Sarkozy-de Gaulle: Recycling the Resistance myth

Abstract

The Resistance myth in France was consciously crafted by Charles de Gaulle and his supporters, during World War II and afterwards, to create a coherent narrative of national unity to help carry the country through the period of conflict and the reconstruction that followed. The consensus underpinning the viability of the myth began to fracture from the 1970s onwards and has reached the point of becoming, according to some historians, ‘balkanised’. This article will evoke the genesis of the Resistance myth and address the present-day paradox of a myth that has never been both more contested and more ubiquitous, and the reasons why, in spite of his initial disinclination to do so, Nicolas Sarkozy found himself increasingly obliged to resort to that myth in the attempt to bolster the credibility of his leadership.