Response To Gaullism: U.s. Law And Policy Research (1958-1968)

In May 1958, de Gaulle releaded France, and carried out the Gaullism foreign policy, which challenged the hegemony of the United States. This dissertation is to review the American decision process, adopted policies and their effects when facing the Gallism.De Gaulle successively declared the Gaullism diplomatic declaration on Britain and U.S. from June to July 1958. U.S. welcomed de Gaulle's taking office, but did not like the Gaullism. In 1958-1960, de Gaulle put forward"the September memorandum", withdrawed its naval forces in the Mediterranean which were earmarked for assignment to NATO and succeeded carrying through the first nuclear test. Although the Eisenhower Administration agreed to hold tripartite meetings, it refused the cardinal principles of the Gaullism.During the Kennedy Administration, the divergence between U.S. and France was further exposed, especially in their European strategies. Kenndey devised the Grand Design, but de Gaulle just wanted French Grandeur, whose different European strategies inevitably collided each other. Kennedy launched an attack at the Gaullism more initiatively than the predecessor Administration but both of them failed: the Grand Design had not been finished and the de Gaulle's European construction was also frustrated.After Johnson took the presidency, de Gaulle recognized PRC in January 1964, and then announced in March 1966 that France would withdraw from NATO, all of which proved the highest divergence between two countries. Facing these challenges from de Gaulle, Johnson adopted a discreet policy that at last restained the influnce of Sino-French establishing diplomatic relations, reinforced NATO, and managed to keep France in alliance.Through studying some important events and the whole scene of Franco-American relations in the de Gaulle era, we can conclude that although there were constant contradictions between U.S. and France, the two countries maintained alliance relation.There are two basic reasons for this.Firstly, Keeping alliance relation accorded with their national interests .Secondly, they needed a alliance to contain the communism.The basic characteristics of Franco-American relations is"a alliance in turmoil".The policy adopted by U.S. to cope the Gaullism is basically successful.The United States kept its hegemony in the west, reinforced NATO, prevented Federal Germany from producing nuclear weapons, and weakened the influnce of the Gaullism. However, the Gaullism got no big achievements because France only achieved independence, but not Grandeur.