Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944
by Robert O. Paxton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert O. PaxtonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-15
ISBN: 0231124694
Number of pages: 438
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Book Reviews of Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944
Book Review: First Rate
Summary: 5 Stars
This pioneering book is usually given credit for sparking the boom in scholarly work on Vichy France, though as Paxton points out, the distinguished German historian Eberhard Jackel and some French scholars were publishing similar work at about the same time. Vichy France is also given credit for igniting public discussion of Vichy in France itself. Published initially in the early 1970s, its basic conclusions remain unchallenged. This is a history of the Vichy governments and their policies. Readers looking for a broader look at France during this period should pick up Julian Jackson's book, France:The Dark Years, which provides a more panoramic view.
Paxton examines 4 key prior conclusions about Vichy; that Vichy was imposed by the Germans, that Vichy governments worked to deflect the worst features of German rule, that the Vichy governments were played a "double game" with the Germans, secretly trying to help the Allies; and that the French public did not support Vichy and was waiting only for plausible alternative to resist the Germans. Paxton subjects all these conclusions to destructive criticism. Vichy was widely accepted as legitimate and was initially popular, a result not only of the crushing defeat but also of widespread disenchantment with the institutions and policies of the Third Republic. The successive Vichy governments proceeded to pursue, independent of German direction, their own "National Revolution." A reactionary set of anti-liberal and anti-leftist policies based on a highly conservative version of Catholic authoritarianism, the National Revolution was in large part an act of revenge by frustrated conservatives against what they perceived as particular enemies - Jews, Freemasons, and leftists of all stripes. Paxton makes clear that underpinning the National Revolution was a pervasive and somewhat hysterical fear of disorder and revolution, particularly among the French upper and middle classes. The leaders of Vichy clearly also made the calculation that Germany had won the war and that renewed space for France could only exist in a France as a junior partner in a German dominated European, one in which France retained some independence and its Empire. Paxton details the increasingly desperate attempts of Vichy governments to persuade the Germans of the value of a Vichy led France, removing the Occupation and awarding the French a peace treaty. At points, Vichy pursued hostile neutrality towards the British and might well have declared was on Britain, had they been offered a good deal by the Germans. Paxton does a particularly good job of explaining how important the French colonies were to the Vichy elite and for the Gaullists as well. In fact, Vichy gave Hitler almost everything he wanted; an emasculated French military, an inexpensive occupation, an essentially colonial status for the French economy, the satisfaction of humiliating the French, and the liberty to implement their genocidal policies.
While the Vichy state fell into a period of historical amnesia for about a generation, Paxton has an interesting analysis of some lasting effects of Vichy. One interesting feature of Vichy was the relative importance of civil servants and technocrats in ministerial positions. The Vichy emphasis on technocratic solutions and the exigencies of the war time economy set the stage for the dirigiste economy planning of the post-war period.
Unusually well written, the book has a particularly nice combination of narrative interspersed with thoughtful analysis.
Summary of 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.
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