A new two-part epic, La Bataille de Gaulle, based on British historian Julian Jackson's biography of Charles de Gaulle, has sparked reflection on the state of modern politics. The film, which focuses on the Second World War, portrays the French general as a combination of stubbornness, arrogance, and genius. Alexander Hurst, writing for Guardian Europe, argues that De Gaulle's example highlights how much political agency has been sacrificed on imagined constraints.
De Gaulle's Rise from Exile
As a mid-ranking two-star general, De Gaulle had little inherent claim to be the face of France in exile. After fleeing to London in June 1940, he imposed himself alongside Churchill and Roosevelt, bullying his way into top-table discussions. He wrote, "I recreated France from nothing, from being a man alone in a foreign city." Hurst notes that De Gaulle did not resign himself to the impossibility of his task; instead, he bent the future through sheer obstinacy.
The Battle of Bir Hakeim
The Free French Forces are often a footnote in portrayals of World War II, but the French part of the story is riveting. At the Battle of Bir Hakeim, 3,700 Free French soldiers held off around 35,000 Axis soldiers under Erwin Rommel for two weeks and two days, allowing the British Eighth Army to evacuate Tobruk, Libya. Historians credit this success as strategically crucial to slowing Rommel's advance in North Africa and ultimately enabling the British to hold Egypt and the Suez Canal. However, De Gaulle shamefully did not face down an American demand to remove Black soldiers from French colonies from the victory march into Paris in 1944.
Modern Political Paralysis
Hurst contrasts De Gaulle's agency with today's political paralysis. He cites challenges such as ecological breakdown, global oligarch wealth, impunity for war crimes, and unregulated AI. While solutions exist—taxing wealth, ending fossil fuel subsidies, regulating AI, and charging war criminals—Europe is not implementing them. Hurst argues that Europe is rich in culture, education, and capital, and voters are crying out for meaningful projects, but leaders lack imagination.
A Call for Passion and Reason
Hurst suggests that while a single stubborn genius like De Gaulle may not be needed today, what is required is for people at all levels of government to accept that they have agency. In 1942, De Gaulle cited French aphorist Nicolas Chamfort: "The reasonable have persisted and the impassioned have lived." Hurst concludes that democratic societies on a habitable planet will endure if leaders embrace both passion and reason.
