Vichy France: The French Turning Against themselves, to the Germans

Human nature is truly a complex thing to understand. Jackie French has lured us into a world bursting with vital historical information, she has entangled in the novel, a series of facts about the many events that occurred in World War II. French has taken the time to structure this novel with sensitivity and sophistication. She has shown great sympathy towards the Jewish people throughout this captivating novel. The author then leads us onto a path to teach us the importance of history and the endless lessons we may learn from the mistakes of previous generations.

The decision to enter into war is usually a great struggle involving many factors. Some countries, however, such as France in 1940, do not have much choice in the matter. France’s leaders struggled with the feelings of autonomy and responsibility. France's struggle entering into World War II was in the difficulty in fulfilling its dual responsibility to the people of France and to the rest of the world whom both maintained conflicting beliefs about the approaching war. The French people desired peace, while the other countries required France to go to war to defend itself against

The topic that I will be writing about is the French Revolution and how it affected France as a nation. The book that I read was "The French Revolution, A tale of Terror and Hope for Our Times", by Harold Behr. This book gave a very large and broad overview of what transpired during the French Revolution, which occurred during the years of 1789-1799. Though the book covered a lot of material that happened throughout those years, I will be covering the main topics, such as what were the events leading up to the revolution, how the revolution affected the people of France, how the revolution affected the country as a whole, how the revolution affected the world, and whether or not the revolution in the end helped or was more detrimental to the country. All of the topics will be covered from my point of view and how I interpreted the author, there is another point of views on the revolution but this will be from what I felt the book meant to me.

Involved in two wars during the time of Hiroshima mon Amour’s release in 1959, the ideological stance of France was inevitably centered around war. However, this film presents an alternative ideological viewpoint, focusing on suffering and remembrance rather than the tragedies themselves. This point of view can be traced back to the start of the French New Wave movement where using film to portray thoughts and emotions allowed filmmaker Alan Resnais the opportunity to produce a film with his own strong creative touch.

In The Journal of Hélène Berr, we are given the first hand account of a young Jewish woman in Paris during the German occupation. This primary source provides a strong insight into how Paris was changing before Hélène’s eyes. Hélène started keeping a journal to preserve memories, but over time, as the German occupation started to change her life, it became something more. Her writing became darker, because so did her outlook. For one, towards the end of the

On the 6th of June 1944, Operation Overlord began to free France from the Nazi German army. The invasion and liberation of France from Nazi Germany was a pivotal battle in the Second World War. This stems primarily from the extensive use of the Field Artillery throughout the battle. Many of the tactics and equipment used during the largest amphibious assault in history, are directly related to the current American artillery arsenal and how the United States uses that weaponry on the battlefield today.

Natalie Zemon-Davis’s 1983 book The Return of Martin Guerre provided both the public and academic world with a fresh and interesting take on a classic story. Presented like a mystery thriller, Davis weaves a tale of deception based on a solid framework of cultural history. Her narrative depends on grounding the characters of Bertrande de Rols, Martin Guerre, Arnaud du Tihl, and their associates within a web of social context. Davis draws heavily on the traditional Coras narrative, but also supplements the established story with the version presented in Le Sueur, a new source she discovered. Additionally, she incorporates unusual sources dealing with broader social context and infers specifics from a general study of period interactions. It is this latter approach that historian Robert Finlay disagrees with. He claims that Davis does not appropriately rely on the source material provided by the Coras narrative and thus gives an unnecessarily dramatic version of events. The AHR forum on the subject includes both Finlay’s review and Davis’s response, providing a model of scholarly debate that extends beyond the actual content of the book in question. In addition to being a rhetorical critique, Finlay is attacking the foundational methodology of modern social history that Davis is then compelled to defend.

Throughout the book “Au Revoir Les Enfants” Louis Malle highlights at several points the typical associations which the majority of people have when discussing the role of the Germans during the war. However Malle approaches the topic from a more complex angle thus forcing the reader to question the general stereotypes and examine the varying attitudes of both the French and Germans, by portraying them in certain situations in which they adopt a sometimes unexpected attitude.

After the fall of Napoleon III’s empire and the Franco- Prussian war, one event emerged from France, the Paris Commune. The Paris Commune was one of the four major events that shaped modern France today. As France lost the war, Napoleon’s nephew, Louis Napoleon III, stupidly provoked with Prussia and lost in 1870. When France lost, Paris became overrun by German troops, as the German troops moved in the French working class retaliated. Louis Napoleon wanted France to flourish like it has in the past and hence declared war on Prussia. The Franco- Prussian war caused French to be besieged in 1870. But the Paris Commune was started because the Government of National Defense betrayed the besieged city by handing them over to the Prussians.

When France surrendered to Germany on 22 Jun 1940, those who resented Germany occupation and the Vichy government formed cells that collectively were named the French Resistance. Some groups were violent in nature, aiming to hurt or kill the German occupiers; these were called maquis. Other groups used non-violent means, publishing underground newspapers and broadcasted anti-German and anti-Vichy radio programs. Many of these groups were born after the 18 Jun 1940 address by Charles de Gaulle who encouraged the French people to continue the fight against the German forces even if the nation surrendered. To take advantage of these groups, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) began infiltrating into France beginning in May 1941 to aid

The global struggle between the French and the British empires influenced certain key events of American history. It all started on the 100 years’ War, this actually last one hundred and sixteen years since 1337 to 1453. The majority of this was due the determined goal to possess control of colonial territory. This war was between France and England, during this time the monarchy of France was not yet centralized, nor possessed a strong economy or organized army. England was less populated, but had a better organized economy their army was equipped with superior weaponry. The main reason of the war was the possession of the French territories. It was the last feudal war and most perfect example of this type of wars. At the beginning England took possession of French soil, but at the end of the war France was able to recover the territories occupied by the French, thanks to the intervention of Joan of Arc territories. In this paper I will explain important information regarding Britain and France influence on America such as, French and Indian War, Declaration of Independence, American Revolution, Quasi War, Louisiana Purchase, including important issues, ideas and events.

The French Resistance (La Résistance française) was a collaboration of individual movements against the German occupation of France and the Vichy regime that complied with the Nazis during World War II. Starting in 1940 and ending with the liberation of France, French people from all ends of the economic and political spectrum united in different Résistance groups to perform guerilla attacks, run underground newspapers, provide intelligence to and from the allies, and manage escape networks to allied territory for political enemies and others persecuted by the Nazis (Aubrac, 3).

On August 25, 1944, Paris the Allies entered into Paris after a long Nazi occupation. The resistance forces played a vital role in going against the Nazis who were occupying France and preparing the way for taking it back. The Free French leader Charles de Gaulle came back to France after his exile to London. He had great pride in his people and had high hopes for the future of France. Celebrations took place that evening although some German soldiers and French fascists set off sniper fire. However, all hostilities had not officially ended.

The Vel d’Hiv Roundup occurred during the German Occupation of France from July 16th, 1942 and July 17th, 1942. Nine thousand Parisian police officers working under the Vichy regime gathered Jewish men, women, and children and locked them into the Vélodrome d’Hiver, otherwise known as the Winter Stadium, before sending them to transit camps and, ultimately, Auschwitz for extermination. Of the Jewish community from Paris that were arrested a third were children. On July 16th, 1995, the President of France, Jacques Chirac acknowledged the involvement of the French police in the Vel d’Hiv Roundup and extermination of both French and Foreign born Jewish people in France. This resulted in new studies of the German occupation of France; however,

Christophe suffers tunnel vision, seeing only freedom and prosperity at the end of his path, however his people are losing faith. A doubtful upper-class lady expresses her discontent stating the burdens of the State bear “a terrifying resemblance to something we all knew very well in the past” (P.53) and although her suspicions are countered, it becomes clear that freedom and slavery are being molded into synonymous concepts. Christophe’s priorities appear to transition from freedom and empowerment of the Haitians to the establishment of a well-functioning, European state. Christophe wills to build the Citadel as a representation of “the freedom, of a whole people. Built by the whole people, men and women, young and old, and for the whole people”(P.44) yet ironically, the making of this freedom requires the relinquishment of freedom. Men, women and children of all ages are captured and enslaved, forced to work in brutal weather conditions and whipped unless they continue to drag their worn, broken bodies up the 64-step Citadel staircase. The abuse of power continues when Christophe deems it necessary for the overworked citizens to continue their toil in building “a palace for a congress of all sovereigns of the world who deign to take a little trip to Haiti” (P.73). Though his people are being worked to the bone, Christophe views the beauty and appeal of his state as the dominating priority.