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French National Committee
committee ofFree France
left to right:Diethelm,Muselier,De Gaulle, Cassin,Pleven andAuboyneau.
Date formed	24 September 1941 (1941-09-24)
Date dissolved	3 June 1943 (1943-06-03)
People and organisations
CNFL President[1]	Charles de Gaulle
Deputy head of government	René Pleven
Status in legislature	none
Opposition cabinet	Government of Vichy France
Opposition party	French State
Opposition leader	Philippe Pétain
History
Predecessor	Empire Defense Council
Successor	French Committee of National Liberation

TheFrench National Committee (French:Comité national français,CNF) was the coordinating body created byGeneral Charles de Gaulle which acted as thegovernment in exile ofFree France from 1941 to 1943. The committee was the successor of the smallerEmpire Defense Council.^[2]

It wasWinston Churchill who suggested that de Gaulle create a committee, in order to lend an appearance of more constitutionally based and less dictatorial authority.^[3] According to historianHenri Bernard ^[fr], De Gaulle went on to accept his proposal, but took care to exclude all his adversaries within the Free France movement, such asÉmile Muselier,André Labarthe and others, retaining only "yes men" in the group.^[3]

The CNF was founded 24 September 1941 by an edict signed by General de Gaulle inLondon. The committee remained active until 3 June 1943, when it merged with theFrench Civil and Military High Command headed byHenri Giraud, becoming the newFrench Committee of National Liberation.

The French National Committee comprised six civilian and six military personnel:

• Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, President;
• René Pleven, Commissioner of Economy, Finance and the Colonies. In charge of the coordination of civilian administrative departments ;
• Major GeneralPaul Legentilhomme, Commissioner of War;
• Maurice Dejean ^[fr], Commissioner of Foreign Affairs until October 18, 1942 (dismissal), interim replacement by Pleven and then by René Massigli;
• René Cassin, Commissioner of Justice and Public Instruction;
• André Diethelm, Commissioner for Action in the Metropolis, Work, and Information;
• André Philip, Commissioner of the Interior from 27;
• Jacques Soustelle, Commissioner of Information from July 27, 1942;
• Air Brigade GeneralMartial Valin, Commissioner of the Air Force;
• Vice-AdmiralÉmile Muselier, Commissioner of the Navy and the Merchant Navy, until March 3, 1942 (resignation); replaced by Rear AdmiralPhilippe Auboyneau from 4;
• Lieutenant GeneralGeorges Catroux, commissioner at large from March 4, 1942;
• Rear AdmiralGeorges Thierry d'Argenlieu, commissioner at large from March 4, 1942.

On 20 March 1943, the committee secretly appointedJean Moulin, then in London, as representative of the French National Committee in Metropolitan France and "national commissioner on active duty"^[a] and put him in charge of creating a single coordinating body for theFrench Resistance. According toDaniel Cordier, "Jean Moulin was then becoming one of the main characters of the French internal Resistance.^[4]

Notes

Citations

• Bernard, Henri[in French] (1984) [1st pub:Collins (1981)]."Kersaudy (François). Churchill and de Gaulle [compte-rendu]".Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire (book review) (in French).62 (2). Retrieved23 July 2020.
• Cordier, Daniel (27 May 2014) [1st pub:Gallimard (1999)].Jean Moulin - La République des catacombes [Jean Moulin - The Republic of the Catacombs] (in French). Editions Gallimard.ISBN 978-2-07-255962-4.OCLC 751486421.
• Cornil, Sylvain (16 February 2009)."Les institutions de la France Libre" [Institutions of Free France].La Fondation de la France Libre. Retrieved23 July 2020.
• Journal officiel de la France libre [Official Journal of Free France].^{[full citation needed]}

EnglishWikisource has original text related to this article:

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FrenchWikisource has original text related to this article:

De Gaulle's appeal from London

• Free France Foundation

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