Charles de Gaulle Quotes
At no place in this world can I yield a single French right.
Charles De Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President, Statement to Wendell Willkie, North Africa, 1942
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Baratier wanted to defend Fashoda at all costs as a matter of French honor. The Minister was trying to broaden his understanding of French honor and avoid a military defeat. A diplomatic solution was found that preserved everyone’s honor.
The French have for over 1000 years had a nationalistic ego that was, compared to other countries, very extreme. Highly nationalistic Frenchmen have almost always felt that the French were not proud enough of their exalted role in the history of human civilization. De Gaulle was the most extreme but Chevenement was not too far behind.
Hobson, like Mark Twain in America, was a major critic of imperialism.
He had become a French Hero for leading a small expedition 2000 miles across Africa to take possession of Fashoda on the White Nile and then facing down the British who arrived later at this strategic place. An international incident developed and the French government yielded and finally ordered Marchand to withdraw.
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to reestablish democracy in France. In 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position to which he was reelected in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969.
