1940: Nobody listens to de Gaulle

Having done some brief study of the British governments far from crystal clear feelings towards the French State (Vichy) between '40 and '42, I've often wondered what, as could so easily have happened, would have transpired if de Gaulle had been ignored by the government and the BBC and not been given resources to set up what he went on to do? First, what would need to happen to make this the case, and second, what would be the result? Vichy being recognised? Not much else changing in terms of the going of the war? Certainly no de Gaulle presidency, of course, but what would France look like if she had been Vichy for either the entire war or the usual period (for would no Free French government mean Darlan doesn't trigger Vichy's liquidation by bargaining away Algeria for a place in the government in exile?)?
 
alright let me have a go at this!

In my amateur opinion probably results in a few things happening.

- The war become harder for the allies but they win any way due their myriad advantages

-France is not part of the security Council and gets no occupation zone.

- the European Union set back by decades or postponed indefinitely( the latter is unlikely)

The other things that could result from this our:

- a weakened France that falls in with NATO's line and no gaul ism by that name

- or a weak, bitter, but even more independent France That possibly falls in with the non aligned movement?

well that's my first historical analysis so go easy.
 
Would not another person take De Gaulle's place? There were governments in exile for all the major defeated nations.
 
If I'm not mistaken, many Allied leaders preferred Henri Giraud to lead the Free French, as opposed to de Gaulle. It's possible a similar movement would be headed up by Giraud, whether home-grown or Ally-backed.
 
Roosevelt despised De Gaulle for some reason but Churchill had a sort of grudging respect, So if we have the Americans join the war earlier before the free french get properly organized or ideally just after a bigger disaster at Dakar we might see the French thrown to the wolves.
 
A more worthy point of discussion may be what if the whole ‘’Free French’’ project fails, unlike other Nazi occupied states France did have some autonomy. And Vichy was seen as the legitimate government by far more people than most histories are now willing to admit.

So a post war Vichy France is possible assuming the leadership there can play their cards well.
 
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