Jim Behrens, age 16, of Columbus, Ohio, for his question:
WHO WAS CHARLES DE GAULLE?
Charles de Gaulle was an outstanding French patriot, soldier and statesman. He led French resistance against Germany in World War II and then restored order in France after the war. He guided the formation of France's Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its president for almost 11 years from 1958 to 1969.
An imposing figure, 6 feet 4 inches tall, De Gaulle was stern and aloof. Some thought him rude, stubborn and arrogant. But De Gaulle had a deep love for France and great confidence in himself. He firmly believed that he was the one man who could make France a great world power again.
De Gaulle was born in 1890. His father had been an officer in the Franco Prussian War and then became a professor of philosophy, literature and mathematics. His mother came from a literary and military family.
Young De Gaulle, along with one sister and three brothers, grew up in an atmosphere that was both military and religious. After studying at the College Stanislas in Paris, he served a year in the infantry. He then graduated with honors in 1911 from the famous French military school, St. Cyr.
He was wounded four times during World War I. Then after the war, De Gaulle served in Poland for a time with the French army and then he taught military history at St. Cyr. He also held various military commands.
After the Germans invaded France in 1940, De Gaulle was put in charge of one of France's four armored divisions. Then, just days after he was named undersecretary for war in May 1940, France surrendered to Germany.
De Gaulle, now a general, escaped to London. He refused to accept surrender. He said that France had just lost a battle, not the war.
De Gaulle headed a provisional government after the war, but at first was not supported by all the people. Then in 1958 French voters backed him and he became president.
As president of France, De Gaulle acted with great firmness. An agreement in Algeria ended more than seven years of bloody war. At De Gaulle's urging, the French people voted almost ten to one in April, 1962, for Algerian independence.
The election of 1962 made history. For the first time in France, one party De Gaulle's Union for a New Republic won as absolute majority. In a separate referendum, the voters also approved De Gaulle's proposal to elect future French presidents by direct popular vote.
In January, 1963, De Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany signed a treaty providing for political, scientific, cultural and military cooperation.
In 1964, France became the first Western power to recognize Communist China.
In 1965, De Gaulle narrowly won a second seven year term as president.
In 1966, De Gaulle announced his decision to withdraw French forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and remove the NATO headquarters from France.
In 1967, following what he had also done in 1963, De Gaulle blocked Britain's entry into the Common Market.
In 1969, De Gaulle's proposals for constitutional changes were defeated in a referendum and he resigned. He died on Nov. 9, 1970, after suffering a heart attack.