This day, which historians have analyzed and commented on from all angles, remains a symbol of the beginning of the resistance against the German yoke after the defeat of the French army in the first year of the Second World War.
The Appeal of June 18, 1940, in which General De Gaulle called for rejecting defeat and continuing the fight, is considered the founding text of the French resistance against the German occupier. It symbolizes the refusal to submit.
General De Gaulle was the man of the “NO” to treachery, the one who called for a resurgence. France remains durably grateful to him, and commemorations take place each year on this day of remembrance.
In Nice, yesterday afternoon, the authorities gathered for a ceremonial tribute under the statue of General De Gaulle, at the eponymous square, presided over by Serge Klarsfeld, and in the presence of his wife Beate.
The Appeal of June 18 is the first speech made by General De Gaulle on London radio, broadcast over the BBC, on June 18, 1940. This text is a call to all military personnel, engineers, or French workers specializing in armaments who are in British territory to contact him to continue the fight against Germany, where he predicted the globalization of the war.
