2-WWII+France+(Vichy)+HF

How may the Home Front’s awareness of the war’s objectives and nature be characterized? How did propaganda affect the mindset at home?

The homefront of Vichy France was formed after an armistice in 1940 that ended hostilities between the new Vichy state and Nazi Germany. It may be said that Vichy was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, mainly due to the support for nazi policies (like the policy of rounding up undesirables and exterminating them, as well as that they were proponents of a radical form of eugenics). At the same time, there also existed a faction of people who disagreed with the notion of a radicalized, nazi-esque France. Marshal Philippe Petain, the Vichy head of state, often expressed his support for Germany, and entered into state collaboration with the German state. It was essentially a desire to have governments similar to those of Francisco Franco of Spain, or of the dictator Antonio Salazar of Portugal - Authoritarian, religious (esp. in the case of Franco) regimes, with the main difference being under heavy German influence. Vichy fought on the Eastern front alongside the Nazis, and they approached a similar condition as Germany as the war went on. Propaganda in Vichy [|vilified the allied powers], and did, rather obviously, show the Axis powers in a positive light. It was, for all intents and purposes, french translations of nazi propaganda. More relevant to the homefront, [|propaganda] attacked the Jews, it promoted the subjugation of women - essentially the same message that came out of Nazi Germany.

What were the direct contributions of the Home Front to the war effort? This needs to go beyond a cursory statement of, “They supplied soldiers, grew food, made armaments, etc.” You should consider support not only in patriotic or industrial terms, but also political, social, economic, cultural/intellectual, moral/religious, emotional, etc., terms.

The Vichy gov’t adopted Nazi policies, specifically racial policy. They became intimately involved in rounding up “undesirables” to be killed in concentration camps. As such, their subservience to the Nazis meant that they were morally culpable for the Holocaust as well as for crimes against humanity. Further, they supported German military actions, as seen when the USSR cut off diplomatic ties with Vichy France over the latter’s backing of Operation Barbarossa (The Nazi invasion of the USSR).

What were the costs & benefits of the war to the Home Front, to include but not limited to goods/services/resources? Use a case study to illustrate.

The benefits to Vichy France were that they had made peace with Nazi Germany, and the new government had been recognized by many world governments. Furthermore, they kept a nominally French led gov’t. As for costs, Vichy was involved on all levels with Hitler’s Final Solution, and they collaborated with the axis against the allies. As such, many in power were sentenced to death or life imprisonment, an example of this being Marshal Petain himself. He was originally sentenced to death for collaboration with the Nazis, though his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment; unlike Marshall Petain, others were not so lucky. Much of the war was political for Vichy France, and more of the active fighting went on in the Northern part of France.

Finally, while Vichy France was saved from absolute control by the Nazis, it meant that they became morally culpable for actions against humanity that are almost beyond mention.

How can life for women & youth on the Home Front be characterized? Use case studies to illustrate.

Much of the impact on the life of women in Vichy France came after the war - those who were known to have been “involved” with Germans were shamed, jailed, and occasionally executed. Their normal life consisted of being home/babymakers. Abortion was not allowed, and they were more/less forced to keep making babies one after the other.

Ex. Marie-Louise Giraud was guillotined by the state for having performed 27 abortions, which was illegal at the time, as France blamed their defeat on depopulation due to war (so they banned all reproductive rights to get birth rates up).

As for youth, in the later parts of the war, French youth were subject to conscription to be laborers for the Germans or to fight on their behalf as pert of the German military. Outside of this, life for youth in Vichy France did not differ from other ostensibly-neutral countries at the time.

Sources

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/VichyRegime.html

http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3cevans/fre391/Women%20under%20the%20Vichy%20regime%5B1%5D.pdf http://www.jstor.org/stable/1050346?seq=3