Ebook: Political Ecumenism: Catholics, Jews, and Protestants in De Gaulle’s Free France, 1940-1945

Geoffrey Adams argues that the creation of La France libre and its assumption of power constitute a major turning point in modern French history. Charles de Gaulle was both the representative of a predominantly Catholic France and leader of the republican cause. By attracting key personalities from the nation's "three religious families" - Catholics, Jews, and Protestants - to the Free French banner he created a precedent-setting coalition based on political ecumenism. Following the liberation of Paris, his provisional government was recognized by France's ecclesiastical and political establishments - reuniting the Two Frances (revolutionary and counter-revolutionary), which had been in conflict since the l790s.