ABSTRACT
In France the loss of life and the fatigue caused by First World War were not overcome in the interwar period. Even while France was still under the provisional government, it again began to share in directing European affairs, although at the Potsdam conference France was not represented. The establishment of the Fourth Republic in 1946 took place after a long, turbulent period. The fall of France and the ensuing occupation of the country by the German army constituted one of the darkest periods in French history. Thus on October 4, 1958, after twelve years of precarious existence, the Fourth Republic came to an end, and the new Constitution came into effect with the establishment of the Fifth Republic. On December 21 Charles de Gaulle was elected the first president of the Fifth Republic. As in domestic matters, de Gaulle strove to refurbish the glory of France in foreign affairs.
