GENERAL DE GAULLE'S PROGRESS
By RENk CASSIN*
y F Britain's victorious resistance to German air attack is the I most important event of the last two months, there is another which fully deserves to be set beside it—the rebirth of an Allied France, taking up the fight again at the call of General de Gaulle. By the surrender of June 17th, the Bordeaux Govern- ment threw up the sponge completely. By handing over to Hitler and Mussolini an intact navy and a powerful and unviolated oversea empire, it was guilty both of blunder and of treachery. France at that moment seemed to be finally crushed. In that tragic hour one man had the courage to run up the flag again. General de Gaulle, Under-Secretary at the Ministry of War, who had come on a special mission to London before the fall of the Reynaud Government, declared on the radio on June 18th that there was no final defeat, and he called on free Frenchmen, soldiers or technicians, to join him and the Allied forces.
Although the General was less known to the general public than to technicians, the moral effect of his inspiring message was immense throughout every region of France, kept ignorant till then of what was happening. The shattering occupation of the Atlantic ports by the Germans, and the number of British, Polish, Czech or Belgian subjects crowding on to the few ships able to leave for England, unhappily prevented numbers of volunteers, both soldiers and civilians, from placing themselves at General de Gaulle's side. The arrival in London of poli- ticians sufficiently representative to form themselves there into a National Committee or even a Government of National Resistance, was prevented by a skilful manoeuvre of the men of Bordeaux, who pretended to be desirous Of moving to Algeria. The adhesion of the chief commanders of the navy and the Governors of the colonies and protectorates was lacking equally. General Catroux, the Governor-General of Indo-China, the moment he made a move towards de Gaulle, was relieved of his functions and accepted the situation, but his personal adhesion to de Gaulle remains. In spite of all this, on June 27th the British Government declared that it recog- nised General de Gaulle as leader in this country of all free Frenchmen, wherever they might be, who associated themselves with him in support of the Allied cause. Thus a new era dawned.
Holding no official position, the General set himself forth- with to create a legion of volunteers to direct a national move- ment, unprovided for the moment with a territorial seat, and dissociated from the influence of any political group. The first end was rapidly achieved. By a stroke of fortune unique in history, British soil in June, 1940, had offered its hospitality to certain French corps, notably the Foreign Legion, withdrawn from Norway after brilliant achievements at Namsos and at Narvik, and to many thousand French wounded, rescued at Dunkirk. Some of --the finest units of our fleet were lying in British harbours. These elements, in spite of a very natural depression, vigorously exploited by an active counter-propa- ganda, furnished the first volunteers and soon associated with them soldiers, sailors and aviators who had left France to escapo Nazi servitude, or Syria to fight in Egypt. Finally, an admir- able body of youth from all grades of society succeeded by every kind of heroic effort in joining the new chief. The bitter tragedy of Oran, imposed by the Germans and Italians, checked for no more than a few days the stream which continues to feed the new army, already many thousands in strength. From July 21st French aviators, fighting at the side of their British com- rades, have been executing effective raids on north-west Germany and against the Italian troops in Somaliland and Libya, and many warships of the latest types have carried out audacious operations ; one of them has brought down four
*M. Cassin was, till the capitulation, Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Paris. He is a former President of the French Ex- ,Service Men's Association.
German aeroplanes. A considerable French merchant navy is making its contribution to the provisioning of the Allies.
On August 7th, the period of organisation was crowned by an agreement which constitutes the charter of the Free French forces, their personnel and their material, and which, at the same time, is invested with the highest importance in the sphere of international affairs. By it the British Government declared itself resolved " as soon as the Allied armies have gained the victory, to assure the complete restoration of the independence and the greatness of France." General de Gaulle, on his side. declared that his forces, destined as they were to combat the Allies' common foe, might be called on to defend British territory and communications. This agreement, together with the Allied Forces Act of August 22nd, 1940, must be regarded as elements in the cohesive system of alliances which the British Empire has just concluded with the other States resolved to continue the struggle in spite of German occupation—Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Norway, Belgium, Holland. The significance of the war for liberty against the totalitarians is revealed in all its clarity.
Now the third phase has opened. In July the signal for the movement towards General de Gaulle was given by the popu- lation and the French Commissioner of the New Hebrides, where a Franco-British condominium prevails. In New Caledonia the united population, failing to find its sentiments approved by the Governor, issued direct appeals to the General and the Allies. But it is in the heart of Africa that in these last days the most decisive events have taken place. On August 26th Chad, which commands the southern frontiers of Italian Libya and communications between Europe and Central Africa, spontaneously declared its adhesion to Free France. On the 27th and 28th, General de Gaulle's representatives, acclaimed by the population and the leading chiefs, assumed the adminis- tration of that part of the Cameroons placed under French mandate. The important naval base of Duala is in safe hands.
On the 28th Colonel de Larminat, who had come from Syria and Egypt, assumed at Brazzaville the Governorship of French Equatorial Africa. All French Congo has thus placed itself under the new flag, and any possible manoeuvres by Germany at Leopoldville, the capital of the Belgian Congo, will be uncle' vigilant scrutiny.
A movement of this magnitude raises delicate questions. General de Gaulle is not only the leader of free Frenchmen, but is becoming the leader of free France. He must face up to the needs of the defence of the Colonial territories placed under his guardianship and concern himself equally with their econo- mic interests. In this sphere, Mr. Winston Churchill, in a letter published on August 28th, emphatically renewed the assurance of British support which he had already promised in the House of Commons and in broadcast speeches. On the other hand, the various parts of the French Empire which are joining the Allies are providing valuable strategic bases. They will make their full contribution in men, material resources and devotion, to the common victory. Thus, the execution of the programme of General de Gaulle and those who are fighting at his side goes forward. First of all, to save France's honour, to rekindle the flame of resistance, to maintain the alliance and defend the Empire, that is the part of the task we are at present discharging. It will call for vast effort yet. The deliverance of shattered France and the restoration of her liberty and her greatness, are the supreme goal set before her sons who are still free. No obstacle will avail to withhold them from it.
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