He carried with him the message that if France were unable to hold onto the continent of Europe, she would continue the fight in North Africa. Ineffectual, its primary accomplishment was the building of morale. It was not until the Vichy government began outright collaboration with its German masters that his countrymen began to look to de Gaulle for leadership. Between the wars, de Gaulle participated in a brief campaign in Poland and served as a history instructor at Saint-Cyr. Occupation: General and President of France Born: November 22, 1890 in Lille, France Died: November 9, 1970 in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, France Best known for: Leading Free France during World War II Biography: Where did Charles de Gaulle grow up? Only after learning that the Germans occupying Paris had orders to destroy the city did Eisenhower issue the order for LeClerc to proceed to Paris in the interest of preventing a political crisis. Social welfare became the priority of her people and government. His desire for France to return to its former glory and power became an obsession. The killing fields had bled her of her youth and vitality. Arriving back in France, de Gaulle found the government packing up and preparing to flee Paris in the face of the German advance. Charles de Gaulle was the dominant political leader and grand figurehead of France during and after World War II. Appointed as the premier, he was given great authority, and history has credited him with improving the economy and solving the Algerian crisis. His pique at being left out of the Allied invasion of French North Africa and subsequent invitation to assist General Henri Giraud in forming a committee to oversee the French colonies led to a rebuke by Churchill. Regrouping two days later, he attempted to renew his attack and actually penetrated the German line, but was ordered to desist as his division was needed elsewhere. De Gaulle also realized there was not going to be any ‘Breton Redoubt’ or stand in Africa. Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician. Here he was, a refugee, an exile from his own country under sentence of death, in a position entirely dependent on the goodwill of the British government, and also now of the United States. He shed French blood in his disastrous attempt to take the port of Dakar in October 1940, accusing the Vichy government of ‘misusing the courage and discipline of those who were in subjection to them.’ In his attempt to get out from under the thumb of the Allies and establish Free French territory, de Gaulle mounted a series of small campaigns to liberate French Equatoria, causing many casualties with very little strategic results. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president of the United States for the majority of this time, from 1933 to 1945. He died the following year. De Gaulle demanded the Allies treat him and his followers as full partners, to include weapons and command of troops. Churchill wrote: ‘I resented his arrogant demeanor. De Gaulle despised Giraud and his people for their previous allegiance to the Vichy government and quickly phased them out of the committee, gaining complete control for himself. Eisenhower’s plan was to bypass Paris in favor of a move eastward, and he refused to detach LeClerc to de Gaulle. His arrogance was legendary among the Allies, and he claimed to all who would listen that he was the only true French government. Upon his return, a tired but determined de Gaulle formally informed Reynaud of his decision to leave for Britain to carry on the fight. This message hit hard in occupied France but initially it was less well received in Vichy France. Reynaud dispatched de Gaulle to England with a plea to send more British forces and aircraft. 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