When Germany attacked France on May 10, 1940, the French troops were relatively quickly routed, and while the majority of them laid down their arms, some managed to flee to the United Kingdom. Charles de Gaulle was among them. On British soil he reorganized the remnants of the French army and, backed by the British, became the head of the so-called Free French Forces. France was partly occupied, partly turned into a dependent state with Marshal Philippe Pétain as the head of the puppet government. Charles de Gaulle escaped from the German barbarism and sought to help his fatherland from across the English Channel to regain independence and the nation’s values.
Not a century has passed and – lo and behold – Charles de Gaulle’s grandson, Pierre, is about to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps: Pierre de Gaulle has recently publicly expressed his wish of becoming a citizen of the Russian Federation. Why? Pierre de Gaulle wants to obtain a Russian passport “in the name of the prosperous future of his children,” to secure them the ever important values, to provide them with a good education, and protect from the “decline of values that is happening in the Western world.”
While the Russian media do not seem to be willing to turn the event into a propaganda hype, some of the Western media cannot restrain from snide remarks. The Times ran an article with the title “De Gaulle ‘turning in his grave’ at grandson’s Russian alliance,” while the French Wikipedia, depicting Pierre de Gaulle’s life seems to be gratuitously focused on any negative aspects of it. The usual vocabulary is employed, not excluding statements that the grandson of the great French general and president is working for Russian propaganda and the like.
Pierre de Gaulle was in Russia to take part in the Forum of United Cultures in St. Petersburg, which took place between November 15 and 17. Giving an interview for TASS he praised Russia as the country that “offers great opportunities” along with “deep and powerful culture, intellect and Russian spirit.” In the same interview he said that “obtaining this citizenship has become a necessity for us, as it would allow us to pass on the values we cherish to our children and raise them properly. We want to shield them from decadence and the decline of Western values.”
Is Pierre de Gaulle isolated in such perception of today’s Western world? Certainly not. More and more Westerners feel alienated from the cultural and social reality in their countries. What of the rainbow sexuality propaganda, what of the deluge of immigrants, the common British, French, Germans and others have become aliens in the country of their parents and grandparents. The recent London street protests (13 September) are a huge testimony to this. The regime media say the march along London Streets attracted in between 100.000 and 150.000 people, which, taking into account the willingness of the authorities to downplay the impact, is most likely too low a number. As usual, protesters were framed as far-right (the most beloved word of the left these days, which in their interpretation is supposed to denote a highly negative social event or political movement). The people in London were waving Union Jacks or the flags of England, something that has long been frowned on by the ruling radical-left class, and they demanded a return to normalcy. The common Brits cannot relocate en masse to Russia or elsewhere, so they are trying to regain their own home country. Yet, given no other choice they might all one of these days want to follow in Pierre de Gaulle’s footsteps.
