LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Gaulle, Charles De: Free French
built 269 days ago
When the Germans were driven back, De Gaulle had no rivals for leadership in France. Therefore in the fall of 1944 the French Parliament unanimously elected him premier. De Gaulle had fiercely opposed the German enemy, and now he vigorously defended France against the influence of his powerful allies Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt. De Gaulle once stated that he never feared Adolf Hitler, who, he knew, was doomed to defeat, but did fear that his allies would dominate France and Europe in the postwar period.
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De Gaulle managed to escape to England just before the armistice was signed by the French government handing France to the Nazis. From England, he made an impassioned appeal to the French (see opposite) on June 18th, 1940, asking them to unite with him to resist. He said:
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De Gaulle’s government was criticised within France, particularly for its heavy-handed style. While the written press and elections were free, the state had a monopoly on television and radio broadcasts (though there were private stations broadcasting from abroad; see ORTF) and the executive occasionally told public broadcasters the bias that they desired on news. In many respects, society was traditionalistic and repressive, especially regarding the position of women
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While Heinz Guderian and elements in the German Army General Staff had views similar to De Gaulle's, Pétain rejected most of De Gaulle's theories, and the relationship between them became strained. French politicians ... dismissed De Gaulle's theories, fearing the political reliablity of any professional army, with the notable exception of Paul Reynaud who would later play a major role in De Gaulle's career.
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