What if Darlan is not in Algiers on Nov 8

On 7 November 1942, just before the beginning of Torch, Darlan went to Algiers to visit his son, who was hospitalised after a severe attack of polio.

Lets say the polio attack occurs later and Darlan is not in Algiers but in Vichy and is issuing orders to resist. How does this change politics of Torch.

Do the French resist longer?
Do the Germans delay operation Attilla?
What French leader is in then charge Of NorthWest Africa?
Does this change the French reaction of General Barre in Tunisia?
 
On 7 November 1942, just before the beginning of Torch, Darlan went to Algiers to visit his son, who was hospitalised after a severe attack of polio.

Lets say the polio attack occurs later and Darlan is not in Algiers but in Vichy and is issuing orders to resist. How does this change politics of Torch.

Do the French resist longer?
Do the Germans delay operation Attilla?
What French leader is in then charge Of NorthWest Africa?
Does this change the French reaction of General Barre in Tunisia?

Without Darlan the resistance by Vichy troops would last a few days longer but that's all. I believe the plan was for Henri Giraud to take over the French forces after the dust settled but that didn't work out.

As for General Barre in Tunisia I am not sure what difference it would have made for Darlan to be in Algiers or Toulon.

IMO having Darlan around was a negative. He polluted the Allied mission by forcing them to make deals with a collaborationist who maintained the Vichy administration.

I think his assassination was probably welcomed by everyone except his family.
 
Lets say the polio attack occurs later and Darlan is not in Algiers but in Vichy and is issuing orders to resist.
Let's not forget that Darlan was not issuing orders in Vichy since Laval's return in April 1942. True, he kept the title of commander of the French armed forces, but he had no real power.

I think his assassination was probably welcomed by everyone except his family.
I agree 100%
 

Hendryk

Banned
I think it would change surprisingly little. Darlan's stint as Number Two in the Vichy regime had destroyed his credibility with the Allies, to say nothing of the Free French, and even his command of the armed forces was mostly nominal. In some ATL perhaps counterfactual historians are discussing what might have happened if, by some fluke, Darlan had been in Algiers when the Allies showed up, and wonder whether he might have, say, saved the French navy by giving the order to sail before the Germans could occupy Toulon. We, unfortunately, know the answer: Darlan did give the order and it didn't change a thing. The navy stayed at anchor and simply scuttled itself when the Germans arrived.
 
I think it would change surprisingly little. Darlan's stint as Number Two in the Vichy regime had destroyed his credibility with the Allies, to say nothing of the Free French, and even his command of the armed forces was mostly nominal. In some ATL perhaps counterfactual historians are discussing what might have happened if, by some fluke, Darlan had been in Algiers when the Allies showed up, and wonder whether he might have, say, saved the French navy by giving the order to sail before the Germans could occupy Toulon. We, unfortunately, know the answer: Darlan did give the order and it didn't change a thing. The navy stayed at anchor and simply scuttled itself when the Germans arrived.

I disagree, I think Darlan's presence in Vichy has the potential to change a good number of things.

To begin with Darlan's presence in Algiers delayed negotiations surrounding the surrender of the Vichy French forces. in England's Last War With France Colin Smith provides a fairly accurate description of the negotiations that preceded Operation Torch as General Mark Clark attempted to negotiate with General Alphonse Juin and Admiral Darlan. Smith states that Juin was quite favorable to surrendering to the Allies but was dissuaded from following those inclinations due to the presence of Darlan and the latter's determination to secure a better position for himself. With Darlan not there, I think there's a strong chance that Juin will take advantage of the changing tides in the war and throw his lot in with the Allied powers sooner rather than later than OTL.

On the other side of the Mediterranean, Darlan's presence in Vichy could very well lead to the successful defection of the French Navy. The French navy was Darlan's own personal fief after all, the Vichy French fleet even more so. When Darlan gave the order in OTL most of the French navy doubted it's veracity and so dithered and scuttled the fleet thinking that he made it under duress. Had Darlan managed to get to Toulon, I think there's a very real chance he could've motivated the Vichy French Navy to escape to North Africa.

Once he arrives in Africa however...things get a hell of a lot more complicated!
 
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