Kathryn Phelan, age 15, of Bowling Green, Ohio, for her question:
WHO WAS CHARLES DE GAULLE?
Charles DeGaulle was the most outstanding French patriot, soldier and statesman of the 1900s. He led the French resistance against Germany in World War II and restored order in France after the war. He guided the formation of France's Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as the nation's president for 11 years.
As president of France, DeGaulle restored political and economic stability and again made the nation one of Europe's leading powers. DeGaulle became a symbol of France to Frenchmen and to people in other parts of the world. He was an imposing six feet four inches tall. Some thought he was rude, stubborn and arrogant but it was probably because he was stern and often aloof.
DeGaulle had a deep love for France and great confidence in himself. After World War I, DeGaulle served in the French Army in various posts. When the Germans invaded France in 1940, DeGaulle had been in charge of one of France's four armored divisions. France surrendered to Germany quickly, however, and De Gaulle, then a general, escaped to London. He refused to accept the surrender. He said France had lost a battle but not the war.
In 1941, DeGaulle became President of the French National Committee in London and the alii'es accepted him as the unquestioned leader ofthe "Fighting French.0He made many broadcasts that stirred French patriotism and kept French resistance alive.
DeGaulle triumphantly entered Paris with the Allies in August, 1944 and became head of a provisional government. France's left wing parties did not support him and he resigned. In 1958, with France on the verge of civil war, DeGaulle accepted a request to form a new government and the Fifth Republic was established. As president, DeGaulle acted with great firmness. DeGaulle is especially remembered as one of Europe's most outstanding statesmen.
Charles De Gaulle was born in Lile, France, in 1890. His father was a professor who taught philosophy, literature and mathematics. His mother came from a literary and military family. He studied at the College Stanislas in Paris and then served a year in the infantry. There his height won him the nicknames of "Big Charles" and "Asparagus."
Then in 1911 DeGaulle was graduated with honors from Saint Cyr Military School, the West Point of France. During World War I he was wounded four times and taken prisoner by the Germans.
DeGaulle wrote two books between the two great wars: "The Edge of the Sword" in 1932 and "The Army of the Future" in 1934. DeGaulle died in 1970 at the age of 80 after suffering a heart attack.