After his referendums were defeated in a public vote, the WWII hero left office unlike many French predecessors (Napoleon, Louis Napoleon III). However, I don’t think DeGaulle walking away was (or is) a surprise in the late 20th Century. Despite the riots, despite the recent formation of the Fifth Republic and despite the Soviet Union hoping they could disrupt the Western Alliance, it was still France and Western Europe. Much of the older regimes had matured in a hurry after a conflict that killed three percent of the planet. DeGaulle or the army taking over was highly unlikely.
One ex-friend used to admire this guy because he didn’t line is pockets as numerous other French leaders. I would add, not to your knowledge DeGaulle didn’t. To me, the ex-general is someone who represents the old-world view, the one in which France is still at the center of the world alongside the UK. He also couldn’t handle the social changes the country was undergoing, thus the riots in Paris. The unrest didn’t spill over from America or the UK, it was the standard shift between generations, the standard fight for/against modernization and change. He also overstayed his welcome as his contemporaries (Eisenhower, MacArthur) were deceased.
Too bad these lessons have been ignored by the Boomers who can’t take the hint to step aside. It demonstrates how hypocritical they are now that they’re the entrenched power stopping progress.