Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944

Description

Robert O. Paxton's classic study of the aftermath of France's sudden collapse under Nazi invasion utilizes captured German archives and other contemporary materials to construct a strong and disturbing account of the Vichy period in France. With a new introduction and updated bibliography, "Vichy France" demonstrates that the collaborationist government of Marshal Pétain did far more than merely react to German pressures. The Vichy leaders actively pursued their own double agenda--internally, the authoritarian and racist "national revolution," and, externally, an attempt to persuade Hitler to accept this new France as a partner in his new Europe. Contents Acknowledgments Prologue: Summer 1940 I / The French Quest for Pierre Laved and the Paris Connection The “New Policy,n September—December The Meaning of December 13 The Cold Shoulder: Flandin and Darlan Darlan9s Grand Design Darlan’s Fall and Laval’s Return: April 1942 II / The National Revolution Competing Visions An Answer to Decadence Moral Order: The Church Moral Order: Education and the Young Moral Order: The Family France for the French “ The State: Liberty and Authority Return to the Soil Escape from Class and Competition: Corporatism in Power From Persuasion to Constraint: The Emerging Police State The National Revolution and Fascism Ill / The Collaborators Ins, Outs, and Notables The French Civil War: 1934—37 The Revenge of the Minorities Experts Traditionalists The Left at Vichy IV / Collaboration—1942-44: Between Liberation and Revolution Threats to the Social Order—i: Resistance Threats to the Social Order—2: Second Front Last French Bids for Collaboration: 1942—43 1944: The Dream of Peaceful Transition, the Nightmare of Civil War V / A Balance Sheet: The Legacy of Vichy Breads and Continuities Vichy and French Society Was Vichy a Lesser Evil? Profits and Losses A Moral Balance Sheet The War Question of January 1942 Glossary of French and German Abbreviations Bibliographical Note Index