Call of June 18th

the Call of June 18th, 1940 (the call of the general de Gaulle) is the first speech made by the de Gaulle general with the radio of London, on the waves of BBC. This speech - very little heard at the time - is regarded as the text founder of the French Résistance of which it remains the symbol.

Whereas the day before, on June 17th, the marshal Pétain, new chief of the government, announced with radio operator his intention to ask for the enemy the signature of a Armistice, the speech of the de Gaulle general is, on the contrary, a call to the continuation of the war at the sides of the allied . For the general de Gaulle, the Bataille of France, which certainly has just been gained by the Germans, the end of the war does not mean. Because this war is a world war and the France will be able to be based on the industrial force of its allies and in particular that of the the United States. Addressing itself to the French soldiers, this message of hope ends in a call to Resistance, inserting the term in the political vocabulary of the 20th century.

The authorization speaking with the English radio was given in extremis to de Gaulle by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the opinion of its own cabinet. Indeed, in this dubious time, the military attitude of France, in particular with regard to the use of its navy of war, was not completely cleared up; but Churchill supported it. This call - of which there does not exist recording - is very often confused with the poster “To all the French” which was placarded on the walls of the the United Kingdom, beginning August 1940.

The call of the June 18th mark the beginning of the free France which, made only of volunteers (at the beginning far from many), continues the combat on ground, sea and in the airs near the British and represents, vis-a-vis the Régime of Vichy, France which bldg.

June 18th, 2005, the call of June 18th was classified by UNESCO on the storage register of the world, where since 1992 the documents of the documentary inheritance of universal interest are listed, in order to ensure their protection. The inscription, suggested jointly by the National institute of audio-visual the (INA, France) and BBC, relates to four documents considered as key testimonys of the event: the manuscript of the text of the broadcast call of June 18th, the radiophonic recording of the call of June 22nd, the manuscript of the poster “To all the French” of August 3rd and the poster itself.

See too

List Memory of the world

External bond

Sound recording of the speech of June 22nd, 1940 (and not of the 18)

File on the call of June 18th, 1940 of the foundation De Gaulle

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