Vichy France : old guard and new order, 1940-1944

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. Columbia University Press Contents Introduction to the 2001 Edition Introduction to the Morningside Edition (1982) Acknowledgments Prologue: Summer 1940 I / The French Quest for Collaboration, 1940-1942 Pierre Laval and the Paris Connection The “New PolicySeptember-December The Meaning of December 13 The Cold Shoulder: Flandin and Darlan Darlan s 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 T raditionalists 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 Appendix: How the German Archives are Cited in Footnotes Index "Robert O. Paxton's 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 Petain 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."--BOOK JACKET 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 Petain 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. COLLABORATION WAS NOT A GERMAN DEMAND TO which some Frenchmen accede, through sympathy or guile.