CONVERSATION WITH GENERAL DEGAULLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-02771R000400290007-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 7, 2000
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: April 22, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2000/08/27 : CIA-RDP78-02771 R000400290007-7
C '`ID IAL
To
From.- ARMASSY,. PARIS
Subject: Conversation with General De guile
partment of State, Washington
,
Des. No. - 2270
Date: April 22, 1955 11 it
I have the honor to transmit a memorandum of conver-
sation with General DeGaulle which was the first direct
contact the &nbaaay has had with him in some years. The
General wa-.3 extremely pessimistic as to the present and
future position and morale. of_.France and spoke with the dis-
couragement of one who had long tried unsuccessfully to
stimulate national ardor but had apparently given up the
attempt.
The Genera 's recurrent theme that. u3ile:s the French
could lead the world they were uninterested in anything
but their personal affairs undoubtedly reflects his own
personal attitude. Nevertheless the Embassy has taken ad-
vantage of the current Consular Conference to ask the opinion
of our Consuls as to Its applicability to the average French-
man and their consensus is that most Frenchmen today have
a notable lack of interest in anything which does not af-
fect them personally.
as Dillon
Enclosure:
as described above.
r CTRL` HP 13.2
DATES
.. H-MEWEE? 80169
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy telegram 4569
April '21
&RIonclassiTication d For R Jeasp 20Q0/08/27 : CIA-RDP7p.-02771 R00040029.0007-7
State instructions on file
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C NFIDMI1tL
April 20fi, 1955
NSWRANDM CON ATIC
General Gaulle
T. C. Mlle
jral Gaulle received me this afternoon with apoiogie
for the delay in acceding tom request to tees him, explain-
ond cataract operation. He appeared tired, old and dis-
couraged., and spoke along the following line a:
Frame: After reminiscing briefly of the times I had
known h n radon in l.94t 4i, he said that the great days
t3 present was not brilliant and the future dark.
mu-m
Won I asked the reason for his pes~~imism, he replied "men,
and particularly Frenchmen." When I referred to the economic
p ;-. France had made since the war, he {paid this wa
of little importance compared to the fact that France had
made r political or moral recovery. To his mind, the trouble
the French were not tntere =ted in anything except their per-
sonal affair :. During the war and upon his return to France,
he had done his utmost to inspire a feeling of greaten. L in
the Frei. Most French had cheered him wildly but few had
followed and even fewer had helped his. Today the people did
their Jobs without intere t. The country wa ,eiuffering from
national las33itude, which he repeatedly attributed to the
warenea that France waO no longer great. He ;paid that the
same lassitude and feeling of decadence and decline is no-
ticeable to a slightly lesser extent in Great Britain, to
same extent in. Germany and that there were even signs of it
i Asia. To my ? ue ,.tion as to what was needed to bring
about a moral renaissance, he replied that he had no idea
but that even decadence could pass.
Plans: While he at not time alluded peeifi-
o ose, discussing the present plight of France
to his establishment of the Rassl .t a:
a at effort*. also remarked that people could only
_ save h elves. The implication was clear that, at least
in his present mood - and that appeared deep, he has no pre-
sent plans for future activity, political or otherwise.
Atlantic inte ration: my question as
r nc no n a moral renaissance .
expressed complete pe simi.sm. He
ass under it Prance would have
:su' rged . He was not opposed to gtxropean
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o nDEm I L
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X: Ili,
tion however far it might go provided the advan-
ndependence were conserved.
submit" to some form of Atlantic unity
ve no interest in it since they could not lead
Ld that he had not opposed the
found them neither good nor bad. When
td not conblder the latent Rusuian co cessions
on Austria a result of ratification, he admitted that thi;
was probably correct.
Wm of modus vivendi with the West.
oUbled by their difficultieu with
particularly the Eajt 0 rm , Poles
they were increasingly fearful of the
ly did not want war and would prob-
make material concessions to
o obtaining at lea ct a long breathing
Russians would seek a neutral belt in-
?inland,. Ferny, Austria, and
k and Italy.
letter asking
charge but that the
would welcome an opportunity
would be glad to see the
but remarked unnecesarily
a ie . He added seat rue-
en a considerable amount of
r,. he had never aeon either
.az: Ambassadors in Paris or any American Andmasador
hen,
r He continued by saying the only Ambassador
long time was Vinogradov, who had fled
nths ago to explore the possibilities of
Paris Agree= ants . He believed
Intelligent and to have believed
its would be ratified.
Approved For Release -f4J Q,8-02771 R000400290007-7