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Analysing the usefulness of De Gaulle’s
speech
De Gaulle’s speech would have various uses to a historian wishing to study the
Resistance movement in France. Firstly, as a source of information, the document
is reliable to some extent. As it was a public speech the authenticity of the
document can be checked therefore we can know that it was not a made up source.
De Gaulle’s speech is useful to a historian as it shows the way which he
believed, with an enormous amount of passion, the necessity of overthrowing the
Vichy regime. It provides us with a clear insight into the way in which De
Gaulle, and no doubt numerous others thought about the need to resist and to
keep the ‘Flame of the Resistance’ alive. He wished to do so by appealing to
the resisters based in France in broadcasting this speech to his nation.
Secondly however, one can see that he is appealing directly to any skilled
French workers based on ‘foreign soil’ such as England. This is a useful
factor when analysing the usefulness of De Gaulle’s speech as it shows he
wished to re-unite un-unoccupied France as one nation in its quest for liberty.
Despite all these points, there are many
factors which render the source a little less reliable. The motive of his speech
was to persuade the French and others to resist Nazi occupation. This may lead
to subjectivity and many points may have been over-emphasized or exaggerated in
order to gain public support. De Gaulle also uses extremely strong anti-vichy
language such as the way in which he calls the Nazis ‘le force mechanique’
(the mechanical force) as this term gives the German soldiers an almost inhumane
quality. De Gaulle was strongly anti-vichyist therefore this would have been
reflected in his speech. It is a source of propaganda which almost always is set
out to influence people to think in a certain way.
Also, with hindsight, much emphasis has been placed on the importance of
this speech. Hindsight can place an importance on events which may have had
little or no influence at the time. The Resistance now is greatly celebrated,
especially here in this region therefore figures like De Gaulle for example are
now greatly celebrated. This may lead to an exaggeration of the impact of this
speech.
The translation of the speech into English
could also change and differ expressions or phrases which in English do not make
as much sense. Translations can distort or change the message of the text
therefore, if you were only to look at the English translation the speech would
be a less reliable source of information. It was translated by one of us and we
have a limited vocabulary in French as it is not our first language. There may
be errors in the translation due to misinterpretation.
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written by Michael and Sarah
Grant
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