De Gaulle at the Liberation

De Gaulle was a voice before he was a face. For four years between 1940 and 1944, the French people had known him only through his broadcasts on the BBC - or through the vilification of Vichy propaganda. This made him a kind of blank sheet which the French could project their aspirations, fear and expectations on to. The Liberation was the moment of truth when for the first time the French encountered their ‘liberator’ in flesh and blood. This lecture explores the ambiguities of this moment of truth.