Charles de Gaulle
He was the towering, stubborn symbol of French resistance who refused to accept his nation's defeat, shaping its modern identity and political system.
1890–1970 (age 80)·French general and statesman·Birthday: November 22·The Lost Generation
Biography
Charles de Gaulle was a man whose sense of destiny was as unshakeable as his physical stature. A career soldier wounded and captured in World War I, he found his ultimate calling in the catastrophic summer of 1940. While the French government surrendered, de Gaulle, then an obscure brigadier general, fled to London. From a tiny BBC microphone, his voice became the embodiment of 'a certain idea of France,' rallying the Free French against Nazi occupation. After liberating Paris, his principled but rigid style led to a retreat from politics, only for a crisis in Algeria to summon him back a dozen years later. He masterminded the Fifth Republic, granting the presidency sweeping powers to stabilize a nation, and steered France through decolonization and Cold War tensions with a fiercely independent foreign policy. His legacy is the very architecture of modern France.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Charles was born in 1890, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Charles Was Born
The biggest hits of 1890
Charles's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1890Born
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Started school
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1903Became a teenager
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Could drive
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Could vote
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 21
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 30
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 40
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 50
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1950Turned 60
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1960Turned 70
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1970Turned 80
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
Key Achievements
- Founded and led the Free French Forces from exile in London during World War II, maintaining France's place among the Allies.
- Served as President of the Provisional Government from 1944 to 1946, overseeing the liberation and reconstruction of France.
- Authored the constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1958, creating France's current semi-presidential system of government.
- Granted independence to Algeria in 1962 after a brutal war, fundamentally reshaping France's colonial footprint.
- Pursued a policy of 'national independence,' withdrawing France from NATO's integrated military command and developing its own nuclear deterrent.
Did You Know?
He was exceptionally tall for his era, standing 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m).
He survived multiple assassination attempts, most notably a 1962 attack where over a hundred bullets were fired at his car.
The Parisian airport, Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, is named in his honor.
He wrote several volumes of war memoirs that are considered major works of French literature.
“France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war.”
