Paris, November 9th November 9th is the 50th anniversary of the death of General de Gaulle. Due to the current severity of the Coronavirus pandemic, French officials held a small-scale commemorative event that day.
This year is not only the 50th anniversary of De Gaulle’s death, but also the 130th anniversary of De Gaulle’s birth and the 80th anniversary of his publication of “A Letter to the French People”. Therefore, this year is a veritable “De Gaulle Year”. French officials originally planned to hold a large-scale event to commemorate Charles de Gaulle, but the pandemic completely disrupted relevant arrangements.
Colombes, a small town in the Haute-Marne department in northeastern France, was where Charles de Gaulle lived and died in his later years. The French official held the 50th anniversary of the death of Charles de Gaulle in Colombes on the 9th. It was closed to the public. Only dozens of people were invited to participate, including the descendants of Charles de Gaulle. French President Macron attended.
The public ceremony arrangement for the commemoration is very simple. Macron first laid a wreath to the tomb of Charles de Gaulle, and then went to the Memorial of the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol of the French resistance in World War II near the tomb of Charles de Gaulle. With the French Air Force fighter plane flying over the monument, the event ended. Macron did not speak at the scene, but spoke highly of De Gaulle’s tenacity through social media.
As France has entered the second national “closed city”, museums have been asked to close, and large-scale exhibitions cannot be held. According to the reporter’s understanding, the Charles de Gaulle Memorial in Colombe has cancelled all commemorations this month and announced its closure. The French Military Museum in Paris originally planned to launch a large-scale exhibition “De Gaulle in History”, but it could not be held as scheduled.
France officially issued the “De Gaulle Year” commemorative stamps on the 9th, including 2 stamps and a souvenir sheet. The stamp patterns are the images of middle-aged Charles de Gaulle and the old-age Charles de Gaulle. The background of the souvenir sheet is the Charles de Gaulle Memorial in Colombes. However, due to the “closure of the city”, the Paris stamp sales venue was closed again. It is difficult for people to directly buy this set of stamps and can only book online.
During Charles de Gaulle’s presidency of France, China and France established diplomatic relations in 1964, and France became the first Western power to establish ambassadorial diplomatic relations with New China. General de Gaulle was a great man who facilitated the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and laid the foundation for Sino-French relations. He and Chairman Mao Zedong opened a new chapter in Sino-French relations.
De Gaulle passed away on November 9, 1970. He originally planned to visit China in 1971 but regrettably failed to make the trip. In a telegram of condolences, Mao Zedong expressed his “sincere condolences and respects” to this “indomitable fighter against fascist aggression and safeguarding French national independence.”
