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113-623: The ARD was largely discredited after supporting the Vichy regime during World War II , an option strongly supported by its major leader Pierre-Étienne Flandin and other members such as Joseph Barthélemy . The centre-right party tried to reform itself under the direction of Joseph Laniel , who had taken part in the Resistance . It temporarily joined the Rally of Republican Lefts ( Rassemblement des gauches républicaines , RGR) before merging into

226-465: A dignified place within the context of New European Order shaped by the victorious Germany. The Vichy government believed that with its policy of collaboration, it could have extracted significant concessions from Germany and avoid harsh terms in the peace treaty. Germany kept two million French prisoners-of-war and imposed forced labour ( service du travail obligatoire ) on young Frenchmen. The Vichy government tried to negotiate with Germany for

339-436: A frontier that would be recognised by all of the major powers. Since Hitler's overall territorial ambitions were not limited to recovering Alsace-Lorraine, and Britain was never brought to terms, those peace negotiations never took place. The Nazis had some intention of annexing a large swath of northeastern France , replacing that region's inhabitants with German settlers, and initially forbade French refugees from returning to

452-642: A navy sufficient to occupy France's overseas territories, Hitler's only practical recourse to deny the British the use of those territories was to maintain France's status as a de jure independent and neutral nation and to send a message to Britain that it was alone, with France appearing to switch sides and the United States remaining neutral. However, German espionage against France after its defeat intensified greatly, particularly in southern France. As per

565-496: A new constitution of the French state. This constitution must guarantee the rights of labour, of family and of the homeland. It will be ratified by the nation and applied by the assemblies which it has created. The Constitutional Acts of 11 and 12 July 1940 granted to Pétain all powers (legislative, judicial, administrative, executive and diplomatic) and the title of "head of the French state" ( chef de l'État français ), as well as

678-419: A new constitution. Although Laval said on 6 July that "parliamentary democracy has lost the war; it must disappear, ceding its place to an authoritarian, hierarchical, national and social regime", the majority trusted Pétain. Léon Blum, who voted no, wrote three months later that Laval's "obvious objective was to cut all the roots that bound France to its republican and revolutionary past. His 'national revolution'

791-565: A one-party state, maintained the Tricolor and other symbols of republican France and, unlike many on the far right, was not an anti-Dreyfusard . Pétain excluded fascists from office in his government, and by and large, his cabinet comprised "February 6 men" (members of the "National Union government" formed after the 6 February 1934 crisis after the Stavisky Affair ) and mainstream politicians whose career prospects had been blocked by

904-497: A prisoner of the right which constituted the bulk of the parliamentary majority, thus the failure of Aristide Briand cabinet (1921–1922) convinced its leaders to find practical ways to realize the doctrine of the just-middle despite the fact that one of its members, Raymond Poincaré, occupied the post of President of the Council between 1922 and 1924. The Alliance focused its political doctrine in line with that which prevailed when it

1017-588: A proposal to seek armistice terms from Germany with the understanding that if Germany set forth dishonourable or excessively-harsh terms, France would retain the option to continue to fight. General Charles Huntziger , who headed the French armistice delegation, was told to break off negotiations if the Germans demanded the occupation of all of Metropolitan France, the French fleet, or any of the French overseas territories. The Germans did not, however, make any of those demands. Prime Minister Reynaud favoured continuing

1130-593: A way which Louis Marin had done ten years earlier with the Republican Federation . Until then a grouping more than a party, the Alliance became a party which established a hierarchy and became more centralized. The party expanded its regional structures and increased the number of member to about 20,000 in 1936. Flandin's leadership marked the end of the Alliance's overtures to the Radicals. However,

1243-711: The Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie (National Bank for Trade and Industry). Moscow maintained full diplomatic relations with the Vichy government until 30 June 1941, when they were broken by Vichy expressing support for Operation Barbarossa , the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In response to British requests and sensitivities of the French-Canadian population , Canada, despite being at war with

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1356-732: The Ligue des droits de l'homme (including Paul Stapfer ), the League of Education and former political networks around Jules Ferry , Léon Gambetta and Léon Say . Its initial recruitment is that of the Parisian elite (including scientists) and the provincial notables. Even if the party's principal leaders were often related to business, the majority of its elected officials opposed the wishes of businessmen, in particular on social policies. Vichy France Vichy France ( French : Régime de Vichy ; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially

1469-494: The Axis launched Operation Anton , occupying southern France and disbanding the strictly limited " Armistice Army " that Vichy had been allowed by the armistice. Vichy's claim to be the legitimate French government was denied by Free France and by all subsequent French governments after the war. They maintain that Vichy was an illegal government run by traitors , having come to power through an unconstitutional coup d'état . Pétain

1582-466: The French State ( État français ), was the French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II . It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy . Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under the harsh terms of the 1940 armistice with Nazi Germany , it adopted a policy of collaboration . Though Paris was nominally its capital,

1695-627: The Great Depression . Beyond that, to justify both the armistice with Germany and the Révolution nationale , Vichy needed to portray the French declaration of war on Germany as a hideous mistake and the French society under the Third Republic as degenerate and rotten. The Révolution nationale together with Pétain's policy of la France seule ("France alone") were meant to "regenerate" France from la décadence , which

1808-758: The National Center of Independents and Peasants ( Centre national des indépendants et paysans , CNIP). The AD, which in contrast to the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) or the French Communist Party (PCF), never became a mass political party founded on voting discipline (in these left-wing parties deputies usually vote in agreement with the party's consensus), turned at that time in little more than an intellectual circle whose members met during suppers. However, it

1921-660: The Republican Centre . These divergences were apparent during the Léon Blum government where Alliance members ranged from moderate support of the laws of the left-wing Popular Front , the division of the party was sensitive by 1938 between a pacifist majority (Flandin) supporting the Munich Agreement and the hawkish minority (Reynaud) opposing the Agreement . More profoundly, this division also reflected

2034-537: The aristocracy and among Roman Catholics , had never accepted the republican traditions of the French Revolution but demanded a return to traditional lines of culture and religion. It embraced authoritarianism while dismissing democracy . The Vichy regime also framed itself as decisively nationalist . French communists, strongest in labour unions, turned against Vichy in June 1941, when Germany invaded

2147-488: The departmental commissions were thus placed under the authority of the administration and of the prefects (nominated by and dependent on the executive power). In January 1941, the National Council ( Conseil National ), composed of notables from the countryside and the provinces, was instituted under the same conditions. Despite the clear authoritarian cast of Pétain's government, he did not formally institute

2260-529: The fasces , the symbol of the Italian Fascists . To advance his message, Pétain frequently spoke on French radio . In his radio speeches, Pétain always used the personal pronoun je (French for the English word "I"), portrayed himself as a Christ-like figure sacrificing himself for France and assuming a God-like tone of a semi-omniscient narrator who knew truths about the world that the rest of

2373-399: The traditionalist morality , which Pétain claimed the French had forgotten. Despite his highly-negative view of the Third Republic, Pétain argued that la France profonde ("deep France", denoting profoundly French aspects of French culture) still existed, and that the French people needed to return to what Pétain insisted was their true identity. Alongside this claim for a moral revolution

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2486-550: The "zone nono", for the non-occupied zone. In theory, the civil jurisdiction of the Vichy government extended over most of Metropolitan France , French Algeria , the French protectorate in Morocco , the French protectorate of Tunisia and the rest of the French colonial empire that accepted the authority of Vichy; only the disputed border territory of Alsace-Lorraine was placed under direct German administration. Alsace-Lorraine

2599-699: The AD opposed the socialist left, but also the right ( Popular Liberal Action and later the Republican Federation ). Like the Radical-Socialist Party, the Alliance adhered to the Republic and what constituted the Republic, that is the law of separation of church and state in 1905 or the quest for truth in the Dreyfus affair . Unlike the Rad-Soc doctrine, it aspired to unite all Republicans and to impose

2712-659: The ARD supported the right-wing governments which included Raymond Poincaré , Aristide Briand and Louis Barthou . During the same period, the Alliance operated a shift to the right on the political spectrum and ended the policy of mutual withdrawals with the Radical-Socialists in electoral runoffs. Meanwhile, the Alliance was transformed into a real party in 1911 by becoming the Republican Democratic Party (PRD). This strengthening of its structures

2825-578: The Algeria that he had visited as a young man, he was appointed in 1881 by Léon Gambetta to the office of Governor General of Algeria. In 1884, he was appointed director of the department's Algeria to the Ministry of Interior. Beginning a political career as a liberal, he was elected in 1886 as General Counsel of Saint-Omer and in 1889 as member of Pas-de-Calais. He distinguished himself in the house by his frequent interventions on colonial issues including

2938-547: The Alliance was torn on the doctrinal front. Common ground on the base of the defense of institutions, the middle class and the rejection of the extremes disintegrated due to divergent views adopted by the personalities of the Alliance, namely those of Pierre-Étienne Flandin around the group of Republicans of the Left, those of René Besse around the Independents of the Left and those of Paul Reynaud and André Tardieu around

3051-706: The Allied Powers chose him as authorized representative to force King Constantine of Greece to abdicate the throne. After the war, he became chairman of the Democratic Republican Party in 1920, and was then appointed ambassador of France to the Holy See, with the delicate mission to resume diplomatic relations with the Pope. He was elected to the Académie française on 19 April 1923. There

3164-531: The Armistice allowed for a small French army – the Armistice Army ( Armée de l'Armistice ) – stationed in the unoccupied zone, and for the military provision of the French colonial empire overseas. The function of those forces was to keep internal order and to defend French territories from Allied assault. The French forces were to remain under the overall direction of

3277-673: The Axis since 1939, maintained full diplomatic relations with the Vichy regime until early November 1942, when Case Anton led to the complete occupation of Vichy France by the Germans. Charles Jonnart Charles Célestin Auguste Jonnart (27 December 1857 – 30 December 1927) was a French politician. Born into a bourgeois family in Fléchin , Pas-de-Calais , Charles Jonnart was educated at Saint-Omer , then in Paris. Interested in

3390-519: The British as a racially degenerate "mixed race" working for Jewish capitalists, in contrast to the "racially pure" peoples on the continent of Europe who were building a "New Order". In an interview conducted by Béraud with Admiral Darlan published in Gringoire newspaper in 1941, Darlan was quoted as saying that if the "New Order" failed in Europe, it would mean "here in France, the return to power of

3503-436: The British historian Christopher Flood wrote that Pétain blamed la décadence on "political and economic liberalism, with its divisive, individualistic and hedonistic values – locked in sterile rivalry with its antithetical outgrowths, Socialism and Communism". Pétain argued that rescuing the French people from décadence required a period of authoritarian government that would restore national unity and

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3616-550: The Free Forces (he had been prime minister from February 1941 to April 1942) they played him against de Gaulle . US General Mark W. Clark of the combined Allied command made Darlan sign on 22 November 1942 a treaty putting "North Africa at the disposition of the Americans" and making France "a vassal country". Washington then imagined, between 1941 and 1942, a protectorate status for France, which would be submitted after

3729-573: The French did not. To justify the Vichy ideology of the Révolution nationale ("national revolution"), Pétain needed a radical break with the French Third Republic . During his radio speeches, the entire French Third Republic era was always painted in the blackest of colours as a time of décadence ("decadence") when the French people were alleged to have suffered moral degeneration and decline. Summarising Pétain's speeches,

3842-568: The French nation. It was asserted that just as the defeat of the Gauls in the Battle of Alesia (52 BCE) had been the moment in French history when a sense of common nationhood was born, the defeat of 1940 would again unify the nation. The Vichy government's "francisque" insignia featured two symbols from the Gallic period: the baton and the double-headed hatchet ( labrys ) arranged so as to resemble

3955-489: The French public initially supported the regime, but opinion turned against the Vichy government and the occupying German forces as the war dragged on and living conditions in France worsened. Open opposition intensified as it became clear that Germany was losing the war. The French Resistance , working largely in concert with the London-based Free France movement, increased in strength over the course of

4068-562: The German armed forces. The exact strength of the Vichy French Metropolitan Army was set at 3,768 officers, 15,072 non-commissioned officers, and 75,360 men. All members had to be volunteers. In addition to the army, the size of the Gendarmerie was fixed at 60,000 men plus an anti-aircraft force of 10,000 men. Despite the influx of trained soldiers from the colonial forces (reduced in size in accordance with

4181-676: The German occupation of all of France in November 1942 ended diplomatic recognition. Supporters of Vichy point out that the grant of governmental powers was voted by a joint session of both chambers of the Third Republic Parliament (the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies) in keeping with the constitutional law. The Vichy regime sought an anti-modern counter-revolution . The traditionalist right in France, with strength in

4294-545: The Italian Ambassador to France that "England has always been France's most implacable enemy" and went on to say that France had "two hereditary enemies", namely Germany and Britain, with the latter being easily the more dangerous of the two; and he wanted a Franco-German-Italian alliance that would partition the British Empire , an event that Pétain claimed would solve all of the economic problems caused by

4407-591: The Jews and Freemasons subservient to Anglo-Saxon policy". France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 after the German invasion of Poland on 1 September. After the eight-month Phoney War , the Germans launched their offensive in the West on 10 May 1940. Within days, it became clear that French military forces were overwhelmed and that military collapse was imminent. Government and military leaders, deeply shocked by

4520-469: The Liberation to an Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) like Germany. After the assassination of Darlan on 24 December 1942, the Americans turned again towards Giraud to whom had rallied Maurice Couve de Murville , who had financial responsibilities in Vichy, and Lemaigre-Dubreuil , a former member of La Cagoule and entrepreneur, as well as Alfred Pose , general director of

4633-777: The Mediterranean area alone, Vichy still had nearly 150,000 men under arms. There were about 55,000 in French Morocco , 50,000 in Algeria , and almost 40,000 in the Army of the Levant ( Armée du Levant ), in Lebanon and Syria . Colonial forces were allowed to keep some armoured vehicles, though these were mostly "vintage" World War I tanks ( Renault FT ). The Armistice required France to turn over any German citizens within

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4746-516: The National Assembly was illegal. Three main arguments are put forward: Out of a total of 544 Deputies, only 414 voted; and out of a total of 302 senators, only 235 voted. Of these, 357 deputies voted in favour of Pétain and 57 against, while 212 senators voted for Pétain, and 23 against. Thus, Pétain was approved by 65% of all deputies and 70% of all senators. Although Pétain could claim legality for himself, particularly in comparison with

4859-585: The National Assembly, comprising both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, voted by 569 votes to 80, with 20 voluntary abstentions , to grant full and extraordinary powers to Pétain. By the same vote, they also granted him the power to write a new constitution. By Act No. 2 on the following day, Pétain defined his own powers and abrogated any Third Republic laws that were in conflict with them. ( These acts would later be annulled in August 1944. ) Most legislators believed that democracy would continue, albeit with

4972-471: The Republic and Louis Barthou and Raymond Poincaré as Presidents of the council as well as many ministries). At the end of the war, the Alliance promoted new goals developed during its creation, namely that of creating a concentration of the centers. With its 140 MPs, it organized and led in this direction the National Bloc (1919–1924). The experience was not successful because the Alliance became

5085-679: The Resistance. Members of the regular army could thus defect to the Maquis after the German occupation of southern France and the disbandment of the Army of the Armistice in November 1942. By contrast, the Milice continued to collaborate, and its members were subject to reprisals after the Liberation . Vichy French colonial forces were reduced in accordance with the terms of the armistice, but in

5198-471: The Soviet Union . Vichy was intensely anti-communist and generally pro-German; American historian Stanley G. Payne found that it was "distinctly rightist and authoritarian but never fascist ". Political scientist Robert Paxton analysed the entire range of Vichy supporters, from reactionaries to moderate liberal modernizers, and concluded that genuinely fascist elements had only minor roles in most sectors. French historian Olivier Wiewiorka rejects

5311-399: The Third Republic's democracy for France's sudden defeat by Germany, rather than military weakness. He set up an authoritarian regime that actively collaborated with Germany, despite Vichy's official neutrality. The Vichy government co-operated with the Germans' Nazi racial policies . After the National Assembly under the Third Republic voted to give full powers to Pétain on 10 July 1940,

5424-428: The United Kingdom had been severed since 8 July 1940 after the attack on Mers-el-Kébir . Julian T. Jackson wrote, "There seems little doubt... that at the beginning Vichy was both legal and legitimate". He stated that if legitimacy comes from popular support, Pétain's massive popularity in France until 1942 made his government legitimate, and if legitimacy comes from diplomatic recognition, over 40 countries, including

5537-454: The United States, Canada, and China, recognised the Vichy government. According to Jackson, de Gaulle 's Free French acknowledged the weakness of its case against Vichy's legality by citing multiple dates (16 June, 23 June and 10 July) for the start of Vichy's illegitimate rule, implying that at least for some time, Vichy was still legitimate. Countries recognised the Vichy government despite de Gaulle 's attempts in London to dissuade them; only

5650-416: The Vichy government opposed to military collaboration with Germany. Washington also hoped to encourage Vichy to resist German war demands, such as for air bases in French-mandated Syria or moving war supplies through French territories in North Africa. The US position was essentially that unless explicitly required by the armistice terms, France should take no action that could adversely affect Allied efforts in

5763-403: The Vichy government. The Third French Republic had begun the war in September 1939 on the side of the Allies . On 10 May 1940, it was invaded by Nazi Germany . The German Army rapidly broke through the Allied lines by bypassing the highly fortified Maginot Line and invading through Belgium , Luxembourg , and as an extension, the Ardennes . By mid-June, the military situation of the French

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5876-455: The Vichy regime, the school textbook Miracle de Jeanne by René Jeanneret was required reading, and the anniversary of Joan's death became an occasion for school speeches commemorating her martyrdom. Joan's encounter with angelic voices, according to Catholic tradition, were presented as literal history. The textbook Miracle de Jeanne declared "the Voices did speak!" in contrast with republican school texts, which had strongly implied Joan

5989-431: The armistice), there was a shortage of volunteers. As a result, 30,000 men of the class of 1939 were retained to fill the quota. In early 1942 those conscripts were released, but there were still not enough men. That shortage remained until the regime's dissolution, despite Vichy appeals to the Germans for a regular form of conscription. The Vichy French Metropolitan Army was deprived of tanks and other armoured vehicles and

6102-422: The assembled senators and deputies to vote full powers to Pétain. They used every means available, such as promising ministerial posts to some and threatening and intimidating others. They were aided by the absence of popular, charismatic figures who might have opposed them, such as Georges Mandel and Édouard Daladier , who were then aboard the ship Massilia on their way to North Africa and exile. On 10 July

6215-462: The continuity of the French state were based on the pressure exerted by Pierre Laval, a former prime minister in the Third Republic, on the deputies in Vichy and on the absence of 27 deputies and senators who had fled on the ship Massilia and so could not take part in the vote. However, during the war, the Vichy government was internationally recognised , notably by the United States and several other major Allied powers. Diplomatic relations with

6328-425: The control of a collaborationist French government based at the city of Vichy, and headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Ostensibly, the Vichy French government administered the whole of France (excluding Alsace-Lorraine), including Overseas Vichy France-North Africa. Germany took two million French soldiers as prisoners-of-war and sent them to camps in Germany. About a third had been released on various terms by 1944. Of

6441-425: The control of the French State was based in the city of Vichy, in the unoccupied southern portion of Metropolitan France. This was south of the Line of Demarcation as established by the Armistice of 22 June 1940 . It also included the overseas French territories, such as French North Africa , which was "an integral part of Vichy", with antisemitic policies implemented in Vichy France also being implemented here. This

6554-416: The country by Germany. Despite heavy pressure, the Vichy government never joined the Axis powers . In October 1940, during meeting with Adolf Hitler in Montoire sur le Loire, Petain officially announced the policy of collaboration with Germany while maintaining overall neutrality in the war, believing that improving relations with Germany would have been the only viable option to save France and preserve for it

6667-430: The country upon German demand. The French regarded this as a "dishonourable" term since it would require France to hand over persons who had entered France seeking refuge from Germany. Attempts to negotiate the point with Germany proved unsuccessful, and the French decided not to press the issue to the point of refusing the Armistice. On 10 July 1940, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gathered in joint session in

6780-414: The débâcle, debated how to proceed. Many officials, including Prime Minister Paul Reynaud , wanted to move the government to French territories in North Africa and to continue the war with the French Navy and colonial resources. Others, particularly Vice-Premier Philippe Pétain and Commander-in-Chief General Maxime Weygand , insisted that the responsibility of the government was to remain in France and share

6893-404: The early release of the French prisoners of war. French soldiers were kept hostage to ensure that Vichy would reduce its military forces and pay a heavy tribute in gold, food, and supplies to Germany. French police were ordered to round up Jews and other "undesirables" such as communists and political refugees, and at least 72,500 French Jews were killed in Nazi concentration camps . Most of

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7006-430: The economy. Conservative Catholics became prominent. The media were tightly controlled and promoted antisemitism and, after Operation Barbarossa started in June 1941, anti-Sovietism . The terms of the armistice allowed some degree of independence, France was officially declared a neutral country, and the Vichy government kept the French Navy and French colonial empire under French control, avoiding full occupation of

7119-432: The essentially self-appointed leadership of Charles de Gaulle , the dubious circumstances of the vote explain why most French historians do not consider Vichy a complete continuity of the French state. The text voted by the Congress stated: The National Assembly gives full powers to the government of the Republic, under the authority and the signature of Marshal Pétain, to the effect of promulgating by one or several acts

7232-403: The exceptional mission that was confided to them, they first of all performed humbly and simply their woman's role". The key component of Vichy's ideology was Anglophobia . In part, Vichy's virulent Anglophobia was due to its leaders' personal dislike of the British, as Marshal Pétain, Pierre Laval and Admiral François Darlan were all Anglophobes. As early as February 1936, Pétain had told

7345-479: The failed Anglo-Free French attempt to seize Dakar in September 1940. Typical of Vichy anti-British propaganda was the widely distributed pamphlet published in August 1940 and written by self-proclaimed "professional Anglophobe" Henri Béraud entitled, Faut-il réduire l'Angleterre en esclavage? ("Should England Be Reduced to Slavery?"); the question in the title was merely rhetorical. Additionally, Vichy mixed Anglophobia with racism and anti-Semitism to portray

7458-409: The fall of the Cartel des Gauches . Nevertheless, the Alliance could not get the Radicals to rally around a centrist party, the opposition crystallizing around the issue of secularism, the intervention of the state or in terms of foreign policy (contrast between Aristide Briand and Raymond Poincaré). Pierre-Étienne Flandin took the chair of the Alliance in 1933 with the aim to reorganize the party in

7571-425: The future Marshal Hubert Lyautey . The latter, still colonel, was promoted to general and was entrusted by Jonnart with policy implementation in the region. In 1911, Charles Jonnart was appointed as foreign minister in the cabinet of Aristide Briand . During the First World War, he was the Senate rapporteur of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was briefly Minister of Blockade in the government of Clemenceau. Then,

7684-464: The government established itself in the resort town of Vichy in the unoccupied "free zone" ( zone libre ), where it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as its colonies . The occupation of France by Nazi Germany at first affected only the northern and western portions of the country, but in November 1942 the Germans and Italians occupied the remainder of Metropolitan France , ending any pretence of independence by

7797-413: The head of French police nominated by Vichy, exercised his power in Paris through his second-in-command, Jean Leguay , who coordinated raids with the Nazis. German laws took precedence over French laws in the occupied territories, and the Germans often rode roughshod over the sensibilities of Vichy administrators. On 11 November 1942, following the landing of the Allies in North Africa ( Operation Torch ),

7910-410: The idea that Vichy France was fascist, noting that "Pétain refused to create a single party state, avoided getting France involved in a new war, hated modernization, and supported the Church". The Vichy government tried to assert its legitimacy by symbolically connecting itself with the Gallo-Roman period of France's history , and celebrated the Gaulish chieftain Vercingetorix as the "founder" of

8023-442: The incarnation of the centre-left in the wake of the parliamentary group formed by Léon Say (1871–1896), the party shifted to the right in Parliament due to two factors, namely the downfall of the monarchist and Bonapartist right and the rise of the new left ( socialism and later communism ) as well as new centrist parties such as the League of the Young Republic and the Popular Democratic Party ). By its values and behaviors,

8136-497: The left-wing and the right-wing traditionally meant some form of monarchism: see Legitimist and Orléanist ). In 1901, it supported the Bloc des gauches around Waldeck-Rousseau , even if it tried to stand out by 1902. However, it supported the policy of the bloc until 1907, when the presidency was entrusted to Émile Combes (1902–1905), who imposed for the first time the left-right divide. The Alliance demonstrated its difference from

8249-420: The misfortune of its people; they called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. While the debate continued, the government was forced to relocate several times to avoid capture by advancing German forces and finally reached Bordeaux. Communications were poor and thousands of civilian refugees clogged the roads. In those chaotic conditions, advocates of an armistice gained the upper hand. The Cabinet agreed on

8362-493: The name République française (French Republic) disappeared from all official documents. From then on, the regime was referred to officially as the État Français (French State). Because of its unique situation in the history of France, its contested legitimacy and the generic nature of its official name, the "French State" is most often represented in English by the synonyms "Vichy France"; "Vichy regime"; "government of Vichy"; or, in context, simply "Vichy". The territory under

8475-668: The occupation. After the liberation of France began in 1944, the Free French Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) was installed as the new national government, led by Charles de Gaulle . The last of the Vichy exiles were captured in the Sigmaringen enclave in April 1945. Pétain was put on trial for treason by the new Provisional Government, and sentenced to death, but this

8588-409: The organization of Algeria. Chosen in 1893 by Casimir Périer for the post of Minister of Public Works, he was elected in 1894 as Senator Pas-de-Calais. The same year, an automobile accident forced him to stop his ministry. During 1900, he returned to Algeria, where he was appointed Governor-General. He resigned for health reasons but in 1903 again returned to his post. He helped promote the career of

8701-577: The outcome of the battle had been decided. Adolf Hitler had a number of reasons for agreeing to an armistice. He wanted to ensure that France did not continue to fight from North Africa and that the French Navy was taken out of the war. In addition, leaving a French government in place would relieve Germany of the considerable burden of administering French territory, particularly as Hitler turned his attention toward Britain, which did not surrender and fought on against Germany. Finally, as Germany lacked

8814-462: The pre-1940 French Army, such as kepis and heavy capotes (buttoned-back greatcoats) were replaced by berets and simplified uniforms. The Vichy authorities did not deploy the Army of the Armistice against resistance groups active in the south of France, reserving that role to the Vichy Milice (militia), a paramilitary force created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy government to combat

8927-479: The quiet spa town of Vichy , their provisional capital in central France. Lyon, France's second-largest city, would have been a more logical choice but Mayor Édouard Herriot was too associated with the Third Republic. Marseilles had a reputation as an organised crime hub. Toulouse was too remote and had a left-wing reputation. Vichy was centrally located and had many hotels for ministers to use. Pierre Laval and Raphaël Alibert began their campaign to convince

9040-460: The region, but the restrictions were never thoroughly enforced and were basically abandoned following the invasion of the Soviet Union , which had the effect of turning German territorial ambitions almost exclusively to the East. German troops guarding the boundary line of the northeastern Zone interdite were withdrawn on the night of 17–18 December 1941, but the line remained in place on paper for

9153-552: The remainder of the occupation. Nevertheless, effectively Alsace-Lorraine was annexed: German law applied to the region, its inhabitants were conscripted into the Wehrmacht and pointedly the customs posts separating France from Germany were placed back where they had been between 1871 and 1918. Similarly, a sliver of French territory in the Alps was under direct Italian administration from June 1940 to September 1943. René Bousquet ,

9266-509: The remainder, the officers and NCOs (corporals and sergeants) were kept in camps but were exempt from forced labour. The privates were first sent to "Stalag" camps for processing and were then put to work. About half of them worked in German agriculture, where food rations were adequate and controls were lenient. The others worked in factories or mines, where conditions were much harsher. The French government had responsibility for preventing French citizens from escaping into exile. Article IV of

9379-479: The right (the Republican Federation and the ALP) by supporting the 1905 law . Above all, the ARD encouraged political circles including Alliancists and Radicals. Faced with the disintegration of the bloc and the emergence of socialism , the Alliance sought to establish in 1907 a democratic bloc with the right which demonstrated its willingness to reinstate the discredited right to power in France. Between 1912 and 1914,

9492-426: The right and left a third way , that of the combination of centers around the phrase "no reaction nor revolution". Its political culture was resolutely centrist, incorporating values of both left (the reference to the French Revolution , the defense of freedom and a reformist agenda) and right ( law and order , the defense of liberalism and opposition to statism and collectivism ). The theme of gradual reform

9605-515: The right to nominate his successor. On 12 July, Pétain designated Laval as vice-president and his designated successor and appointed Fernand de Brinon as representative to the German High Command in Paris. Pétain remained the head of the Vichy regime until 20 August 1944. The French national motto, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood ) was replaced by Travail, Famille, Patrie (Work, Family, Homeland). It

9718-424: The running of the household ... It is in love that our future mothers will find the strength to practise those virtues which best befit their sex and their condition". Exemplifying Vichy propaganda's synthesis of Joan the warrior and Joan the dutiful woman, Anne-Marie Hussenot, speaking at the school at Uriage, stated: "a woman should remember that, in the case of Joan of Arc, or other illustrious women throughout

9831-473: The significant oppositions within the party concerning the reform of the state and institutions between 1933 and 1934. Since then, the Alliance struggled to maintain a centrist position in a Republic no longer managed by the centre. It became on the contrary a party which showed the different opinions chosen by the men from the Republican and parliamentary rights to address the social and political crises of

9944-760: The symbol of France partly for that reason. The chief themes of Vichy Anglophobia were British "selfishness" in using and then abandoning France after instigating wars, British "treachery" and British plans to take over French colonies . The three examples that were used to illustrate these themes were the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940, the Royal Navy attack at Mers-el-Kébir on the French Mediterranean fleet that killed over 1,300 French sailors in July 1940 and

10057-535: The terms of the Franco-German armistice of June 22, 1940, Nazi Germany effectively annexed the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine while the German army occupied northern metropolitan France and all the Atlantic coastline down to the border with Spain. That left the rest of France, including the remaining two-fifths of southern and eastern metropolitan France and Overseas France North Africa, unoccupied, and under

10170-404: The thirties. The Democratic Alliance was a centre-right party which occupied between 1901 and 1940 a central position on the political spectrum and this despite the iron rule of French politics developed by René Rémond which said that each party would evolve further to the left or right due to the development of new political movements. Thus, even if the leaders of the Alliance saw the party as

10283-563: The triumph of the Popular Front in 1936. There were five governments during the tenure of the Vichy regime, starting with the continuation of Pétain's position from the Third Republic, which dissolved itself and handed him full powers, leaving Pétain in absolute control of the new, "French State" as Pétain named it. Pierre Laval formed the first government in 1940. The second government was formed by Pierre-Étienne Flandin , and lasted just two months until February 1941. François Darlan

10396-417: The war but was soon outvoted by those who advocated an armistice. Facing an untenable situation, Reynaud resigned and, on his recommendation, President Albert Lebrun appointed the 84-year-old Pétain as the new prime minister on 16 June 1940. The armistice with Germany was signed on 22 June 1940. A separate French agreement was reached with Italy, which had entered the war against France on 10 June, well after

10509-552: The war. The US position towards Vichy France and de Gaulle was especially hesitant and inconsistent. Roosevelt disliked de Gaulle and regarded him as an "apprentice dictator". The Americans first tried to support General Maxime Weygand , general delegate of Vichy for Africa until December 1941. After the first choice had failed, they turned to Henri Giraud shortly before the landing in North Africa on 8 November 1942. Finally, after Admiral François Darlan 's turn towards

10622-518: Was constitutionally appointed prime minister by President Lebrun on 16 June 1940 and he was legally within his rights to sign the armistice with Germany; however, his decision to ask the National Assembly to dissolve itself while granting him dictatorial powers has been more controversial. Historians have particularly debated the circumstances of the vote by the National Assembly of the Third Republic granting full powers to Pétain on 10 July 1940. The main arguments advanced against Vichy's right to incarnate

10735-555: Was Pétain's call for France to turn inwards and to withdraw from the world, which Pétain always portrayed as a hostile and threatening place full of endless dangers for the French. Joan of Arc replaced Marianne as the national symbol of France under Vichy, as her status as one of France's best-loved heroines gave her widespread appeal, and the image of Joan as a devout Catholic and patriot also fit well with Vichy's traditionalist message. Vichy literature portrayed Joan as an archetypal virgin and Marianne as an archetypal whore. Under

10848-577: Was accompanied by an increase in its number of parliamentarians (from 39 MPs in 1902 to 125 1910 and fifty senators in 1910) and that of its supporters (around 30,000 at the beginning of the 1910s). Several leaders of the ARD in 1914 tried to form with Aristide Briand and the moderate left a Federation of the Lefts . Undoubtedly, the Alliance weighed heavily on national policy as shown by the presence of its members in high cabinet positions ( Émile Loubet , Armand Fallières and Raymond Poincaré as Presidents of

10961-481: Was an example of armed neutrality . The most important such action was the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent its capture by the Axis. Washington at first granted Vichy full diplomatic recognition, sending Admiral William D. Leahy as American ambassador. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull hoped to use American influence to encourage elements in

11074-403: Was attacked as frequently and violently as Britain was in Vichy propaganda. In Pétain's radio speeches, Britain was always portrayed as the " Other ", a nation that was the complete antithesis of everything good in France, the blood-soaked " Perfidious Albion " and the relentless "eternal enemy" of France whose ruthlessness knew no bounds. Joan of Arc, who had fought against England, was made into

11187-567: Was called the Unbesetztes Gebiet (Unoccupied Zone) by the Germans, and known as the Zone libre (Free Zone) in France, or less formally as the "Southern Zone" ( zone du sud ) especially after Operation Anton , the invasion of the Zone libre by German forces in November 1942. Other contemporary colloquial terms for the Zone libre were based on abbreviation and wordplay, such as

11300-415: Was commuted to life imprisonment by de Gaulle . Only four senior Vichy officials were tried for crimes against humanity , although many had participated in the deportation of Jews, abuses of prisoners, and severe acts against members of the Resistance. In 1940, Marshal Philippe Pétain was known as a World War I hero, who was the victor of the Battle of Verdun . As the last French prime minister he blamed

11413-794: Was created by the progressives who supported Captain Alfred Dreyfus and opposed those who followed Jules Méline in opposition to the President of the Council Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau . At the instigation of the latter, the Democratic Republican Alliance was founded on 23 October 1901 by engineer Adolphe Carnot (brother of former French President Sadi Carnot ), the deputies Henry Blanc, Edmond Halphen and publicist Charles Pallu de la Barrière. The Alliance built strong support networks with

11526-534: Was created, even though the generation of pre-war faded (Adolphe Carnot, Charles Pallu de la Barrière and so forth) and that a new generation took over, such as Charles Jonnart its new president in 1920. Known as the PRDS, the Alliance professed its willingness to co-operate with the Radical-Socialist Party . The party became the backbone of government including the Radical-Socialist Party following

11639-420: Was desperately short of motorised transport, a particular problem for cavalry units. Surviving recruiting posters stress the opportunities for athletic activities, including horsemanship, reflecting both the general emphasis placed by the Vichy government on rural virtues and outdoor activities and the realities of service in a small and technologically backward military force. Traditional features characteristic of

11752-550: Was dire, and it was apparent that it would lose the battle for Metropolitan France. The French government began to discuss the possibility of an armistice. Paul Reynaud resigned as prime minister rather than sign an armistice, and was replaced by Marshal Philippe Pétain , a hero of World War I . Shortly thereafter, Pétain signed the Armistice of 22 June 1940 . At Vichy, Pétain established an authoritarian government that reversed many liberal policies and began tight supervision of

11865-499: Was dissolved in only 1978, long after its effective disappearance from the political scene. Under the Third Republic, the majority of the AD's deputies sat in the Left Republicans ( Républicain de Gauche ) group, the main centre-right parliamentary formation (due to a particularity called sinistrisme right-wing politicians took some time to accept the label 'right-wing', as republicanism was traditionally associated with

11978-535: Was granted full powers, Pétain began blaming the Third Republic's democracy and endemic corruption for France's humiliating defeat by Germany. Accordingly, his government soon began taking on authoritarian characteristics. Democratic liberties and guarantees were immediately suspended. The crime of "crime of opinion" ( délit d'opinion ) was reestablished, effectively repealing freedom of thought and expression , and critics were frequently arrested. Elective bodies were replaced by nominated ones. The "municipalities" and

12091-427: Was mentally ill. Vichy instructors sometimes struggled to square Joan's military heroism with the classical virtues of womanhood, with one school textbook insisting that girls ought not follow Joan's example literally, saying: "Some of the most notable heroes in our history have been women. But nevertheless, girls should preferably exercise the virtues of patience, persistence and resignation. They are destined to tend to

12204-544: Was noted at the time that TFP also stood for the criminal punishment of travaux forcés à perpetuité ("forced labor in perpetuity"). Reynaud was arrested in September 1940 by the Vichy government and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1941, before the opening of the Riom Trial . Pétain was a reactionary by nature and education, despite his status as a hero of the Third Republic during World War I. Almost as soon as he

12317-525: Was officially still part of France, as the Reich never annexed the region. The Reich government at the time was not interested in attempting to enforce piecemeal annexations in the West although it later annexed Luxembourg; it operated under the assumption that Germany's new western border would be determined in peace negotiations, which would be attended by all of the Western Allies and thus producing

12430-443: Was said to have destroyed French society and to have brought about the defeat of 1940. Such a harsh critique of French society could generate only so much support, and as such Vichy blamed French problems on various "enemies" of France, the chief of which was Britain, the "eternal enemy" that had supposedly conspired via Masonic lodges to weaken France and then to pressure France into declaring war on Germany in 1939. No other nation

12543-423: Was seen by the Alliance as the antidote to the opponents of the Republic, that is the collectivists (the French Section of the Workers' International and the French Communist Party ) Its creation reflects the will to oppose the polarization due to the progressive division during the Dreyfus affair and impose a three-party system leading to the Republic of the just-middle theorized by François Guizot . The ARD

12656-418: Was then head of government until April 1942, followed by Pierre Laval again until August 1944. The Vichy government fled into exile in Sigmaringen in September 1944. Vichy France in 1940–1942 was recognised by most Axis and neutral powers , as well as the United States and the Soviet Union. During the war, Vichy France conducted military actions against armed incursions from Axis and Allied belligerents and

12769-457: Was to be a counter-revolution eliminating all the progress and human rights won in the last one hundred and fifty years". The minority of mostly Radicals and Socialists who opposed Laval became known as the Vichy 80 . The deputies and senators who voted to grant full powers to Pétain were condemned on an individual basis after the Liberation. The majority of French historians and all postwar French governments have contended that this vote by

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