PARIS, FRENCH REPUBLIC, July 6 (HNS) -- This morning, President Charles de Gaulle of the French Rupublic awoke from the coma he has slipped into in late June.
Almost immediately, at 10am today, President de Gaulle came on television and ordered striking workers to return to their jobs, or else a state of emergency (effectively martial law), would be declared.
That afternoon, the revolutionary feeling of the students and workers faded away. Workers gradually returned to work or were ousted from their plants by the police. The national student union called off street demonstrations.
Only the day before, several hundred thousand protesters (400,000 to 500,000—much more than the 50,000 the police were expecting), led by the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), marched through Paris, chanting, "Adieu, de Gaulle!" and "Magic is not real!"
And yet, confronted with President de Gaulle's actual presence, despite his palsied hands and obvious frailty, resistance seemed to falter.
"Their will was sapped, almost as if by magic," said one Paris police officer, laughing.
The same morning as de Gaulle awoke, Prime Minister Bernard Debré signed agreements at the Ministry of Social Affairs. They provided for an increase of the minimum wage by 35% and of average salaries of other workers by 10%.
"The one-two punch of a major concession combined with a serious threat seem to have broken the back of the would-be revolutionary movement in the French Republic," said Dr. Terence Simonds of the Political Science Department at Penn State. "It's not magic, it's just French politics. Some will attribute it to de Gaulle's cult of personality, but the military backing he has means much more."
