| Vichy France or the Vichy regime (French: now called
Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the de facto French government of 1940-1944 (but Nazi Germany invaded the zone under its
control in 1942). The regime, of an authoritarian nature, was headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain.
While officially neutral in the war, Vichy France was largely a puppet government under Nazi influence, and collaborated with the
Nazi, including on racial policies. It was opposed to the Free
French Forces, based first in London and later in Algiers.
It was established after the country had surrendered to Germany in 1940 (see also: World War II). It takes its
name from the government's capital in Vichy, south-east of Paris near Clermont-Ferrand.
The fall of France and the establishment of the Vichy regime
France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, following the German invasion of Poland. After the eight month
Phony War, the Germans launched their offensive in the west on 10 May 1940, and were quickly successful, occupying
Paris in mid-June 1940. The French leaders considered retreating to
French territories in North Africa, but the vice-premier Henri Philippe Pétain and the commander-in-chief General
Maxime Weygand, both insisted that the government should remain in
France and seek an armistice with Germany.
Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned over the decision and President
Albert Lebrun appointed the 84-year-old Pétain to replace him on June 16. Pétain began negotiations, and on June
22 signed the surrender agreement with Germany. The key section of the agreement divided France into two zones —
occupied and unoccupied. Germany would control northern and western France including the entire Atlantic coast. The remaining
two-fifths of the country would be administered by the French government with the capital at Vichy under Pétain. Furthermore,
foreign Jews staying in France would be handed over to Germany. The French Army was reduced to 100,000 men and French prisoners of war would remain in captivity. The French had to pay the occupation costs of the German
troops, and prevent any French people from leaving the country. The United
Kingdom and the Vichy France government then broke off diplomatic relations on July
5 after the Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir by British naval
forces.
The Third Republic was voted out of existence by a majority of the
French National Assembly on July 10. The assembly was meeting in Vichy, a city in central France,
which was used as a provisional capital. The Vichy regime was established the following day, with Pétain as head of state. Pétain
was given the power to rewrite a new Constitution but this was never done. He instead put forth three Constitutional Acts that
suspended the Constitution of the Third Republic of 1875. These Acts
suspended Parliament and transferred all powers to himself. On July 12th, Pétain designated Pierre Laval as Vice-President and his designated successor and appointed Fernand de Brinon as representative to the German High Command in Paris. Pétain remained as the
head of the Vichy regime until August 20, 1944. Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood), the French national motto, was replaced by
Travail, Famille, Patrie (Work, Family and Country). Pétain's vice-premiers were Pierre Laval and François Darlan. Paul Reynaud, who had never officially resigned as Prime Minister, was arrested in
September 1940 by the Vichy government and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1941.
Collaboration, up to the invasion of the free zone
Joseph Darnand was appointed head of the Vichy Milice, the wartime police. He held an SS rank and took an
oath of loyalty to Hitler. Under Darnand and sub-commanders, such as
Paul Touvier and Jacques de Bernonville, the Milice was responsible for the suppression of the French Resistance and the Maquis. As well, the Milice was responsible for promulgating German race laws, including working with area Gestapo head
Klaus Barbie to seize Jews and other
"undesirables" for shipment to detention centers and the Drancy deportation camp enroute to Auschwitz and other German concentration camps.
The Vichy France government collaborated with Nazi Germany on the application of its racial policies regarding the Jews. It
helped in the deportation of 70,000 Jews. As an example, French police officers
rounded-up 8,160 Jews and imprisoned them in the Winter Velodrome on 16 July 1942, from which they were led to concentration
camps. French officers ran the transit camp at Drancy. While it is certain that the
Vichy government and a large amount of its high administration collaborated in such policies, the exact amount of such
cooperation is still controversial. In comparison to the Jewish communities established in other countries invaded by Nazi
Germany, the French Jews suffered lighter losses in proportion. Former Vichy officials then claimed that they did as much as they
could to minimize the impact of the Nazi policies, while critics contend that the Vichy regime went beyond the Nazi expectations,
which originally concerned only foreign Jews staying in France, not French Jews.
The Vichy regime also implemented compulsory work in Germany for young French men (service du travail obligatoire or
STO), a move which pushed some of these young men to join the Resistance instead.
Despite the cooperation of the Vichy government, the German forces invoked Anton and took control of southern France in November 1942, with the real
power devolving into the hands of Laval.
Relationships with the allied powers
To counter the Vichy regime, General Charles de Gaulle created
France Libre (Free France) after his famous radio speech of June 18, 1940. Initially Winston Churchill was ambivalent about de Gaulle and he dropped links
with Vichy only when it became clear they would not fight. Even so, the Free France headquarters in London was riven with
internal divisions and jealousies.
The United Kingdom viewed the Vichy government with suspicion after severing diplomatic relations. In the armistice terms with
Germany, the Vichy regime had been allowed to keep control of the French
Navy, the Marine Nationale, and it was pledged that it would never fall into the hands of Germany. However, this was
not enough for the Churchill government. French ships in British ports were seized by the Royal Navy. The French squadron at
Alexandria, under Admiral Godfroy, was effectively interned after an agreement was reached with Admiral Cunningham, commander of
the Mediterranean Fleet.
However, there were still French naval ships under French control. A large squadron was in port at Mers El Kébir harbour near Oran. Vice
Admiral Sommerville, with Force H under his command, was instructed to deal with the
situation in July 1940. Various terms were offered to the French squadron, but all were
rejected. Consequently, Force H opened fire on the French ships. Over 1,000 French sailors died when an old French battleship
blew up in the attack. The incident provoked a great deal of resentment and hatred towards the UK within the French Navy, and to
a lesser extent in the general French public. Further action was taken against French naval forces at Dakar in Senegal.
The next flashpoint between Britain and Vichy came in June 1941 when a revolt in Iraq
had to be put down by British forces. Luftwaffe aircraft, staging through the
French colony of Syria,
intervened in the fighting in small numbers. That put Syria on the radar as a threat to British interests in the Middle East. Consequently, the Australian Army and allied forces invaded Syria and Lebanon, capturing Damascus on June 17.
One other major operation against Vichy French territory took place using British forces. It was feared that Japanese forces might use Madagascar as a base
and thus cripple British trade and communications in the Indian Ocean. As a
result, Madagascar was invaded by British and South African forces in 1942. It fell
relatively quickly, but the operation is often viewed as an unnecessary diversion of British naval resources away from more vital
theatres of operation.
US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
continued to cultivate Vichy and promoted General Henri Giraud in place of
de Gaulle (as part of a larger political strategy). Even after the invasion of North Africa in 'Operation Torch', Admiral
François Darlan, who had arrived in Algiers a few days before 'Torch', became the French leader in North Africa, rather than de Gaulle. The United
States also resented the Free French taking control of St
Pierre and Miquelon on December 24, 1941.[1] (http://www.grandcolombier.com/2003-histoire/1942/histoire.html)
After Darlan signed an armistice with the Allies in North Africa, Germany violated
the 1940 armistice and invaded Vichy France on 10 November 1942 (operation code-named Case Anton). Darlan
was assassinated on December 24, 1942, and replaced by Giraud, but he
commanded very little loyalty. It took until 1944 for Roosevelt to agree to recognize de
Gaulle as the leader of the French.
Liberation of France and aftermath
Following the Allied invasions of France, Pétain and his ministers fled to Germany and established a government in exile at
Sigmaringen.
In 1945, many members of the Vichy government were arrested and charged with high
treason and other crimes. Trials ensued and some, including Laval and Darnand, were
executed. Pétain was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Others fled or went into hiding, such
as Jacques de Bernonville who went to Québec, while some were not prosecuted for their crimes until much later, or at all. In
1993, former Vichy official René Bousquet was murdered while he awaited prosecution in Paris following a 1989 complaint for crimes
against humanity; he had been prosecuted after the war, but had been acquitted in 1949.[2] (http://crdp.ac-reims.fr/memoire/enseigner/rene_bousquet/05_proces.htm) In 1994 former Vichy official Paul Touvier was
convicted of crimes against humanity.
Until recently, the official point of view of the French government was that the Vichy regime was an illegal government
distinct from the French Republic. While the criminal behavior of Vichy France was acknowledged, and some former Vichy officials
prosecuted, this point of view denied any responsibility of the French Republic. However, on July 16, 1995, president Jacques Chirac, in a speech, recognized the responsibility of the French State for seconding the "criminal
folly of the occupying country". [3] (http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-395520,0.html)
External links
References
- Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944 (London, 1972)
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