Jean Bastien-Thiry
Jean Bastien-Thiry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Allegiance |  France |
| Service/ | French Air Force |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War II Algerian War |
| Other work | Aerospace engineer |
Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry (19 October 1927 – 11 March 1963) was a French military air weaponry engineer who attempted to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle on 22 August 1962, following Algerian independence.
Life
Bastien-Thiry was born to a family of Catholic military officers in Lunéville, Meurthe-et-Moselle. His father had known de Gaulle in the 1930s and was a member of the Gaullist RPF. He attended the École Polytechnique, followed by the École nationale supérieure de l'Aéronautique before going into the French Air Force where he specialized in the design of air-to-air missiles. In 1957 he was promoted to become principal air military engineer. He was married to Geneviève Lamirand, the daughter of Georges Lamirand (1899-1994), the latter had been Vichy France General Secretary of Youth from September 1940 to March 1943 but the family was Free French[1]. He had three daughters with her.
Assassination attempt
After returning to power with the intention of maintaining the French departments of Algeria as "an integral part of France", de Gaulle made a sudden reversal of policy in September 1959 and began gradually opting instead for the secession of Algeria. Bastien-Thiry who was a Gaullist until 1959 became an opponent[1]. As a consequence of this new policy, one which most military officers and even several of De Gaulle's close associates disagreed, two referendums on self-determination were held. The first, in 1961, and a second on 8 April 1962 (known as the French Évian Accords referendum, 1962). The latter was not in accord with the French constitution, Article 3,[citation needed] as citizens living in Algeria were barred from this referendum.
Bastien-Thiry, who was involved with a still-mysterious organization (Vieil État-Major, which was probably[citation needed] supported by high-ranking officials, politicians and the heads of large companies), cooperated with men of Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS) which was already carrying out assassinations and bombings to try to prevent Algerian independence. Bastien-Thiry was not, however, actually a member of the OAS organization.
Bastien-Thiry led the most prominent assassination attempt against de Gaulle. The group set themselves up in the Paris suburb of Petit-Clamart on 22 August 1962. De Gaulle's car, an unarmored Citroën DS, and nearby shops were raked with machine gun fire, but de Gaulle, his wife and entourage were able to escape without injury. After the attempt, some fourteen bullet holes were found in the president's vehicle, with another twenty striking the nearby Café Trianon, and an additional one-hundred-eighty-seven found on the pavement. This event was fictionalized in the 1971 book The Day of the Jackal. De Gaulle credited the unusual abilities of the DS vehicle with saving his life — the shots had punctured two of the tires, but the car was still able to escape at full speed.
Arrest and trial
Bastien-Thiry was arrested when he came back from a mission in the United Kingdom. He was brought to trial before a military tribunal presided over by General Roger Gardet from 28 January to 4 March 1963. He was defended by a legal team consisting of attorneys Jacques Isorni, Richard Dupuy, Bernard Le Coroller, and Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour who would be a far-right candidate for the presidential election in 1965. While claiming that the death of de Gaulle would have been justified by the "genocide" of the European population of newly-independent Algeria (a reference mainly to the Oran massacre of 1962), he claimed that while the other conspirators may have admittedly been trying to kill the head of state, he had only been attempting to capture de Gaulle so as to deliver him to a panel of sympathetic judges. Bastien-Thiry, who had been certified as "normal" by psychiatrists in spite of a history of clinical depression, was convicted and sentenced to death.
Possibility of clemency
De Gaulle as President of France had the power of clemency. He pardoned those who fired the shots, but refused to pardon Bastien-Thiry despite an appeal from Bastien-Thiry's father to spare his son's life. The president had before the trial expressed his intention to grant clemency to Bastien-Thiry, saying the "idiot" would "get off with twenty years and in five years I'll free him" (Lacouture, 328). However, according to his son-in-law Alain de Boissieu, after the conspirator's conviction, de Gaulle stated four reasons for refusing to alter the sentence.
- 1. Bastien-Thiry had directed his subordinates to fire on a car in which there was an innocent woman present (Madame Yvonne de Gaulle).
- 2. He had endangered civilians, namely the Fillon family, who had been traveling in a car near that carrying de Gaulle.
- 3. He had brought foreigners, specifically three Hungarians, into the plot.
- 4. Finally, and most serious in de Gaulle's eyes, while the other conspirators did the actual firing and had thus placed themselves in some danger, Bastien-Thiry had only directed events from afar, acting as a lookout for the gunmen.
Execution
The execution took place only one week after the trial, which was unusual. Probably the biggest security plan in French judicial history was organized to take Bastien-Thiry from his cell to the place of his execution.[2] There were 2000 policemen posted along the way and 35 vehicles used. The government feared an escape was planned, and there had been a plan but it was abandoned. Paradoxically, the police plan was headed by Jean Cantelaube, a former security officer of De Gaulle. He has been recently[when?] identified as an intelligence agent who provided information to Bastien-Thiry's organization.[3]
Jean Bastien-Thiry was executed by firing squad at the Fort d'Ivry on 11 March 1963, while clutching his rosary. He refused to be blindfolded. He was 35 years old.
About Bastien-Thiry, de Gaulle said "The French need martyrs ... They must choose them carefully. I could have given them one of those idiotic generals playing ball in Tulle prison. I gave them Bastien-Thiry. They'll be able to make a martyr of him. He deserves it." (Lacouture, 329).
References
- ^ a b Jean Lacouture, Charles de Gaulle – Le souverain 1959-1970, Template:Opcit, p. Missing parameter/s! (Template:P.)276-279.
- ^ Bastien-Thiry by Jean-Pax Meffret
- ^ Cantelaube's notes quoted in Jean-Pax Meffret's book; attempt accomplice interviewed by Olivier Cazeaux
- Lacouture, Jean. De Gaulle: The Ruler 1945-1970.
- Venner, Dominique (2004). De Gaulle: La Grandeur et le Néant. Editions du Rocher. ISBN 2-268-05202-8.
- Soustelle, Jacques (1962). L'Espérance Trahie. Editions de l'Alma.
- Plume, Christian (1973). Translated by Richard Barry. Corgi. ISBN 0 552 10143 5.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)