10.10 A public speech — de Gaulle, 18 June 1940 — Epoché
What you will be able to do Analyse the structure of the most famous speech in modern French history, General de Gaulle's appeal of 18 June 1940. Recognise the devices of political oratory in French: concession, rhetorical questions, repetition (anaphora and epiphora), the triad, the call to action, the closing image. Explain how a speech can turn a defeat into a reason to continue, by changing the frame in which the facts are seen. Prepare a short speech of your own in French with the same structure. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Nous sommes tout à fait seuls. [1] We're quite alone. Sommes-nous seuls dans l'univers ? [2] Are we alone in the universe? Il était fatigué mais il continuait à travailler. [3] He was tired, but he kept on working. Charles de Gaulle était un grand homme et aussi un homme grand. [4] Charles de Gaulle was a great man and also a tall man. Elle continuait à m'interrompre. [5] She would keep interrupting me. N'abandonnez pas sans combat ! [6] Don't give up without a fight. N'abandonnez pas comme cela. [7] Don't give up like that. Prerequisites : 10.9 — this lesson follows 10.9 Argument . The rhetoric of 5.24 Vocabulary and the history words of 5.26 Vocabulary will help, and the editorial of 10.2 Argument showed the same moves of concession and rebuttal in writing. About this text In May and June 1940 the German army broke through the French front in a few weeks. On 16 June the government resigned, and Marshal Pétain , the hero of Verdun, became head of government. On 17 June he announced on the radio that the fighting must stop: il faut cesser le combat . The same day Charles de Gaulle, a little-known general who had been under-secretary of state for war for less than two weeks, flew to London. On the evening of 18 June, with Churchill's support, he spoke on the BBC. Few people in France heard the broadcast, and it was not recorded; the recording often played today is of a later speech, of 22 June. The famous poster that begins La France a perdu une bataille ! is not the appeal either: it was put up in London some weeks later. The appeal of 18 June became a founding myth afterwards, as the beginning of Free France and of the Resistance. In 2005 UNESCO added to its Memory of the World register the handwritten text of the appeal, the recording of the speech of 22 June, and the poster with its manuscript. De Gaulle died in 1970, and the text of the appeal is still protected by copyright. This lesson therefore does not reproduce it: it describes its structure and quotes only a few short phrases, each of fewer than fifteen words, for analysis. The full text is easy to find in French on public sites, such as that of the Fondation Charles de Gaulle , and in every French history textbook; read it there alongside this lesson. The plan The appeal is short, a few hundred words, and moves through six steps. Step What de Gaulle does Devices The situation States the facts: the military chiefs have formed a government and asked the enemy for an armistice. Neutral, factual sentences; no name for Pétain . The concession Admits the defeat and explains it by the enemy's mechanised force, its tanks and planes. Certes, … ; repetition that grants the point fully. The questions Asks whether the last word has been spoken, whether hope must disappear, whether the defeat is final. Three rhetorical questions, then a single word: Non ! The reasons France is not alone: it has an empire, the British Empire with it, and the industry of the United States. Repetition: n'est pas seule ! closes three sentences in a row ( la France once, then Elle twice), which is epiphora; triad of resources. The new frame The war is not limited to France: it is a world war, and it is not yet decided. A short definition: Cette guerre est une guerre mondiale. The call Invites French officers, soldiers, engineers and workers in Britain to contact him, and promises to speak again. First person with his own title, Moi, Général de Gaulle ; closing image of the flame. Changing the frame. The decisive move is not to deny the defeat but to change the scale at which it is judged. On the scale of France, the battle is lost. On the scale of the world, the war is far from decided, and the appeal argues that mechanised force, which defeated France, can one day be turned against the enemy. The facts are the same; the frame is new, and with it the conclusion. Worked example How de Gaulle turns from defeat to hope. The concession. He begins the second step with Certes and admits that France has been overwhelmed by the enemy's force. A speaker who denied the obvious would lose his listeners; by granting the fact first, de Gaulle earns the right to question its meaning. The turn. The first question begins with Mais : Mais le dernier mot est-il dit ? All three questions share the same form: the noun subject comes first, and a pronoun after the verb repeats it (complex inversion). Then the answer, one word on its own: Non ! The rhythm itself carries the listener from doubt to refusal. The repetition. Car la France n'est pas seule ! Elle n'est pas seule ! Elle n'est pas seule ! The same words close three sentences in a row. In a written text this would be heavy; on the radio, heard once by listeners who cannot read it again, repetition is how a message is remembered. Repeating words at the end of successive clauses is called epiphora; its mirror, anaphora, repeats words at the start of successive clauses. The ending. The appeal does not end with an argument but with an image, the flame of French resistance that ne doit pas s'éteindre , and a promise in the future tense. The word résistance here is still a common noun; history made it a proper name. Sentences on the theme French English Il a admis sa défaite. [8] He admitted his defeat. La guerre continuait. [9] The war continued. La guerre était perdue. [10] The war was lost. J'ai perdu l'espoir. [11