Charles de Gaulle Monument

Charles de Gaulle is the subject of one of Warsaw’s more prominent monuments. Striding away from what was once the Commie party HQ, the monument is a gift from the French government and can be found on Rondo de Gaulle’a. A resident of Warsaw in the 1920s, de Gaulle is a bit of a hero in these parts for the role he played in The Battle of Warsaw in 1920. With Europe in turmoil following the aftermath of WWI the Red Army launched a huge military strike, aimed at enslaving the rest of Europe. The Bolsheviks expected an easy march to Paris, but the Poles had other ideas. With the Red Army just 23km from Warsaw, Marshal Piłsudski launched a deft action to split the Bolshevik forces in two and encircle them. The battle raged from August 13-August 25, 1920, with the Poles claiming a historic victory in what Woodrow Wilson went on to describe as the ‘seventh most important battle in history’. The Bolshevik forces were decimated, and Europe saved. De Gaulle fought with distinction and was awarded the highest military honour in the country, the Virtuti Militari.