The Maison de France hosted a day of commemorations on Thursday marking the 86th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s historic radio broadcast from London on 18 June 1940, a speech widely regarded as the founding act of the French Resistance.
The Appeal of 18 June was the first speech made by Charles de Gaulle after his arrival in London in 1940 following the Battle of France, broadcast to France via the BBC. It came at a desperate moment for the country: the German army was advancing rapidly, Paris had fallen, and the French government was preparing to request an armistice. Refusing to accept defeat, de Gaulle addressed French soldiers, engineers and armament workers in Britain, urging them to join him in continuing the fight against the Third Reich.
Although historians have shown the appeal was heard by only a minority of French people at the time, it has gone on to be regarded as one of the most important speeches in French history, and has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register since 2005. Because German censorship prevented its broadcast within France itself, the speech reached the public largely through clandestine reproduction and the resistance networks that grew in its wake.
This year’s commemorations in Monaco began this morning with an official ceremony attended by the Fédération des Groupements Français de Monaco alongside numerous figures from the Principality. The events, organised by Monaco’s French associations, will conclude this evening with a musical tribute.
At 18:30, the Union des Français de Monaco will host a recital titled “Honneur et Mélodies,” showcasing celebrated pieces from the French musical repertoire. France’s Ambassador to Monaco, Jean d’Haussonville, is expected to attend the concert.
