France

France is in revolutionary mood…….


Given its bloody past, this is not to be taken lightly…

France is in revolutionary mood. This weekend’s election will bring turmoil – or disaster

It is absurd to suggest that postwar France has never felt this fragile. Today may mark the aftermath of yet another shocking terrorist attack, and come the day before the citizens of the Fifth Republic vote in a destabilising, disorienting election, desperately unmoored from the certainties of old. But it is also the anniversary of an attempt, within living memory, to overthrow French democracy by military coup.

 

On April 22 1961, Charles de Gaulle was forced to shut all airfields to prevent a faction of the army, outraged at what they saw as the betrayal of France’s colonial rule in Algeria, flying in to establish a junta.

 

Tomorrow – the first round of the 2017 presidential election – will be 56 years to the day since President De Gaulle squeezed into his old Second World War uniform and made a dramatic televised appeal to his countrymen to help defend the nation against the plotters. “Françaises,…

More here

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.