WI - Charles de Gaulle killed in 1961

What if Charles de Gaulle was assassinated in 1961 in either one of the failed assassination attempts during that year or in the 1961 Algiers putsch?

What impact would an earlier post de Gaulle France have had both globally and domestically (e.g. Long live free Quebec!, May 1968 protests, etc)?
 

Archibald

Banned
You killed De Gaulle twice :p (so much hate against the man ?)

1961 or 1962 can make a big difference. 1961: France could be screwed by the rebelling Generals. 1962: post 18 March independance, Algeria was quickly forgotten, OAS become a relic of the past, and the army was under control again (they got the Force de Frappe shiny nuclear toys to play around, with the according budget boost).
May 1968 was mostly a reaction against De Gaulle conservatism. If Pompidou became president earlier and liberalize, May 68 could be avoided.

and no, whoever is French president by 1967 won't shout "Vive le québec libre"
 
How would de Gaulle's absence impact France's role in other events such as the EEC, NATO, recognition of the PRC, Six Day War and the US Dollar Crisis?

You killed De Gaulle twice :p (so much hate against the man ?)

1961 or 1962 can make a big difference. 1961: France could be screwed by the rebelling Generals. 1962: post 18 March independance, Algeria was quickly forgotten, OAS become a relic of the past, and the army was under control again (they got the Force de Frappe shiny nuclear toys to play around, with the according budget boost).
May 1968 was mostly a reaction against De Gaulle conservatism. If Pompidou became president earlier and liberalize, May 68 could be avoided.

and no, whoever is French president by 1967 won't shout "Vive le québec libre"

There was also another potential POD on 8th September 1961 in the Pont-sur-Seine district, near the village of Crancey. That night, De Gaulle was traveling with his wife to their country home, La Boisserie, in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, 150 mi. east of Paris. He was unaware that a bomb made from a propane cylinder stuffed with just under 100 lb. of plastic lay buried in an innocent-looking sandpile alongside the road. With the bomb was a canister containing 15 liters of napalm. When De Gaulle's car came alongside, the bomb would be detonated by wires strung to a nearby thicket.

De Gaulle's car (a Citroen Deesse) sped toward the sandpile at 70 mph, driven by his favorite chauffeur, Francis Marroux. As it came abreast, the sand exploded, causing the Deesse to lurch sharply and throwing a sheet of flame across the roadway. De Gaulle ordered Marroux to drive straight through the flames. "Faster!" he commanded, as the car plunged straight for the inferno. "Faster!" Neither the De Gaulles nor Marroux was hurt. They continued on their way, merely stopping to change cars at a military barracks nearby.

https://www.trivia-library.com/b/as...of-french-leader-charles-de-gaulle-part-1.htm
 
Last edited:
How a Monnerville Presidency impact the 1962 French presidential election referendum given his OTL opposition as well as Georges Pompidou who accepted to sign the referendum project?

Well.

Monnerville wouldn't be President for long, he'd just step in for as long as it would take to elect a new one. Of course, like Alain Poher, he might make a run and, given that he was respected, he might even have a chance among his colleagues.

As for modifying the Constitution to make the President directly elected, I think that's a no-go. It was clearly de Gaulle's idea, in line with his will to give the maximum legitimacy to the function. Of course, combined with the referenda, it got labelled as pretty evocative of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte and of the descent into Empire. So nobody else than de Gaulle would propose it at the time, I think.

If Pompidou became president earlier and liberalize, May 68 could be avoided.

In 1961, he's just chief of staff. He'd probably do the rest of his career in haute administration, he was not one of the barons of the UDR. And while May 68 might not be as explosive, or happen in the same year with a POD early in the decade, I don't think a right-wing President can avoid an eruption of anger. Too many new students, too much left of the conservative climate. Just as well.
 
Well.

Monnerville wouldn't be President for long, he'd just step in for as long as it would take to elect a new one. Of course, like Alain Poher, he might make a run and, given that he was respected, he might even have a chance among his colleagues.

As for modifying the Constitution to make the President directly elected, I think that's a no-go. It was clearly de Gaulle's idea, in line with his will to give the maximum legitimacy to the function. Of course, combined with the referenda, it got labelled as pretty evocative of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte and of the descent into Empire. So nobody else than de Gaulle would propose it at the time, I think.

So without de Gaulle the 1962 French presidential election referendum is butterflied away along with Vive le québec libre and possibly May 68.

That just leaves the the question of whether the ATL French accept British membership in the EEC, remain in NATO and still recognize (or not) the People's Republic of China as well as act any differently during the Six Day War and the US Dollar Crisis compared to OTL.
 
Top