The article is dedicated to life and activity of Charles de Gaulle, outstanding French statesman and commander. It was patriotism and aspiration for a national greatness of France that appeared brightly in de Gaulle’s personality. De Gaulle became a symbol of French Resistance, he saved the prostrate France and made it one of the states that won a victory in the II World War. The author demonstrates the role of de Gaulle in the formation of 5 th Republic and points out that Gaullism became a cornerstone of France’s rebirth and the largest ideological and political tendency in Europe in XX century. The article shows the relationship between Charles de Gaulle and the leaders of the «Big Three» - Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, W. Cherchil. The official visit of the French delegation, led by Charles de Gaulle to the Soviet Union in November-December 1944, as well as the visit of the Soviet delegation headed by Nikita Khrushchev in France in 1960 are described. The author analyzes the main reasons for Ch. de Gaulle for the start of a reform of France's colonial empire, as well as its efforts to ensure the France more influence within NATO.

Charles de Gaulle, national greatness, resistance to German aggression, French-Soviet relations, gaullism