@ After the fall of France to the Nazis in 1940, General de Gaulle fled to England, where he formed the Free French movement. He issued his famous manifesto calling on the French to join the fight: "France has lost a battle! But France has not lost the war!" # De Gaulle (second left) formed a French provisional government in London, 1941. Churchill had already agreed to recognise the Free French movement as a legitimate ally # Marshall Petain, who had negotiated the surrender to the Germans, collaborated with them to set up a fascist state in southern France, with its capital in Vichy. De Gaulle was sentenced to death in absentia by the Vichy regime # Free French forces supported Montgomery's Eighth Army during the decisive battle of El Alamein. De Gaulle made the trip to Egypt to inspect his troops # General de Gaulle formed an uneasy alliance with General Giraud, of the French High Command in Algiers. Together they became joint presidents of the French Committee of National Liberation, set up in 1943. De Gaulle emerged the victor from the ensuing struggle for power @ When Paris was liberated, in August 1944, General Eisenhower allowed the French Second Armoured Division to lead Allied troops into the city. The following day, de Gaulle arrived in the city # De Gaulle was proclaimed head of the provisional government in November 1945. But the new constitution proposed by the French Assembly adopted a party political system rather than the presidential model favoured by de Gaulle. Instead of fighting the proposal, he resigned # The rebellion by Algerian nationalists provoked a crisis in the French colony, and in France. De Gaulle was recalled to power, on his own terms. A new constitution was approved, and de Gaulle was elected president of the new Fifth Republic in December 1958 # In May 1968 France descended into anarchy . Student protests on campuses turned into pitched battles with riot police on the streets of Paris. General strikes followed. The chaos seemed to undermine de Gaulle's authority, but when he called an election his party was returned in a landslide # In 1969 De Gaulle turned a referendum on constitutional reform into a vote of confidence in his presidency. He lost, and resigned. De Gaulle died the following year @ Nationalism was the essence of de Gaulle's political philosophy; and he argued that if France was to be strong, she had to pursue a robust foreign policy. He developed an independent nuclear deterrent, withdrew France from NATO and vetoed Britain's entry into the Common Market # Valery Giscard d'Estaing was a loyal supporter of de Gaulle, though not a Gaullist. As de Gaulle's finance minister, Giscard d'Estaing helped restore economic stability; and as president (1974-81) he continued de Gaulle's strategy of strengthening ties with Germany # Mitterand held government office in the Fifties while de Gaulle languished on the sidelines. He did not support the recall of de Gaulle in 1958, and was a fierce opponent of the new constitution. Jacques Chirac succeeded him as president in 1995 # De Gaulle died in November, 1970. A giant granite cross of Lorraine, symbol of the Free French, was erected in his memory on a hill overlooking Colombey-les- deux-Eglises, de Gaulle's beloved country retreat, where he is buried in the churchyard @