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France in WWII: Vichy Regime to Liberation

Explore France's WWII history from Vichy to Liberation, Resistance movements & Occupation memories. Learn about Vichy values, Resistance actions, Liberation struggles, and post-war reflections.

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France in WWII: Vichy Regime to Liberation

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  1. France and the Second World War

  2. Workshop structure • The Defeat of France and the Occupation • The Vichy Regime and its Values • The Resistance and its Development • The Liberation of France • Contemporary memories of the Second World War

  3. War is declared and the phoney war begins. September 1939: Hitler invades Poland; Britain and France respond September 1939-May 1940: drôle de guerre/phoney war

  4. The German invasion and the defeat of France • May-June 1940: German invasion ‘blitzkrieg’ tactics; defeat in 4 weeks

  5. The German invasion and the defeat of France • Civilian exodus: 8 million people take to the roads in France to flee the German advance • 1.6 million French men prisoners of war • Collapse of the Third Republic

  6. France in defeat Marshal Pétain requests armistice with the Germans ( 22 June 1940) "C'est le coeur serré que je vous dis aujourd'hui qu'il faut tenter de cesser le combat". Le Maréchal Pétain, le 17 juin 1940.

  7. The Conditions of the Armistice • zones and annexations • November 1942: total occupation

  8. Question 1 Why do you think people supported the Vichy regime in its early days?

  9. Handout Task 1: Poster work: Vichy ideals and values • How does this poster present the German occupier? • What does it suggest about the relationship between France and Germany in October 1940?

  10. Vichy Regime and its Values: The National Revolution Vichy regime, 1940-1942: • policy of accommodation and negotiation with the invader • Belief in the need to purge France of its Republican past and bring about ‘National Revolution’ • ‘Famille, travail, patrie’

  11. The National Revolution • Values: hierarchy and order • Traditional gender roles • Certain women excluded from the work force • Promoting value of motherhood

  12. The National Revolution Exclusionary measures against Jews • October 1940 and July 1941: anti-Semitic legislation • Propagandist exhibitions • May 1942: Jews forced to wear the yellow star

  13. French Collusion in the Holocaust: Deportation of Jews • Final Solution: 76,000 Jews deported from France, 2,500 returned • Destinations: Drancy; Auschwitz-Birkenau

  14. Everyday life under Occupation - Rationing and queuing

  15. Early Resistance General de Gaulle makes his appeal: 22 June 1940 « Honour, common sense and the interests of the country require that all free French men, where ever they be, should continue the fight as best they may »

  16. Question 2 Why do you think people fond it difficult to support the Resistance in the early months and years of occupation?

  17. Resistance Clandestine press and literature Motivations: • Patriotic duty • Anti-fascist: opposed Nazi and Vichy ideology • Opposed flouting of human rights Actions: • Speaking out: clandestine publications; counter-propaganda

  18. Handout Task 2: Resistance tracts • How does this tract represent life in occupied France? • What is the role of the writer in wartime according to this poster? • How does the style and structure of the tract reinforce its message?

  19. Resistance Coordination and Infiltration: Jean Moulin and the Conseil national de la résistance • 1942-3: full scale resistance developing • Free French and internal resistance combine forces • Summer of 1944: resistance infiltrated every area of French life

  20. Liberation: Armed struggle • 6 June 1944: Liberation, D-Day Landings in Normandy • Role of ‘maquis’ fighters to aid Allies • City fighting but euphoria

  21. Liberation: National Celebration • Symbolism of de Gaulle striding down Champs Elysees on 25 August 1945

  22. Liberation: National Shame ‘Les tondues’ • 9,000 suspected collaborators killed June to November 1944 • Women targeted – ‘les tondues’ • Excesses of liberation; undeclared civil war

  23. Memories of the Occupation 1940s-1960s: myths of national resistance 1970s: collaboration resurfaces 1980s: memories of French collusion in the Holocaust 1997-8: trial of wartime civil servant Maurice Papon

  24. Memories of the Occupation Acknowledgement and recognition 16 July 1995: Jacques Chirac recognises French State collusion in the Holocaust ‘La France, patrie des Lumières et des Droits de l’Homme, terre d’accueil et d’asile, la France, ce jour-là, accomplissait l’irréparable’

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