he can be the hero. French contribution to ww2 was very small.

[@chourtout]

it was Leclerc who liberated paris, why americans would refuse De Gaulle to parade ?

[@didierroux1547]

​@@chourtout General De Gaulle was in the stands with the other Allied leaders, watching and saluting the Allied troops as they marched during the parade.

[@cizerqantz1399]

Thats her... Miss Masssih

[@geoffreyguthe6623]

First

[@DianaKazimiera-]

Congratulations 🕊️🤝

[@brianbrady4496]

Mr take all the credit for France liberation.... Without the allies he would have never walked in France again... Of course he basically boasted that he did it all himself...

[@jamesgordon2788]

You could say that about everybody, without the Americans the British would never have defeated the Germans or the Japanese

[@oraclesight8613]

He has the right to claim the credit because he kept France free after the liberation , he is the reason France did not become a vassal of the US like many other european countries who ultimately became completely dependent on US armies and nuclear weapons.

[@jeanvaljean4876]

The most loved french of all time.... even before Napoléon, that must be for something... He had France in his blood. He fought in verdun. Has been pow, tried to escape to fight back in France during ww1. He was the only one having victory over germans in May 1940. Dont touch De Gaulle. He is a legend. He had the courage no one has ever had for France.

[@commonsenserevolutionx1053]

Whenever I think of Charles DeGaulle, it is synonymous with arrogance, pompous, self-importance and irrelevance. He just didn’t understand that France whimped out against the Nazis, needed the allies to liberate them, and lost it’s prominence as a major player in the world after WWII. A most unlikable individual.

[@latinman1736]

Being a bit unfair on De Gaulle are we? He stopped a French civil war at least twice, he brought an end to the “dirty war” in Algeria, he worked with Adenauer to create the bedrock of the EU, he insisted that France develop an independent nuclear strike force (unlike the British who rely on US built missile systems and US based maintenance work), he maintained French interests in Africa and ensured extremely close relations with most of the former colonies, he positioned France in such a way that she would not be forced to follow the US down any “liberation” rabbit holes (think second Iraq war and “Saddam’s definitely real WMDs”) unlike Britain which has never refused to join the United States in their latest crusade, and his dream of a Europe independent of the US or the Soviets/Russians is becoming a reality every single day. In short, he was prone to human faults, but he saved France on multiple occasions and established the desire for a strong independent Europe. And also remember this, France’s sister nation of the UK harks on about independence from the EU despite not desiring independence from the US (and with the United States’ current propensity to make questionable elections decisions, i would not want to be tied to them).

[@michabell1713]

France didn't wimp out against the Nazis they made bad decision like leaving a part of the boarder undefended thinking the Nazis couldn't go through it that's why they had to surrender

[@blowbert9126]

No offense but France was beaten because of its leaders and continuing a useless fight is just stupid. No use in destroying more human lives if the battle is lost. And De Gaulle is not unlikable, even i as a finnish person can understand his goals during ww2 and after it.

[@blackalien6873]

He turned France into the modern France of today. He wrote the constitution of the 5ème République. He gave the colonies their independence. He stood up to American hegemony. He orchestrated the French/German centered Europe. He was a great man of the 20th century.

[@Yrathus]

@@blackalien6873 He didn’t write the constitution

[@alainjearue7434]

second

[@marcoAKAjoe]

The presenter is attractive. Lol French resistance...

[@alexybruder8550]

Sans la résistance le débarquement serait un échec mais apparemment vous les américains vous aimez cracher sur les gens qui vous aident et n'oubliez pas qui ont été vos alliés pendant la guerre d'indépendance des Etats Unis

[@scottmurphy650]

Don't you mean Charles de _Gutless?_

[@wonjubhoy]

Utter nonsense. He was seen in battle at the start of world war 1 refusing to take cover fighting the Germans in dinant. De Gaulle was incapable of feeling fear. He continued the fight for France's freedom while under sentence of death. The gutless french supported the traitorous vichy government.

[@islemmmn4502]

Murder and killer

[@redcardinalist]

dont talk pish