Enter the superman:
De Gaulle’s contribution to the Second World War was not a military one. Until 1943 he had almost no forces under his command and, even after this date, Free French armies were never large enough to make a difference. Comparing himself to the French leader in the First World War, de Gaulle said that Clemenceau had given France “the fact of victory”. He, de Gaulle, by contrast had “aroused a mystique”. After the Liberation, de Gaulle was briefly head of government and then, for several years, the leader of the right-wing Rassemblement du Peuple Français. These political actions tarnished the mystique that he had built up before 1944. The mystique, however, was revived after his withdrawal from public life in 1953. He now devoted himself to the composition of his memoirs. They open with a striking passage: “all of my life, I have had a certain idea of France. Like the Madonna in the frescoes; like the princess in the fairytale”. De Gaulle’s “certain idea of France” revolved around grandeur and a desire to embrace the whole sweep of French history, taking in the achievements of monarchy, empire and republic. These were abstract ideas and, for that reason, powerful. They allowed de Gaulle a freedom of manoeuvre when it came to day-to-day politics, and they allowed his supporters to project many of their own notions on to him.
De Gaulle was great because he knew how to act the part. Actually doing great things was someone's else problem. The heavy lifting of the Second World War was done by the Russian foot soldier and the English speaking powers. Objectively, Canada did more to defeat Hitler than France. Being a nation of citizen soldiers, who desperately wanted to get home, we did our bit and went home. This allowed a prima donna like De Gaulle to take the credit for liberating France. In gratitude, the Liberator then travelled to Montreal, some twenty years later, and thanked Canada by trying to destroy it.
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