Gaullism

Gaullism (French:Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of Second world war French Resistance leader General Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic.

Serge Berstein writes that Gaullism is "neither a doctrine nor a political ideology" and cannot be considered either left or right. Rather, "considering its historical progression, it is a pragmatic exercise of power that is neither free from contradictions nor of concessions to momentary necessity, even if the imperious word of the general gives to the practice of Gaullism the allure of a program that seems profound and fully realized." Gaullism is "a peculiarly French phenomenon, without doubt the quintessential French political phenomenon of the twentieth century."