From London, General de Gaulle delivered a call to resistance on June 18, 1940, through the BBC airwaves, inviting the French to refuse defeat and to fight.
“The flame of resistance must not and will not be extinguished,” were the prophetic words of the man who said “no” and whose figure will forever be etched in the memory of modern French history.
It was in the late afternoon, under a setting sun, in the presence of authorities and an audience of veterans and schoolchildren, that the annual ceremony in memory of this “appeal,” marking its 75th anniversary this year, was held.
The text of the appeal was read by a young high school student, Alexandre Freu, the winner of the departmental competition on the memory of the Resistance.
Subsequently, Lieutenant Colonel Marie-Christine Fix, departmental delegate of the Fondation de la France Libre, the Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, and the Prefect of Alpes-Maritimes Adolphe Colrat recalled, in their speeches, the historical circumstances and the significance of this act by General De Gaulle;
For this visionary, if there is no “inevitability to submission,” only “moral strength and democratic and republican values” made June 18, 1940, “a day of hope.”
A lesson that remains relevant to ensure the longevity of traditions, moral values, and the ideal of Free France as it was created by General de Gaulle through his June 18, 1940 appeal.
