After the previous entry about the Parisian Immortal Regiment, a discussion arose: do they celebrate the Victory here, what was the occupation and liberation for the Parisians? I do not want to give unambiguous answers, as well as draw any conclusions. But I propose to listen to eyewitnesses and see through their eyes.
German soldiers look at Paris from the Eiffel Tower, 1940
Robert Capa. Parisians at the victory parade, 1944
Here are some dry numbers.
- France was defeated by the Germans in a month and a half. She fought in World War I for 4 years.
- During the war, 600 thousand Frenchmen died. In World War I, there were one and a half million dead.
- 40 thousand people participated in the resistance movement (of which about half were French)
- The troops of De Gaulle's "Free France" in 1943 numbered up to 80 thousand people (of which about 40 thousand French), by the time they landed in Normandy, they had reached 400 thousand.
- Up to 300,000 Frenchmen served in the German Wehrmacht (23,000 of them were captured by us).
- 600 thousand French were deported to Germany for forced labor. Of these, 60,000 died, 50,000 went missing, and 15,000 were executed.
And any big whole is better perceived through the prism of small events. I will give two stories of my good friends who were children in occupied Paris.
Alexander Andreevsky, son of a white emigrant.
Alexander's mother was Jewish. With the arrival of the Germans, the French began to extradite the Jews or point out to the Germans people who were suspected of being Jews. “Mother saw how the neighbors began to look askance at her, she was afraid that they would inform her soon. She went to the old rabbi and asked what she should do. He gave unusual advice: go to Germany, work there for several months and return with documents that the Germans will issue "But so that when entering Germany, my mother's passport would not be checked, the rabbi told her to knock over a jar of honey in her bag. She did so, and the German officer at the border disdained to pick up documents soiled and stuck together with honey. For four months I lived with friends, and then the mother returned from Germany and no one else had any suspicions towards her."
Francoise d'Origny, hereditary aristocrat.
“During the occupation, we lived in the suburbs, but my mother sometimes took me to the city with her. In Paris, she always walked hunched over, quietly, like a mouse, looking at the ground and not raising her eyes to anyone. And she also made me walk. But one day I saw a young German officer looking at me and smiled back at him - I was 10 or 11 then. My mother instantly gave me such a slap in the face that I almost fell. I never looked at the Germans again. And another time we we were riding in the metro and there were a lot of German officers and soldiers around. Suddenly, a tall man called out to my mother, she was very happy, she straightened up and seemed to look younger. The car was crowded, but around us it was as if an empty space arose, such a breath of strength and independence. I then she asked who this man was. Mother answered - Prince Yusupov. "
See some photos of life during the occupation and liberation of Paris. Choosing them, I tried to cover different aspects of the events of that time.
1. German victory parade at the Arc de Triomphe in June 1940 
2. Installation of German signs on Concord Square. 
3. Palace of Chaillot. The oath of civil servants and the police of the new government 
4. Champs Elysees, "new life", 1940 
5. German propaganda truck in Montmartre. Broadcast music to commemorate the 30 days of the capture of Paris. July 1940 
6. German soldier with a Frenchwoman on the Trocadero 
7. In the Paris subway 
8. Saleswoman of German newspapers 
9. Andre Zucca. Hot day, Seine embankment, 1943 
10. André Zucca. Parisian fashionistas. 1942 
11. Tuileries Garden, 1943 
12. Return to horse traction. There was almost no fuel in the city 
13. Wedding in Montmartre 
14. Pierre Jean. Remelting of monuments into metal. 1941 
15. Sending workers to Germany. 
16. Deportation of Jews, 1941 
17. "Departure from Bobigny". From this station, trains went straight to the death camps. 
18. At the walls of the Louvre. Products were distributed according to cards, so many planted vegetable gardens. 
19. The queue at the bakery on the Champs Elysees 
20. Giving away free soup 
21. Entrance to the Paris metro - air raid alert 
22. Legionnaires of the Anti-Bolshevik Corps 
23. Volunteer French Legion goes to the Eastern Front 
24. Parisians spit on captured British paratroopers, whom the Germans are leading through the city. 
25. Torture of a member of the Resistance in the German police 
26. Captured members of the resistance movement are led to execution 
27. Robert Capa. German paratrooper caught by resistance partisans 
28. At the barricade in Paris in August 1944 
29. Paris, August 1944. In the center is Simon Seguan, an 18-year-old partisan from Dunkirk. 
30. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters during the liberation of Paris 
31. Skirmish with German snipers 
32. Pierre Jamet. Procession of the Leclerc Division, Avenue du Maine. Liberation of Paris, August 1944 
33. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters and French soldiers celebrate the liberation of Paris, August 1944 
34. Parisian with allies 
35. Robert Capa. Mother and daughter, who were shaved for cooperation with the invaders. 
36. Robert Capa. Paris welcomes General De Gaulle, August 1944 
On the eve of World War II, the French army was considered one of the most powerful in the world. But in a direct clash with Germany in May 1940, the French were enough for a few weeks of resistance.
By the beginning of World War II, France had the 3rd largest army in the world in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft, second only to the USSR and Germany, as well as the 4th navy after Britain, the USA and Japan. The total number of French troops numbered more than 2 million people.
The superiority of the French army in manpower and equipment over the forces of the Wehrmacht on the Western Front was undeniable. For example, the French Air Force included about 3,300 aircraft, of which half were the latest combat vehicles. The Luftwaffe could only count on 1,186 aircraft.
With the arrival of reinforcements from the British Isles - an expeditionary force in the amount of 9 divisions, as well as air units, including 1,500 combat vehicles - the advantage over the German troops became more than obvious. However, in a matter of months, there was no trace of the former superiority of the allied forces - the well-trained and tactically superior army of the Wehrmacht forced France to capitulate in the end.
The French command assumed that the German army would act as it had during the First World War - that is, it would launch an attack on France from the northeast from Belgium. The entire load in this case was to fall on the defensive redoubts of the Maginot Line, which France began to build in 1929 and improved until 1940.
For the construction of the Maginot Line, which stretches for 400 km, the French spent a fabulous amount - about 3 billion francs (or 1 billion dollars). Massive fortifications included multi-level underground forts with living quarters, ventilation systems and elevators, electrical and telephone stations, hospitals and narrow gauge railways. Gun casemates from air bombs were supposed to be protected by a concrete wall 4 meters thick.
The personnel of the French troops on the Maginot Line reached 300 thousand people.
According to military historians, the Maginot Line, in principle, coped with its task. There were no breakthroughs of German troops on its most fortified sections. But the German army group "B", having bypassed the line of fortifications from the north, threw the main forces into its new sections, which were built on swampy terrain, and where the construction of underground structures was difficult. There, the French could not hold back the onslaught of the German troops.
On June 17, 1940, the first meeting of the collaborationist government of France, headed by Marshal Henri Petain, took place. It lasted only 10 minutes. During this time, the ministers unanimously voted for the decision to turn to the German command and ask him to end the war on French territory.
For these purposes, the services of an intermediary were used. The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. Baudouin, through the Spanish Ambassador Lekeric, transmitted a note in which the French government asked Spain to turn to the German leadership with a request to stop hostilities in France, and also to find out the terms of the armistice. At the same time, a proposal for a truce was sent to Italy through the papal nuncio. On the same day, Petain turned on the radio to the people and the army, urging them to "stop the fight."
When signing the armistice agreement (act of surrender) between Germany and France, Hitler was wary of the vast colonies of the latter, many of which were ready to continue resistance. This explains some of the relaxations in the treaty, in particular, the preservation of part of the French navy to maintain "order" in their colonies.
England was also vitally interested in the fate of the French colonies, since the threat of their capture by German forces was highly valued. Churchill hatched plans for a French government in exile that would grant de facto control of Britain's French overseas possessions.
General Charles de Gaulle, who created a government in opposition to the Vichy regime, directed all his efforts to seizing the colonies.
However, the North African administration turned down an offer to join the Free French. A completely different mood reigned in the colonies of Equatorial Africa - already in August 1940, Chad, Gabon and Cameroon joined de Gaulle, which created the conditions for the general to form the state apparatus.
Realizing that the defeat of France from Germany was inevitable, Mussolini on June 10, 1940 declared war on her. The Italian Army Group "West" of Prince Umberto of Savoy, with forces of over 300 thousand people, with the support of 3 thousand guns, launched an offensive in the Alps. However, the opposing army of General Aldry successfully repelled these attacks.
By June 20, the offensive of the Italian divisions became more fierce, but they managed to advance only slightly in the Menton area. Mussolini was furious - his plans to seize a large piece of its territory by the time of France's surrender had failed. The Italian dictator has already begun to prepare an airborne assault, but has not received approval for this operation from the German command.
On June 22, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, and two days later a similar agreement was signed between France and Italy. So, with a "victorious embarrassment" Italy entered the Second World War.
During the active phase of the war, which lasted from May 10 to June 21, 1940, the French army lost about 300 thousand people killed and wounded. Half a million were taken prisoner. The tank corps and the French Air Force were partially destroyed, the other part went to the German armed forces. At the same time, Britain will liquidate the French fleet in order to avoid it falling into the hands of the Wehrmacht.
Despite the fact that the capture of France took place in a short time, its armed forces gave a worthy rebuff to the German and Italian troops. For a month and a half of the war, the Wehrmacht lost more than 45 thousand people killed and missing, about 11 thousand were wounded.
The French sacrifices of German aggression could not have been in vain if the French government had made a number of concessions put forward by Britain in exchange for the entry of the royal armed forces into the war. But France chose to capitulate.
Paris - a place of convergence 
According to the armistice agreement, Germany occupied only the western coast of France and the northern regions of the country, where Paris was located. The capital was a kind of place of "French-German" rapprochement. Here, German soldiers and Parisians coexisted peacefully: they went to the cinema together, visited museums, or simply sat in a cafe. After the occupation, theaters also revived - their box office receipts tripled compared to pre-war years.
Paris very quickly became the cultural center of occupied Europe. France lived as before, as if there were no months of desperate resistance and unfulfilled hopes. German propaganda managed to convince many French people that capitulation is not a disgrace to the country, but a road to the “bright future” of a renewed Europe.
The 20th century in world history was marked by important discoveries in the field of technology and art, but at the same time it was the time of two World Wars that claimed the lives of several tens of millions of people in most countries of the world. The decisive role in the Victory was played by such states as the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and France. During World War II, they defeated world fascism. France was forced to capitulate, but then revived and continued to fight against Germany and its allies.
In the last pre-war years, France experienced serious economic difficulties. At that time, the People's Front was at the helm of the state. However, after Blum's resignation, the new government was headed by Shotan. His policy began to deviate from the program of the Popular Front. Taxes were raised, the 40-hour work week was abolished, and industrialists had the opportunity to increase the duration of the latter. A strike movement immediately swept across the country, however, to pacify the dissatisfied, the government sent police detachments. France before the Second World War pursued an anti-social policy and every day had less and less support among the people.
By this time, the military-political bloc "Berlin-Rome Axis" had been formed. In 1938, Germany invaded Austria. Two days later, her Anschluss took place. This event dramatically changed the state of affairs in Europe. A threat loomed over the Old World, and first of all it concerned Great Britain and France. The population of France demanded that the government take decisive action against Germany, especially since the USSR also expressed such ideas, offering to join forces and stifle the growing fascism in the bud. However, the government still continued to follow the so-called. "appeasement", believing that if Germany was given everything she asked for, war could be avoided.
The authority of the Popular Front was fading before our eyes. Unable to cope with economic problems, Shotan resigned. After that, the second Blum government was installed, which lasted less than a month until its next resignation.
France during the Second World War could have appeared in a different, more attractive light, if not for some actions of the new chairman of the Council of Ministers, Edouard Daladier.
The new government was formed exclusively from the composition of the democratic and right-wing forces, without the communists and socialists, however, Daladier needed the support of the latter two in the elections. Therefore, he designated his activities as a sequence of actions of the Popular Front, as a result he received the support of both the communists and the socialists. However, immediately after coming to power, everything changed dramatically.
The first steps were aimed at "improving the economy." Taxes were raised and another devaluation was carried out, which eventually gave its negative results. But this is not the most important thing in the activities of Daladier of that period. Foreign policy in Europe was at that time at the limit - one spark, and the war would have begun. France in World War II did not want to take the side of the defeatists. Inside the country there were several opinions: some wanted a close alliance with Britain and the United States; others did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with the USSR; still others strongly opposed the Popular Front, proclaiming the slogan "Better Hitler than the Popular Front." Separate from those listed were the pro-German circles of the bourgeoisie, who believed that even if they managed to defeat Germany, the revolution that would come with the USSR to Western Europe would not spare anyone. They offered to pacify Germany in every possible way, giving her freedom of action in an easterly direction.
After the easy accession of Austria, Germany is increasing its appetites. Now she swung at the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Hitler made the mostly German-populated area fight for autonomy and virtual separation from Czechoslovakia. When the country's government gave a categorical rebuff to the fascist tricks, Hitler began to act as a savior of the "infringed" Germans. He threatened the government of Beneš that he could bring in his troops and take the region by force. In turn, France and Great Britain supported Czechoslovakia in words, while the USSR offered real military assistance if Beneš applied to the League of Nations and officially appealed to the USSR for help. Beneš, however, could not take a step without the instructions of the French and British, who did not want to quarrel with Hitler. The international diplomatic events that followed after that could greatly reduce France's losses in World War II, which was already inevitable, but history and politicians decreed differently, strengthening the main fascist many times over with military factories in Czechoslovakia.
On September 28, a conference of France, England, Italy and Germany was held in Munich. Here the fate of Czechoslovakia was decided, and neither Czechoslovakia nor the Soviet Union, which expressed a desire to help, were invited. As a result, the next day, Mussolini, Hitler, Chamberlain and Daladier signed the protocols of the Munich Agreements, according to which the Sudetenland was now the territory of Germany, and the areas dominated by Hungarians and Poles were also to be separated from Czechoslovakia and become the lands of the titular countries.
Daladier and Chamberlain guaranteed the inviolability of the new frontiers and peace in Europe for "an entire generation" of returning national heroes.
In principle, this was, so to speak, the first capitulation of France in World War II to the main aggressor in the history of mankind.
According to the strategy of the attack on Poland, Germany crossed the border in the early morning of the year. World War II has begun! with the support of its aviation and having a numerical superiority, it immediately took the initiative into its own hands and quickly captured Polish territory.
France in World War II, as well as England, declared war on Germany only after two days of active hostilities - on September 3, still dreaming of appeasing or "pacifying" Hitler. In principle, historians have reason to believe that if there had not been an agreement, according to which the main patron of Poland after the First World War was France, which, in the event of open aggression against the Poles, was obliged to send its troops and provide military support, most likely, there would be no declaration of war did not follow either two days later or later.
France's involvement in World War II can be divided into several phases. The first is called "The Strange War". It lasted about 9 months - from September 1939 to May 1940. It is named so because in the conditions of the war by France and England against Germany, no military operations were carried out. That is, the war was declared, but no one fought. The agreement under which France was obliged to organize an offensive against Germany within 15 days was not fulfilled. the machine calmly "dealt" with Poland, without looking back at its western borders, where only 23 divisions were concentrated against 110 French and English divisions, which could dramatically change the course of events at the beginning of the war and put Germany in a difficult position, if not lead to its defeat at all. Meanwhile, in the east, beyond Poland, Germany had no rival, it had an ally - the USSR. Stalin, without waiting for an alliance with England and France, concluded it with Germany, securing his lands for some time from the onset of the Nazis, which is quite logical. But England and France in the Second World War, and specifically at its beginning, behaved rather strangely.
The Soviet Union at that time occupied the eastern part of Poland and the Baltic states, presented an ultimatum to Finland on the exchange of territories of the Karelian Peninsula. The Finns opposed this, after which the USSR unleashed a war. France and England reacted sharply to this, and preparing for war with him.
A completely strange situation has developed: in the center of Europe, at the very border of France, there is a world aggressor that threatens all of Europe and, first of all, France itself, and she declares war on the USSR, which simply wants to secure its borders, and offers an exchange of territories, and not perfidious capture. This state of affairs continued until the Benelux countries and France suffered from Germany. The period of the Second World War, marked by oddities, ended there, and the real war began.
Immediately after the outbreak of war in France, a state of siege was introduced. All strikes and demonstrations were banned, and the media were subject to strict wartime censorship. With regard to labor relations, wages were frozen at pre-war levels, strikes were banned, vacations were not granted, and the law on the 40-hour work week was repealed.
During the Second World War, France pursued a rather tough policy within the country, especially with regard to the PCF (French Communist Party). The communists were declared practically outlaws. Their mass arrests began. The deputies were deprived of immunity and were put on trial. But the apogee of the "fight against aggressors" was the document dated November 18, 1939 - "Decree on Suspicious". According to this document, the government could imprison almost any person in a concentration camp, considering him suspicious and dangerous to the state and society. In less than two months of this decree, more than 15,000 communists found themselves in concentration camps. And in April of the following year, another decree was adopted, which equated communist activity with treason, and citizens convicted of this were punished by death.
After the defeat of Poland and Scandinavia, Germany began the transfer of the main forces to the Western Front. By May 1940, there was no longer the advantage that countries such as England and France had. World War II was destined to move to the lands of "peacekeepers" who wanted to appease Hitler by giving him everything he asked for.
On May 10, 1940, Germany launched an invasion of the West. In less than a month, the Wehrmacht managed to break Belgium, Holland, defeat the British Expeditionary Force, as well as the most combat-ready French forces. All Northern France and Flanders were occupied. The morale of the French soldiers was low, while the Germans believed even more in their invincibility. The matter remained small. In ruling circles, as well as in the army, fermentation began. On June 14, Paris was surrendered to the Nazis, and the government fled to the city of Bordeaux.
Mussolini also did not want to miss the division of trophies. And on June 10, believing that France no longer poses a threat, he invaded the territory of the state. However, the Italian troops, almost twice as numerous, were not successful in the fight against the French. France in World War II managed to show what she is capable of. And even on June 21, on the eve of the signing of the surrender, 32 Italian divisions were stopped by the French. It was a complete failure of the Italians.
After England, fearing that the French fleet would fall into the hands of the Germans, scuttled most of it, France severed all diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. On June 17, 1940, her government rejected the British offer of an inviolable alliance and the need to continue the struggle to the last.
On June 22, in the forest of Compiègne, in the carriage of Marshal Foch, an armistice was signed between France and Germany. France, it promised serious consequences, primarily economic. Two-thirds of the country became German territory, while the southern part was declared independent, but obliged to pay 400 million francs a day! Most of the raw materials and finished products went to support the German economy, and primarily the army. More than 1 million French citizens were sent as labor force to Germany. The country's economy and economy suffered huge losses, which would subsequently have an impact on the industrial and agricultural development of France after the Second World War.
After the capture of northern France in the resort town of Vichy, it was decided to transfer the authoritarian supreme power in southern "independent" France to Philippe Pétain. This marked the end of the Third Republic and the establishment of the Vichy government (from location). France in the Second World War showed itself not from the best side, especially during the years of the Vichy regime.
At first, the regime found support among the population. However, it was a fascist government. Communist ideas were banned, Jews, just like in all the territories occupied by the Nazis, were driven to death camps. For one killed German soldier, death overtook 50-100 ordinary citizens. The Vichy government itself did not have a regular army. There were few armed forces necessary to maintain order and obedience, while the soldiers did not have any serious military weapons.
The regime existed for quite a long time - from July 1940 to the end of April 1945.
On June 6, 1944, one of the largest military-strategic operations started - the opening of the Second Front, which began with the landing of the Anglo-American allied forces in Normandy. Fierce battles began on the territory of France for its liberation, together with the allies, the French themselves carried out actions to liberate the country as part of the Resistance movement.
France in World War II dishonored itself in two ways: firstly, by being defeated, and secondly, by collaborating with the Nazis for almost 4 years. Although General de Gaulle tried with all his might to create a myth that the entire French people as a whole fought for the country's independence, not helping Germany in anything, but only weakening it with various sorties and sabotage. "Paris has been liberated by French hands," de Gaulle asserted confidently and solemnly.
The surrender of the occupying troops took place in Paris on August 25, 1944. The Vichy government then existed in exile until the end of April 1945.
After that, something unimaginable began in the country. Face to face met those who were declared bandits under the Nazis, that is, partisans, and those who lived happily under the Nazis. Often there was a public lynching of the henchmen of Hitler and Pétain. The Anglo-American allies, who saw this with their own eyes, did not understand what was happening, and urged the French partisans to come to their senses, but they were simply furious, believing that their time had come. A large number of French women, declared fascist whores, were publicly disgraced. They were dragged out of their houses, dragged to the square, where they were shaved and led along the main streets so that everyone could see, often while all their clothes were torn off. The first years of France after the Second World War, in short, experienced remnants of that recent, but such a sad past, when social tension and at the same time the revival of the national spirit intertwined, creating an uncertain situation.
The role of France in World War II was not decisive for its entire course, but there was still a certain contribution, at the same time there were negative consequences for it.
The French economy was practically destroyed. Industry, for example, produced only 38% of the output of the pre-war level. About 100 thousand French did not return from the battlefields, about two million were held captive until the end of the war. Military equipment was mostly destroyed, the fleet was sunk.
The policy of France after the Second World War is associated with the name of the military and political figure Charles de Gaulle. The first post-war years were aimed at restoring the economy and social welfare of French citizens. The losses of France in World War II could have been much lower, or perhaps they would not have happened at all if, on the eve of the war, the governments of England and France had not tried to “appease” Hitler, but would have immediately dealt with the not yet strong German army with one hard blow. a fascist monster that almost swallowed the whole world.
What does France have to do with the victory over fascism?
Freedom-loving, democratic and left-leaning France (which is the historical image that many of us are used to) was nothing more than a myth. Historian Zeev Sternhel in his works he repeatedly raised the question of the “French roots of fascism”.
Of course, in the Soviet Union it was well understood that the "great" French resistance could not be compared in any way with the partisan movement in Belarus or Yugoslavia, since, according to some estimates, it was inferior in its scope even Italy and Greece. But, nevertheless, France was seen by Soviet politicians as the weakest link in the capitalist system, again Charles de Gaulle did not hesitate to demonstrate his frankly skeptical attitude towards US and NATO, and therefore some myths of French history were looked through with fingers.
Now the situation has changed dramatically. From the former French independent policy no trace left. France - regardless of which party government is in power - behaves like an obedient satellite of the United States. And this gives us, the Russians, the citizens of the country that suffered the most damage in the world from the war, finally an impartial look at the so-called French ally in the anti-Hitler coalition ...
War of haute couture
When the Second World War began in September 1939, French society met her in the highest degree strangely: did ... an abundance of new "patriotic" hats appear ?! So, the so-called "Astrakhan fez" became a bestseller. In addition, checkered fabric began to be intensively imported from England, which was used to cut women's berets. This style of headwear immediately brought to life many new hairstyles. Much was borrowed from military baggage.
So, for example, a hat designed Rosa Desca, very reminiscent of an English cap. In addition, a new accessory came into fashion almost immediately. Many wore the obligatory gas mask on their side. The fear of gas attacks was so great that for several months the Parisians did not even dare to go out without it. The gas mask could be seen everywhere: in the market, at school, in the cinema, in the theater, in a restaurant, in the subway. Some of the French women showed a lot of ingenuity in disguising gas masks. High fashion felt this trend almost immediately. So fancy bags for gas masks, made of satin, suede or leather, began to appear.
A woman with a wheelchair equipped against gas attacks. England 1938
Advertising and trade immediately joined this process. A new style has appeared - in the form of miniature gas masks they began to produce perfume bottles and even tubes of lipstick. But the cylindrical hatboxes that Lanvin made were considered special chic. They even stepped across the Atlantic. With cylindrical handbags, very reminiscent of cases for gas masks, Argentine and Brazilian fashionistas began to walk around, who were by no means threatened by the horrors of war.
The war and its first consequences (air raids and power cuts) dictated a change in the behavior of the French, especially the townspeople. Some of the eccentric Parisians began to wear khaki shirts with gilded buttons. Epaulettes began to appear on jackets. Traditional hats were replaced by stylized shakos, cocked hats and fezzes. Attributes came into fashion operetta military. Many young women, with their summer tan still on their faces, refused to style their hair. They fell on their shoulders, resembling a kind of hood that had previously been called upon to protect from the cold. Curls and curls went out of fashion almost immediately.
Against the backdrop of the official military propaganda in the press, again strange at first glance questions sounded the loudest: how would it be better to sell all collections of fashionable clothes - to the French and foreign clients? How to keep the palm, which has traditionally been reserved for Parisian haute couture? In one of the French newspapers, the following phrase flashed: “Where are those glorious old days when people flocked to Paris from all parts of the globe? When the sale of one luxurious dress allowed the government to buy ten tons of coal? When selling a liter of perfume allowed you to buy two tons of gasoline? What will happen to the 25,000 women who worked in fashion houses?”…
As you can see, at first the war for the French was just inconvenience that interfered with fashionable life. This is the only way to understand the essence of the proposal with which the famous French fashion designer Lucien Lelong addressed the authorities. He wanted guarantees state support ... French couturier! He tried to explain that in the conditions of war such support was vital, and the continuation of high-class tailoring in France would allow him to maintain a presence in foreign markets! He said:
« Luxury and comfort are national industries. They bring millions of foreign exchange reserves, which we now so badly need. What Germany earns with the help of mechanical engineering and the chemical industry, we earn with transparent fabrics, perfumes, flowers and ribbons "...
The situation changed little when the period of the “strange war” passed and real hostilities began. The inhabitants of France saw the catastrophe mainly only in the fact that fashionable shops, variety shows and restaurants were closed. Now the war was perceived not just as an inconvenience, but like a ruinous mom nt. As a result, the defeat of France in the war was met, albeit wary, but without tragic moods.
Interrupted daily life resumed almost immediately after the occupation by the Germans Northern France. Already on June 18, 1940, almost all stores opened iron shutters on their windows. Large department stores in Paris: Louvre, Galeries, Lafayette, etc. - started working again. Years later, a new literary genre will appear in France - “How I did not like boches” (in Germany, its analogue will be “How I sympathized with anti-fascists”).
However, the actual diary entries made by the French in the second half of 1940 showed a completely different picture. Many almost rejoiced that they could reopen their establishments. The owners of shops, stalls and restaurants were pleased with an unprecedented number of " new visitors". They were even more delighted that they were ready to buy everything Germans paid in cash…
A crowd of women, children and soldiers with the signature Nazi salute. France
Large groups of "tourists" in field gray uniforms and armbands with swastikas actively photographed all Parisian sights: the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower. And although the majority of the population was wary of what was happening, there were also many who openly welcomed the occupying troops. Gradually the fear went away. Young schoolgirls with braided pigtails sometimes mustered up the courage to smile at the conquerors. In Paris, gradually scattered: « How polite are they?!», « How cute are they!». The Germans became charming invaders". In the subway, without hesitation, they gave way to the elderly and women with children. Not only trade, but also public life revived, although this happened in a very specific way.
Path to the Nazi EU
“The European idea is deeply rooted in France. Since Europe has become associated primarily with Germany, then this idea works exclusively for us. At present, the exhibition "France-European", the opening of which was organized by our diplomatic services, attracts the attention of many visitors. We have connected the radio, the press and literary reviewers to continuously propagate the European ideology.”
These were the words contained in the message of the German ambassador Otto Abeza, which was sent on 23 June 1941 to the Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. It must be said that " European ideas for France were not new.
It was the French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand at the end of the 20s put forward the idea of uniting Europe. It immediately began to be actively discussed both in the left and in the right circles of the republic. There are many new magazines appearing in France: “ New order», « New Europe”,“ Plans ”,“ The struggle of the young. From the titles alone it follows that young French intellectuals, holding different political views, were looking for new ways to transform the "old Europe" with its disputed territories, mutual reproaches, economic crises and political scandals. Questions were actively discussed as to whether it was possible for the emergence of pan-European patriotism, supra-class socialism, and whether these phenomena could become the basis for the unification of all Western European peoples.
It should be noted that these discussions did not stop during the Second World War. No European country under German control wrote so much about " European idea like in France! The so-called. "Vichy government", as its youngest representatives immediately turned to the German ambassador Abetsu. They presented to the German diplomat a plan for the reorganization of France, which was supposed to not only meet the "standards" of the "axis" countries, but also integrate your economy into a common (read German) economic space. The policy statement did not at all resemble the request of the occupied country - the representatives of the "Vichy government" intended "through the defeat of France to gain the victory of Europe."
Specifically, their memorandum stated:
“We are forced to take an active position, as our country is in distress. Military defeat, growing unemployment, the specters of hunger disorientated the public. Being under the pernicious influence of old prejudices, false propaganda, which feeds on facts alien to the lives of ordinary people, instead of looking to the future, our country turns into the bygone past, content with voices heard from abroad. We offer our countrymen an extremely useful and exciting field of activity that can satisfy the vital interests of the country, revolutionary instincts and demanding national self-consciousness.
The proposed transformation of France included seven important components: the adoption of a new political constitution, the transformation of the French economy, which was supposed to integrate into the European economy, the adoption of a public works program in the field of construction, the creation national socialist movement, new landmarks in French foreign policy.
Of all this list, we should be primarily interested in the question of the "new" foreign policy. On this issue, the document stated the following:
“The French government does not want to abuse the confidence placed in it, and therefore won't let you recreate the past system of unions, focused on the preservation of the so-called. equilibrium in Europe. In addition, France should not be a weak point, but a zone through which non-European political ideas would seep. France is forever connected with the fate of the continent, it emphasizes solidarity, which in the future should unite our country with all the peoples of Europe. Based on this, we believe that France should become the defensive frontier of Europe, which is predetermined by our sea coast, and therefore can become a European bastion in the Atlantic. France will be able to cope with this task if the same harmonious distribution of responsibilities is applied in this area as in the areas of the economy. France must protect Europe primarily through the strength of her fleet and colonial troops.
For the most part " European idea” in France was clearly Anglophobic in nature. This was not surprising, given the details of the meeting between Marshal Pétain and Hitler, which took place on October 24, 1940 in the town of Montoire-sur-le-Loire. During these negotiations, Hitler told the marshal, who became the head of France:
“Someone has to pay for the lost war. It will be either France or England. If England covers the costs, France will take her rightful place in Europe and can fully maintain her position. colonial power».
Activists who rallied around the New Europe magazine actively developed this topic. In the course was the story of the deceased at the stake Joan of Arc, the treacherous flight of British troops from Dunkirk, attacks on the French fleet near Mers-el-Kebir and much more ...
... It would seem that all these historical facts could continue to be looked through the fingers, which, in fact, was done at one time by Soviet politicians. However, the first wake-up call for us came in 1994, when the Russian delegation was not invited to the celebrations dedicated to the opening of the Second Front. At the same time, the Western community openly hinted that they say France is a real victorious country, and Russia "as it were, not very much." And today these sentiments to distort history in the West are only intensifying.
So it makes sense for our historians and diplomats (before it is too late) to pose a number of questions to the world community that require an extremely clear answer:
- why for one Frenchman who went into partisans, there were several of his compatriots who voluntarily enlisted in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS?
- why did a hundred pilots from the Normandie-Niemen squadron account for many thousands of Frenchmen who were captured by the Soviets when they fought on the side of Hitler?
- why did the radical French fascist Georges Valois end his days in the Sachsenhazuen concentration camp, and the French communist Jacques Doriot volunteered for the Eastern Front to fight against the USSR?
- why the last battles in Berlin at the Reich Chancellery, the Red Army had to fight not against fanatical Germans, but against French SS?
- why did the Europeans, not distinguished by a long historical memory, begin to attribute the arbitrariness perpetrated by the French occupation authorities in Germany to units of the Red Army?
- why the Vichy administration Francois Mitterrand after the end of the war he became a respected politician, and the great French writer Louis Ferdinand Celine was subjected to "public dishonor"?
- why did the fashion designer who collaborated with the invaders Lucien Lelong was hailed as a figure of "cultural resistance" ("He saved French fashion"), and the French novelist and journalist Robert Brasillach was shot as an accomplice of the invaders?
And finally, the most important two questions:
- Can France be considered the winner of fascism, if it was her predatory policy, carried out under the guise of the Versailles Peace Treaty, on the one hand that provoked the emergence of Italian fascism and German National Socialism, and on the other hand laid the foundation for global geopolitical conflict which eventually escalated into World War II?
France during the occupation in World War II.
Poll in France: Who made the most significant contribution to the victory over Germany in World War II? 60 years of propaganda...
More detailed and a variety of information about the events taking place in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of our beautiful planet, can be obtained on Internet conferences, constantly held on the website "Keys of Knowledge". All Conferences are open and completely free. We invite all waking up and interested ...
If we recall which of the states in its history has not been occupied by another state, then there are few such pleasant exceptions. Maybe those that arose quite recently somewhere on the islands. And others will always find sad examples when foreign conquerors marched through the streets of cities and villages. There were such invaders in the history of France: from the Arabs to the Germans. And between these extreme examples, there was just no one.
Nevertheless, the occupation of 1815-1818 was noticeably different from the previous ones. France was captured by a coalition of states that imposed the regime they needed and for several years made sure that the French did not destroy this regime.
The re-capture of France was not cheap for the interventionists. And it was not the talents of the defeated emperor. Napoleon abdicated just four days after Waterloo - June 22, 1815, but the French army resisted the interventionists even without the famous commander. One of the culprits of the defeat, Marshal Grouchy, managed to deal a painful blow to the Prussian avant-garde under the command of Pirkh.
Anglo-Prussian troops crossed the French border on June 21 and stormed the fortresses of Cambrai and Peronne. In the absence of the emperor, Marshal Davout took command of the defeated army, who led the battered troops to Paris. On July 3, under pressure from the allied forces, the old Napoleonic commander concluded an agreement on the withdrawal of the French army beyond the Loire in exchange for security guarantees for Napoleonic officers (these promises did not save Marshal Ney). The capital of France was occupied by Prussian and English troops. However, the fall of Paris did not lead to a cessation of hostilities.
Napoleon had already surrendered to the British, and some French garrisons continued the war. For almost a month, the Landrecy fortress resisted the Prussian troops. For two months the fortress of Guningen withstood the Austrian siege. Longwy resisted the same amount. Metz survived for a month. Phalsburg surrendered to Russian troops only on July 11 (23). For a month and a half, the fortress of Valenciennes fought off foreign troops. Grenoble briefly, but fiercely repelled the attacks of the Piedmontese army (among the defenders of the city was the famous Egyptologist Champollion). Strasbourg managed to conquer the second time.
Only in the autumn were the interventionists able to dictate their terms to the defeated. The basis for the occupation was the Second Treaty of Paris of November 20, 1815, according to which, to ensure its implementation, occupying troops of no more than 150 thousand people were stationed in France.
The winners also insisted on the return of France to the borders of 1789, the occupation of 17 border fortresses, the payment of an indemnity of 700 million francs and the return of art treasures seized by Napoleon. On the French side, the contract was signed by the same Duke ("Duc") Richelieu, whose memory is carefully preserved by the inhabitants of Odessa.
The main participants in the anti-Napoleonic coalition were represented in the occupying forces on an equal footing. England, Russia, Austria and Prussia provided 30,000 soldiers each. The participation of other countries was more modest. 10 thousand gave Bavaria, 5 thousand - Denmark, Saxony and Württemberg. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, many of these armies already had experience of interaction.
On October 22, 1815, the conqueror of Napoleon Arthur Wellesley (aka the Duke of Wellington) was appointed commander of the occupying army in France. The headquarters of the interventionist troops in January 1816 was located in Cambrai, away from restless Paris. At first, the winner of Napoleon settled down in the “Franqueville” mansion (now the municipal museum), but with the arrival of his wife he moved to the old abbey of Mont Saint Martin, turned into the personal residence of the commander. For the summer, Wellington returned to his homeland, where awards and numerous ceremonies awaited him, such as the opening of Waterloo Bridge on June 18, 1817.
The king of France, Louis XVIII, did not skimp on awards to the winners, who awarded Wellington with the Order of Saint-Esprit with diamonds, and then presented him with the Grosbois estate. Other compatriots of the Bourbons showed less warm feelings for the commander of the occupying army. On June 25, 1816, in Paris, someone tried to set fire to Wellington's mansion on the Champs-Elysées during a ball (on August 15, 1816, the Boston newspaper The Weekly Messenger reported the fire on June 23). On February 10, 1818, the commander-in-chief tried to shoot the former Napoleonic non-commissioned officer (sous-officier) Marie Andre Cantillon, who was put on trial, but pardoned. Under Napoleon III, the heirs of the failed terrorist received 10,000 francs.
The regiments of the 1st Infantry Division of Great Britain covered the main apartment of the occupying troops in Cambrai. Parts of the 3rd Infantry Division were stationed nearby in Valenciennes. A British cavalry division was stationed at Dunkirk and Azbrouck. The ports of northern France were used to supply the English army. The performance of surveillance and police functions no longer required the presence of selected units. Therefore, in the summer of 1816, the British government withdrew from France the famous Coldstream Guards Regiment.
Next to the British in the Douai area was the Danish contingent under the command of Frederick (Friedrich) of Hesse-Kassel. Hanoverian units adjoined the British troops. The army of Hanover, barely recreated in 1813, sent about 2 brigades to the occupying group (the Hanoverians were reinforced by soldiers of the Royal German Legion of the British Army dissolved on May 24, 1816). Parts of the Hanoverian group were located in Bushen, Cond and St. Quentin (the headquarters was in Conde).
The Russian occupation corps included the 3rd Dragoon Division (Kurland, Kinburn, Smolensk and Tver Dragoon Regiments), the 9th Infantry Division (Nasheburg, Ryazhsky, Yakutsk, Penza Infantry and the 8th and 10th Jaeger Regiments) and 12 -th Infantry Division (Smolensky, Narva, Aleksopolsky, Novoingermanlandsky Infantry and the 6th and 41st Chasseur Regiments). The former head of the 12th Infantry Division, Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, who distinguished himself at Borodino, was appointed commander of the "contingent".
At first, the Russian zone of occupation was mainly the regions of Lorraine and Champagne. In the summer of 1816, part of the Russian troops was transferred from Nancy to the Maubeuge area. Maubeuge (near Cambrai) housed the headquarters of Vorontsov, commander of the expeditionary force. Near the headquarters were the Smolensk and Narvsky (Kuto called this regiment Nevsky) regiments of the 12th division. Parts of the Alexopol regiment of the same division were scattered between Aven and Landrecy. The Novoingermanland Regiment (Regiment de la Nouvelle Ingrie) was stationed in Solesma. In Solre-le-Chateau was the Nasheburg Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division. The Le Cateau area was occupied by the 6th and 41st Chasseurs.
Away from the headquarters of the corps on the territory of the Ardennes department in Rethel and Vuzier stood the Tver, Kinburn, Courland and Smolensk regiments of the 3rd Dragoon Division. Two Don Cossack regiments under the command of Colonel A.A. Yagodin of the 2nd (among the French - Gagodin) and military foreman A.M. Grevtsov of the 3rd were located in Briquette (Brick?). He commanded the Cossack brigade L.A. Naryshkin. Luka Yegorovich Pikulin (1784-1824) was appointed chief physician of the Russian corps. The total strength of the Russian corps is estimated differently. Some authors proceed from the official quota - 30 thousand people, others raise this figure to 45 thousand, but the number of 27 thousand people with 84 guns seems to be more reliable.
The organization of service in the Russian corps was exemplary. Violations of discipline were suppressed without leniency. The corps commander reacted just as harshly to attacks from local residents. When a French customs officer killed a Cossack smuggler, and the royal officials in Aven allowed the killer to escape, Vorontsov threatened that "every Frenchman guilty of us will be judged by our laws and punished according to them, even if he were to be shot." In addition to disciplinary measures, educational ones were also encouraged in the Russian corps. At the initiative of Vorontsov, a system for teaching soldiers to read and write was developed. To eliminate illiteracy, 4 schools were opened at the corps according to the “Landcaster method of mutual education”. The command tried not to resort to the usual corporal punishment in the Russian army.
Despite the remoteness of Vorontsov's troops from the borders of Russia, St. Petersburg looked after these garrisons. From time to time high-ranking officials appeared at the location of the corps. In March 1817, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich (future Emperor Nicholas I) arrived in France. On this trip he was accompanied by the Duke of Wellington himself. At the request of Alexander I, Nikolai Pavlovich did not stop by in Paris. On his way to Brussels, the Grand Duke stopped for several hours in Lille and Maubeuge, where the noble guest was met by Russian and French aristocrats. In response to the greetings, Nikolai Pavlovich called the Russian troops and the French National Guard "brothers in arms." As expected, the official part ended with a "corporate party" and a ball. Among the less important visitors to Maubeuge was the famous partisan Seslavin.
The most brutal of the participants in the anti-Napoleonic coalition were the troops of Prussia, who played a decisive role in the battle of Waterloo. Many of these units distinguished themselves in the battles of 1815. Lieutenant General Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten was appointed commander of the Prussian occupation corps, located in the Sedan area, on whose account there were successful battles with Napoleon and the capture of Paris. Near the headquarters was the 2nd Infantry Brigade under the command of Colonel von Othegraven (Othegraven). The 1st Prussian Infantry Brigade, led by Colonel von Lettow, was located at Bar-le-Duc, Vaucouleurs, Ligny, Saint-Miguel and Mézières. The 3rd Infantry Brigade, under the command of Colonel von Uttenhofen, occupied the Stenet-Montmedy area. The 4th Infantry Brigade, led by Major General Sjoholm, was stationed at Thionville and Longwy.
The Prussian reserve cavalry brigade of Colonel Borstell (4 regiments) was located in Thionville, Commerce, Charleville, Foubecourt and Friancourt. The hospitals of the Prussian corps were located in Sedan, Longwy, Thionville and Bar-le-Duc. The field bakeries of the Prussian Corps were concentrated in Sedan.
The Austrian troops, having entered the war later than the British and Prussians, nevertheless, by the end of 1815, were able to establish control over almost all of southeastern France from the Rhine to the Cote d'Azur. The corps under the command of Colloredo invaded French territory from the Rhine, and the troops led by Frimont broke through the Riviera into Provence, defeating Murat's army along the way (the interventionists acted less successfully against Marshal Suchet's Alpine army).
Later, the main part of the Austrian troops was concentrated in Alsace. For example, the 2nd Dragoons were stationed at Erstein, the 6th Dragoons at Bischweiler, the 6th Hussars at Altkirchen, and the 10th Hussars at Enishheim. The headquarters of the Austrian "observation" corps, commanded by Johann Maria Philipp von Frimont, was located in Colmar. Next to the Austrians were the Württemberg troops, who in 1815 reached the Allier department almost in the center of France. Baden and Saxon units were also located there in Alsace. In addition to the old members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, Swiss troops were active in the Jura mountains, and Piedmontese in Haute-Savoie.
Relations between the French and the occupiers remained moderately hostile. The actions of the interventionists gave many reasons for discontent, and sometimes even for open conflicts. According to Lauren Dornel, there were also fights. In 1816 there were skirmishes with the Prussians in Charleville, the department of Meuse and Longwy. The Danes also got it in Douai. The following year, 1817, brought new clashes between the inhabitants of the Meuse department and the Prussians, and the unrest also swept the administrative center - Bar-le-Duc. There were speeches against the Russian troops in the department of the Ardennes.
In the same place in the Ardennes, civilians heard cries against the Prussian general Ziten who visited this region. The British also fell in the area of Douai, where, in addition, there were skirmishes with the Danes. In Valenciennes, in 1817, the notary Deschamps was put on trial for hitting a Hanoverian officer. In Forbach, the Bavarian soldiers became the object of discontent among the locals. 1817 was marked by fights with Danish dragoons in Bethune and Hanoverian hussars in Brie (Moselle department). At the same time, the issue of a fight between the French and the British was being considered in Cambrai. Again there were fights between local residents and the British and Danes in Douai. In the following year, 1818, skirmishes in Douai with the British, Danes, Hanoverians and Russians occurred repeatedly.
Less noticeable was the constant discontent caused by requisitions for the needs of foreign troops. The invaders took away food, took "for temporary use" horses. And besides, the French paid a huge indemnity according to the Treaty of Paris in 1815. All this taken together made the presence of foreign troops undesirable for the vast majority of the inhabitants of France. However, there was a minority in power who willingly put up with the occupation. One of the royal ministers, Baron de Vitrolles, with the consent of the Count of Artois, even sent a secret note to all the monarchs of Europe, in which he demanded that pressure be exerted on the Bourbons, demanding a more conservative policy.
When the king found out about the behind-the-scenes negotiations, he immediately fired Vitrolles. Louis XVIII, unlike many royalists, understood that foreign bayonets could not be an eternal support for an unpopular regime, and in 1817 he inserted into the throne speech a hint of the upcoming withdrawal of foreign troops. To strengthen the royal army, a law was passed to increase the armed forces of France to 240 thousand people.
At the same time, the occupying troops were slightly reduced. Since 1817, the gradual withdrawal of Vorontsov's corps from France began. At the same time, some units (the 41st Jaeger Regiment) were sent to strengthen the Caucasian Corps of General Yermolov. There is an opinion that the transfer of the Russian occupation corps to the Caucasus was a manifestation of a kind of disgrace for the troops, imbued with liberal views in France. Of course, such an influence cannot be denied, but for categorical statements it is not enough to refer to the Decembrists, among whom not all of them were in France.
It must also be borne in mind that before the eyes of the soldiers and officers of the Russian corps passed the panorama of not a revolutionary country, but a society crushed by the interventionists and their own royalists. In fact, the reorganization of the occupation corps was reduced to the transfer of infantry regiments to other corps and divisions. According to the memoirs of A.A. Euler sent five artillery regiments from France to the Bryansk and Zhizdrinsky districts. The withdrawal of the Russian units was led by the brother of Alexander I, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. The former corps commander had other troubles at that time. Following his troops, Vorontsov took his young wife, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Branitskaya, to Russia.
The time had come when the major powers of Europe had to decide on the withdrawal of foreign troops. According to the Second Treaty of Paris in 1815, the occupation of France could last 3 or 5 years. However, the occupiers themselves were not very enthusiastic about continuing their stay in France. The person least interested in the occupation was Emperor Alexander I, for whom the stay of Vorontsov's corps at the other end of Europe did not bring great political dividends. The authority of Russia was very weighty for the Prussian king to join the opinion of the "partners".
The British government had enough opportunities to influence the French court even without Wellington's troops, and Lord Castlereagh decided to continue to protect England from direct intervention in intra-European conflicts. Austria was the least interested in restoring French sovereignty, but Metternich remained in the minority. The most ardent opponents of the withdrawal of the occupation troops were the French royalists, who felt with their whole body that their compatriots would not leave them alone. They tried to scare their foreign sponsors with impending upheavals, but that didn't work. The question of the withdrawal of the occupying troops was a foregone conclusion.
The diplomats of the Holy Alliance had to figure out how to improve relations with France without military pressure. For this purpose, delegations from five countries gathered in the German city of Aachen (or in French - Aix-la-Chapelle). England was represented by Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington, Russia by Emperor Alexander I, Austria by Emperor Franz I, Prussia by King Frederick William III and France by Duke Richelieu. The Aachen Congress lasted from September 30 to November 21, 1818.
Through the efforts of diplomats, France moved from the category of supervised recidivists to the rank of a full member of the group of great powers, which was transformed from the "four" into the "five". The occupation has become a complete anachronism. On November 30, 1818, the allied troops left the territory of France. The last echo of the Napoleonic wars has fallen silent. Before the overthrow of the Bourbons, 12 years remained.
