The Free French faced an awkward constitutional position. De Gaulle was not acting on behalf of the recognised French government and was tried in absentia for desertion by Pétain’s Vichy government after his BBC appeal. Had the official government formed Free France, overseas territory and naval forces might have followed automatically; instead, de Gaulle had to recruit small forces and win support colony by colony. His initial force numbered only about seven to eight thousand troops split between Britain and Egypt, which left little coercive weight behind his claim to represent a continuing France.
Notable Point · 7:56-10:58
Free France and the problem of legitimacy
De Gaulle’s movement could not automatically inherit France’s overseas forces because the recognised French government had accepted defeat.