More permanent French-German peace treaty in 1940.

[thevaliant]

Many years ago, I was reading France: the Dark Years about the Vichy regime.

One thing that struck me was that Petain and his ministers initially believed after signing the Armistace that they would be relocated back to Paris in due course to continue their government from there.
It never happened, and the rest is history.

But, and appreciating this is a handwave, assuming Vichy requests a more permanent treaty in July 1940, with a view to restoring their government to Paris, what might the terms of such a treaty be like?

Partly answering my own question would be:
Permanent loss of A-L.
Military occupation of parts of north west France for XX years
Leasing of submarine naval bases in the west of France for 20 years


I know a few will shout that it is ASB to Germany to consider this under Hitler, but really it would've been a pretty smart move. It would've made a later British/American invasion very difficult as France would be a neutral power, and it would also severly undermine De Gaulle running around claiming to be the resistance when the 'proper' French government was residing in Paris with most of its territory still intact.

Thoughts?

 

[Hvalrossen]

I know a few will shout that it is ASB to Germany to consider this under Hitler, but really it would've been a pretty smart move. It would've made a later British/American invasion very difficult as France would be a neutral power, and it would also severly undermine De Gaulle running around claiming to be the resistance when the 'proper' French government was residing in Paris with most of its territory still intact.
Thoughts?

Could not France (or WAllies and Soviets) just retract the treaty?

 

[GDIS Pathe]

Germany needs French industry and French farmland to a degree that any terms that restore the Vichy regime to Paris reduces France to economic and military puppet of the Reich.

Once this becomes clear the Vichy regime will start bleeding support like OTL

 

[ivanotter]

... unless Germany treats France (and Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium) as equal partner and voila ---> you have the proto EU.

But that would be so 'not-Nazi'

 

[nbcman]

Germany needs French industry and French farmland to a degree that any terms that restore the Vichy regime to Paris reduces France to economic and military puppet of the Reich.

Once this becomes clear the Vichy regime will start bleeding support like OTL

Not to mention the labor of the over 1.5 million French POWs.

 

[GDIS Pathe]

... unless Germany treats France (and Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium) as equal partner and voila ---> you have the proto EU.

But that would be so 'not-Nazi'

Except that’s impossible with what we know of Nazi war economy. French grain is needed to keep German citizens feed, French copper and French brass is needed to produce artillery ammunition, French aluminum and French labour is needed to replace the German soldiers serving with the Heer.

 

[Deleted member 1487]

Not going to happen with Britain in the war. And IOTL Hitler tried to dangle lenient terms in the final treaty to Vichy to get them to cooperate more with the Nazi war effort if not join the war on the side of the Axis.
The only way this is going to happen is if Britain quits for whatever reason in 1940.

 

[BlackDragon98]

Something like the OTL Paris Protocols?
I dunno, but Hitler did not like the French at all.
So I don't foresee him giving them a good deal.
The Reich was micro-managed by Hitler (more and more as the war went on) and Hitler made his decisions mostly on what he felt like that day and his experiences.
Not a very good combination, if you ask me.
The economics also limited what they can offer the French.
It was Germans first after all.