Charles de Gaulle:the warrior as statesman

De Gaulle is primarily remembered as the leader of ‘Free France’ between 1940 and 1945, as well as for his time as President of the Fourth and Fifth Republics. This paper explores some of the sources of his political belief system, using his military writings of the 1920s and 1930s before he became a celebrated politician. It suggests that his political views can only be understood as being influenced by his experiences as a soldier and his reflections thereon in those military writings