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The Bayeux speeches are two speeches delivered by General
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...
of France in the context of liberation after the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
in June 1944 and in the immediate postwar period in June 1946. They were spoken in a public square in
Bayeux Bayeux () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. It is also known as the first major tow ...
(formerly ''Place du Château'', since 1946 ''Place de Gaulle'').


First Bayeux speech

A few days after the Normandy invasion, de Gaulle wanted to set foot on his native soil in one of the first towns liberated. He also sought to increase French (and his own) influence on the impending Allied occupation. On 14 June 1944, he delivered a speech in Bayeux. The enthusiastic reception by the population confirmed the legitimacy of their struggle and made the United States not place France under their administration. He was able to form a provisional government after the
Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...
.


Second Bayeux speech

The speech of 16 June 1946 is one of his most important speeches. Two years after the Normandy invasion, in the symbolic city, the first city in continental France liberated by the Allies, where he set foot on French soil in June 1944, de Gaulle gave a speech where he talked about the shape that the French Constitution would have to take. When De Gaulle appeared on the balcony of the town hall in Bayeux, the public greeted him with cries of "Take power!" De Gaulle advocated a reduction in the power of the parliament, going as far as to say, "It goes without saying that the parliament, which is composed of two chambers and exercises legislative power, cannot be the source of executive power". He said he supported a bicameral parliament with a head of state standing above the parties. In a state of emergency, the head of state would be the guarantor of national independence and the treaties signed by France. The ideas that he put forward in his speech would inspire the 1958 Constitution.


See also

* French Constitution of 27 October 1946 *
Constitution of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic , and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a Consti ...


References


External links


French transcript of the second Bayeux speech
* http://mairie-bayeux.fr/index.php?id=238 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayeux speeches Charles de Gaulle Government of France 20th century in France Calvados (department) World War II speeches Bayeux 1944 speeches 1946 speeches