Chapter 955 – De Gaulle Takes the Stage

“It seems the whole of France is clamoring for this hero to appear.” At the British Embassy in Paris, Alan Wilson, with a derisive look, joked with his colleagues.

Just five minutes ago, in a telegram from NATO headquarters, NATO Secretary General Sir Ismay had divulged that after communication with the United States, the American side favored de Gaulle.

God knows how reluctant the Americans were when they said this, but the thought of a hodgepodge of liberals, colonialists and even supporters of the monarchy against the anti-war forces represented by the French Communist Party. It was also true that Washington could not find a reliable candidate from among the hodgepodge.

If decades had passed since World War II, then all the parties would be pretty much the same and the French Communist Party would not be worth worrying about. But it’s not, the leaders of the French Communist Party of World War II are still alive, and the supporters of the French Communist Party have been baptized by the war.

General parties in the fight is certainly not a rival of the French Communist Party, this period of time Paris is almost paralyzed in the middle of the public opinion is on the verge of civil war, not to choose to let the French military support de Gaulle, who to choose?

The most capable military has already chosen de Gaulle, leaving Washington with few options, under comprehensive consideration, the choice of de Gaulle is almost inevitable, or choose the leader of the French Communist Party Dolezal?

The more chaotic the moment, the worse off the masses are, the faster that class mentality of the French Communist Party spreads.

Had it been decades later, there would have been numerous ways to diffuse the dangerous thinking down, but now, it was too close to a world war after all. The people who fought with the French Communists back then weren’t too old to move.

“De Gaulle is indeed a viable option, and Washington should have thought long and hard about making that judgment.” Avril has been in NATO for many years and knows well what the United States thinks of de Gaulle and France.

In general it was a bit of contempt, coupled with the belief that de Gaulle was not an obedient man, with little power and still jumping around.

Alan Wilson knew what Eiffel was talking about, “The instantaneous killing of more than two million French troops in World War II, by Manstein, really did deal a huge blow to the prestige that France had enjoyed for centuries.”

France’s performance in World War II blew the Americans away. The German army launched an onslaught on France. Americans believed that France could withstand the German attack because the French army was considered the strongest in the world. As a result, the Germans easily tore through the French defenses and encircled the French main force, which was eager to fly to the Belgian front.

Although it was a fierce battle between millions of troops, Germany and France played the war like a roulette wheel and ended it with a single bullet.

Although in a month’s time, the French army made the exchange ratio one to one, in the end, more than two million French troops were in the encirclement, and after the French surrendered, the United States thought that France was a coward.

From that time on, the United States no longer considered France worthy of respect, and now in NATO, France’s treatment and Belgium, the Netherlands in a level, NATO is the United States and Britain led by the military alliance.

From the position of France within NATO, it is known that even after the war, de Gaulle’s efforts, with the help of the United Kingdom squeezed into the permanent members of the United Nations, the Americans are only partially respect, did not take France as a real strong ally.

“The choice is actually quite simple, de Gaulle may be a prick, but it’s better than France turning into the Soviet Union, right?” Alan Wilson laughed at his colleagues.

British capital London, 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence, Cabinet Secretary Norman Brooke was practicing the flexible use of fourth-order tactics in front of Prime Minister Airdrie, “Minister Harold, according to the original plan to visit Egypt, if you can negotiate with Farouk I on the sale of aircraft carriers, it will be a great diplomatic victory as well, and Whitehall believes that supporting the Egyptian navy is used to make a difference in the African Zanzibar Sultanate on the east coast to maintain influence as a potentially excellent location for offshore balancing, and could help the Egyptian Crown boost its national self-confidence.”

“The navy is our area of expertise, and Egypt investing more in it poses a minimal threat to Britain. We could send the Egyptian navy to the bottom of the ocean in a day, but Egypt could help Britain by downplaying the colonial overtones of British Africa.”

“I would have wanted Harold to make a trip to Paris to express Britain’s concern about the situation in France.” Prime Minister Adderley was in a state of hesitation, the Prime Minister who had led Britain out of the quagmire after the war was indeed noticeably less energetic than he had been some years before.

“It is still too obvious a target for the Foreign Secretary to go to Paris himself, Allen is following the situation in Paris, as is Sir Ismay, both have deep experience, and most importantly they will not draw attention to themselves. It is still too easy to be concerned about where the minister is going. Especially at this time of year, we have no proof, but the French Communist Party is making a lot of noise this time, and there may be a private Soviet move.”

Norman Brooke explained the honorable status of the British Foreign Secretary, that it was not appropriate to go to Paris at the current time, and that the American Secretary of State had not gone to Paris, and that such a move, which could cause fluctuations in the polls, should be avoided as much as possible.

“It is true that the security of the Suez Canal is extremely important to Britain, and it is also true that it is important that we treat Egypt with a soft touch.” Adderley was eventually convinced by Norman Brooke, “Let Harold go to Cairo and express Britain’s importance and recognition of Egypt, the Admiralty’s desire to sell aircraft carriers to Egypt, and the joint use of the base in the Sultanate of Sanibar, all of these can be negotiated.”

“Prime Minister, you are incredibly wise.” Norman Brooke exclaimed, “It’s a bit of a compliment, but it’s only natural that you’ve been able to govern for so long, and that the love of the British citizens is justified.”

After the arrival of the Algerian French generals in Paris, the military’s statement of support for de Gaulle’s call to end the chaos quickly produced a strong reaction in France, in fact, de Gaulle’s supporters are still a lot of people, a lot of French people know that before, de Gaulle was unable to fight with the many powerful parties in the parliamentary system.

In this chaotic moment, countless de Gaulle supporters with all over the influx of Paris, hoping that de Gaulle out to clean up the mess.

At this time, de Gaulle, is accepting the concern expressed by Britain and the United States on France, was named by the Cabinet Secretary to mix seniority Alan Wilson, out of walking the special relationship between Britain and the United States considerations, in fact, he knew that de Gaulle’s character, Britain and the United States at this time to express their concern, will only inspire de Gaulle to be independent and autonomous determination.

This kind of occasion to pull hatred, or let the Americans perform better, he really wanted to tell de Gaulle, NATO has developed a plan to suppress the French Communist Party, so that de Gaulle a little more resolute.

De Gaulle told the NATO top brass that he was aware of the Free World’s concern for the current situation in France, as well as his own support. Immediately, he left NATO headquarters.

“Alan, it’s not like your work ethic to be so quiet today.” Sir Ismay was wondering, although this new Permanent Undersecretary of the Foreign Office had not had much contact with him, he at least knew that this young man was not usually this silent.

“I think it’s better to leave this opportunity to make a splash to the Americans for the sake of the special relationship between Britain and the United States.” Alan Wilson replied with a tone of I’ve grown up.

A mediocre person like him. Currently not ready to get involved in the high end of the bureau, or to the third world heavy handed is more suitable for him, not quite suitable in front of people like de Gaulle, big talk.

There are times when one has to choose between a dilemma that is not so bad, like de Gaulle and the French Communist Party.

The US wanted to go along with divesting its colonies from France at the end of WWII, and it was only because of Britain’s vital interest in speaking up for France in the midst of it because the British colonies were bigger than France’s that France’s overseas colonies were preserved.

During this process, many in the Roosevelt administration openly voiced the opinion that the American vision of France was only the France of Europe, not the overseas colonies.

This unspoken and true sentiment stung the French at the time, and the French leader at the time was de Gaulle.

Alan Wilson, who had disappeared for two days, decided to go to the movie studio to take a break and have a rest, to empathize with the French people and do some factual research, “Ingrid, the most famous scene in that Casa Bracca movie is the French singing the Marseillaise, right?”

“Well, yes!” Ingrid Bergman, who was experiencing the joys of manned spaceflight, responded vaguely.

“Sing it for me, will you?” Alan Wilson supported Ingrid Bergman’s body and said with a prayerful look.

De Gaulle, in the Place de la Cité in Paris, to a crowded street of supporters, accepting the appeal of René Coti, President of the Fourth Republic, to organize a cabinet, finished his speech by humming the Marseillaise, France’s national anthem, “Onward, sons and daughters of the fatherland, rise up, a glorious day awaits you!”

“We are oppressed by despotism, and the flag of tyranny stirs up blood. The enemy, with ghostly cries, is approaching at every step to kill our wives and sons and daughters.”

“Our fathers and brothers went to the front to die for their country, we enlisted in the army and continued to kill the enemy, burying the bodies of our compatriots with tears in our eyes, avenging the deaths of our countrymen and going forward to avenge the deaths of our countrymen. ……”

“These Frenchmen don’t sing as well as you do.” A long way from the street, Allen Wilson could only see in the distance with binoculars, the French in the middle of a cathartic mood, not forgetting to express loyalty to Ingrid Bergman with sunglasses.

“You’re a badass.” If her face hadn’t been hidden by the large sunglasses, Ingrid Bergman would have been spotted with a red haze.

Alan Wilson put down his binoculars and said something he only realized the meaning of himself, “The whole of France, one and all, should be grateful to me for being a bad man.”

Authorized to form a cabinet, de Gaulle, cheered by supporters, walked into the French National Assembly, the same day, the parliament voted to authorize de Gaulle to form a new government. At the same time through the authorization to give de Gaulle special powers for a period of six months, and to allow him to carry out constitutional reforms.

After more than a decade of hibernation, the hero who had led Free France once again appeared in the center of the political arena.