France Fights On and APOD

[Archibald]

Hello to all,

I start this thread to clear a little misunderstanding about the FFO project.
You may have heard of this project (there was some discussions about it on this board over the years)

What lacks is a full translation of that huge work. Well, what about the France Fights On forum ?
Yes and no.
There was a schism three years ago which led to two significantly different timelines.
On one hand is France Fights On, on the other is Mark Bailey APOD.
Just wanted to say that APOD is NOT the english translation of FFO (although I fully respect his work, no issue with that)
More details later.

 

[Hyperion]

I've been hoping to find an English language version of the original project. I quite enjoyed it, at least the first few years I'd found it.

APOD has it's highlights, but to be honest, I consider it rather weak overall, some parts bordering on implausibility, if not flirting with ASB in a few areas.

 

[Archibald]

A key difference is Pétain fate - which is hardly surprising.

In both case the metropole is lost (since May 15 and the Wermacht" rush to the sea" which starts in Sedan and ends in Abbeville, closing the Dunkirk pocket and trapping the best French units and of course the BEF)

Once the metropole lost, a fight for legitimacy starts between the defeatists and those who wants to continue the war.
OTL Pétain essentially won that battle and was voted the full powers early in the month of July by a depleted parliament.
Because he had "legally" sized power (through a vote) Pétain now had its hands on
a) the French Fleet
b) the empire
c) the gold reserves
d) what was left of the parliament - essentially the 3rd Republic political legacy.
That what made De Gaulle task all the more difficult.

In both FFO and APOD that fight turns differently. With a POD on June 6, 1940 (that I won't disclose) Paul Reynaud meets a different fate.
Pétain and its supporters are pushed aside, and France reaffirms its committment to the Allied side with Great Britain.
The divergence is Pétain fate.
FFO
He has a heart attack from which he never recovers and die late October.
APOD
He lives on and made a kind of "military coup" early in the month of July which split the French camp badly - Free French vs Vichy style. With respect (and from my limited knowledge) it is one of these APOD weaknesses you mention.

More later.