HY 300 HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY: ROUGH DRAFT
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Vichy was an ineffective government that focused its efforts on attempts to rescue
French society mainly through collaboration with the German party. It retained some power of
its own, but due to the manner in which it was created, fear of social rebellion, and a wide-
spread belief the war was almost finished, Vichy could not effectively protect its people within
the limitations of the Franco-German armistice from the German occupation. The Free French
and other Resistance movements were limited in their ability to cause societal discord and
rebellions against the Germans because of oppressive German forces, disillusioned officers, and
the Armistice Army of Vichy made it very difficult to accomplish meaningful results in the early
portion of the war. In the end this resulted in a mostly compliant French government for the
duration of German occupation with little power outside and inside of French society.
Vichy France was formed in July 1940 after the Franco-German Armistice was signed on
the 22, June 1940. After the devastating blitzkrieg warfare that Germany inflicted upon France,
Germany could have completely destroyed France as a sovereign being. Hitler decided on a
much more cunning plan, which involved the wehrmachtführungsstab formula. The idea behind
the formula was to use a light hand on the dealings with France in order to prevent the French
Army officials from leaving to place a base of operations in London to continue the war against
German forces.1 Hitler also assumed, like many, that the war would be over relatively quickly
and he would be more assertive during the final peace conference.2 The resulting Franco-
German armistice was very undemanding and it allowed many concessions according to the
French people. The armistice conceded a sovereign 100,000 man army, the French Fleet would
remain under neutral French control, there were no current territorial demands, the occupied
portion of France was only what would be needed for the British invasion, and the government
of France would be able to administer to both territories. All of these concessions pacified the
many soldiers and Frenchmen’s need to get revenge and preemptively struck at the Free French
movement under De Gaulle
1 Robert Paxton, Parades and Politics at Vichy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966), 7-8.
2 Paxton, Parades and Politics, 7
,HY 300 HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY: ROUGH DRAFT
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by helping retain the soldiers under the national army.3 The importance of having a national
army was decidedly the most valued as it could be used later for French purposes. The aptly
named Armistice Army was used to maintain the eastern boundary of France and North Africa.
Essentially it was used for German purposes throughout most of the war, especially in the
unoccupied zone, which consisted of the south eastern portion of France. The German
occupation zone was most of the northern part of France and all along the Atlantic coast down to
Spain. Although these so-called great concessions were made for France, there were many
debilitating limitations placed upon Vichy.4 For example, even though Vichy had rights to
administer to both zones as per the Franco-German armistice, it also states that Vichy must defer
to the German administration in the occupied zone and must support Germany’s decisions.5 This
creates a lack of power and clearly proves the puppet sovereignty that was characteristic of
Vichy. Another sinister portion of the armistice was the French government had to pay
occupation and support costs and clearing deficits. The Germans demanded an exorbitant
amount and this led to huge levels of inflation that were comparable to other countries that were
completely occupied by Germans. 6 The most contended point of the armistice that would be
detrimental to de Gaulle’s Free French gaining manpower, was Article X. It stated that all of the
military forces had to not only return to France, but the French government had to ensure that the
French citizens would not take up arms against the German government. Any civilians or militia
that tried to fight the Germans would be regarded as guerilla. It could also be terms for the
termination of the armistice in which case Germany would take over France.7
3 Ibid.; William Langer, Our Vichy Gamble (New York: Norton Library,
1947) 74. 4 Paxton, Parades and Politics, 41-43.
5 Philip W. Whitcomb, France During the German Occupation 1940-1944 (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1957), 357
6 Robert Paxton. Vichy France: Old Guard New Order 1940-1944 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1972) 361.
7 Whitcomb, France During Occupation, 358.
, HY 300 HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY: ROUGH DRAFT
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Although Germany could have easily crushed the French entity there were three main
reasons as to why Germany agreed to an armistice with France, and allowed them to maintain
sovereignty. These reasons were not because Germany actually cared about leaving France
sovereign, as Germans were highly prejudiced against the French especially after the War of
1870. Germany was preserving resources and time as German forces were already spread pretty
thin. Letting France maintain its sovereignty would alleviate Germany from the pains of
administering an occupied country.8 Germany also used the armistice to request French people
to pay the occupation costs and therefore be a reliable source of income to aid war costs9. Since
the Vichy government had to defer to the German government in most aspects of administration,
it was an easy way to control the French people. The beliefs of the general French populace were
simply apathy in regards to the government. Due to the German inflicted inflation in France, the
people of France were more worried about their own survival than the government or even
getting revenge10.
The formation of Vichy itself was the brain-child of Pierre Laval. Laval placed Marshall
Philippe Pétain, as the leader of the new government with himself as Pétain’s prime minister. At
this time Pétain was a fairly old politician at the age of 84. At the end of the Third Republic, it
was common for the president to rely on the prime minister for most matters, simply
maintaining a role as a figurehead. In opposition to the weakness of the Third Republic, which
was according to Pétain, Laval, and many others the reason as to why France had fallen to
Germany, the Vichy regime was based heavily upon the Italian and German totalitarian
governments.11 This could be viewed as the first attempt at collaboration, as
8 Paxton, Old Guard New Order, 372-
373. 9 Ibid., 361.
10 Ibid., 362
11 Geoffrey Warner, Pierre Laval and the Eclipse of France (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode,
1968), 194-
196.
100% CORRECT RATED A+ DOWNLOAD TO SCORE A
Vichy was an ineffective government that focused its efforts on attempts to rescue
French society mainly through collaboration with the German party. It retained some power of
its own, but due to the manner in which it was created, fear of social rebellion, and a wide-
spread belief the war was almost finished, Vichy could not effectively protect its people within
the limitations of the Franco-German armistice from the German occupation. The Free French
and other Resistance movements were limited in their ability to cause societal discord and
rebellions against the Germans because of oppressive German forces, disillusioned officers, and
the Armistice Army of Vichy made it very difficult to accomplish meaningful results in the early
portion of the war. In the end this resulted in a mostly compliant French government for the
duration of German occupation with little power outside and inside of French society.
Vichy France was formed in July 1940 after the Franco-German Armistice was signed on
the 22, June 1940. After the devastating blitzkrieg warfare that Germany inflicted upon France,
Germany could have completely destroyed France as a sovereign being. Hitler decided on a
much more cunning plan, which involved the wehrmachtführungsstab formula. The idea behind
the formula was to use a light hand on the dealings with France in order to prevent the French
Army officials from leaving to place a base of operations in London to continue the war against
German forces.1 Hitler also assumed, like many, that the war would be over relatively quickly
and he would be more assertive during the final peace conference.2 The resulting Franco-
German armistice was very undemanding and it allowed many concessions according to the
French people. The armistice conceded a sovereign 100,000 man army, the French Fleet would
remain under neutral French control, there were no current territorial demands, the occupied
portion of France was only what would be needed for the British invasion, and the government
of France would be able to administer to both territories. All of these concessions pacified the
many soldiers and Frenchmen’s need to get revenge and preemptively struck at the Free French
movement under De Gaulle
1 Robert Paxton, Parades and Politics at Vichy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966), 7-8.
2 Paxton, Parades and Politics, 7
,HY 300 HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY: ROUGH DRAFT
100% CORRECT RATED A+ DOWNLOAD TO SCORE A
by helping retain the soldiers under the national army.3 The importance of having a national
army was decidedly the most valued as it could be used later for French purposes. The aptly
named Armistice Army was used to maintain the eastern boundary of France and North Africa.
Essentially it was used for German purposes throughout most of the war, especially in the
unoccupied zone, which consisted of the south eastern portion of France. The German
occupation zone was most of the northern part of France and all along the Atlantic coast down to
Spain. Although these so-called great concessions were made for France, there were many
debilitating limitations placed upon Vichy.4 For example, even though Vichy had rights to
administer to both zones as per the Franco-German armistice, it also states that Vichy must defer
to the German administration in the occupied zone and must support Germany’s decisions.5 This
creates a lack of power and clearly proves the puppet sovereignty that was characteristic of
Vichy. Another sinister portion of the armistice was the French government had to pay
occupation and support costs and clearing deficits. The Germans demanded an exorbitant
amount and this led to huge levels of inflation that were comparable to other countries that were
completely occupied by Germans. 6 The most contended point of the armistice that would be
detrimental to de Gaulle’s Free French gaining manpower, was Article X. It stated that all of the
military forces had to not only return to France, but the French government had to ensure that the
French citizens would not take up arms against the German government. Any civilians or militia
that tried to fight the Germans would be regarded as guerilla. It could also be terms for the
termination of the armistice in which case Germany would take over France.7
3 Ibid.; William Langer, Our Vichy Gamble (New York: Norton Library,
1947) 74. 4 Paxton, Parades and Politics, 41-43.
5 Philip W. Whitcomb, France During the German Occupation 1940-1944 (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1957), 357
6 Robert Paxton. Vichy France: Old Guard New Order 1940-1944 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1972) 361.
7 Whitcomb, France During Occupation, 358.
, HY 300 HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY: ROUGH DRAFT
100% CORRECT RATED A+ DOWNLOAD TO SCORE A
Although Germany could have easily crushed the French entity there were three main
reasons as to why Germany agreed to an armistice with France, and allowed them to maintain
sovereignty. These reasons were not because Germany actually cared about leaving France
sovereign, as Germans were highly prejudiced against the French especially after the War of
1870. Germany was preserving resources and time as German forces were already spread pretty
thin. Letting France maintain its sovereignty would alleviate Germany from the pains of
administering an occupied country.8 Germany also used the armistice to request French people
to pay the occupation costs and therefore be a reliable source of income to aid war costs9. Since
the Vichy government had to defer to the German government in most aspects of administration,
it was an easy way to control the French people. The beliefs of the general French populace were
simply apathy in regards to the government. Due to the German inflicted inflation in France, the
people of France were more worried about their own survival than the government or even
getting revenge10.
The formation of Vichy itself was the brain-child of Pierre Laval. Laval placed Marshall
Philippe Pétain, as the leader of the new government with himself as Pétain’s prime minister. At
this time Pétain was a fairly old politician at the age of 84. At the end of the Third Republic, it
was common for the president to rely on the prime minister for most matters, simply
maintaining a role as a figurehead. In opposition to the weakness of the Third Republic, which
was according to Pétain, Laval, and many others the reason as to why France had fallen to
Germany, the Vichy regime was based heavily upon the Italian and German totalitarian
governments.11 This could be viewed as the first attempt at collaboration, as
8 Paxton, Old Guard New Order, 372-
373. 9 Ibid., 361.
10 Ibid., 362
11 Geoffrey Warner, Pierre Laval and the Eclipse of France (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode,
1968), 194-
196.
