ABSTRACT

Post-war historians exploded the belief, widely held in France at the time, that the attacking German army must have heavily outnumbered the Allied forces. As long as the war against Britain continued, the Germans were to keep the strategically important parts of the country the entire Atlantic coast and the northern and eastern regions, including Paris, altogether three-fifths of France under military occupation. The French government would retain sovereignty over the rest of the territory and nominal responsibility for civilian administration throughout the country. Vichy leaders were united in their contempt for the democratic republic they replaced, they agreed about little else. Some, like the marshal himself, were traditionalists who saw the National Revolution as a chance to restore France to its true roots by banishing foreigners, rehabilitating old artisan skills, and reinvigorating rural life. In the economic sphere, corporatist policies promised to overcome the division between workers and employers.