Historian's Guild discussion

I've been reading a fair number of WWII books lately, notably featuring the French Resistance during the war. Can anyone explain to me why deGaulle was so disliked by the Allies, specifically FDR? It looks to me that he spent almost no part of the war in France but was able to mobilize his supporters from abroad. Which begs the question, who were his supporters? I understand that when he finally took the reins of France he was completely ungrateful to France's saviors, nationalistic, and acted as though the French did all the heavy lifting during the war. But on the plus side, it seems to me he was rabidly anti-Communist which I would have thought was a big plus. Anyone? Also, does anyone have a good book about deGaulle?

Chris wrote: "I've been reading a fair number of WWII books lately, notably featuring the French Resistance during the war. Can anyone explain to me why deGaulle was so disliked by the Allies, specifically FDR? ..."

I think de Gaulle was simply an unpalatable character. He was arrogant and always put France first; two characteristics which naturally would create discord with his allies.

Here's a book one of my Goodreads friends recently read about de Gaulle: The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General de Gaulle by Charles Williams. Here is his very thorough review of the book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here is some discussion about the book in another group if you're interested (it begins a little bit down the page: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I hope that helps, Chris.

Chris wrote: "I've been reading a fair number of WWII books lately, notably featuring the French Resistance during the war. Can anyone explain to me why deGaulle was so disliked by the Allies, specifically FDR? ..."

Eliot's reply is very good and I don't disagree with anything he wrote. I would add that care is required with this issue because there may be more heat than light associated with the assessment of deGaulle.

Here is a quote with another concern"
"According to Elliot, his father suspected that de Gaulle was another Boulanger or neo-Bonapartist, who intended to use the war as a springboard to dictatorship. FDR is quoted as saying: “de Gaulle is out to achieve one-man government in France. I can’t imagine a man I would distrust more.” (As He Saw It, 73). While it is true that Roosevelt was quite willing initially to deal with such non-republican sorts as Pétain and even Stalin, he needed them; Pétain, for example, seemed to hold the key to North Africa in the early years of the war, and FDR expected to attack German troops there, with Vichy French support. FDR had no need for de Gaulle, or so he thought."
Ripped from The Churchille Project:

https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.ed...

It references a source Churchill and de Gaulle by Will Morrisey



I have no opinion as to which may be the better book.

Here is a review:

https://www.lawliberty.org/book-revie...

To Elliot and Jeffrey,
Thanks guys! Very enlightening. Perhaps like Eliott Roosevelt's assessment of deGaulle, it's as simple as FDR just didn't like him. Best not to overthink the topic. Think long, think wrong as the saying goes. Still, deGaulle was a unique character and I will look up the books you suggested. Also, I liked the quick response my question generated and I hope we can generate more such activity within our group.
Chris