162 Gaulle, Charles de European neighbors, and to ensure her independence relative to the United States He traveled to Algeria on numerous occasions, finally concluding that France had to give the colony its independence Negotiations proved difficult, given multiple factions in Algeria and the failed putsch staged by French generals in April 1961 After almost a year of talks the Évian Accords were signed on March 22, 1962, and then accepted by the French and the Algerians through referenda De Gaulle made important contributions to the formation of a united Europe, though he never accepted the need for France to surrender any sovereignty in the process of building the European Union He adhered to the requirements instituted by the Treaty of Rome, signed just prior to his arrival in office, by initiating financial reforms and by reducing customs duties and tariffs imposed on trade with other European countries He pursued cordial relations with Germany; German chancellor Konrad Adenauer and de Gaulle signed the Elysée Treaty on January 22, 1965 De Gaulle also directed his attention to ensuring French national independence during the cold war Although always opposed to communism and a sup- The head of the Free French during World War II, Charles de Gaulle (right) led France through the postwar period porter of capitalism, as made evident by his immediate encouragement of American president John F Kennedy during the Berlin crisis (1961) and the Cuban missile crisis (1962), he nonetheless believed it important for France to retain a “free hand” in the world In his quest to preserve France’s international stature de Gaulle continued the nuclear program started after World War II; France exploded its first atomic bomb in the Sahara in February 1960 De Gaulle gradually pulled France out of the NATO military command, though the country remained part of the alliance even after 1966 De Gaulle further demonstrated his determination to maintain an autonomous foreign policy by his decision to recognize the People’s Republic of China in 1964 He criticized the U.S war in Vietnam during a 1966 speech in Cambodia He justified his encouragement of Québecois independence activists as being in line with his lifelong opposition to imperialism and his belief in the right to national self-determination On the other hand, he developed amicable relations with the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states Despite hesitations and almost no campaigning, de Gaulle won reelection to the presidency over Franỗois Mitterrand in 1965 Yet trouble was on the horizon Although his tenure was generally a time of economic prosperity and modernization, many citizens chafed at the lack of social and cultural modernization The events of May 1968, when students and labor union members engaged in protests and strikes, posed a problem for de Gaulle Much to the public’s consternation he disappeared from France by helicopter on May 29 After returning from an evening in Baden Baden, where he consulted with a French general, he gave a radio address in which he stressed the need to remain intransigent about the necessity of public order The legislative campaigns that followed de Gaulle’s dissolution of the assembly did little to eliminate the social fissures that had been revealed and exacerbated by the events of May 1968 The president became more cut off from the citizenry, while the new assembly refused necessary reforms Ignoring his advisers, de Gaulle put planned reforms of the Senate to referendum in 1969 French voters responded negatively He immediately announced his resignation and returned to his estate In the year prior to his death he wrote his Mémoirs d’espoir (only the first volume of which was completed) and received visitors at his estate De Gaulle was buried in the local church according to his instructions See also Algerian revolution