Last week, we discussed the topic of France before and after the war. The state of Vichy was created during the war to give France some sense of independence from the Nazis. While it may have succeeded superficially, Paxton argues that in actuality, Vichy was the same or worse than any other occupied nation. I agree with him - I think that Vichy was more of a negative than a positive for France and its citizens.
When looking at Vichy compared to other European nations during the years of WWII, it is hard to find many positives. Inflation here was some of the worst in all of Europe - Germany effectively ruined its economy, and took away resources and labor. While there may have been lower rates of forced laborers, it was only because there were closer places to look for this. There was more hunger here than most of Europe, another fact that shows Vichy's ineffectiveness. Vichy's Jews were treated as badly as any other nation's, and the government facilitated the transfer into Nazi hands. The fact that a nation such as Denmark was able to get most of its Jews out shows how little effort was put into their protection in France.
So, as a whole, did Vichy "save France?' I think that answer to this is definitely no. The people of Vichy experienced the same problems as the rest of occupied Europe. Germany never intended to exterminate all of France - another reason it is unfair to say that Vichy "saved" France. There was nothing to save. The parts of France that went under Nazi control were able to return to relative normalcy after the war, and it wasn't because of Vichy's existence. Vichy pretended to strive to protect the "traditionalist" aspects of French culture, but in reality, they promoted the opposite. It kept the elites in control of society, something that had to be changed by de Gaulle in order for France to be successful again in the 1960s. Basically, it did not really protect anything. Vichy helped the Nazis get what they wanted. The only things that Vichy kept alive were the things that France had to change in order to remain relevant years after the war was over.
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I have to say I find myself in agreement with both you and Paxton. Certainly it must have been difficult to live and govern in Vichy France given the swift fall of Paris and the realization that, once again, the Germans had come to slap the French around. However, the example of Denmark seems to serve as the identifier. Many things were, to some extent, out of the hand of those that took power in Vichy. However, their clear unwillingness to make a substantial effort to help French Jews flee or survive is the most damning charge of all.
ReplyDeleteVichy poses tough questions for the French. Despite its claims to 'protect' France, Paxton's evidence seems to demonstrate that it failed to do so and in fact actually collaborated in many ways. While historians can never be sure how the Germans might have responded to reacted to continued and prolonged French resistance (rather than the policy of collaboration), Vichy seemed unwilling to offer even minimal resistance to Nazi plans, however evil.
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