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CC 81 2010
Blister pack
BU
Blister pack BU
France · 70 years of de Gaulle's Appeal of 18 June
Mintage20,000
Issue price€10.00
Issue date25 May 2010
PackagingBlister pack
Edge lettering2 ★ ★ × 6, alternating upright/inverted
Market price€29.00
Issue occasion
The coin commemorates the 70th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s appeal of 18 June 1940, which was broadcast by the BBC from London and marked the beginning of the French Resistance. The design shows de Gaulle in uniform, without headgear, in front of a period microphone while reading out the appeal. The abbreviation “RF” is incorporated into the manuscript; above it are “2010”, “70 ANS” and “APPEL 18 JUIN”.
The design
The inner disc shows General de Gaulle in uniform without headwear in front of a microphone typical of the period, while reading the appeal. The engraver cleverly placed the abbreviation “RF” for “French Republic” in the manuscript. The year “2010” is engraved in the upper part of the inner disc, with “70 YEARS” and “18 JUNE APPEAL” below it.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
Background on the topic
In the spring of 1940, the Wehrmacht defeated the French and British troops in France within a few weeks. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, Marshal Philippe Pétain took over the government and announced that he would seek an armistice. This led to the German occupation of large parts of France; in the unoccupied south, the authoritarian Vichy regime was established, which collaborated with the German Reich.
Charles de Gaulle was a career officer and had advocated before the war for the increased use of mobile armoured units. During the campaign, he was promoted to brigadier general and briefly served as Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence. As he rejected the armistice, he went to Great Britain. In his radio address, he argued that the defeat of the French armies did not yet decide the war. France could rely on its colonial empire, the British alliance and the economic resources of other allies. He called on soldiers, skilled workers and armaments experts to join him.
The immediate reach of the address was limited. No audio recording of the broadcast has survived, and relatively few people are likely to have heard it directly. Only in retrospect did it become a symbol of the continuation of the struggle. The resistance in fact emerged from different groups in occupied and unoccupied France, as well as from the forces of Free France (Freies Frankreich) led by de Gaulle. These currents were only gradually brought together politically and militarily.
De Gaulle developed into the political representative of fighting France and stood at the head of the provisional government after the liberation. Later, as the first president of the Fifth Republic (Fünfte Republik), he shaped its institutions and foreign policy.
The anniversary was suitable for a state commemorative coin because, in French commemorative culture, the address is regarded as the antithesis of capitulation and collaboration. Since 2006, 18 June has also been a national day of remembrance in France, commemorating the historic appeal and the refusal to accept defeat as final.
Charles de Gaulle was a career officer and had advocated before the war for the increased use of mobile armoured units. During the campaign, he was promoted to brigadier general and briefly served as Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence. As he rejected the armistice, he went to Great Britain. In his radio address, he argued that the defeat of the French armies did not yet decide the war. France could rely on its colonial empire, the British alliance and the economic resources of other allies. He called on soldiers, skilled workers and armaments experts to join him.
The immediate reach of the address was limited. No audio recording of the broadcast has survived, and relatively few people are likely to have heard it directly. Only in retrospect did it become a symbol of the continuation of the struggle. The resistance in fact emerged from different groups in occupied and unoccupied France, as well as from the forces of Free France (Freies Frankreich) led by de Gaulle. These currents were only gradually brought together politically and militarily.
De Gaulle developed into the political representative of fighting France and stood at the head of the provisional government after the liberation. Later, as the first president of the Fifth Republic (Fünfte Republik), he shaped its institutions and foreign policy.
The anniversary was suitable for a state commemorative coin because, in French commemorative culture, the address is regarded as the antithesis of capitulation and collaboration. Since 2006, 18 June has also been a national day of remembrance in France, commemorating the historic appeal and the refusal to accept defeat as final.