Resistance: London, France, Algeria

Abstract

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born on 22 November 1890. The name says much about his origins: Charles hinted at royalism (Charles X had been the last Bourbon to rule France); Joseph Marie evoked the devout catholicism which often accompanied royalism; de Gaulle was a sign of noble descent. The French upper classes did not choose names at random: de Gaulle’s own first son was to be named Philippe after his godfather Philippe Pétain. De Gaulle’s family belonged to a section of French society that had never accepted the Revolution of 1789. They regarded the Third Republic constitution of 1875 with particular distaste and they encouraged their children to seek careers in institutions such as the church and the army that were seen as untainted by France’s recent political history.