Chapter I
15 August 1945
Paris
The disgraced Marshal of France Philippe Pétain stood before judge Paul Mongibeaux in full military uniform. Today he'd find out his fate. A twenty four person jury consisting of twelve parliamentarians and twelve non-parliamentarians from the Resistance had decided his fate. In the Marshal's head he knew his fate, and it felt like this verdict was just a formality. He stood as Judge Mongibeaux comes in and reads the verdict. "Philippe Pétain, on the count of collaborating with the enemy, the jury finds you guilty. On the count of high treason, the jury finds you guilty. This court hereby sentences you to death by firing squad. Furthermore, all personal property is to be confiscated by the state and you are hereby condemned to the national degradation." After the trial, Philippe Pétain was stripped of his military uniform and taken into custody. He was transferred to the Fresnes prison outside Paris where other Vichy leaders were awaiting trial, in which they would all come by the same fate.
Disgraced Marshal Petain at his trial
28 August 1945
Washington, D.C.
Henri Giraud arrived at the White House and was greeted by President Truman. The day before Giraud had received a heroes welcome in New York City and awarded Mayor LaGuardia the Légion d'honneur. President Truman and Henri Giraud had a light lunch in the Diplomatic Reception Room before going to the Oval Office to discuss more serious matters. Once they were alone, they were able to talk about more serious matters.
President Truman opened, "Henri, as you know, France is the oldest ally of the United States, and we wish to see that continue into the foreseeable future. As of now the Soviets occupy half of Europe. Back in April I had to have a frank discussion with Molotov about Stalin keeping his word. They don't do a lot of that. I've got some generals under me that'd want nothing more than open up on the communists and go all the way to Moscow. The world doesn't need that. Now you know, all of us in this government support you one hundred percent! I know for sure Ike likes you a heckuva lot! So, lets get to the point here, we know that the communists hold a lot of support in your country. With these elections coming up, it'd be a real shame to see a communist takeover of France so soon after liberation. So I ask you, what are the odds of, oh say, seeing a communist president within the next few years?"
Giraud looked at Truman, rubbed his chin, and collected his thoughts. "Mr. President, I cannot tell you what the French people will decide, but whatever they decide, I will support their will one hundred percent. This is how democracy works after all. While I oppose communism, I have many, many other things to worry about in my country right now. I can tell you one thing, I hope only to serve as a caretaker and nothing more, I have no desire to continue a career in politics. My only desire is to ensure that my country has a strong foundation to stand on for the second half of this century."
President Truman nodded and smiled, "Of course, well Henri, I hope you'll be around for a little bit longer, you've been a great friend and ally to the United States. My wish is to see you help shape this post-war world. Lord knows we could use more men like you."
Giraud and his entourage left the White House and confided in his adviser, Régis Guilloux, "I feel like this was a waste of time, I feel like Truman just wanted a favor in keeping the communists out of France." Régis responded, "Yes sir, but there are far more important things to worry about at this time. Like Indochina, the situation is getting worse." "I don't know how much longer I can do this Régis, I'm ready for these elections," replied Giraud.
2 September 1945
Hanoi
On the day of the Japanese surrender, Hồ Chí Minh declared the independance of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the presense of American OSS officers. Hồ Chí Minh knew that the French wouldn't recognize his new republic, but enough safeguards had been taken to ensure their forces were kept out for the time being. Jean Sainteny was stuck in the Governor General's palce. Pierre Messmer and Jean Cédile, sent as commissioners of the Republic, respectively for Tonkin and Annam and for Cochin-China, were both captured by the Viet Minh. Leclerc is stuck in Ceylon as Lord Mountbatten refuses to let him into Indochina as it'd be in violation of the Potsdam Agreement. For now, the newly christened Democratic Republic of Vietnam was safe.
Ho Chi Minh, 1945
4 September 1945
Paris
Henri Giraud was almost in a rage on the telephone, "Do what you need to do Leclerc! If this keeps happening, France will have nothing left to stand on. For Godssake, we just defeated Germany, and I'm not gonna lose Indochina because of political considerations!" He slammed down the phone. Régis Guilloux walked in, "Sir, we need to talk about the transition after the elections." "Very well," replied Giraud. Régis got out the papers and started, "Sir, once we have a result, it'll be decided whoever has a majority in the National Assembly will select a leader that will succeed you. With that being said, I've taken the liberty to draw up a transition plan to fill the new leader in on whats going on with world affairs and other pertinent information to get him up to speed as soon as possible." "Yes, yes alright, everything looks good to me, retirement cannot come any faster!"
15 October 1945
Paris
Philippe Pétain, Joseph Darnand, and Pierre Laval were awoken from their cells at Fresnes prison. In the night, Laval had tried to kill himself, but was revived by doctors that morning so justice could be executed. They were marched to the yard of the prison. It was a warm, partly cloudy morning. The three prisoners were blindfolded and tied up. After this the firing squad was brought out. There were nine riflemen, three for each man. In each group one rifle was loaded with a real bullet and the other two were loaded with blanks. The order was given, "Ready!" The men put their rifles in the position of port arms. "Aim!" At this command, the soldiers aimed their rifles at their repsective targets. "Fire!" At this point the sound of MAS Modèle 36 rifles pierced the morning silence for just a split second and after that, the major leaders of Vichy France lay dead in a prison yard.
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Henri Giraud hung up the phone and sat in silence at his desk. Lamenting the fact that he didn't have the clout to give Marshal Pétain a pardon. He felt it was a dishonor to the once revered Marshal. If he had pardoned Pétain, he wasn't sure of the political ramifications. The last thing Giraud wanted was political instability. He knew he wasn't cut out for politics and would be glad when all this would be over. The elections were in six days, and it wasn't soon enough.
21 October 1945
It was election day. With Henri Giraud announcing he'd resign once a new government was formed, it was decided by the Tripartisme that the Chairman that'd succeed Giraud would come from whichever party had the most seats. No one would know who would be leader until the votes were counted but, the Tripartisme had agreed that whoever was in charge they'd support and do their best to create a constitution. The next day, the results were in and counted. On the first ballot, voters were asked whether they approved of the Assembly elected on the same day serving as a Constituent Assembly.
The results of that were:
And as far as the legislative elections, things were a little closer:
Henri Giraud knew he'd be handing the reigns of power over to a commnist. He'd hoped the French people had made the right decision, but was reassured that so long as the Tripartisme existed, the balance of power would be there. Giraud was ready nonetheless for the transfer of power to an actual politican, after all, retirement was just around the corner.