Collaborationism in France 1940-1944
Collaborationism in France 1940-1944
«... committed, ideological identification with Nazi Germany»
«Le collaborationisme, c'est l'engagement aux côtés de l'occupant, non
par nécessité ou adaptation aux circonstances, mais par adhésion
volontaire à l'idéologie nazie et rechereche avec l'Allemagne d'une
alliance étroite.»
As I discussed in my lecture on state collaboration, historians of
Occupied France generally make a distinction between two different forms
of collaboration:
Collaborationism in Occupied France took two main forms: i) publications
like La Gerbe, Je suis partout and Au Pilori and
political parties like the RNP (Rassemblement National Populaire), the PPF
(Parti populaire français) and le francisme. Both publications and
parties existed with the approval and, in some cases, active support of
Nazi Germany. Publications were viewed favourably as means of promoting
the interests of Nazi Germany in an ongoing propaganda war and
collaborationist parties were viewed, albeit with some suspicion, as
a useful means of pressure on Vichy. Should Vichy be slow or unresponsive
to Nazi demands, then Germany could always turn to more sympathetic allies
in France.
Although the state collaboration of Vichy was not motivated by any
consistent ideological affinity to fascism, there were a number of
political parties in the Occupied zone with a firm commitment to Nazi
ideology. Paris was their power base although, towards the end of the war,
many collaborationists like Marcel Déat had worked their way into
positions of power in Vichy which had become, by the summer of 1944, an
overtly fascist régime. Falling under the influence of what French
historian Philippe Burrin calls `le champ magnétique des fascismes'
(Burrin: 1984), the magnetic field of fascisms, these parties modelled
themselves on European fascisms (military-style uniforms, Nazi-type
salutes etc.).
There were three main collaborationalist political parties:
Mnay collaborationists were keen to take their collaboration with Nazi
Germany to extremes. A number of collaborationalist parties in the
Occupied zone, for example, assisted in establishing the Légion des
volontaires français contre le bolchevisme (LVF). This volunteer army -
there were 10,000 volunteers initially - fought against the Soviet Union
on the Eastern Front in Nazi uniform. The LVF became a Wehrmacht infantry
regiment and continued to fight in Germany after France's liberation as
part of the SS Charlemagne division.
The collaborationist press flourished during the years of Occupation.
The three main publications were:
COLLABORATIONISM:
State Collaboration and Collaborationism
(Kedward: 1985 p.44)
(Durand: 1989 p.60)
Forms of Collaborationism
Collaborationist Parties
Support for these Parisian collaborationist parties in France was limited.
Yves Durand estimates that less then 1% of the French population were ever
members. They enjoyed far less support than did Pétain and Vichy and never
suceeded in mobilizing the support of the majority of the French. Indeed,
although collaborationists gained control of Vichy by 1944, their support
was never lower.
The Milice
The Collaborationist Press
Their view of a decadent and degenerate France owed more to both the
pre-war extreme Right and to Nazism than to Pétain's National Revolution.
France, they claimed, was enjuivée (riddled with Jews) or
négrifié (riddled with blacks). Its only path back to greatness was
through the creation of a régime along the lines of Nazi Germany and a
closer relationship with them than even Vichy had envisaged.
Collaborationist publications tended to praise the measures introduced to
reform Germany and sought un redressement national for France based
on the Gemany's National Socialist model.
Conclusion
Further Reading
tony.mcneill@sunderland.ac.uk
The University of Sunderland
Last Update 25-Nov-99