Defeat and Division: France at War, 1939–1942 (Armies of the Second World War)

Defeat and Division launches a definitive new account of France in the Second World War. In this first volume, Douglas Porch dissects France's 1940 collapse, the dynamics of occupation, and the rise of Charles de Gaulle's Free France crusade, culminating in the November 1942 Allied invasion of French North Africa. He captures the full sweep of France's wartime experience in Europe, Africa, and beyond, from soldiers and POWs to civilians-in-arms, colonial subjects, and foreign refugees. He recounts France's struggles to reconstruct military power within the context of a global conflict, with its armed forces shattered into warring factions and the country under Axis occupation. Disagreements over the causes of the 1940 debacle and the subsequent requirement for the armistice mirrored long-standing fractures in politics, society, and in the French military itself, as efforts to reconstitute French military power crumbled into Vichy collaboration, De Gaulle's exile resistance, Alsace-Moselle occupation struggles, and a scuffle for imperial supremacy. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Maps List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 France in the Age of Total War 2 From Phoney Peace to Phoney War, 1938–1940 3 Case Yellow 4 “Stand and Fight ...” 5 “The War Is Over for Us” 6 “The Wisdom of a Great Leader” 7 La France libre 8 “Grandi soldati” 9 France’s North African Hinterland 10 Torch Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index A definitive new account of France in World War II exploring the country's collapse in 1940, the rise of Charles de Gaulle's Free French, the occupation, and culminating in the November 1942 invasion of French North Africa. In Defeat and Division, Douglas Porch launches an unparalleled history of France's wartime ordeal.