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De Gaulle's most significant initiative —perhaps the one for which he himself would like most to be remembered—is France's close, new relationship with an old enemy, Germany. Himself a veteran of two wars against les Bodies, and the son of a soldier who was wounded in the war with Prussia, Charles de Gaulle went far beyond the dictates of conventional statesmanship to heal the ancient feud between Gaul and Teuton. On his state visit to West Germany, he went out of his way to wring Germans' hands and bid them Guten Tag. Few Germans who heard him could fail to be moved when De Gaulle cried: "Das deutsche Volk ist ein grosses Volk." A popular Christmas gift in West Germany last week was a recording of the speeches he made on that trip. Its name: De Gaulle in Germany, the Symbol of European Understanding.
The nation's most spectacular feat has been its economic and fiscal comeback. The phenomenal upsurge that has become known as the "French miracle" has in five years turned near bankruptcy to boom, made the once-fragile franc one of the world's sturdiest currencies. Soon after De Gaulle came to power in 1958, the nation's reserves were so close to exhaustion that he had no recourse but to devalue the franc. Offered two alternative proposals, the President, who is as innocent of economics as Konrad Adenauer or John Kennedy, gambled on a "strong plan." It wrung 17.5% from the franc's worth, and wiped out the black market in currency that was draining France's reserves.
Helped by government planners who "concert" all segments of the economy, the G.N.P. has been growing in recent years at a steady 5.5% (v. 2.5% in the U.S.); exports take a fat 16% of France's production. Gold and dollar reserves have almost trebled in four years (to $3.6 billion). Some of France's most efficient industries, from the Renault auto firm to railroads that run on time, are owned or controlled by the state, which under De Gaulle in 1945 nationalized much of France's productive capacity.
Modernizing Napoleon. A side of Charles de Gaulle seldom glimpsed from abroad is his concern for the human condition of France. The government must tackle a vast backlog of "renovation," in a favorite Gaullist phrase, before the nation can hope for new housing, adequate schools, modern highways. Half the houses in France do not have running water. For France's 6,200,000 cars there are only 125 miles of divided parkway, one main north-south artery and, seemingly, not a single vacant parking space in Paris. Urgently needed school modernization programs are bogged down in age-old religious squabbles. Potentially productive farm land is unused for lack of regional development schemes such as dams. A medieval distributive system raises the price of a peach 1,150% between farmer and housewife, infuriating both.