Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated May 21, 1958: French situation

General Charles De Gaulle told an anxious nation on May 19 that he would not violate France’s Republican Constitution but was ready to take over the Government if given power by the National Assembly. From his country home he drove into the tense and heavily-guarded capital to address a packed press conference. As he spoke thousands of workers went on strike on orders from Communist trade unions, the Metro (underground) system came to a halt and some buses returned to their depots. Gen. De Gaulle indicated that he would take no steps himself to assume power in response to the call from the Algerian army-civilian junta. He described the events in Algeria as a “magnificent spectacle” and approved the behaviour of the military. He said the army was trying to prevent the popular reaction from degenerating into disorder.

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