PC:De Gaulle dies pre-1958 = French military dictatorship

When I raised this question on another forum, a friend of mine wrote: "if De Gaulle is dead from 1956 is there a May 58 crisis? Yes the 4th republic is in serious internal trouble, fire-breathers like Lagaillarde and opportunists like Salan are still around but the likes of Soustelle, Massu and co were acting to bring De Gaulle back not for Salan to play Napoleon....
 

raharris1973

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So De Gaulle was only the "solution" to a coup "problem" that was premised on him being in the coup.

Reminds me of how "only Nixon could go to China" in the context of US politics because Nixon (and his political allies) made it impossible for any politicians to their left to try.
 

raharris1973

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Wasn't it because they thought De Gaulle would keep Algeria ?

I think so. He was considered (and was) a French uber-patriot. However, instead of playing in to his stereotype, he used his position to launch a 180 turn on policy, abandon Algeria, and break the keep Algeria consensus of the French right of center parties, leaving them to operate pathetic terrorist organizations.
 
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