Smithsonian Institution. Description [edit | edit source]. 2 + Follow - Unfollow Posted on: Apr 23, 2019 . “[Vichy] is seen more negatively than before and affects almost every French family whose grandparents either supported it or held office.”. [1] Puppet states have nominal sovereignty, but a foreign power effectively exercises control through means such as financial interests, economic, or military support. About 1 year ago . While Prime Minister Paul Reynaud argued they should keep fighting, the majority of government officials felt otherwise. He ruled with absolute power until 1942, when Germany took over the previously unoccupied “Free Zone” in southern France and began managing affairs more directly. [11] Much of France's decline, the regime reasoned, could be blamed on the failure of schools to instill positive values in children. Philippe Pétain was tried after the end of World War II and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison in recognition of his previous patriotic work and his age (Pétain was 89 years old at the end of the war). Recently, the extreme right-wing French National Front has been gaining supporters by appealing to 'Vichy glory'. Some of the Marshal’s apologists cited the case of French Jewry, asserting that the Vichy regime had attempted to prevent the Nazis from decimating the Jewish population as they had done across Europe. This led to the creation of the The Compagnons de France, a youth organization designed to teach adolescents outdoor living, exercise, and instill values. Vichy France's efforts to remain independent ultimately proved futile in November 1942, when German forces invaded the French State. Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. Vichy France was a puppet state of Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1940 to 1944. D-Day (June 6, 1944) was the beginning of the end of the Vichy regime, during which troops from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and de Gaulle's Free French troops jointly invaded France at Normandy to drive the Nazis and Vichy regime out. Edit Vichy France existed during the second world war as a Nazi puppet state, half of its territory (North West) was occupied by German's army while the rest of it was considered "free". Vichy France's economy is very poor, with many countries having to send aid to it to keep it alive. French naval commanders stalled the Germans long enough to scuttle 77 ships of their Mediterranean Fleet, preventing the French ships from falling into Axis hands. It was an independent ally of Nazi Germany until late 1942 when Berlin took full control. The French government has also authorized the release of wartime Vichy archives, which promise more revelations as to the extent of anti-Semitic persecution in France. Yet as the National Interest reports, “Instead of welcoming [the Americans] with brass bands, as one sergeant predicted, Vichy France’s colonial forces fought back with everything they had.”. For a long time after the war, France had trouble coming to terms with the "Dark Years" of 1940-44. The so-called “Phoney War” ended abruptly in May, when Germany’s Blitzkrieg burst upon the French. He got his cake and ate it too. The roots of Vichy France can be found in the initial German invasion of France, in 1940. All three elements were believed to have taken advantage of the liberalization that occurred during the Third Republic, but France’s violent streak of anti-Semitism didn’t necessarily make Vichy a fascist regime. Tag: Vichy France November 27, 1942 Scuttled. At one extreme there was great brutality, especially by the violently anti-Semitic paramilitary Milice, while on the hand the number of protestors and heroic resistors against Vichy and the Nazis grew larger throughout the war.”. Pétain wanted to return to a more conservative mode of life, and to that end there were strong prohibitions against divorce, abortion was made a capital offense, the press was censored, phone calls were monitored and critics of the government were imprisoned. Within a very short period of time, the French realized that they could not combat the invading German forces, and ultimately an armistice agreement between the two nations was reached. It is generally agreed that Vichy France was a puppet state of Germany but here is also little doubt that free France had a substantial dependence on Britain. "[9] Another defining element of the regime was opposition to the so-called urban proletariat, comprised of foreigners, leftists, and useless artists and intellectuals. Within weeks, the Germans had pushed their way deep into France, and the French government was forced to make an impossible decision: regroup in their North African colonies and keep fighting, or sign an armistice with Germany. Its predecessor was Vichy France. The Nazis allowed a French rump state to exist (rather than occupying the country completely) in order to prevent France's vast colonial empire from falling into Allied hands; regardless, most colonies would either eventually rally to Charles de Gaulle's Free French or, in the case of Indochina, fall under Imperial Japanese occupation during the war. It included the actual French territory without the Alsace, Lorraine and the colonies. Oh, they've also had 73 ships that stood in that naval base in Southern France for that ~3 years time while finally being attacked by UK. The French right, especially the plutocrats and fundamentalist Catholics, had long resented the republican traditions ushered in by the French Revolution. That regime emerged from the Franco-German Armistice of June 22, 1940, and made France the puppet state of Nazi Germany. “It’s an extremely emotional burden on the French people,” Paxton says. [19] The court did, however, reject any possibility of reparations, claiming France has "compensated" for the crimes of the past in various ways. On November 8, 1942, in the thick of World War II, thousands of American soldiers landed on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, while others amassed in Algeria, only to take immediate gunfire from the French. The misconception that the Vichy Regime was the lesser of two evils endured only for the first few decades after the war. France’s World War II Vichy regime provides some helpful parallels. She's egocentric (way more than before) and always trying to convince himself she did the right choice. Her personality is very similar to that of Francoist Spain and Estado Novo. We cannot build pride upon a lie,” Macron said in July. 20 million people live in Vichy France, giving it a moderate population. The French fell prey to German flattery. Following the success of Operation Torch, Hitler no longer trusted the French to protect its Mediterranean coast, thus the planning for the occupation. Meanwhile, Charles de Gaulle objected to the legitimacy of the Vichy government from London, where he began working for the Free French movement. One of the first priorities of the Vichy regime was the persecution of undesirable minorities, especially Jews, leftists, homosexuals, and Roma. Even with the Old Marshal's war hero status, a post-war Vichy would have trouble establishing any legitimacy. Vichy France, formally French State, French État Français, (July 1940–September 1944), France under the regime of Marshal Philippe Pétain from the Nazi German defeat of France to the Allied liberation in World War II. Upload Download Add to wardrobe 4px arm (Classic) Background Vichy France SilverKey. This was unoccupied zone of France; located in the southern region of France (see map to right). [15] 1936 saw another massive increase in French antisemitism with the virulently racist Nationalist campaigns against Prime Minister Léon Blum, who committed the horrible sin of being both Jewish and a socialist.[16]. More recently, French president Emmanuel Macron gave a speech on France’s role in the genocide, denouncing his political opponents on the far right who dismiss the Vichy government. Evacuated fromParistoVichyin the unoccupied free zone in the southern part ofmetropolitan Francewhich includedFrench Algeria, it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as theFrench colonial empire. “It doesn’t act like a fascist regime because traditionally elites have to give way, and in authoritarianism they retain power. A subsequent invasion along the coast of Southern France (Operation Dragoon) enveloped the remaining German forces in France and liberated the remainder of France. The authoritarian government led by Marshal Pétain participated in Jewish expulsions and turned France into a quasi-police state A poster from the Vichy period shows a disintegrating France … Jewish people in particular had been experiencing animosity for decades, since the Dreyfus Affair of the 1890s. Join today to help us offset the balance of Allied Battalions! Needless to … It ostensibly controlled the southern half of France, and was based in the town of Vichy. [18] While Pétain remained officially in control of France, in reality, he only controlled France's civil administration. Vichy France, officially known as the French State, was a Nazi puppet-government that ruled France between July 1940 and August 1944. Vichy France is a weak German puppet state created during WW2. The part of France left unoccupied swore allegiance to the demented but still treacherous Marshall Petain, who in turn answered to Hitler. [5] It also gave him the responsibility of drafting the new French Constitution following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Germany will then have the options to either form Vichy France or keep the land for the German Reich. For decades before, antisemitism in France was stoked by the anti-republican political group Action Française, which became involved in the Vichy government. Vichy France (July 1940–September 1944), France under the regime of Marshal Philippe Petain, from France’s defeat by Nazi Germany to its liberation by the Allies in World War II. Vichy France (Régime de Vichy) is the common name of the French State (État français) headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Vichy Francewas headed by MarshalPhilippe PétainduringWorld War II. On June 22, 1940, France signed an armistice with Germany, and by July 9 parliament had voted 569 to 80 to abandon the previous government, the Third Republic. That blame fell squarely on the shoulders of Communists, socialists and Jews. Vichy France is an Axis member because it is created through an event, and therefore is set to always be a German puppet state. With Paris within the German zone, the French government chose to temporarily relocate to the resort town of Vichy. Despite materiel superiority and geographic advantages, the French and British armies could not stand up to the superior leadership and tactics of the Wehrmacht, which used mobile warfare and integrated air support to devastating effect.[3]. [21][22] Petain's name is also being erased from French streets and monuments.[23]. Some of the Marshal’s apologists cited the case of French Jewry, asserting that the Vichy regime had attempted to prevent the Nazis from decimating the Jewish population as they had done across Europe. 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Doughty, The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940 (1990), The Super Simple Reason Nazi Germany Crushed France During WWII, National Regeneration in Vichy France: Ideas and Policies, 1930–1944, Support for France's Collaborationist Government, Children’s citizenly participation in the National Revolution: the instrumentalization of children in Vichy France, Vichy and its Aftermaths: The “Compagnons de France”, Vichy France § Racial policies and collaboration, ‘Léon Blum: Prime Minister, Socialist, Zionist,’ by Pierre Birnbaum, France responsible for sending Jews to concentration camps, says court, France Makes Wartime Vichy Government Archive Available To The Public, Document 'proves' Vichy France leader was an anti-Semite, Disclosed: the zealous way Marshal Pétain enforced Nazi anti-Semitic laws, Both Hero and Traitor, but No Longer on the Map, https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Vichy_France&oldid=2242664. While a few Vichy France colonies switched to Free France between 1940 - 1942, most remained loyal to Vichy France until 1942 when Germany took it all over. 20 million people live in Vichy France, giving it a moderate population. Vichy France and Anti-Semitic Policies They Created The Vichy regime under the leadership of Marshal Philippe Pétain was nominally a puppet state under the Nazi government but they acted largely autonomously from the small retreat town of Vichy. How did Vichy France come to be? Most nations recognized the Vichy government as legitimate; the U.S. sent William Leahy as an ambassador, and Leahy served in that position until May 1942. France probably had the best tank designs in Europe before the War, but it was reduced to the puppet state of Vichy France after occupation by the Germans. The so-called “Phoney War” ended abruptly in May, when Germany’s Blitzkrieg burst upon the French. Among the 13,000 Jews arrested and deported to Auschwitz were 4,000 children—removed with their parents for “humanitarian” reasons, according to French Prime Minister Pierre Laval. Show More. Keep up-to-date on: © 2021 Smithsonian Magazine. After Operation Anton, Vichy France became French State. It wasn’t until 1995 that a French president (Jacques Chirac) acknowledged the state’s role. Show Less. But I got my answer, Vichy France is no longer a German puppet because it's difficult to implement a country that's a puppet who won't instantly join the war while at the same time is in a civil war with Free France. That blame fell squarely on the shoulders of Communists, socialists and Jews. If they stayed behind, he reasoned, who would care for them? Was it the lesser of two evils—the choice between partial and total occupation—or a government that reflected the will of the people? One particularly notable roundup was July 1942’s Vel d’Hiv, the largest deportation of Jews from France that would occur during the war. On November 8, 1942, in the thick of World War II, thousands of American soldiers landed on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, while others amassed in Algeria, only to take immediate gunfire from the French. [4] Pétain signed the armistice with Germany less than a week afterwards, surrendering much of his country to German occupation. What's the deal with that? To answer the question about Vichy as a puppet state: yes it was! Cookie Policy But all the foreign Jews were put into camps, they cracked down on dissent, and it was in some ways increasingly a police state.”. The break from the Third Republic came about in part due to the shock and humiliation of being so rapidly bested by the German military, and French leaders were looking everywhere for an explanation for their defeat. Vichy France (French: Régime de Vichy) is the common name of the French State (État français) headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Vichy France (1940–1942/4) – The Vichy French régime of Philippe Pétain had limited autonomy from 1940 to 1942, being heavily dependent on Germany. The invasion of North Africa—a joint venture between the United Kingdom and the United States known as Operation Torch—was intended to open up another front of the war, but the colonial power in the region was France, purportedly a neutral party in World War II. After all, France had signed an armistice with Adolf Hitler on June 22, 1940, within weeks of being overrun by German soldiers. From this point on, Pétain turned France into a dictatorship. France, Battle of; Vichy France Occupation of France, 1940–44. "Vichy" today is used to mean collaborationism of any sort—at the risk of Godwin's law, of course ("Vichy Democrats", for example, for Democrats who supported George W. Bush's drive to invade Iraq.) Vichy France is a puppet state released by the Germany once Germany capitulates France. And while the Resistance began early on in the start of the war, “resisters were always a minority,” writes Robert Gildea in Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance. Were they hapless puppets of the Nazis, or genocidal collaborators? That rump government finally fell when the city was taken by the Free French army in April 1945. In Vichy France, the Allies were portrayed as the enemy and the French people were encouraged to fight alongside Germany against them. The above Vichy coins represent Petain’s values and the state he had created. Vichy Moto: “Travail, Famille, Patrie” Translated to English: “Work, Family, Fatherland” Vichy France Anthem: La Marseillaise The Song of Marseille (official) Maréchal, nous voilà! 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