In April 1969, amid student unrest that escalated into major strikes, President de Gaulle was forced to resign. The situation looks more than strange, since these "popular indignations" began during the period of economic growth in France. Who and how did the founder of the Fifth Republic interfere?
In the spring of 1965, a French ship anchored in a New York port. The ship holds $ 750 million. France, according to the rights stipulated by the Bretton Woods system, wanted to exchange green paper for the equivalent in gold.
Behind the scenes of Armageddon
De Gaulle's dollar demarche excited the entire political elite of the United States, and most importantly, shocked the bankers from the Federal Reserve System (FRS), who spent decades to make the dollar the main reserve currency and be able to completely determine the rules in the world financial markets, which means they have incredible preferences.
Any of the lucky owners of American bills will be able to read on them: "Banknote of the Federal Reserve System." Not US Banknote, but Federal Reserve Banknote! So, the US Federal Reserve is a non-governmental organization! This is a private shop. It was formed at the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the efforts of several commercial banks.
Previously, the pound sterling was considered the main currency of international trade. World War II put an end to this. Britain ceded, and its former colony, the United States, came to the fore. In fact, this can be seen as a loss, or it can also be a passing of the baton.
Now more and more voices of experts are heard, believing that both Britain and the United States were directly involved in the outbreak of the war. One goal was the destruction of the USSR, the other was to establish control over the world economy.
In 1944, at the Bretton Woods Conference, where the USSR also participated, a new system of financial relations was adopted, replacing the old one based on the gold standard. If earlier the currency of any country was provided with gold, now - only the US currency, the rest of the players had to settle through the dollar. The Fed bankers celebrated their victory.
However, not everyone agreed … In December 1945, Stalin simply refused to ratify the adopted agreement and announced that the USSR intended to trade for the "golden ruble". The Father of Nations understood all too well what Bretton Woods meant for us.
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle, a participant in the First World War, a statesman, a general, known to the world as a symbol of the French Resistance, understood this well. In the summer of 1940, Colonel de Gaulle on the radio called on the French to fight against the occupiers and collaborators and headed the Free France organization. It was thanks to de Gaulle that his country went down in history as a victorious state. This can be interpreted in different ways, but the French air regiment "Normandie-Niemen" remains the only military unit of the Western allies that fought directly on the Soviet-German front.
Gold of Paris
Today it is no secret to anyone what enormous advantages the Second World War gave to the American economy, which had never crawled out of crises before. The state, on the continental territory of which only two bombs fell during the entire war, thanks to Lend-Lease, to the eyeballs, loaded its production facilities with military orders, becoming a creditor of almost half of the world. No wonder the Second World War in the United States was called a "good war."
Order also reigned on the banking front. The satellites-allies of the United States had to cave in under the senior partner. The only problem was the gold content of the dollar. Uncontrolled emission entailed inevitable depreciation of the reserve currency and, in order to imitate its stability, it was necessary to artificially underestimate the value of a troy ounce of gold. This was done at the expense of organizing the "Gold Pool": the Fed forced European central banks to sell gold reserves through the Bank of England at imposed prices, often to their own detriment.
The scam worked, the dollar dominated. The partners sagged. In the USSR, replacing the dangerous Stalin, Khrushchev sat in the Kremlin, ready to carry out monetary reforms in support of the dollar, reducing the gold content of the ruble. Only in France there was an intractable general who understood the essence of the scam and was going to win a place for his country under the economic sun.
The $ 750 million presented by the Fed for exchange was only the first tranche. De Gaulle announced that he was going to exchange $ 1.5 billion from French reserves for gold. Washington hinted that it would regard such an action as unfriendly. To which de Gaulle announced the withdrawal of France from NATO.
In the future, it was mainly Parisian financiers who communicated with the Americans. By the end of 1965, of the $ 5.5 billion in French reserves, only $ 800 million remained unchanged for gold. Moreover, everything was according to the law.
Following the unpredictable French, zealous Germans were drawn to change dollars. A precedent was being created. The bankers had no choice but to remove de Gaulle's figure from the political board.
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They're children
By the 20th century, the Anglo-Saxon elites had mastered the technology of "color revolutions" as a way to overthrow unwanted regimes. England, and then the United States, used them in France more than once or twice. "Where the army does not pass, a donkey with gold will pass" …
In any society there are always dissatisfied people. People tend to want more. It is enough to secretly finance the forces that are convenient for you, splash gasoline into the coals … and peaceful protests turn into a war with the police.
Exactly such a scenario was being prepared for France. Although there was still a distinctive feature: the history of color revolutions did not yet know such a large-scale participation of students.
The bet was made as correctly as possible. Young people are passionate, due to youthful maximalism, they are always ready for the barricades, due to their small life experience, they are very manipulative and unconditionally believe in leaders. All that remains is to create these leaders and provide them with financial resources.
A revolution that never happened
May 1968 was born on the campus of the University of Paris in Nanterre. One and a half hundred students occupied one of the buildings, demanding that the administration ease the disciplinary regime on campuses, in particular, the abolition of the separation of boys and girls. On May 3, after the campus was closed, the unrest shifted to the Sorbonne. In the evening, police and special forces were sent to disperse the students.
Unions of students and university teachers spoke out in defense of the arrested. The march of solidarity was attended by 20 thousand people. The police, trying to prevent the march to the Sorbonne building, used batons. During the clashes, protesters began to erect barricades, turn over and throw paving stones at the police, they responded with tear gas.
The city was engulfed in riots. In five days, 40 thousand people were already fighting with the police. Cars were burning in the center of Paris.
It is extremely curious to read the protesters' slogans: “It is forbidden to forbid!”, “Sex is wonderful!”, “Anarchy is me”, “Orgasm is here and now!”, “No exams!”, “Alcohol kills. Take LSD. If you think logically, then doubts about the ideological background of events inevitably arise. However, in those days France had no time for logic.
After the press and the intelligentsia supported the protesters, the sympathies of a large part of society turned out to be on the side of the rebels. The largest trade unions in France have launched large-scale strikes. By the end of May, nearly 10 million people were on strike in the country. The economy was paralyzed. Nobody remembered about the students any more, the workers took to the streets with political slogans. They wanted wage increases, the resignation of the government and the president.
On May 30, 1968, de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and called early elections. 800 thousand of his supporters gathered in the center of Paris. In the elections held in June, de Gaulle confidently won, gaining more than 70% of the vote, but the i's were not yet dotted.
The strikes have destabilized the economy, triggering a crisis. De Gaulle saw the only way out in harsh unpopular measures. In February 1969, he put to a referendum the question of limiting the rights of the Senate and expanding the presidential powers, announcing in advance that if he lost, he would leave office.
The general lost this battle … On April 28, 1969, he resigned and in November 1970 died of a ruptured aorta. And just a year later, President Nixon announced to the world the abolition of the gold content of the dollar. The Fed bankers dotted the i's. They once and for all saved the dollar from real collateral, finally securing the emission carte blanche for themselves.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №45. Author: Eduard Shaurov