Featured on Portsmouth Point, 10 January 2024

By Alfie GH, Year 12

The origins of Vichy France were of course with the Armistice of 22nd of June 1940, which was signed by officials of the Third French Republic and Nazi Germany after the French military lost the Battle of France, only lasting one month and two weeks. The current vice-president Phillipe Pétain feebly took defeat and willingly signed the Armistice, whereas, Charles De Gaulle - a statesman and army officer- refused to sign the Armistice and fled to England where he led the Free French and opposed the Nazi occupation. Similarly, the president Paul Reynaud adopted an anti Nazi stance and refused to sign, regrettably he was arrested and held captive for the duration of the war. This, therefore, left Phillipe Pétain as the peace broker for France. The principal terms were to split France into two, where Germany would have occupation of the Northern and Western parts, including all sea ports and islands, and the other part (known as the Zone Libre) would be left unoccupied and generally to its own devices. It was this zone where a Nazi elected French government took responsibility (it was effectively a puppet government), of which Phillipe Pétain assumed leadership of. This was the birth of a new, strange and strangled France which would greatly affect French society and the outcome of the war.

Pétain ran an authoritarian, Conservative government, promoting strong Catholic traditions and collaboration with the Germans. He justified collaboration with the aim of keeping French neutrality and preserving the remnants of liberty left in France which were kept to an extent. Despite intense pressure to join Vichy France with the Axis powers, Pétain resisted in the hope of gaining the peoples backing. There are mixed feelings about Pétain (most are of dislike) in general, this is due to the fact that every decision he made was in the aim of keeping neutrality. However, to do this he had to compromise core French and Chrisitan values of which France was proud of. For instance, Pétain gladly aided the Nazis in the deportation of approximately 77,000 Jews to concentration camps, of which the majority died. Moreover, not only did Pétain not support the plight of the Jews, but he did his best to ensure the deportation of many by re-writing the memo given to him by the Nazis. Pétain also changed the Nazis plan of leaving descendants of French Jews alone, to make sure every Jewish person came under the harsh treatment of the Nazis. Furthermore, he barred all Jewish citizens from getting employment in public sector jobs like education and law, without even being ordered by his Nazi superiors. Proving himself to be anti-semitic and even more than that, collaborationist.

Another important figure was Pierre Laval, infamous for the off the books Hoare-Laval Pact giving Mussolini Abyssinia. Laval was influential in encouraging the Armistice and was one of the principal architects of Vichy France. Regarding collaboration, Laval was one of the worst perpetrators and did many things against his own citizens. His actions were many, for example, he helped form the Milice, a vehemently anti-semitical organization, intent on crushing the Jews and quelling any signs of resistance. The Milice were constituted of ex-military men, especially youths who joined the Milice on the false-hope of restoring French pride, in reality they did the opposite. Furthermore, Laval assisted in the deportation of many Jews to concentration camps, whilst maintaining the pretence to the public that they were being sent for re-settlement and simple work camps. Laval was effectively Pétain’s second hand man and generally their views were aligned. However, although it may not appear this way from our angle, Pétain was more intent on keeping the peace, whereas Laval actively wished to collaborate with the Nazis, in whatever form that took. Laval was happy for the Jews to suffer greatly as long as he kept a good position and remained in favour of the government. In 1943, Pétain grew impatient with Laval and removed Laval from office, however, Laval who had the ear of the Nazi’s remained in a powerful role and continued collaborating.

Pétain and Laval’s government faced much resistance from all over the Zone Libre in response to their anti-semitic policies and their decisions which greatly contradicted French and Christian values as forementioned. A great example of anti-Vichy resistance was that on the plateau of Vivarais-sur-lignon in the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region in south-east France. Under the leadership of the Vicar André Trocmé, local residents hid, looked after and supported Jews who were on Vichy’s quota to be deported. It is estimated that the work of the people on this plateau saved the lives of 5000 refugees, many of whom were Jewish. Had it not been for the work of these valiant people, many innocents would have perished by the hands of the Nazi’s after Vichy handed over their round ups.

Overall, I believe the government of Vichy France was self-destructive because in a bid to protect France and restore peace, its leaders like Pétain and Laval violated the core French values of Liberté, Fraternité et Egalité with their unnecessary collaborations and plunder of the Jews. Furthermore, France did not prosper in this era of time and its ministers only gained unpopularity. You may indeed be pleased to hear that Phillipe Pétain was given a death sentence, which was then revoked to a life sentence due to poor health and old age, and Pierre Laval was summarily executed by a firing squad in 1945. The end of World War Two of course marked the end of Vichy France, and imminently the arrival of Les Trentes Glorieuses, which was a period of great prosperity for France and other countries following the end of a devastating war.

Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_line_%28France%29#/media/File:Vichy_France_Map.jpg