Ask any conservative French politician to define his or her vision for society, and it is an absolute certainty that they will mention Charles de Gaulle. The name of the country’s Second World War leader, and most famous modern president, is shorthand for Gallic might and morality – the embodiment of all that makes traditional citizens proud of themselves in the land that also produced Joan of Arc.
Such reverence has not only motivated those seeking public office, but united the population through extremely turbulent times. The precise meaning of Gaullism has been debated constantly, but adherents generally describe it as a version of nationalism expressed through centralised government – one that places trust in a dynamic figurehead who knows exactly where France has been, and where it is going. It views Leftist politics as inherently divisive, replacing it with Right-wing consensus. The result, Gaullists argue, is effective rule.
Just as Britain undoubtedly benefited from a post-war consensus, so Gaullism helped produce les Trente Glorieuses – the three decades of impressive economic growth that started in 1945. The Republic took on challenges with a near-Napoleonic vigour, asserting herself on the world stage as a self-styled rival to America and the Soviet Union, while also claiming joint leadership of Europe alongside Germany. Even those who might be considered diametrically opposed to everything De Gaulle stood for – including Socialists and members of the far-right Front National – adopted the Gaullism tag when it suited them.
In fact they still do, and this is one of the reasons why contemporary usage of the term must be revised or – even better – slain like a once powerful but now woefully anachronistic dragon. Gaullism has outlived its rational historical usefulness, and those trying to manipulate the ideology for electoral gain need to think up something far more original and relevant to the modern era.
A key date in the long sweep of history relating to De Gaulle is 1970 – the year Le Général breathed his last at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, his adopted village, east of Paris. Announcing this massive shock to the national psyche on television a few hours later, President Georges Pompidou simply said: “General de Gaulle is dead. France is a widow.”
It was perfectly acceptable that those who immediately carried on where De Gaulle left off, including Monsieur Pompidou himself, called themselves Gaullists. Theirs was an exercise in restrained pragmatism focused on a very particular idea of France. De Gaulle’s base was made up of white, Roman Catholic conservatives who had a quasi-mystical faith in their rural nation – or La France profonde as it was often referred to.
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