Since those whose duty it was to hold the sword of France have let it fall, I have picked up its broken point.

This line is associated with Charles de Gaulle’s self-justification for assuming leadership of “Free France” after the French military and political leadership sought an armistice with Germany in June 1940. In the wake of France’s collapse and the establishment of the Vichy regime, de Gaulle—then a relatively junior general—refused to accept defeat and positioned himself as the continuer of French sovereignty and honor from abroad, notably via his London-based appeal and subsequent organization of the Free French forces. The metaphor of the fallen sword frames his claim that legitimate national authority had been abandoned by those officially entrusted with it, obliging him to take it up, even in damaged form.

The image of France’s “sword” evokes national sovereignty, military honor, and the state’s responsibility to defend itself. De Gaulle casts the 1940 collapse and the Vichy accommodation as a dereliction by those officially charged with that duty, and presents his own leadership of Free France as an act of salvage: taking up what remains and continuing the fight so that France’s legitimacy and dignity are not extinguished. The phrase “broken point” underscores both the weakness of his initial resources and the moral urgency of action despite defeat. It is a self-authorizing claim: authority flows from fidelity to France’s enduring cause rather than from the compromised institutions of the moment.