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From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: DeGaulle and the French
Message-ID: <1392@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 14-Feb-85 16:29:44 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.1392
Posted: Thu Feb 14 16:29:44 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 14-Feb-85 18:57:35 EST
References: 
Reply-To: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
Lines: 35
Summary: 


Perhaps we need a new group: net.history.folk :-). As an example of
an article that would fit there, I submit this extract of a longer one.

===============

        The Free French were led, supposedly, by DeGaulle in England soon
after France fell to the Germans.  Ike, leading the Axis powers knew of the
French incompetence in military matters.   The Germans, swiping through
the Maginot line,  easily walked over the French Army.  DeGaulle, as
incompetent as the rest of the French military, was intentionally ignored
by Eisenhower in the plans of the invasion of Europe.

===============

How many historical errors can be packed into 6 lines?  The Free French
were not led by Col. De Gaulle until his political manipulations and
PR exercises made it happen.  I've forgotten who was.  De Gaulle's
contribution was to insist that for the glory of France the Free French
should not be integrated with the other Allied (not Axis -- that was
Marshal Petain) troops.  It was Churchill rather than Eisenhower who
tried to keep De Gaulle out of the action, not because of his
incompetence, but because he was not trusted (he might abort an
operation by launching his own in advance, for example).  Also he
was not trusted politically, as a post-war force in France.  Eisenhower
didn't come into the war leadership until quite late, anyway.

There's lots of folk history on the net.  It's fun to read, and
probably does no harm.  It helps net readers to understand what
bases people have for their other comments, so it may do some good.
-- 

Martin Taylor
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