General De Gaulle's 1969 Speech
In January 1969, General de Gaulle attempted to use his uncle's reputation in Brittany by declaiming the second quatrain of his uncle's poem Da Varsez Breiz (the lines above) during a speech at Quimper. The speech followed a series of crackdowns on Breton nationalist activists. De Gaulle's use of the poem led to a severe adverse reaction from his audience who drowned out much of the rest of his speech. He was later accused of double standards, having recently spoken in Canada in support of a "free" Quebec, because its French language tradition distinguished it from the English-dominated majority of Canada.
Read more about this topic: Charles De Gaulle (poet)
Famous quotes containing the words general, gaulle and/or speech:
“As a general truth, it is safe to say that any picture that produces a moral impression is a bad picture.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)
“France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war!”
—Charles De Gaulle (1890–1970)
“Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)