THE CALL OF 18 JUNE BY GENERAL DE GAULLE OR THE SPIRIT OF RESISTANCE

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Appeal of June 18, part of the commemorative cycle of "the year of Gaulle", the Head of State pays tribute this Thursday to General de Gaulle. The President of the Republic calls, on this occasion, to the unity of the nation, while all his opponents compete for the heritage of General de Gaulle.

"Revive the embers" of the nation's values.

Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by many political figures, attended the traditional military ceremony at the Mont-Valérien memorial, west of Paris, to honor the memory of the roughly one thousand hostages and resistance fighters executed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

The Patrouille de France and the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force patrol, flew over the memorial and the Invalides.

Before going to Mont-Valérien, Emmanuel Macron spent an hour at the Musée de la Liberation, with Hubert Germain, 99, one of the first companions in Free France in 1940 and one of the four last Companions of the Liberation still alive.

“We have to be inspired by this strength of soul. Even when the love of the fatherland seems to fade (...) the example of the General must inspire the young generations.

Do not give in to confusion and doubt. The embers can be rekindled and they can burn again, ”he told the former resistance fighter.

The President of the Republic then had to fly to London to pay homage to the city which was the capital of free France.

In the presence of Prince Charles, Mr. Macron will deliver the Legion of Honor to the city of London, the seventh city thus decorated after Algiers, Belgrade, Brazzaville, Liège, Luxembourg and Volgograd.

The day after his arrival in London, General de Gaulle had called on the French military, engineers and workers to join him to continue the fight against Nazi Germany, despite the armistice requested by Marshal Pétain. "Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not go out and will not go out," he said in concluding his speech. Emmanuel Macron will be received at Clarence House, residence of Prince Charles, heir to the British crown, and his wife, Camilla.

This trip will be for the Head of State the second event in the framework of "the year of Gaulle" after the celebration, on May 17, of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Montcornet (Aisne) and before the 50th anniversary of the death of the general in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, November 9. The historian Serge Berstein summarizes, for the newspaper L'Opinion, the Elysian intentions behind these productions.

“What is striking for historians is that it commemorated the anniversary of the Battle of Moncornet, a small local victory that had no effect in a France that completely collapsed in 1940. Emmanuel Macron took the opportunity to celebrate 'the French spirit of resistance'. He implicitly poses as heir to the General. After all, that’s what history is for politicians: to rise to the height of one who is considered a role model, ”he said.

"The DNA of our family"

Emmanuel Macron is not the only one to claim to be General de Gaulle, in particular as the defender of the "sovereignty" of France, a word now used by the entire political class.

Right and left parties claim, in this moment of social crisis against a background of health and economic crisis, of General de Gaulle. While for the Republicans (LR) the general is "the DNA of our family", according to the leader of the party, Christian Jacob, he is a man who “never joined the invisible hand of the market and preferred planning”, for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France insoumise (LFI). For its part Marine Le Pen, the president of the National Rally (RN), went on Wednesday to the island of Sein to commemorate the call of June 18. Citing as an example its defense of the independence of France, it now considers that the RN is the real heir to the values ​​of De Gaulle.