Entertainment

The well-known pro-Russian positions of Admiral Philippe de Gaulle’s fourth

Written by on February 2, 2023

Anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad: the Russian power exploits the memory of Charles de Gaulle through his grandson
Known for his pro-Russian positions, Pierre de Gaulle, grandson of Charles, attends this Thursday in Volgograd the ceremonies of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad. A city with which his grandfather cultivates a special history.

Once again, the Russian power celebrates with great fanfare the exploits of the Red Army during the Second World War. Thursday, February 2 Vladimir Putin travels to Volgograd, the former Stalingrad, for the ceremonies of the 80th anniversary of the bloodiest battle in the history of the Second World War. The Russian President’s trip was accompanied by the traditional procession of preparations: stray dogs sent to the kennel in a hurry, last-minute road works and a regional governor who had been invisible for several days, probably due to the quarantine imposed to approach the head of the Kremlin, report local media.

War in Ukraine: how Russia awakens the memory of the Battle of Stalingrad to justify sending its soldiers to the front line

On the sidelines of the military parade, a Frenchman takes part in these ceremonies and, on Thursday morning, laid a wreath at the top of Mamaev Kurgan, the hill where the huge memorial that dominates the city was built. Pierre de Gaulle, grandson of Charles, came to meditate at the very place where his grandfather had come on a state visit 57 years earlier. The well-known pro-Russian positions of Admiral Philippe de Gaulle’s fourth son have delighted Kremlin propagandists on television since his arrival in Russia. Tuesday, during a debate organized on the television channel of the Ministry of Defense, he had declared in particular that “the Europeans are locked in their illusions on Ukraine”, and that it “is time to reason with the Americans”, under the apparently delighted eye of the head of Russian foreign intelligence, Sergei Narychkine, who was also on the show.

This Thursday, in Volgograd, responding to the official TASS agency, the man was satisfied with a tribute to “combatants, civilians, [and] all those who made the sacrifice to defeat Nazism”. But his mere presence on Russian soil during this period was enough to cause discomfort on the side of the French authorities and his family. Questioned by Le Parisien, his brother, Yves, affirmed: “The analysis of my brother Pierre does not engage anyone other than himself, that is to say neither me nor our family and even less General deGaulle”. A step that many Russian media have happily taken, on the other hand, by linking the statements of the grandson to the image of the grandfather.

Charles de Gaulle “loved Russia”
Because the popularity of Charles de Gaulle is well anchored in Russian society, and even more so in Volgograd, a city with which the leader of Free France has a special history. “Charles de Gaulle visited our city in November 1944,” recalls Irina Skrotchenko, scientific director of the Stalingrad Battle Museum, “the war was not even over.”

“The fighting continued, he saw the city in ruins. Obviously, that left a strong impression.”

Irina Skrotchenko at franceinfo
Charles De Gaulle then returned in 1966, during a fifteen-day (!) State trip to the USSR. Stalingrad had changed its name five years earlier and was now called Volgograd. France was in the process of pulling out of NATO, shaping its special relationship with the Soviet Union within the Western bloc countries.

“I was a child then,” recalls Alexander Stroukov, the president of the Union of Volgograd Veterans, “we were visiting on the Mamaev Kurgan, and suddenly we saw a man arrive in military uniform. In the crowd the noise rose: ‘Charles De Gaulle, Charles De Gaulle !!!'”, remembers with unfeigned emotion this former colonel. “I was enthusiastic and admiring… In my opinion, he was the real leader of France. He was a deeply respected man, loved by Russia. And he loved Russia. It seems to me that after De Gaulle he there has never been an authoritative leader in France again…” he blurts out, a bit cowardly for his successors, now nationals of an “unfriendly state”.

Whether it is fantasized or not, the figure of Charles de Gaulle traces the contours of a France which today has distanced itself from its Russian friend among many close to power. At the museum of the Battle of Stalingrad, above a photo of Charles de Gaulle visiting the ruins, you can see a French flag, offered by a visiting delegation, on which you can read: “Never the young from the country of Fabien and Guy Môquet will not go to war against the country of the heroes of Stalingrad.”

In Volgograd there remains another trace of the first passage of the leader of Free France in the city. In a faded garden, on the outskirts of the city center, Alexandre Sivolobov gazes at a few poplars. His uncle, who lived in the house next door, had served as a driver for Charles de Gaulle in 1944 because he had recovered the car from the deputy of General Friedrich Paulus, the leader of the German forces during the battle.

“They went to the tractor factory that made our T-34 tanks and on the way back, Uncle Pétia has the nerve to ask Charles de Gaulle to plant poplars in his garden”, laughs this former policeman . “And so here is Charles de Gaulle getting out of the car and planting some young trees, symbolizing the return to life”, he continues, showing us one of them. Of the twenty poplars planted that day, only six remain today. And most of them are sick.

Author

Author's archive

The well-known pro-Russian positions of Admiral Philippe de Gaulle’s fourth

Written by on February 2, 2023

Author

Continue reading

Next post

“No one’s made a good high school movie since” Superbad

Previous post

Discrepancy between police accounts, evidence in Tyre Nichols case revealed

Current track

Title

Artist

The well-known pro-Russian positions of Admiral Philippe de Gaulle’s fourth

Written by on February 2, 2023

Author

You may also like

Continue reading

Next post

Previous post

Current track

Title

Artist