TLIAD: Faith In Our Destiny

[Mumby]

There was a horrible silence on the beach. Harold looked at the land behind him and saw the black fug of smoke that rose, oily and thick, a portent of what was to come. He turned his back to it and stared at the grey churning sea. In the awful quiet, unable to see the smoke and only water and sand in front of him he could almost convince himself that everything was fine. He closed his eyes and sighed. Then there was a muffled pop, answered by a dozen sharp responses and he snapped back to reality. Gunfire. If he could hear it then they didn't have long. He tore himself away from the spot where he had rooted himself and hurried to the pier and the waiting rowboat.

There would not many of them. Just him a few other staff from the embassy who had stayed to help him gather up the last of any paperwork and destroy them as necessary, and the contingent of British and American soldiers who had guided them safely out of Paris and up to Normandy where they were only a hop skip and a jump to Blighty. Harold found himself something of a spare part as he watched the rowboats being loaded up with suitcases and duffel bags. Standing watching the soldiers, his mind wandered as he thought back to how they had got into this situation.

He didn’t like to blame friends for his misfortune, but it was the Americans’ fault. They had been the ones to insist on promoting Vichyists, and after de Gaulle had gone off in a huff, the ball was entirely in their court. Churchill had to like the new situation in Algiers or lump it. Of course, the Yanks had been entirely ignorant of the impact that had in France itself. Giraud had no interest in the Resistance and the feeling was entirely mutual. The Resistance had taken the initiative and left the Provisional Government and the Allies high and dry. His failure had led to this moment. The French government was fleeing south back to Algiers where Petain’s National Revolution still festered and he was fleeing north. The other ambassadors had managed to escape relatively untouched, but he was of special interest in the French. If he fell into their hands, it would make excellent propaganda for Villon’s Commune. Hence the soldier’s urgency in getting him out of the country.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and realised they were ready to depart. A battleship was waiting just off shore, but couldn’t risk coming too close. FFIs had seized control of the French Navy and were fiercely defending their waters. The rowboats was exposed but would avoid their attention for now. An American soldier was trying to steer him toward the boat but he brushed the hand off and turned so he was looking back toward France. He knelt in the wet sand and kissed the shoreline.

‘Sir, have you lost something?’ asked the American. Harold rose, brushing the sand particles from his trousers.

‘Yes. I rather think I have.’ He replied sadly and stepped onto the boat.

 

[Mumby]

Philippe Pétain
Chief of the French State
1940-1942
'Nonpartisan' leading National Revolutionary Government
​

The France of 1940 was a very different place. The country had been humiliated and in that moment, the Lion of Verdun seemed to answer everybody's prayers. Here was a man who had predicted the downfall of France thanks to the Marxists, Jews, Freemasons and their ilk. He formed a government which had a prescription for the country's illness. And at that moment, France was willing to swallow his medicine. The North of France, and it's western coastline was under German occupation and governed by the German military. Petain's France was governed from the spa town of Vichy but still ruled over the entire French Empire from the Caribbean islands in the west to Indochina and Polynesia in the east. And Vichy France, despite having restrictions on it's military was officially neutral not a co-combatant in the Axis.

This was a crucial detail as Petain's fellow travellers began what they called 'the National Revolution'. By claiming the peace with Germany was but a mere armistice, their reforms were painted as what were necessary to prepare France to go to war with and defeat Germany in the immediate future. Much comparison was made with the triumph of Prussia at Waterloo after being crushed by Napoleon mere years before. A similar transformation needed to take place in France if they were to fight and defeat the Germans. So whilst France's army was technically restricted to the small Armistice Army permitted by the Germans, in secret arms and materiel were hidden in secluded holdfasts and groups of former soldiers met and drilled in the night in preparation for the coming fight.

This belief swept up many individuals who had no love for Nazism or for Petain's eager destruction of all progress since 1789. Others sided with Vichy because they believed that German victory over Britain and it's other foes was a forgone conclusion. If France, the greatest military power in Europe, could be crushed by Germany with such ease what hope could Britain have or the Soviets who struggled to conquer Finland. One such man was Admiral Francois Darlan, whose motivations for aligning with Vichy and with Nazi Germany were mostly vindictive rather than ideological. Darlan detested Britain for destroying the French navy at Mers-el-Kebir despite his assurances that he would not allow it to fall into German hands. Repulsed by Britain he fell into the hands of the Germans, and convinced Petain to allow the Kriegsmarine to operate out of ports across the French Empire. This was a moment when the curtain of Vichy was pushed aside and the truth of it being a Nazi puppet state was revealed but many people tried to put it out of their minds rather than confront the reality.

It came as a shock then, when in 1942 the American forces of Operation Torch were greeted by Admiral Darlan. The man was, above all, an opportunist. He had sided with the Nazis when victory for them seemed inevitable. In November 1942 the situation had changed. The Reich was now at war with the three greatest powers in the world. The Soviets had proved a much tougher nut to crack than previously supposed and Darlan now believed the inevitable victor of the war were the Allies. In a deal hashed even as the Americans marched on North Africa, Darlan ordered Vichy forces to stand down and was declared High Commissioner of the French Empire. At a stroke, French North Africa was in the hands of the Allies. Vichy France was reduced to it's chunk of Metropolitan France and the scattered scraps across the world it still retained after two years of predation by the Axis and Allies.

The German reaction was immediate. It could not trust Vichy France even those who had collaborated with them openly. The National Revolution could not be permitted to continue. German forces cross the demarcation line and occupied the country. While Petain made a feeble show of complaint on the radio, the curtain was flung wide open and all could see that Vichy was a mere plaything in the hands of Germany. While Petain would remain titular Chief of the French State until 1944, from 1942 onwards he was irrelevant.

 

[Bolt451]

mon corps est prêt!!

Looking good so far! fascinating take on WW2 France Although i don't quite get the PoD

 

[Mumby]

François Darlan
High Commissioner of the French Empire
1942-1943
'Nonpartisan' leading Military Government​

Once in position, Darlan seized control of the entire French army in North Africa, along with the navy. Another former Vichyite patronised by the Americans, Henri Giraud, took command of the Army of Africa and the air force. Darlan also commanded the loyalty of the former Vichy regime in North Africa. If the National Revolution had been invented on the mainland, in Algeria it was taken to heart. Jews, Freemasons, Communists, veterans of the Spanish Civil War and other subversives were imprisoned in camps. Jews who had lived in Algeria for centuries had had their French citizenship stripped away under Vichy and Darlan made no effort to restore it. The Americans didn't care either. For them, Operation Torch had been a military operation and the fact that Darlan allowed them in so easily was something to be happy about. The political realities of Darlan's opportunism and the increasing lack of trust people placed in him was something that would come to haunt them.

While Darlan ruled Algeria as his own fief, most of French Africa had been liberated by the Free French of Charles de Gaulle and placed themselves in total opposition to Vichy. De Gaulle had a particular distaste for Darlan and detested the prospect of sharing power with him. A small resistance movement aligned with de Gaulle had existed in Algeria prior to the American invasion, and a plot was formulated to assassinate Darlan. The spot vacated by him would be easily occupied by de Gaulle and the last remnants of Vichy would be purged from Free France. This was not to be.

What the Gaullists and the Americans had underestimated by the level of distaste the Vichy elements had for Darlan. He was a republican, and a republican who could not under any circumstances by trusted. Henri d'Astier, Darlan's chief of police, was building up the police into his own private militia. His brother, Francois, was a noted Gaullist and published anti-Darlan propaganda. He managed to keep a lid on political violence and bided his time. Henri Giraud had hoped to be the Americans' anointed man in North Africa and together with the d'Astier brother hatched a daring plan. The Comte de Paris, the Orleans claimant to the throne of France, was at that time serving with the French Foreign Legion in Morocco. He was flown to meet with Francois d'Astier, and an agreement was made.

In January 1943, Henri d'Astier's African Free Corps arrested Admiral Francois Darlan and Henri Giraud took his place and took complete control of the French armed forces in North Africa. He sent out two invitations, one to Charles de Gaulle in London and one to the Comte de Paris in Algiers. He proposed a Duumvirate between himself and de Gaulle, underneath and arbitrated by a newly crowned King of France.

 

[Mumby]

Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle
Co-Premiers of the French Kingdom
1943-1943
'Nonpartisan' leading Provisional Government​

The fall of Darlan and the rise of Giraud was no cause for comfort to de Gaulle and his Free French organisation. Darlan had seemed strong but he was isolated by his treachery. In Giraud and the newly crowned Henri VI, the Vichy elements that the Gaullists had hoped could be easily purged from Algiers now marched in lockstep behind the Allies. At least with Giraud, they could still see the death of the Republic, could continue the National Revolution and wrest control of the country from the Germans. Giraud quickly turned upon his Gaullist conspirators, using the cancelled assassination attempt upon Darlan as an excuse to crack down on Algeria's resistance movement and firmly entrench his position. Henri d'Astier was arrested and after that, the African Free Corps came under Giraud's control.

It was clear that if de Gaulle remained in London for much longer, Giraud would be unassailable. This was demonstrated in February 1943 when Giraud went to Dakar and was received as a conquering hero. De Gaulle on the other hand portrayed himself as having the popular support of the people of Metropolitan France and the loyalty of the internal resistance but there was no way he could prove this. De Gaulle sent letters to Giraud insisting that the two men meet in either Algiers or Chad to establish a real central authority. Giraud was in no hurry for such a meeting, for obvious reasons.

Then in late February, the Casablanca Conference between Churchill and Roosevelt was held, a meeting attended by General Dwight Eisenhower and Henri Giraud. De Gaulle was disgusted. The conference had been organised by Giraud, was hosted by the Sultan of Morocco - a French vassal - and while he was invited no-one had submitted a request to him that the conference be held on French soil. He refused to leave London in protest.

This was the moment that Giraud had been waiting for. The Americans had no love for de Gaulle and throughout the conference, they enjoyed Churchill's discomfort with the deeply awkward position that de Gaulle had put him in. Finally, Churchill contacted London and told de Gaulle in no uncertain terms that if he did not attend then they would be forced to cut off support to the Free French and put their effort behind Giraud wholeheartedly. As it was, the phone call was too late. De Gaulle had already burnt too many bridges through his high-handed manner. By the time he made a decision, he had been displaced. The Americans convinced Churchill that de Gaulle brought very little to the table, whereas Giraud at least had control of North Africa which could be used to launch an invasion of Europe's soft underbelly.

When Churchill returned, material support for the Free French was cut off and the organisation was folded into Giraud's provisional government. De Gaulle remained in London for the rest of the war, embittered and writing letters to The Times to complain about how Giraud handled things.

 

[Mumby]

Henri Giraud
Premier of the French Kingdom
1943-1944
'Nonpartisan' leading Provisional Government​

Giraud now ruled alone, and with the Free French Organisation folded into his own government, he could now begin the work of constructing the framework of the New France to born after the war. Hopes that Giraud might end the injustices of Vichy's fascism were proved to be unfounded when in March, the Cremieux law was not restored but rather its abolition was re-promulgated. While Algeria's Jews were no longer interned, they were treated foreign aliens and plans were made for them to be deported to British Palestine. The National Revolution continued apace in Fighting France. The governors of the African colonies who had remained loyal to Petain, then Darlan, and now Giraud stayed in place whereas the governor of Chad Felix Eboue and the first governor of a French colony to declare for de Gaulle was quietly replaced by a Giraud loyalist. Pierre Pucheu, a former member of Petain's National Council and Minister of the Interior of Vichy France was permitted to settle in Algeria. The Free French Army which had liberated Equatorial Africa endured 'whitening' as the African soldiers were demobilised or set to police duties, and were replaced with white Frenchmen. This was done partially at American insistence that France rationalise and unite it's armed forces but was also done to place control of the French military under the command of the reactionary generals who followed the creed of the National Revolution.

However, the fall of de Gaulle brought about a rupture between the internal resistance taking place within France and the external resistance of Giraud's French Kingdom. Jean Moulin had worked hard to bring together the disparate strands of the Resistance, from conservatives like Henri Frenay to communists like Pierre Villon. The very crowning of a King had repulsed the communists, but the end of the Free French Organisation brought about a full on split. The strong personalities of Frenay and Villon who each saw themselves as the rulers of post-war France competed against Villon who felt little loyalty himself to the government in Algiers. The continued anti-Semitism, anti-communist and anti-trade union activity of the Giraud regime was the last straw. The Resistance movement divided once more and no group of any significant size declared loyalty to Giraud except the Organisation de Armee Secrete which kept a distinctly low profile awaiting Allied invasion rather than actively antagonise the Germans.

The Resistance in France only grew stronger, as the Germans war against the Soviets began to turn. More Germans needed to go East to hold back the Russian advance, and so demanded the Frenchmen from Vichy take their place. Thousands of young Frenchmen, known as refractaires, fled into the woods and hills rather than face conscription into German industry. The organisation needed to take these men to safety and finding useful occupations for them to survive led to an exponential growth in the size and sophistication in the Resistance. These men in the hills, fighting for mere survival, became known as the maquis. The expansion of the Resistance into a potential mass movement almost entirely benefited the Communists as tales of Red Army heroism filtered westwards.

Popular opinion within metropolitan France had finally moved against Vichy and against Petain but this did not benefit Giraud as people looked to the Resistance, clothed in red and evoking the sans-culottes, rather than to the crusty autocracy of Algiers. Giraud's position was not helped by the interference of Churchill. The British Prime Minister was almost as embittered as de Gaulle by the American's exclusion of the Free French and Churchill approved regular arms drops to the Resistance. He compared the French Resistance to the Yugoslav Partisans, which rather pre-empted future events.

In Algiers, Giraud attempted to mask these fears by establishing a parliamentary Provisional Government. It brought together representatives from the Resistance with representatives from the other arenas of the Fighting French government, including representatives from the colonies, elements of the former Free French and former deputies and senators who had voted not to grant power to Petain. It was a farce from the beginning. The only Resistance group to send delegates to the Provisional Government was the OAS which firmly supported Giraud's position as a pseudo military dictator. Combined with the presence of the pro-Vichy colonial governments, it appeared to be a government of Giraud yesmen and only deepened the gulf between Algiers and the Resistance.

In 1944, the liberation of France began as the British and Americans launched their invasion of Normandy. As the Germans were forced to pull away soldiers from the occupation, so the armed Resistance were able to seize control. France rapidly became a patchwork of FFI (French Forces of the Interior) warlords, with the Resistance declaring new republics in the towns they liberated. A notable example was Serge Ravanel's Red Republic of Toulouse, where the gendarmerie was abolished and public order placed in the hands of the milices patriotiques ie the FFI. With the fall of Toulouse the whole region began to fall under the control of the Resistance which was not only French but Jewish, Spanish, Czech, Yugoslav and even German as the Nazi forces suffered desertion. The whole affair was deeply humiliating to Giraud and it was now that the Americans began to lose faith.

In Paris, a Liberation Committee had been established and was dominated by the Communists. As American forces under General Bradley approached, the Committee launched an insurrection to seize control of Paris before they arrived. The fighting was brutal as the German General von Choltitz was under firm orders from the Fuhrer to deny Paris to the foes of the Reich, either by retaining control or razing the city to the ground. Fortunately for Paris, von Choltitz was not a barbarian and hesitated in carrying out his orders. Ultimately, he decided that he would prefer to be a POW rather than be arrested and tried for war crimes and ordered his men to lay down their arms. Andre Tollet declared a Second Paris Commune and awaited the Americans. General Bradley, aware of what was happening in the city decided to have General Weygand's 2nd Armoured Division enter the city first. His hope was that the sight of French soldiers entering the city to join their compatriots would be a moment of euphoria. Instead it marked the final humiliation for Giraud. The difference between the regular soldiers and the partisans who had taken the city was marked and each regarded the other stonily. This moment more than any other convinced the Americans of their next course of action.

As in Italy, the Americans and British established an Allied Military Government for the Occupied Territory of France. Giraud had little to no popular support in the country, and they could not in good conscience hand over power to the communist dominated Resistance. They selected two individuals to administer France, the British politician and noted Francophile Harold Nicholson and American Major-General Robert C. Macon. Giraud would continue to administer the French Empire, but he was no longer considered a viable option to take France into the post-war age. While he and his King would remain in their positions until the end of the war and the Allied occupation of France they were no longer in any position to do anything but the Allies' bidding.

 

[skaven]

Great to see a new TL from you, Mumby! Also wow, this is dark. I presume Harold at the start is Nicholson?

 

[Mumby]

Great to see a new TL from you, Mumby! Also wow, this is dark. I presume Harold at the start is Nicholson?

It is indeed! More from him soon.

 

[Mumby]

Harold Nicholson and Robert C. Macon
Co-Administrators of the Allied Military Government of the Occupied Territory of France
1944-1946
'Nonpartisan' leading Military Government​

For the remainder of the war, the real business of running France was in the hands of hard-eyed administrators who had no time for the Red Republics crawling out of the woodwork. The first order of business was securing Paris. General Weygand's forces soon took absolute control of the city and the Liberation Committee was pushed underground once more. It was then considered safe for the Co-Administrators to be installed. It was hoped that Nicholson's centre-left sympathies and Macon's historical French ancestry would couple together to produce a government that would be acceptable to the bulk of France.

This would not be the case. The progress of a new French Revolution had simply gone too far to simply be put back in the bottle. The Red Republic of Toulouse only acceded to the Military Government's authority thanks to the intercession of Ravanel's university tutor. Other groups, like groups aligned with Spanish republicans, were less cooperative being extremely distrustful of the imposition of a new military authority when Giraud still lingered around. It did not help that that the military government, for lack of cooperation from the Resistance, fell back upon the reserve of officialdom that had been built up in Algiers and the Provisional Government. The Military Government recruited heavily from the Provisional Government's ranks and de facto co-opted a lot of former Vichy officials in their struggle to ensure continuity between the French State and the new republic.

Another factor in the Military Government's weakness was in the lack of unity between the Allies. Nicholson and Macon were very different figures and had sharply different priorities. Nicholson had a lot of sympathy with the struggle of the Resistance whereas Macon saw them as a nuisance and a distraction to the practical military goals of turning the Liberation of France into the Invasion of Germany. This was in microcosm the attitudes of their respective governments. The Americans had grown tired of the antics of the French and the drama of de Gaulle, Darlan and Giraud wanted very much to wash their hands of the whole debacle. But they were up their elbows in it and detested the idea of leaving France to the communists. By contrast, Churchill's anti-communism had been overshadowed by his romanticism and his regard for Tito and his partisans was mirrored in the high regard that he held the French Resistance in. Though their lack of a clear leader figure was unfortunate the fact that non-communist strains within the Resistance remained significant filled him with hope.

The Military Government endured past 1945 and the surrender of the Axis Powers as they fought to determine the shape of post-war France. One thing was clear from the outside. France was to be a Republic. The experiment with the restored monarchy had been an abject failure and indeed Henri VI seemed more than happy to stand aside. Due to alienation from the Resistance, the Provisional Government was composed or representatives from the pre-war political parties as well as the OAS and Henri Frenay's Combat. Frenay saw the reduction of the status of Giraud as his opportunity to seize power in post-war France and declared himself the intermediary between the Provisional Government and the Resistance. While this wasn't taken particularly seriously, he did win the Allies' support in allowing the FFIs to enlist in the invasion of Germany. The death toll for the FFIs in Germany was high as their lack of formal training or respect for the chain of command and their enthusiasm for explosives did not gell well with the rest of the Allied forces. However this did lead to a steady politicisation of the French forces under existing Allied command, which was something the Military Government would come to regret.

The Provisional Government enfranchised women, and in order to try and win over some communists passed strong labour laws. However, Vichy was not explicitly repudiated and Vichy paramilitary organisations liked the Milices and the Legionary Order Service were co-opted by the Military Government in order to combat the Resistance which had begun to turn its arms upon Vichy elements in France. The constitution of the new republic was a similar bodge job of attempting to balance the balance of reactionary right and revolutionary left and pleasing neither. It was clear that the Third Republic was riddled with failings but a strong Presidency was also a doorway to tyranny. The insistence by the Resistance that any new constitution must be put to a referendum of the people was avoided as it was feared that the Communists would mobilise to ensure that a referendum would deliver victory for a French constitution. Instead a bicameral National Assembly was established, with an indirectly elected President who would act as a mere figurehead and rubberstamp for the legislature.

With the framework of a Constitution in place, the door was now open to handover to civilian rule. But France was still fractious and political violence was common. Paramilitaries still marched the streets, either the far-right forces of the LOS and OAS or the far-left forces of the Resistance. The pre-war political parties clung to relevance but it appeared that their time was over, tainted by Vichy and by their ineffectual actions in the dying days of the Third Republic.

 

[AndrewH]

Goddamn, this is heavy stuff. Good that Nicholson toed the line in reforming France, but I wouldn't be surprised if their adoption of the LOS will come back to haunt them.

 

[Mumby]

Charles Tillon
President of the Fourth French Republic
1946-present
Communist

Pierre Pucheu
President of the Fourth French Republic
1946-present
Rally For The New Republic​

The 1946 election was acrimonious and bitter as most expected. It's consequences however were distinctly unexpected. The Communists emerged the largest party in both houses of National Assembly and with the help of the Socialists were able to get Charles Tillon over the line and into the Elysee. Tillon had emerged as the champion of the Resistance and was able to see off challenges to his position from either Jacques Duclos, Benoit Frachon or Maurice Thorez thanks to the loyalty of the FFIs. However it was clearly not a total victory for the Communists. The Right was schismed from the lack of a uniting figure, and virtually all of the parties of pre-war France were now treated as 'of the right'. The two largest factions to emerge were those led by Henri Frenay (National Liberation Movement) and Pierre Pucheu (Peoples' Union). And upon their defeat they immediately began to organise against the Communists.

And of the two it was ironically Pucheu who would triumph. Frenay had simply alienated too many people with his ambition, whereas Pucheu had carefully bided his time in his Algerian exile, using his knowledge of the Vichy government to aid Giraud's Provisional Government and then the Allied Military Government. Pucheu appealed to the shards of the pre-war parties more than Frenay, whose involvement in the Resistance meant he reeked of Bolshevism. When their time to strike came they rallied behind Pucheu.

The pre-war parties, along with the NLM, merged with Pucheu's Peoples' Union to form Rally For The New Republic. Pucheu called upon the LOS and declared himself the legitimate President of the Fourth French Republic. The Socialist Party was split by the choice between supporting Tillon or Pucheu, and soon so was France. The French Civil War began, but it would not be long until it was over. The critical mistake that Pucheu had made was to transfer the strength of feeling he felt in Algiers to the Metropole. While the Pieds-Noir remained enthusiastic for the National Revolution, the people of France were tired of it. And when they were made to choose between the de facto restoration of Vichy with all the certainties of tyranny that came with it and the uncertainties of the Communist government, they sided with the Communists. The LOS and former OAS were dramatically outnumbered by the FFIs no matter how many guns the Americans tried to ship to them. The people of Paris rose up, even more emphatically than they had against the Nazis and Pucheu's government was forced to flee southwards. The west and north of the country had become the Communists' strongholds and even the south was unsafe. Therefore, Pucheu made the decision to flee across the Mediterranean to the safety and assurance of Algeria.

Tillon by contrast only entrenched his rule thanks to Pucheu's attempted coup. The National Assembly had effectively purged itself of the right and soon became a nearly solidly Communist legislature. The paramilitaries were effectively crushed thanks to the confusion of Pucheu's flight to Algiers and the old gendarmeries and Army were disbanded, to be replaced with the Peoples' Army built on the back of the FFIs and modelled after the sans-culottes of the First French Revolution. For that was what this was, Tillon declared. A Second French Revolution which would tear down the reactionary constructs of the crypto-fascist capitalist state.

France is divided, but how long will that last? Tillon's Revolution has only begun but already there are murmurs within the party about his lack of loyalty to Moscow. His positions seem closer to Tito than Stalin and he has no fear of Russian tanks rushing over the border. The old leadership of the party want the rewards for their loyalty now that France is clothed in red. And on the other hand the masses who fought in the Resistance grow concerned about the authoritarian state which emerges from their sacrifice and toil. They had hoped for a new birth in democracy, not just a different species of dictatorship. On the other side of the Mediterranean, Pucheu has inherited the infrastructure of autocracy laid down by Vichy, Darlan and Giraud and uses it well. But the Algerian Arabs grow restive, angry at being treated as second class citizens within their own country. The Second World War has left their taste for liberty in mouths of the colonised and the Empire begins to writhe with war.

There seems little prospect that the latter half of the 1940s will be any calmer than the first, as the two Frances look to Spain. Franco managed to keep out of the Second World War but too many Spanish Republicans were too important in moulding the FFIs and the new generation of maquisard radicals. The liberation of Spain is conjoined to the liberation of France and the swollen ranks of the Peoples' Army amass in the Pyrenees. For Algiers, Spain represents a kindred state - a country which has endured the same struggle against godless communism and misguided democracy. It's fall would be a tragedy. The fate of Spain will be a test for both claimants to the republic.

 

[Redolegna]

You'll understand why I don't like two of your posts. I think I'm physically incapable of it.

A notable example was Serge Ravanel's Red Republic of Toulouse, where the gendarmerie was abolished and public order placed in the hands of the milices patriotiques ie the FFI.

My grandfather is probably in there.

General Weygand's 2nd Armoured Division

Oh, you absolute bastard.

While the Pieds-Noir remained enthusiastic for the National Revolution, the people of France were tired of it.

Minor quibble here: the name was in use, but didn't come to designate the European population in Algeria and then back in France until the mid-fifties. Likewise Organisation Armée Secrète (there is no "de", because French is vexing that way) seems a bit weird but probably can be given a pass as something that could come up as a group in a more fractious Résistance.

Two questions: did the fleet at Toulon sink and did this play a part in Darlan's decisions? And did Blum survive the Riom trial and later deportation to a German camp?

 

[Skinny87]

J'adore @Mumby

 

[Mumby]

You'll understand why I don't like two of your posts. I think I'm physically incapable of it.

Understandable. The fact you've liked any of it is a big relief.

My grandfather is probably in there.

meanwhile my great grandad is illegally selling eggs

Oh, you absolute bastard.

i make no apologies for what i have done

Minor quibble here: the name was in use, but didn't come to designate the European population in Algeria and then back in France until the mid-fifties. Likewise Organisation Armée Secrète (there is no "de", because French is vexing that way) seems a bit weird but probably can be given a pass as something that could come up as a group in a more fractious Résistance.

Ahhhh, I wasn't sure and didn't bother checking which is annoying as thats one of the few bits I didn't check.

The OAS was an actual thing in the Resistance I believe, as the one we all know and are deeply spooked by took its name as a 'haha you see algeria was vital to the survival of france so its actually you who is betraying france you sods' thing.

i am bad at french

Two questions: did the fleet at Toulon sink and did this play a part in Darlan's decisions? And did Blum survive the Riom trial and later deportation to a German camp?

Most of Darlan's decisions are OTL, the true POD is the d'Astier brothers mad plan to restore the King coming off, combined with de Gaulle being just slightly more petulant when it comes to the mildly delayed Casablanca Conference.

I think the war would probably last a few weeks or months longer as troops that would have been put to use attacking Germany will be tied down by the AMGOT. So, I hadn't really thought about if Blum died or not, but the probability he died is higher in this world.

 

[Redolegna]

Looking good so far! fascinating take on WW2 France Although i don't quite get the PoD

I think it actually occurs after the first chapter, and Darlan is arrested rather than assassinated and this spirals.

 

[skaven]

West Germany must be crapping itself right now. Also, I wonder if with France as a left wing but non Warsaw Pact nation, the Non Aligned Movement will be bigger TTL.

 

[Redolegna]

The OAS was an actual thing in the Resistance I believe, as the one we all know and are deeply spooked by took its name as a 'haha you see algeria was vital to the survival of france so its actually you who is betraying france you sods' thing.

It was just the Armée Secrète, at the time. Which at least does not involve bad grammar because OAS actually needs a DE in there, it just also needs a L'.

Bad grammar and stealing the names of once-proud symbols of Frenchness: hobbies of the far-right, see also Front National.

 

[Mumby]

West Germany must be crapping itself right now. Also, I wonder if with France as a left wing but non Warsaw Pact nation, the Non Aligned Movement will be bigger TTL.

'hey tito what do you want to do tonight'

'the same thing we do every night tillon, TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD'

more seriously yes, that is the direction I expect France would go in and with a Great Power behind the Non-Aligned Movement and no doubt patron of independence movements against the Pucheu Regime, it would probably be bigger.

Germany is probably in a pretty different structure ITTL. There would be no French Occupation Zones for starters, as France would be under the AMGOT. So possibly there is more of a Roosevelt-Churchill thing of 'lets just chop Germany into bits and call it a day'. France might still get the Saarland though and is no doubt an Autonomous Department or something under Tillon.

 

[Mumby]

It was just the Armée Secrète, at the time. Which at least does not involve bad grammar because OAS actually needs a DE in there, it just also needs a L'.

Bad grammar and stealing the names of once-proud symbols of Frenchness: hobbies of the far-right, see also Front National.

Ahhh that would be the cause of my confusion, I am a silly boi.

Pierre Villon took the place Charles Tillon in my earlier drafts.

 

[Knightmare]

Germany is probably in a pretty different structure ITTL. There would be no French Occupation Zones for starters, as France would be under the AMGOT. So possibly there is more of a Roosevelt-Churchill thing of 'lets just chop Germany into bits and call it a day'. France might still get the Saarland though and is no doubt an Autonomous Department or something under Tillon.

I dunno, chopping Germany up would not go well, at all.