French Committee of National Liberation
French Committee of National Liberation
an organ of French central power in 1943 and 1944. The committee represented the state interests of the French Republic and directed the activities of French patriots who joined the antifascist coalition.
The committee was established in Algiers on June 3, 1943, by an agreement between the leader of the French National Committee, C. De Gaulle, and the head of the French administration and army in North Africa, H. H. Giraud. The two men were co-chairmen of the committee from June to November 1943, when De Gaulle became its sole leader. On Aug. 26, 1943, the committee was recognized by the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain. The committee declared its resolution to continue the fight against the fascist powers until France was completely liberated. It pledged to restore “all French liberties, the laws of the republic, and a republican regime.”
In November 1943 members of several internal Resistance groups were included in the committee, and in April 1944 two representatives of the French Communist Party joined the committee. Almost all of the former French colonies and sizable armed forces were united under the committee’s authority, and the central bodies of the internal Resistance movement acknowledged its overall leadership. On June 2, 1944, the committee was renamed the Provisional Government of the French Republic.