Choices in Vichy France: The French Under Nazi Occupation - Softcover

Sweets, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195090527 ISBN 13: 9780195090529

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Post-World War II scholarship and films like The Sorrow and the Pity have frequently replaced the old Gaullist notion of widespread resistance, and cultivated the impression that the French may well have been a "nation of collaborators," embracing the dream of a new authoritarian order in France as embodied by the puppet Vichy regime of Marshall Petain, and hindering the network of the French Underground.
From evidence gathered in France, Germany, and England, John F. Sweets has produced an insightful reappraisal of French life during the war at Clermont-Ferrand, the largest town near the occupational capital of Vichy, and the very setting of The Sorrow and the Pity. Having thoroughly examined town archives, records, and manuscripts, the author reconstructs occupational commerce, education, media, and attitudes, maintaining that, contrary to popular opinion, the vast majority of French were far from collaborationist. Choices in Vichy France details the effects upon society of war, oppression, internment, rationing, aryanization, and propaganda, painting a portrait of the wartime French that lies somewhere between the extremes of outright resistance and enthusiastic collaborationism. With illustrative examples of what day-to-day life was like in the region for the German, the Jew, the Communist, and the fascist, as well as the French masses, this provocative book opens a remarkably clear window onto an era of history often fraught with misunderstanding and suspicion.

About this title

About the Author:

John Sweets is at University of Kansas.

From Library Journal:

Sweets examines closely the reactions of citizens in a single French city (Clermont-Ferrand) to the Vichy regime and the German occupiers. He presents strong evidence that collaboration was restricted, that passive resistance was widespread, and that active resistance far exceeded the numbers of those formally involved in the resistance movement. His findings challenge arguments by Robert Paxton and others and the impressions presented in Maurice Ophuls's The Sorrow and the Pity that collaboration and active support for Vichy were common. His findings are based on thorough examination of police and prefect reports, newspapers, German army intelligence reports, etc. This well-documented and provocative book is likely to become a key piece in the ongoing debate over popular attitudes during the Vichy era. Frank L. Wilson, Political Science Dept., Purdue Univ., W. Lafayettte, Ind.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0195090527
• ISBN 13: 9780195090529
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320