d seaports there. The attack was unsuccessful. In September of 1941, the Free French Forces had their first successful confrontation with the Germans. Five and a half thousand men in a light division under General Koening defended Bir Hakim for fourteen days before completing a successful withdrawal. This was the first time that the French forces had proven to be a match for the Germans. This prompted the change of the official title of Free France to that of Fighting France.In June de Gaulle made a radio address to France from London urging the people of France to help the liberating forces to fight the Nazis. This directly contradicted the announcement that Eisenhower made earlier for the French public to stay quiet until the Allies approached. The reaction to de Gaulles announcement was magnificent, but many Frenchmen were killed. De Gaulle considered this a worthy sacrifice in order to restore honor to France.In June de Gaulle landed on the beaches of Normandy after nearly four years of being away from his homeland. From there he visited the villages of Isigny and GrandCamp. In those two villages, de Gaulle was greeted with intense enthusiasm and unquestioned authority from the town citizens.On July sixth de Gaulle went to Washington to discus the Post War world. Roosevelt made it clear to de Gaulle that he thought that France would never return to being a prominent world power. De Gaulle also believed that the Soviet Union had this view of France also. The British, in de Gaulles opinion, wanted France to be a back up power in Europe with the British being the supreme European power.With the Allies pushing the Nazis out of France, de Gaulle entered Paris on August 25. On the 26th de Gaulle appeared at the Arc de Triomphe to celebrate his return to France (Ledwidge180). His childhood dream of being recognized by the people of France for his faithful service to his country was realized that day. The country that de Gaulle inherited f...
