“Vichy France was that part of France not occupied by German troops until November 1942.”
AUTHORITY OF NAZI AMBASSADOR TO VICHY FRANCE, AUGUST 3, 1940
[Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, 42 vols. (Nuremberg, 1948), VI, 560-561 (Doc. RF-1061). The text in German may be found in ibid., XXXII, 432-433 (Doc. 3614-PS).]
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 3 August 1940
In answer to a question of the Quartermaster General, addressed to the High Command of the Armed Forces and transmitted by the latter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Führer has appointed Abetz, until now Minister, as Ambassador, and on my report has decreed the following:
I. Ambassador Abetz has the following functions in France:
1. To advise the military agencies on political matters
2. To maintain permanent contact with the Vichy Government and its representatives in the occupied zone.
3. To influence the important political personalities in the occupied zone and in the unoccupied zone in a way favorable to our intentions.
4. To guide from the political point of view the, press, the radio, and the propaganda in the occupied zone and to influence the responsive elements engaged in the molding of public opinion in the unoccupied zone.
5. To take care of the German, French, and Belgian citizens returning from internment camps.
6. To advise the secret military police and the Gestapo on the seizure of politically important documents.
7. To seize and secure all public art treasures and private art treasures, and particularly art treasures belonging to Jews, on the basis of special instructions relating thereto.
II. The Führer has expressly ordered that only Ambassador Abetz shall be responsible for all political questions in Occupied and Unoccupied France. Insofar as military interests are touched by his duties, Ambassador Abetz shall act only in agreement with the Military Command in France.
III. Ambassador Abetz will be attached to the Military Commander in France as his deputy. His domicile shall continue to be in Paris as hitherto. He will receive from me instructions for the accomplishment of his tasks and will be responsible solely to me. I shall greatly appreciate it if the High Command of the Armed Forces will give the necessary orders to the military agencies concerned as quickly as possible.
Signed: RIBBENTROP
Vichy’s Intellectual Origins
In terms of political philosophy Vichy was a diverse regime with its Ministers drawn from several different currents, ranging between traditionalists and modernisers. It is important to take this into account when considering the politics of Vichy. Also one should bear in mind that its politics evolved over time with the traditionalists dominating at the outset but by 1944 a fascist-inspired current was clearly in evidence. Owing to increasing German pressure Vichy’s political autonomy declined with time with the result that its autonomous political philosophy increasingly took a back seat.
Vichy’s traditionalist philosophy originated with the writers who had articulated a spiritual challenge to Revolutionary France. Many of these were associated with the nationalism of the beginning of the 20th century. The nationalist writer Maurice Barrès had written of France as an organic society whose key values were a respect for her ancestry and the values of rural culture in opposition to the materialist rootlessness of urban, industrialised society. Prominent amongst the nationalists of the early 20th Century was the monarchist Charles Maurras (1868-1952) who founded the far right organisation ‘Action Française’ which was to be a key influence on the traditionalists at Vichy. Maurras insisted on the concept of there being a ‘true France’ from which the forces of the ‘anti-France’ should be excluded. Maurras defined the ‘anti-France’ in terms of Socialists, Radical Republicans, Freemasons, Protestants, foreigners and Jews. Within Vichy nationalism there was a clear anti-Semitic current which was reminiscent of the writings of anti-Dreyfusards such as Edouard Drumont at the turn of the century.
More recent influences included the nationalist movements of the 1930s, such the Croix de Feu.
The regime was also influenced by the authoritarian, nationalist movements which had been established in Italy under Mussolini, in Germany under Hitler, in Spain under Franco and in Portugal under Salazar. Franco and Salazar were particular points of reference for the traditionalists at Vichy. There are clearly a number of themes common to these authoritarian regimes and Vichy: the cult of the leader, the growth of police repression, a redefining of notions of justice, the rejection of liberal democracy, hostility towards both capitalism and socialism and the theme of national regeneration. However there are some important differences between Vichy and the fascist regimes, particularly that of Germany. Vichy did not challenge traditional hierarchies in the way the Nazis did. Although Vichy may have used violence in its police repression, war and violence were not celebrated in the same way as under the Nazis. Also whilst both Vichy and the Nazis tried to indoctrinate the young, youth and dynamism were fundaments of the Nazi regime itself whereas Vichy was a gerontocracy (government by old men). Vichy ministers, with a few exceptions, rejected totalitarianism on the Nazi model and the idea of a single party or a single youth group.
In the economic sphere Vichy also drew on the knowledge of the technocrats. These were specialist experts often with a non-conformist leaning. Edouard Daladier’s government in the late 1930s had already facilitated the entry of such experts into the corridors of power in an attempt to maximise productivity. The same search for economic efficiency encouraged the opening up of some of the economic ministries to technocrats during the Vichy years. These technocrats were clearly modernisers and therefore stand in apparent opposition to the traditionalist philosophies which dominated so much of Vichy’s early discourse.
Vichy was also strongly influenced by the Veteran associations of the inter-war period. As there were so many people who had suffered as a consequence of World War One these veterans associations formed a powerful lobby group.
Finally, although Vichy was very much a right wing government there were a few dissidents from the left, (such as the radical Georges Bonnet or the socialist Paul Faure), who were attracted to Vichy. These were individuals whose relations with the communists or the socialists had gone sour. Often their motivation for joining forces with Vichy was inspired partly by a strong pacifism. Vichy generally presented itself as the guarantor of peace, a possibility for France to stay out of the conflict. This touched a nerve with many, including some dissidents from the left.
quote from sources and the last one is french.
I can only quote from internet sources so you can reference them. I have over 800 books on WW2 and none of them refer to Vichy as anything else. Plus i have maps made form this period and they cant all be wrong ONLY BECAUSE YOU SAY DIFFERENT. You should begin to reference your ideas with supporting documentation. You have no counter proof that VICHY france was called 'south france" or “German unoccupied france” Again your own bias is 90% of the comments you make.
