Showing posts with label maquis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maquis. Show all posts

Thursday 6 January 2022

The Frontier







SISKO : 
Do you know what The Trouble is? 

KIRA : 
….no. 

SISKO : 
The Trouble is Earth

KIRA : 
Really? 

SISKO : 
On Earth there is no poverty
no crime, no war
You look out the window 
of Starfleet Headquarters 
and You see Paradise
Well, it's easy to be A Saint in Paradise, 
but The Maquis Do Not Live in Paradise. 
Out there in The Demilitarised Zone, 
all the problems haven't been solved yet. 

Out there, there are no saints, just people
Angry, scared, determined people 
who are going to do 
whatever it takes to survive 
whether it meets with 
Federation approval or not

KIRA : 
Makes sense to me. 

SISKO : 
I'm glad someone understands. 

 

SISKO:
 Mister Eddington. 
I have just one question. Why? 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
Will knowing my personal motivation 
change anything at this point? 

SISKO
No, I don't suppose it will. 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
Then let's table that for now. 
The only reason I've contacted you 
is to ask you to leave us alone

Our quarrel is with the Cardassians
not the Federation. 

Leave us alone and I can promise you 
you'll never hear from the Maquis again. 

SISKO
Unless you see another shipment you want to hijack. 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
You keep sending replicators to Cardassia 
and you're going to have a lot more 
to worry about than hijackings. 

SISKO
I don't respond well to threats. 
I thought you would know that by now. 
But I'm beginning to see that 
you don't know me at all

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
I know you
I was like you once, but then I opened my eyes.
 
Open your eyes, Captain. 

Why is the Federation 
so obsessed about the Maquis? 

We've never harmed you, 
and yet we're constantly arrested 
and charged with terrorism. 

Starships chase us through the Badlands 
and our supporters are harassed and ridiculed. 

Why?


 Because We've 
left The Federation, 
and that's the one thing 
you can't accept. 

Nobody leaves Paradise. 

Everyone should want to be 
in The Federation. 

Hell, you even want 
The Cardassians to join. 

You're only sending them replicators 
because one day they can take 
their rightful place 
on the Federation Council. 

You know, in some ways 
You're worse than 
The Borg. 

At least They tell You 
about Their Plans 
for assimilation. 

You're more insidious. 
You assimilate people 
and they don't even know it

SISKO
You know what, Mister Eddington? 
I don't give a damn what you think of the Federation, the Maquis, or anything else. 

All I know is that you betrayed Your Oath, 
Your Duty, and me

And if it takes me the rest of my life, 
I will see you standing before a court-martial 
that'll break you and send you to a penal colony, 
where you will spend the rest of your days 
growing old and wondering whether 
a ship full of replicators was really worth it.




DAX:
Les Miserables.

SISKO:
You know it?

DAX:
I can't stand Victor Hugo. 
I tried reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I couldn't get through it. 
It was so melodramatic and his heroines are so two dimensional.

SISKO:
Eddington compares me to one of the characters, Inspector Javert. A policeman who relentlessly pursues a man named Valjean, guilty of a trivial offence, and in the end Javert's own inflexibility destroys him. He commits suicide.

DAX:
You can't believe that description fits you. 
Eddington is just trying to get under your skin.

SISKO:
He did that eight months ago. 
What strikes me about this book is that 
Eddington said that it's one of his favourites.

DAX:
There's no accounting for taste.

SISKO:
Let's think about it.
A Starfleet security officer is fascinated by a nineteenth century French melodrama, 
and now he's a leader of the Maquis,
 a resistance group fighting the noble battle 
against the evil Cardassians.

DAX:
It sounds like he's living out his own fantasy.

SISKO:
Exactly. And you know what?
 Les Miserables isn't 
about The Policeman.
It's about Valjean, the victim 
of a monstrous injustice 
who spends his entire life 
helping people, making noble sacrifices 
for others. 

That's how Eddington sees himself. 
He's Valjean, he's Robin Hood, 
he's a romantic, dashing figure, 
fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds.

DAX:
The secret life of Michael Eddington.
How does it help us?

SISKO:
Eddington is the hero of his own story. 
That makes me the villain. 

And what is it that every hero 
wants to do?

DAX:
Kill the bad guy.

SISKO:
That's part of it. 
Heroes only kill when they have to.

Eddington could have killed me 
back in the refugee camp 
or when he disabled the Defiant, 
but in the best melodramas 
the villain creates a situation 
where the hero is forced 
to sacrifice himself 
for the people, for the cause. 
One final grand gesture.

DAX:
What are you getting at, Benjamin?

SISKO:
I think it's time for me to become The Villain.


 
There are Heroes on Both Sides. 
Evil is Everywhere.


EDDINGTON
But think about those people you saw in the caves, 
huddled and starving. 
They didn't attack the Malinche.

SISKO
You should have thought about that 
before 
you attacked a Federation starship

(Sisko turns his back on the Eddington hologram


(Transmission ends)


Captain's log, supplemental. 
Resettlement efforts in the DMZ are underway. 
The Cardassian and Maquis colonists 
who were forced to abandon their homes 
will make new lives for themselves 
on the planets their counterparts evacuated. 

The balance in the region will be restored, 
though the situation remains far from stable.




He is The Chosen One.

He will bring Balance.


SISKO: 
Are you all right? 

EZRI: 
I talked with Worf.
 He doesn't want to have anything to do with me. 

SISKO: 
Perhaps I should have a talk with him. 

EZRI: 
Absolutely not. You intimidate him. 

SISKO: 
Me? 

EZRI: 
Don't tell him I told you. 

SISKO: 
I intimidate Worf, huh? 

EZRI: 
You like that, don't you? 

SISKO: 
Of course not. 

EZRI: 
Come on. I've been a m

Monday 23 December 2019

The Hero is a Villain







SISKO: 
Let's think about it. 
A Starfleet security officer is fascinated by a nineteenth century French melodrama, and now he's a leader of the Maquis, a resistance group fighting the noble battle against the evil Cardassians. 

DAX: 
It sounds like he's living out his own fantasy. 

SISKO: 
Exactly. And you know what? 

Les Miserables isn't about The Policeman. 

It's about Valjean, the victim of a monstrous injustice who spends his entire life helping people, making noble sacrifices for others. 

That's how Eddington sees himself. 

He's Valjean, he's Robin Hood, he's a romantic, dashing figure, fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds. 

DAX: 
The secret life of Michael Eddington. 
How does it help us? 

SISKO: 
Eddington is The Hero of His Own Story. 

That makes me The Villain. 

And what is it that every hero wants to do? 


DAX: 
Kill The Bad Guy. 

SISKO: 
That's part of it. 

Heroes only kill when they have to. 

Eddington could have killed me back in the refugee camp or when he disabled the Defiant, 
but in the best melodramas The Villain creates a situation where The Hero is forced to sacrifice himself for The People, for The Cause.

One final grand gesture. 


DAX: 
What are you getting at, Benjamin? 

SISKO: 
I think it's time for me to become The Villain.





“The answer to all of this, everything that we’re talking about, is education into early history. 

Until people understand the Stone Age, the nomadic period, the agrarian era, and how culture, how civilization built up. . . 


In Mesopotamia - the great irrigation projects. Or in Egypt where you had. . . Centralized government authority became necessary to master these. . . 



You had a situation, an environmentally difficult situation like the deserts Mesopotamia, or the peculiar character of Egyptian geography where you can only have a little tiny fertile line along the edges of the Nile. 

Otherwise, desert landscape. 


So [understanding] civilization and authority as not necessarily about power grabbing but about organization to achieve something for the good of the people as a whole. 
Peterson: 
That’s exactly the great symbolism of 
The Great Father. 








Paglia: By reducing all hierarchy to power, and selfish power, is utterly naive. It’s ignorant. 

I say education has to be totally reconstituted, including public education, to begin in the most distant past so our young people today, who know nothing about how the world was created that they inhabit, can understand what a marvelous technological paradise they live in. 

And it’s the product of capitalism, it’s the product of individual innovation. 



Most of it’s the product of a Western tradition that everyone wants to trash now. If you begin in the past and show. . . And also talk about War, because War is the one thing that wakes people up, as we see. 

Peterson: And as we may see. 

Paglia: Yes, War is The Reality Principle. 

My father and five of my uncles went to World War II. 

My father was part of the force that landed in Japan. 

He was a paratrooper at the time of the Japanese surrender. And a couple of uncles got shot up and so on. 

When you have the reality of war, when people see the reality, the horrors of war - Berlin burned to a crisp and so on. 

Starvation and all. . . Then you understand this marvelous mechanism that brings water to the kitchen. 

And you flip on a light and the electricity turns on. 

Peterson: I know, for me, and I suppose it’s because I have somewhat of a depressive temperament. . . 

I mean one thing that staggers me on a consistent basis is the fact that anything •ever• works. 

Because it’s so unlikely, you know, to be in a situation where our electronic communications work, where our electric grid works. And it works all the time, it works one hundred percent of the time. 

And the reason for that is there are mostly men out there who are breaking themselves into pieces, repairing this thing which just falls apart all the time. 

Paglia: Absolutely. I said this in the Munk Debate in Toronto several years ago. All these elitists and professors sneering at men. It’s men who are maintaining everything around us. 

This invisible army which feminists don’t notice. 

Nothing would work if it weren’t for the men. 

Peterson: A professor is someone who’s standing on a hill surrounded by a wall, which is surrounded by another wall, which is surrounded by another wall - it’s walls all the way down - who stands up there and says I’m brave and independent. It’s like, you’ve got this protected area that’s so unlikely - it’s so absolutely unlikely - and the fact that people aren’t on their knees in gratitude all the time for the fact that we have central heating and air conditioning and pure water and reliable food. . . It’s absolutely unbelievable. 

Paglia: Yes, I mean people used to die. . . The water supply was contaminated with cholera for heaven’s sake. People don’t understand. To have clean water, fresh milk, fresh orange juice. All of these things. These are marvels. 

Peterson: And all of the time. 

Paglia: All of the time. Western culture is heading - because we are so dependent on this invisible infrastructure - we’re heading for an absolute catastrophe when jihadists figure out how to paralyze the power grid. The entire culture will be chaotic. You’ll have mobs in the street within three days when suddenly the food supply is interrupted and there’s no way to communicate. 




That is the way Western culture is going to collapse. And it won’t take much. 

Peterson: Single points of failure. 

Paglia: Because we are so interconnected, and now we’re so dependent on communications and computers. . . I used to predict for years it’ll be an asteroid hitting the earth, and then we’ll have another ice age.





Friday 8 February 2019

Javert



SISKO: 
Well, well, Mister Eddington. 

EDDINGTON: 
(hologram) 
You just couldn't resist the temptation to come after me, could you, Captain. 

SISKO: 
I like to finish what I start.
 
EDDINGTON: 
Well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, again. 
You won't get me, Captain. 

But I do have a consolation prize for you. 
Actually it's more of a gift.
 

KIRA: 
 Incoming transmission. 
Sending over a document. 

EDDINGTON: 
It's a book. One of my favourites. 
Les Miserables. 
 
SISKO: 
Thank you, but I've read it. 

EDDINGTON: 
Recently? If not, you should read it again. 
Pay close attention to the character of Inspector Javert

The French policeman who spends twenty years chasing a man for stealing a loaf of bread.

Sound like anyone you know? 



[Mess hall]
(Miserable Sisko is reading a PADD.

DAX: 
We've towed the transport ship out of the planet's gravitational pull. 

SISKO: 
Once our repair team is back onboard, release the tractor beam. 
The Cardassians can limp their way home in a day or two. 

DAX: 
Les Miserables. 

SISKO: 
You know it? 

DAX: 
I can't stand Victor Hugo. 
I tried reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I couldn't get through it. 
It was so melodramatic and his heroines are so two dimensional. 

SISKO: 
Eddington compares me to one of the characters, Inspector Javert. 

A policeman who relentlessly pursues a man named Valjean, guilty of a trivial offence, 
and in the end Javert's own inflexibility destroys him. 

He commits suicide. 

DAX: 
You can't believe that description fits you. Eddington is just trying to get under your skin. 

SISKO:
 
He did that eight months ago. 

What strikes me about this book is that Eddington said that it's one of his favourites. 

DAX: 
There's no accounting for taste. 

SISKO: 
Let's think about it. 

A Starfleet security officer is fascinated by a nineteenth century French melodrama, and now he's a leader of the Maquis, a resistance group fighting the noble battle against the evil Cardassians. 

DAX: 
It sounds like he's living out his own fantasy.

SISKO: 
Exactly. And you know what? 

Les Miserables isn't about the policeman.

It's about Valjean, the victim of a monstrous injustice who spends his entire life helping people, making noble sacrifices for others. 

That's how Eddington sees himself. 

He's Valjean, he's Robin Hood, he's a romantic, dashing figure, fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds. 

DAX: 
The secret life of Michael Eddington. 
How does it help us?

SISKO: 
Eddington is the hero of his own story. 
That makes me the villain. 

And what is it that every hero wants to do? 

DAX: 
 Kill The Bad Guy. 

SISKO: 
That's part of it. 
Heroes only kill when they have to. 

Eddington could have killed me back in the refugee camp or when he disabled the Defiant, but in the best melodramas The Villain creates a situation where the hero is forced to sacrifice himself for the people, for the cause. 

One final grand gesture. 

DAX: 
What are you getting at, Benjamin?
 
SISKO: 
I think it's time for me to become The Villain.


Friday 28 April 2017

How Assimilation Became a Dirty Word : MANIFEST DESTINY


We are The Borg. 

Lower your shields and surrender your ships.

We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. 
Your culture will adapt to service us. 

Resistance is Futile.


Assimilation : The Arthurian Dream

 



[Captain's office]

(Sisko switches on a wall monitor.) 

EDDINGTON [on monitor]: 
Captain. 

SISKO: 
Mister Eddington. 
I have just one question. 

Why? 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
Will knowing my personal motivation change anything at this point? 

SISKO: 
No, I don't suppose it will. 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
Then let's table that for now. 

The only reason I've contacted you is to ask you to leave us alone. 


Our quarrel is with the Cardassians, not the Federation. 


Leave us alone and I can promise you you'll never hear from the Maquis again. 

SISKO:
 Unless you see another shipment you want to hijack. 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
You keep sending replicators to Cardassia and you're going to have a lot more to worry about than hijackings. 

SISKO: 
I don't respond well to threats. 
I thought you would know that by now. 
But I'm beginning to see that you don't know me at all. 

EDDINGTON 
[on monitor]: 
I know you. I was like you once, but then I opened my eyes. 
Open your eyes, Captain. 

Why is the Federation so obsessed about the Maquis? 


We've never harmed you, and yet we're constantly arrested and charged with terrorism. Starships chase us through the Badlands and our supporters are harassed and ridiculed


Why? 


Because we've left the Federation, 

and that's the one thing you can't accept. 

Nobody leaves Paradise. 

Everyone should want to be in the Federation. 

Hell, you even want the Cardassians to join. 


You're only sending them replicators because one day they can take their rightful place on the Federation Council. 


You know, in some ways you're worse than the Borg. 

At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. 

You're more insidious. 

You assimilate people and they don't even know it. 

SISKO: 

You know what, Mister Eddington? 
I don't give a damn what you think of the Federation, the Maquis, or anything else. 
All I know is that you betrayed your oath, your duty, and me. And if it takes me the rest of my life, I will see you standing before a court-martial that'll break you and send you to a penal colony, where you will spend the rest of your days growing old and wondering whether a ship full of replicators was really worth it.


"For [Sisko/Roddenbury, The United Federation of Planets] means... a fixed array of behavior like a breed of dog or a species of animal. 
He is not thinking of a national community united by a literate language and a classical culture to which any person can become assimilated through a political choice. 
For [Sisko/Roddenberry, The United Federation of Planets] is unchangeable, and [The Federation] is destiny. 
It is a matter of blood and soil. 
The United Federation of Planets fights the Klingons,
and then assimilates them,

The United Federation of Planets fights Romulans,and then assimilates them,

The United Federation of Planets fights Ferrengi,  
and then assimilates them,

The United Federation of Planets fights The Borg,
and then assimilates them,


The United Federation of Planets fights The Cardassians,
and then assimilates them,

The United Federation of Planets fights The Dominion,
and then assimilates them,

and so on through all eternity. 

These hatreds are the main datum of sensory perception.
[Roddenberry's] warhorse is the Territorial Imperative. 
Each is obsessed with borders and territory [Neutral Zones and Demilitarised Zones, Badlands and Briar Patches], and each finds a way to oppose and sabotage dirigistic economic development. 

Each one is eager to submerge and repress other national groupings in pursuit of its own mystical destiny. 


This is [Roddenberry's] racist gospel of universal ethnic cleansing.

Monday 23 January 2017

Rogue One : The Maquis

Vive la France libre dans l’honneur et dans l’indépendance !



Jen - Come here.

Rememeber : whatever I do - I do to protect you.

Say you understand.


My love for her has never faded...

Jenna - my Stardust - I can't imagine what you think of me.

When I was taken, I faced some bitter truths.


I was told that soon enough Krennic would have you as well.

As time went on, I knew that you were either dead, or so well-hidden that he would never find you.

I knew, 
if I refused to work, if I took my own life, , it would only be a matter of time before Krennic realised that he no longer needed me to complete The Project.

So, I did the one thing which nobody expected -

I lied.

I learned to lie.

I played the part of a beaten man, resigned to the sanctuary of his work.  


I made myself indispensable.

And all the while, I lay the groundwork of my revenge... "


"The leaders who, for many years, were at the head of French armies, have formed a government. This government, alleging our armies to be undone, agreed with the enemy to stop fighting. Of course, we were subdued by the mechanical, ground and air forces of the enemy. Infinitely more than their number, it was the tanks, the airplanes, the tactics of the Germans which made us retreat. It was the tanks, the airplanes, the tactics of the Germans that surprised our leaders to the point to bring them there where they are today.

"But has the last word been said? 
Must hope disappear? 
Is defeat final? 
No!

"Believe me, I speak to you with full knowledge of the facts and tell you that nothing is lost for France. The same means that overcame us can bring us to a day of victory. 

For France is not alone! 
She is not alone! She is not alone! 
She has a vast Empire behind her. She can align with the British Empire that holds the sea and continues the fight. 

She can, like England, use without limit the immense industry of United States.

"This war is not limited to the unfortunate territory of our country.
 This war is not finished by the battle of France. 
This war is a world wide war. 

All the faults, all the delays, all the suffering, do not prevent there to be, in the world, all the necessary means to one day crush our enemies. Vanquished today by mechanical force, we will be able to overcome in the future by a superior mechanical force. The destiny of the world is here. 

I, General de Gaulle, currently in London, invite the officers and the French soldiers who are located in British territory or who would come there, with their weapons or without their weapons, I invite the engineers and the special workers of armament industries who are located in British territory or who would come there, to put themselves in contact with me.

Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance not must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.




De juin 1940 à août 1941, les hommes qui ont pris le pouvoir à Vichy mettent en place une politique de collaboration avec l'Allemagne. Pétain impose son idéologie réactionnaire pendant que Laval et Abetz, ambassadeur d'Allemagne en France, oeuvrent au rapprochement des deux pays. Après avoir évincé Laval, Pétain applique une politique xénophobe et antisémite, alignée sur celle de l'Allemagne nazie. A partir de l'hiver 1941, la collaboration s'intensifie. Laval, devenue président du Conseil, organise la répression policière pour lutter contre la Résistance et pour traquer réfractaires et juifs.

Appel du 21 mai 1940
Charles de Gaulle
21 mai 1940

C'est la guerre mécanique qui a commencé le 10 mai. En l'air et sur la terre, l'engin mécanique - avion ou char - est l'élément principal de la force.


L'ennemi a remporté sur nous un avantage initial. Pourquoi ? Uniquement parce qu'il a plus tôt et plus complètement que nous mis à profit cette vérité.


Ses succès lui viennent de ses divisions blindées et de son aviation de bombardement, pas d'autre chose ! Eh bien ? nos succès de demain et notre victoire - oui ! notre victoire - nous viendront un jour de nos divisions cuirassées et de notre aviation d'attaque. Il y a des signes précurseurs de cette victoire mécanique de la France.


Le chef qui vous parle a l'honneur de commander une division cuirassée française. Cette division vient de durement combattre ; eh bien ! on peut dire très simplement, très gravement - sans nulle vantardise - que cette division a dominé le champ de bataille de la première à la dernière heure du combat.


Tous ceux qui y servent, général aussi bien que le plus simple de ses troupiers, ont retiré de cette expérience une confiance absolue dans la puissance d'un tel instrument.


C'est cela qu'il nous faut pour vaincre. Grâce à cela, nous avons déjà vaincu sur un point de la ligne. Grâce à cela, un jour, nous vaincrons sur toute la ligne.


Les chefs qui, depuis de nombreuses années, sont à la tête des armées françaises, ont formé un gouvernement. Ce gouvernement, alléguant la défaite de nos armées, s’est mis en rapport avec l’ennemi pour cesser le combat.

Certes, nous avons été, nous sommes, submergés par la force mécanique, terrestre et aérienne, de l’ennemi.

Infiniment plus que leur nombre, ce sont les chars, les avions, la tactique des Allemands qui nous font reculer. Ce sont les chars, les avions, la tactique des Allemands qui ont surpris nos chefs au point de les amener là où ils en sont aujourd’hui.

Mais le dernier mot est-il dit ? L’espérance doit-elle disparaître ? La défaite est-elle définitive ? Non !

Croyez-moi, moi qui vous parle en connaissance de cause et vous dis que rien n’est perdu pour la France. Les mêmes moyens qui nous ont vaincus peuvent faire venir un jour la victoire.

Car la France n’est pas seule ! Elle n’est pas seule ! Elle n’est pas seule ! Elle a un vaste Empire derrière elle. Elle peut faire bloc avec l’Empire britannique qui tient la mer et continue la lutte. Elle peut, comme l’Angleterre, utiliser sans limites l’immense industrie des États-Unis.

Cette guerre n’est pas limitée au territoire malheureux de notre pays. Cette guerre n’est pas tranchée par la bataille de France. Cette guerre est une guerre mondiale. Toutes les fautes, tous les retards, toutes les souffrances, n’empêchent pas qu’il y a, dans l’univers, tous les moyens nécessaires pour écraser un jour nos ennemis. Foudroyés aujourd’hui par la force mécanique, nous pourrons vaincre dans l’avenir par une force mécanique supérieure. Le destin du monde est là.

Moi, Général de Gaulle, actuellement à Londres, j’invite les officiers et les soldats français qui se trouvent en territoire britannique ou qui viendraient à s’y trouver, avec leurs armes ou sans leurs armes, j’invite les ingénieurs et les ouvriers spécialistes des industries d’armement qui se trouvent en territoire britannique ou qui viendraient à s’y trouver, à se mettre en rapport avec moi.

Quoi qu’il arrive, la flamme de la résistance française ne doit pas s’éteindre et ne s’éteindra pas.

Demain, comme aujourd’hui, je parlerai à la Radio de Londres.



Appel du 22 Juin

Charles de Gaulle
22 juin 1940


Le gouvernement français, après avoir demandé l’armistice, connaît maintenant les conditions dictées par l’ennemi.

Il résulte de ces conditions que les forces françaises de terre, de mer et de l’air seraient entièrement démobilisées, que nos armes seraient livrées, que le territoire français serait totalement occupé et que le Gouvernement français tomberait sous la dépendance de l’Allemagne et de l’Italie.

On peut donc dire que cet armistice serait, non seulement une capitulation, mais encore un asservissement.

Or, beaucoup de Français n’acceptent pas la capitulation ni la servitude, pour des raisons qui s’appellent l’honneur, le bon sens, l’intérêt supérieur de la Patrie.

Je dis l’honneur ! Car la France s’est engagée à ne déposer les armes que d’accord avec ses Alliés. Tant que ses Alliés continuent la guerre, son gouvernement n’a pas le droit de se rendre à l’ennemi. Le Gouvernement polonais, le Gouvernement norvégien, le Gouvernement hollandais, le Gouvernement belge, le Gouvernement luxembourgeois, quoique chassés de leur territoire, ont compris ainsi leur devoir.

Je dis le bon sens ! Car il est absurde de considérer la lutte comme perdue. Oui, nous avons subi une grande défaite. Un système militaire mauvais, les fautes commises dans la conduite des opérations, l’esprit d’abandon du Gouvernement pendant ces derniers combats, nous ont fait perdre la bataille de France. Mais il nous reste un vaste Empire, une flotte intacte, beaucoup d’or. Il nous reste des alliés, dont les ressources sont immenses et qui dominent les mers. Il nous reste les gigantesques possibilités de l’industrie américaine. Les mêmes conditions de la guerre qui nous ont fait battre par 5 000 avions et 6 000 chars peuvent nous donner, demain, la victoire par 20 000 chars et 20 000 avions.

Je dis l’intérêt supérieur de la Patrie ! Car cette guerre n’est pas une guerre franco-allemande qu’une bataille puisse décider. Cette guerre est une guerre mondiale. Nul ne peut prévoir si les peuples qui sont neutres aujourd’hui le resteront demain, même les alliés de l’Allemagne resteront-ils toujours ses alliés ? Si les forces de la liberté triomphent finalement de celles de la servitude, quel serait le destin d’une France qui se serait soumise à l’ennemi ?

L’honneur, le bon sens, l’intérêt supérieur de la Patrie, commandent à tous les Français libres de continuer le combat, là où ils seront et comme ils pourront.

Il est, par conséquent, nécessaire de grouper partout où cela se peut une force française aussi grande que possible. Tout ce qui peut être réuni, en fait d’éléments militaires français et de capacités françaises de production d’armement, doit être organisé partout où il y en a.

Moi, Général de Gaulle, j’entreprends ici, en Angleterre, cette tâche nationale.

J’invite tous les militaires français des armées de terre, de mer et de l’air, j’invite les ingénieurs et les ouvriers français spécialistes de l’armement qui se trouvent en territoire britannique ou qui pourraient y parvenir, à se réunir à moi.

J’invite les chefs, les soldats, les marins, les aviateurs des forces françaises de terre, de mer, de l’air, où qu’ils se trouvent actuellement, à se mettre en rapport avec moi.

J’invite tous les Français qui veulent rester libres à m’écouter et à me suivre.


Vive la France libre dans l’honneur et dans l’indépendance !


L’Affiche de Londres
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À TOUS LES FRANÇAIS

La France a perdu une bataille !
Mais la France n’a pas perdu la guerre !

Des gouvernants de rencontre ont pu capituler, cédant à la panique, oubliant l’honneur, livrant le pays à la servitude. Cependant, rien n’est perdu !
Rien n’est perdu, parce que cette guerre est une guerre mondiale. Dans l’univers libre, des forces immenses n’ont pas encore donné. Un jour ces forces écraseront l’ennemi. Il faut que la France, ce jour-la, soit présente à la victoire. Alors, elle retrouvera sa liberté et sa grandeur. Tel est mon but, mon seul but !
Voila pourquoi je convie tous les Français, où qu’ils se trouvent, à s’unir à moi dans l’action, dans le sacrifice et dans l’espérance.
Notre patrie est en péril de mort.
Luttons tous pour la sauver !
VIVE LA FRANCE !

GÉNÉRAL DE GAULLE

QUARTIER GÉNÉRAL,
4, CARLTON GARDENS,
LONDON, S.W.I