Summary
Charles de Gaulle was the principal leader of Free France during World War II and later one of the major architects of the French Fifth Republic.
Historical role
He matters because he embodied the claim that France continued politically and morally beyond the armistice and occupation, and because his later career linked wartime legitimacy to postwar state reconstruction.
Connections
Useful for linking Free France, wartime legitimacy, liberation politics, and the later remaking of the French state.