Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

France has faced many difficulties over the centuries as a nation. Wars, athoritarianism, plagues, revolutions, hummiliation by Hitler have all played a role. Then after the second World War a new leader came to power that would affect the nation as a whole. His name was General Charles de Gaulle. From this brief statement a question needs to be asked. What was Charles de Gaulle’s impact on France’s re-emergence as a great nation ? To help answer this question three main areas will be discussed. These areas are de-colonization, foreign policy and Gaullism. Charles de Gaulle accepted to lead the country in 1958. He came to power only if a new constitution could be put in place. This was accepted by a referendum of a vast majority and gave “the executive much broader powers” . Charles de Gaulle now had the tools needed to bring about France’s re-emergence. Algeria and de-colonization were a problem that Charles de Gaulle