Crafting the Fifth Republic

With Algeria resolved, de Gaulle could focus on his grand design: transforming France into a modern power capable of independence in a bipolar world. The institutions of the Fifth Republic provided the tools. Now came implementation of a vision that would reshape France economically, socially, and internationally.

Presidential Monarchy

De Gaulle's conception of the presidency scandalized traditionalists. He was not merely head of state but active chief executive, intervening in all areas of policy. His press conferences became theatrical events where he lectured the nation and the world. His provincial tours resembled royal progresses, with carefully staged encounters with "la France profonde."

The 1962 constitutional amendment establishing direct presidential election was crucial. When the National Assembly censured his government for proposing this change, de Gaulle dissolved parliament and called a referendum. Despite opposition from all traditional parties, 62% approved. Henceforth, the president would derive legitimacy directly from the people, not from parliamentary combinations.

His governing style was imperious but effective. The weekly Council of Ministers became audiences where ministers reported to the monarch. Prime Ministers—even the loyal Michel Debré and Georges Pompidou—were clearly subordinates, executing presidential will. When they showed too much independence or became too popular, they were dismissed.

Yet this was not dictatorship. De Gaulle respected legal forms, submitted to elections, and accepted constitutional constraints. When the Constitutional Council ruled against him, he complied. When voters rejected his 1969 referendum, he resigned immediately. His was authoritarian democracy—government by a strong executive legitimated by popular sovereignty.

Economic Modernization

The 1960s saw France's most dramatic economic transformation since the industrial revolution. The "Thirty Glorious Years" of post-war growth reached their apogee under de Gaulle. GDP grew at 5.5% annually. Industrial production doubled. Living standards rose dramatically. France was becoming a modern, prosperous society.

De Gaulle's economic philosophy combined dirigisme with modernization. The state, through indicative planning and strategic intervention, guided development. Great projects—the Concorde, the nuclear program, the space program—demonstrated French technological prowess. The Common Market, accepted reluctantly, became a tool for forcing French industry to modernize through competition.

Social transformation accompanied economic growth. The rural exodus accelerated as agriculture mechanized. New towns sprouted around Paris. Consumer society arrived—televisions, refrigerators, automobiles became standard. The France of peasants and small shops was becoming the France of engineers and supermarkets.

But prosperity brought problems. Inflation eroded fixed incomes. Housing remained inadequate despite massive construction. Regional disparities increased as growth concentrated in Paris and major cities. Most ominously, the education system struggled to accommodate baby boomers reaching university age. These tensions would explode in 1968.

Nuclear Independence

No policy better exemplified Gaullist independence than the force de frappe—France's independent nuclear deterrent. Despite American opposition and enormous cost, de Gaulle pursued nuclear weapons as essential to sovereignty. "No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent," he declared.

The first French atomic bomb exploded in the Sahara in February 1960. By 1964, France had operational nuclear weapons. By 1967, hydrogen bombs. The strategic rationale was "proportional deterrence"—France couldn't match superpower arsenals but could inflict unacceptable damage on any aggressor.

Critics questioned spending billions on weapons unlikely to be used while social needs went unmet. NATO allies resented French nuclear unilateralism. But for de Gaulle, nuclear weapons were about more than military strategy. They symbolized France's refusal to depend on others for survival, its claim to great power status, its technological modernity.

Foreign Policy: The Politics of Grandeur

De Gaulle's foreign policy aimed at nothing less than breaking the bipolar world order. France would be the champion of independence, the voice of those refusing both American hegemony and Soviet domination. This "politics of grandeur" irritated allies, inspired smaller nations, and established France as a unique international actor.

His challenge to American leadership was systematic. In 1963, he vetoed British entry into the Common Market, seeing Britain as America's Trojan horse. In 1964, he recognized Communist China, breaking Western solidarity. In 1965, he boycotted Common Market institutions to assert national sovereignty. In 1966, he withdrew France from NATO's integrated command, expelling American bases.

But this was not anti-Americanism for its sake. De Gaulle distinguished between opposition to American hegemony and friendship with the American people. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he immediately supported Kennedy. When the dollar faced speculation, he cooperated in stabilization efforts. He sought not to destroy the Atlantic alliance but to transform it into a partnership of equals.

His opening to the East was equally calculated. Visits to the Soviet Union, Poland, and Romania demonstrated that Europe extended beyond the Iron Curtain. His vision of Europe "from the Atlantic to the Urals" challenged the Cold War's frozen division. These initiatives yielded little immediate result but planted seeds for future détente.