Political Leaders & Revolutionaries Codexery

Charles de Gaulle

French general and statesman who led Free France and founded the Fifth Republic.

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He was raised by a father who was a professor of history and literature and a mother descended from wealthy entrepreneurs.[1][2] De Gaulle graduated 13th in his class from the military academy Saint-Cyr in 1912.[3] Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle, the third of five children, was born on 22 November 1890 in Lille to a family that was devoutly Catholic, conservative, and monarchist.[4][5]

Key facts and history

De Gaulle won a place at Saint-Cyr in 1909 with a mediocre class ranking of 119th out of 221.[6] His company commander initially declined to promote him to sergeant, but he was eventually promoted in September 1910.[7] De Gaulle spent 32 months in prisoner camps, made five unsuccessful escape attempts, and wrote his first book, Discorde chez l'ennemi, published in 1924.[8][1][9] He returned to France, became a lecturer at Saint-Cyr, and studied at the École de Guerre from November 1922 to October 1924, graduating in 52nd place.[10][11]

From 1 July 1925 he worked as a ghostwriter for Pétain, but friction arose over the book Le Soldat.[12][13] De Gaulle was promoted to major on 25 September 1927 and commanded the 19th chasseurs à pied in Trier.[14] In October 1913, de Gaulle was elevated to the rank of first lieutenant.[15]

What the research sources say

The Lille Municipal Archives record that de Gaulle was born at 9 rue Princesse in Lille and was the third of five children.[5] The charles-de-gaulle.org chronology states that he was received at the Saint-Cyr entrance competition on 30 September 1909, ranking 119th out of 221.[3] The same source notes that he published a story under the name Charles de Lugale in January 1910.[3] The chronology records that de Gaulle was promoted to sergeant on 27 September 1910 and entered Saint-Cyr on 14 October 1910.[3]

It also states that he graduated 13th out of 211 on 1 September 1912 with an appraisal noting his energy, zeal, and command.[3] The same chronology notes that he published his first book, La Discorde chez l'ennemi, on 1 March 1924.[16]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fenby, "The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved", Simon & Schuster, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Frans Debrabandere: Woordenboek van de familienamen in België en Noord-Frankrijk, L.J. Veen, 2003.; Fenby, "The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved", Simon & Schuster, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. "Chronologie 1909–1918", charles-de-gaulle.org. facts only, no text reused. web.archive.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "1890: l'acte de naissance de Charles de Gaulle", Lille Municipal Archives, 4 February 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. "1890: l'acte de naissance de Charles de Gaulle", Lille Municipal Archives, 4 February 2016. facts only, no text reused. web.archive.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lacouture 1991, pp. 9–10 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fenby writes that he did promote him to sergeant at this point, which does not tally with Lacouture and other more detailed accounts; Lacouture 1991, pp. 16–17; "Chronologie 1909–1918", charles-de-gaulle.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jean Lacouture, De Gaulle: The Rebel, 1890–1944 (1990) pp. 42–54. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Chronologie 1909–1918", charles-de-gaulle.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lacouture 1991, p. 64 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lacouture 1991, pp. 66–71, 213–5; Fenby, "The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved", Simon & Schuster, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fenby, "The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved", Simon & Schuster, 2010; Lacouture 1991, pp. 77–86 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lacouture 1991, pp. 84–7; "Chronologie 1921–1939", charles-de-gaulle.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lacouture 1991, p. 88; Lacouture 1991, p. 84; Fenby, "The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved", Simon & Schuster, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Charles de Gaulle" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lacouture 1991, pp. 24–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  16. "Chronologie 1921–1939", charles-de-gaulle.org. facts only, no text reused. web.archive.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Charles de Gaulle (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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