Charles de Gaulle was the savior and shaper of modern France—Free French leader in World War II, founder of the Fifth Republic, and embodiment of French grandeur. A professional soldier who rejected France's 1940 surrender, de Gaulle broadcast from London: 'France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war.'
De Gaulle led Free France throughout the war and headed the provisional government after liberation. Disgusted by Fourth Republic instability, he returned to power in 1958 during the Algerian crisis, creating the Fifth Republic with its strong presidency. He granted Algeria independence, developed French nuclear weapons, and withdrew from NATO's military command to assert French independence.
De Gaulle's nationalism was neither left nor right—he combined dirigiste economics with conservative social values, anti-Americanism with anticommunism. 'France cannot be France without grandeur.' His vision of Europe was a 'Europe of nations,' not supranational integration. Student protests and economic crisis forced his resignation in 1969. De Gaulle remains France's defining 20th-century figure, his influence visible in every French president since.