The Fifth Republic at 50: De Gaulle revived

A new interest in the general who founded the Fifth Republic NO FIGURE casts such a long shadow over modern France as Charles de Gaulle. Countless avenues, Paris’s main airport, a metro station, even an aircraft-carrier are named after him. Television viewers voted him the greatest Frenchman of all time. Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the Fifth Republic that he came out of retirement to found. This year has seen a surge of interest in the man whom admirers simply call le general. In February President Nicolas Sarkozy inaugurated a multimedia museum dedicated to him at Les Invalides in Paris; he will soon open another museum in the general’s home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises. The 40th anniversary of the May 1968 student revolt revived soul-searching about de Gaulle: how did the man who restored honour and pride to France after the humiliation of military defeat and collaboration lose legitimacy? ... (link)