The Open Door Web Site : Study Guide : 12th Grade History abd Geography Revision: Essays

It is quite wrong to think of Pétain as a quaint octogenarian who was unaware of what was going on. He , as Head of State, was the originator of policies, directing his PMs (Laval, Flandin, Darlan, Laval) and pursuing an understanding with Germany that he himself called COLLABORATION. The 'National Revolution' (including 'Travaille, Famille, Patrie) would find a place for France in the new 'Europe'. At first, he certainly hoped for mutual benefit and reciprocal arrangements with Germany. Perhaps towards the end it became a servile acceptance of German demands. The support that he received was genuine...which does not mean that the French were pro-German or Nazi. Most put their faith in the man who had already saved France once.

After the war, it was natural that the French believed in the idea of 40 million resisters. 'Papy a fait la Résistance' was a popular film as late as the 1980's. But this has long been seen as a myth, certainly since Robert Paxton, whose book Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order (1972) challenged the idea of French resistance under Nazi occupation. Paxton showed that the Vichy regime had sought real collaboration with Germany—consistently offering more than the Germans asked, particularly in the area of anti-Semitic policies—to carve out a role for France under Hitler in a future New European Order. He also found that among the French population the Vichy government remained popular until it became clear that Germany would certainly lose the war.

Being continued....check it out Saturday morning. For your talk you should have themes on the issues. Work out a brief introduction which captures the flavour of the controversies, then have paragraphs on 1. Pétain and Collaboration. How much did they anticipate German demands? 2. Why there was so little resistance at first. There is no need to be critical! It is worth noting that the communists were hampered by the Nazi-Soviet Pact and that it was difficult to resist in the south because there were no Germans! (at least until 1943). But then there was a conservative and traditionalist link going back to the early 1930s. 3 What the resistance was when it came. Look at a) de Gaulle and his lot in London...Soustelle, Moulin, Michelet, Monnet.....b) South...Combat, Libération-Sud, Franc-Tirreur..; c) North. Libération-Nord, Ceux de la Résistance, etc, d) Across zones. Front National (not Le Pen!) and PCF from 1941) 4. And therefore what contribution the French actually made to their liberation. What did the resistance achieve in the end? If that is not enough, or comes across as dull, you can pad it out a bit with why France fell at the beginning.......