Appeal of 18 June The Appeal of 18 June ( ) was a famous speech by Charles de Gaulle , the leader of the Free French Forces , in 1940 . The appeal is often considered to be the origin of the French Resistance to the German occupation during World War II . De Gaulle spoke to the French people from London after the fall of France . He declared that the war for France was not yet over , and rallied the country in support of the Resistance . It is one of the most important speeches in French history . In spite of its reputation as the beginning of the Resistance and Free French , historians have shown that the appeal was heard only by a minority of French people . De Gaulle ' s 22 June 1940 speech on the BBC was much more widely heard . Context . General de Gaulle became the " de facto " leader of the Free French Forces which had escaped to London in June 1940 . Marshal Philippe Pétain , a hero of World War I , had signed an armistice with Nazi Germany , and led the collaborating Vichy government while the Germans occupied the country ' s northern portion . De Gaulle opposed the armistice and had fled France on 15 June after Pétain made clear that he would seek an accommodation with the Nazis . Three days later , de Gaulle obtained special permission from Winston Churchill to broadcast a speech via BBC Radio from Broadcasting House over France , despite the British Cabinet ' s objections that such a broadcast could provoke the Pétain government into a closer allegiance with Germany . In his speech , de Gaulle reminded the French people that the British Empire and the United States of America would support them militarily and economically in an effort to retake France from the Germans . The BBC did not record the speech , and few actually heard it . Another speech , which was recorded and heard by more people , was given by de Gaulle four days later . There is a record , however , of the manuscript of the speech of 18 June , which has been found in the archives of the Swiss intelligence agencies who published the text for their own uses on 19 June . The manuscript of the speech , as well as the recording of the 22 June speech , has been classed on 18 June 2005 , by the UNESCO ' s Memory of the World Programme . Translation of the speech . On 18 June 1940 , at 19 : 00 ( GMT ) , de Gaulle ' s voice was broadcast nationwide , saying : Reception and influence . Although de Gaulle ' s speech on 18 June is the among the most famous in French history , few French listeners heard it that day . It was broadcast on BBC , an English radio station , practically unannounced , and given by an obscure brigadier general only recently appointed junior minister . Consequently , of the 10 , 000 French citizens in Britain , only 300 volunteered and of the more than 100 , 000 soldiers temporarily on British soil , only 7 , 000 stayed on to join de Gaulle . The rest returned to France and were quickly made prisoners of war . Despite this , de Gaulle ' s speech was undeniably influential and provided motivation for the people of France and for the oppressed of the rest of Europe . The themes of the speech would be reused throughout the war as a means of inspiring French people to resist German occupation . Four days later , de Gaulle delivered a speech which largely reiterated the points made in his 18 June speech , and this was heard by a larger audience in France . The content of the 22 June speech is often confused for that of 18 June . In addition , in early August a poster written by de Gaulle would be distributed widely in London and would become known as " L ' affiche de Londres " ( The London Poster ) . Variations of this poster would be produced and displayed in Africa , South America and France itself over the course of the war .