80 years ago: De Gaulle’s Appeal of 18 June 1940 still resonates
The Appeal to Resistance against Nazism and France’s Occupation and Collaboration, recorded on the 22nd on the BBC (UK), still defines what mean vision, courage, and the fight for what is true, good and just.
There are days in a calendar year that matter, and today is one of them.
On 18th June 1940, General de Gaulle decided to take a grip on the course of history and made a call from the BBC to all French people and forces wherever they were, who didn’t want to surrender to the enemies, to join him in the Resistance against Nazim and Petain’s government capitulation and collaboration.
Although relations between Sir W. Churchill and Charles de Gaulle are known to have been at times a bit colourful – they were both strong personalities – their respective written memories show clearly how well they respected and appreciated one another.
Here is the original speech of the Gal de Gaulle recorded by the BBC (in French) with the transcript in French too.
It seems impossible to find a reliable English translation of it, unfortunately. Please check this relatively faithful one, close to the original, on the BBC.
Further information on the Appeal will be found on the Memory of the World Register UNESCO
At the margin, one interesting detail: Francois Mitterrand, who was the first French socialist president elected in 1981 since the end of WW2, was the former Home Office Secretary (‘Minister of Interior’) under Petain’s collaboration government. He’s got decorated with the Order of the Francisque – the highest emblem of merit created by the Petainist Nazi-aligned political regime.
De Gaulle was sentenced to death by the same regime for ‘treason, for undermining/threatening/endangering national security and for desertion in times of war’.
A very inspiring Appeal to meditate nowadays.
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