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ISBN-10: 1406774669
ISBN-13: 9781406774665
Edition: N/A
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VICHY Two Years of Deception BY LEON MARCHAL NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 943 Foreword I owe a brief personal explanation to my readers. In June, 1940, I was stationed in Morocco. Like the over whelming majority of Frenchmen in North Africa, I was op posed to the armistice and to the breaking of our alliances. As they did, I refused to concede that a capitulation manifestly contrary to the will of the French people could put an end to the state of war between France and Germany. With this in mind, four months later, I personally opened the first negotia tions for the supplying of North Africa. By maintaining eco nomic relations with the free world I, among others, hoped that a barrier… could be erected against German penetration in the French Empire, thus preparing the way for the French overseas territories to break with Vichy and reenter the war. From April, 194.1, to April, 1942, in my new functions as Counsellor to the French Embassy in Washington, I pursued the same policy for as long as it could reasonably counteract the development of Franco-German collaboration and main tain the spirit of resistance in North Africa. During that time I dealt only with matters pertaining to North Africa, and was not connected with any other activity of the Vichy representa tion. After Pierre Lavals return to power, I openly joined Gen eral de Gaulle. It was then in answer to a suggestion made by The Macmil lan Company of New York that I decided to write on the Vichy regime and the fatal evolution which led it, from con cession to concession, to the last stage of enslavement. In carrying out this task, I have endeavored to attain the v VI FOREWORD same accuracy aifd Objectivity as in my professional work for the Fj jjch Foreign Service. Itaveinade use of all the available and significant sources of information except, however, official documents with which could not have become acquainted in any way but for my diplomatic position. I can assure my readers, nevertheless, that the documents I refrained from using do not contain, to my knowledge, any elements which might be invoked to attenuate the responsibility of the men of Vichy. I am indebted to numerous friends for first-hand accounts and reports which, I regret to say, I have often been unable to credit specifically. Some of my informants or members of their families are still in France, and I have no right to expose them to reprisals. Reports of United States correspondents in Europe have often been of great aid and I wish to express my admiration for the care and the precision with which, despite extreme difficul ties, they inform the public of the United States on what is taking place in France. During my stay in London last July, I was able to gather first hand information on conditions in the Occupied Zone and the internal resistance of the French people. I have used all this documentation, coming from the most varied sources, with complete independence of judgment and expression. This book has undergone no censorship and bears no imprimatur. Fighting France knows the price of freedom of thought. It is what we are fighting for. The original text was written in French. The English translation is the work of MM. Jean Davidson and Don Schwind. I wish to state here that they have been, for me, more than translators I have found in them real collaborators and friends. If this book succeeds in giving an exact picture of what has taken place in France for the past two years, it will be through their efforts as well as the writers. Contents Foreword v I JUNE 25, 1940 i ii PETAIN 12 III LAVAL 26 IV THE VICTORS 43 V THE VANQUISHED 54 VI THE FIRST MONTHS OF VICHY 67 VII MONTOIRE 85 VIII THE FALL OF LAVAL 103 IX DARLAN 117 X WEYGAND 135 XI VICHY AND WASHINGTON 157 XII THE SECOND WINTER 171 XIII THE RETURN OF LAVAL 193 XIV FIGHTING FRANCE 214 CONCLUSION 341 INDEX VICHY Two Years of Deception June 25, 1940 To die is not what matters, but to win the war...