In the Aisne, Emmanuel Macron in the footsteps of General de Gaulle

Text by: Valérie Gas Follow

Emmanuel Macron goes this Sunday May 17 in Aisne to celebrate the Battle of France and the battles of Montcornet, led by Charles de Gaulle on May 17, 1940. The President wants to pay homage to the "spirit of resistance" of the general.

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To follow in the footsteps of General de Gaulle , when France is waging an unprecedented battle against the coronavirus, is necessarily symbolic. And symbols, Emmanuel Macron likes to use them. Besides, in his entourage, we assume that De Gaulle "  inspired  " Macron. "  The spirit of resistance  ", "  surpassing  ", "  the notion of unity  ", all this echoes in him. 

However, at the Elysée Palace, we warn that we should not see in this commemoration the moment of a "political refoundation", however expected. The objective displayed is to resume the course of "memorial life" and to launch the year of Gaulle, whose commemorations were planned and of which Montcornet is the first step before the ceremonies of the 80 years of the Call of June 18 and the 50th anniversary of the general's death in November.

"De Gaulle before De Gaulle"

In Aisne, Emmanuel Macron wants to pay homage "  to De Gaulle before De Gaulle  ", to the visionary colonel, but also to the French soldiers who fought and whose courage remained in "  a blind spot of history  " which especially retained defeat. The Head of State takes up the red thread of his memory policy with the exaltation of the "  French heroes  ". As if to recall that it is the fight and the union that count to get out of the crises.

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• France
• French politics
• Emmanuel Macron