With a POD in 1940 (I don't think it matters), make an enduring space program by the French that is about a human suborbital spaceflight program. Actual orbital spaceflight will be awesome, but I'll try this first.
The 4 October 2007 is National holiday in France with 50 year of celebration first human in Space.
Louis Simonet historical fight on board a R-3 (Mach 3 reconnaissance version of Super V-2)
is for to Day Standart only a Suborbital Flight, but it chance the World forever.
Background: France Super V-2 Program.
The French Fourth Republic was established after World War II
the new President Charles de Gaulle gave Order for Develpoment of the Atombomb and Carrier system like V-2 Rocket
over thirty German engineers for this purpose "recruited" and parts for 30 V-2 rockets were "collected" Germany !
from 1946 to 1952 the German workt in L.R.B.A by Vernon on developed french version of German A9, called project 4211.
1950 a Technical Demonstator "Veronique" Launch
1952 the First version the R-1 made Test launch in Algeria
beating the French project 4212 "EOLE" (explode on Launchs pad)
because project 4212 fiasco the French Military gave order to stop R-2 Version (a V-2 with liquid oxygen and kerosene)
and use only Propellants nitric acid and kerosene Rockets
to 1955 L.R.B.A developed the R-2M
wingt A9 with Solid Rocket Booster on both sides and a Ramjet engine.
the L.R.B.A Management proposed the french President
to use a modified R-2M (bigger Booster and Veronique as Upper stage)
for the Launch of the First Satellite
the french President take that opportunity happly. in case the Test of first French Atombomb fails. and trouble in French Indochina...
so End The Year of 1955 with two Bangs
The First Satellite "Veronique" Singing the national anthem "La Marseillaise" from Tape.
And the Ka-boom on Reggane testside making Fench to Nuklear Power.
the Reaction of USA, USSR, England, Germany was Almost Histerical
Nikita Khrushchev reacted furiously on news French could attack USSR with Atomic wapons in 3 Minutes!
The USA and USSR start Fast program to launch There Satellite
ending both ending in disaster in 1956
because Veronique, President Eisenhower lost the election 1956 against Democrat Adlai Stevenson II
until 1957 France start next surprise the R-3 A Manned reconnaissance Rocket with Mach 3 powered by ramjet after Launch.
the unmanned Test Launch on 4 august 1957 brought the R-3 on high of 90 Km.
on 4 October second R-3 was launch with Louis Simonet on board, to high to 102 km and speed of Mach 3.
Source on real Super V-2 Program
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/superv2.htm
During the Cold War the French space program was the most developed after the American and Soviet ones. Diamant was the first space launch vehicle not built by the superpowers, and Astérix was the first satellite launched on a non-superpower rocket. The French also launched cats and monkeys into space and (absent malfunction) safely recovered them from orbit. They continue to be one of the largest contributors to the European Space Agency and have the fourth largest space program in the world (after the ESA), and the French firm Arianespace builds the Ariane rocket, one of the most successful commercial rockets in the world. The French also do quite well in other areas of aerospace. Airbus and Dassault build aircraft, SNECMA builds engines, and Thales builds electronics. They even have Areva and the highly developed French nuclear power and recycling industry if they want to do anything nuclear related with their space program. When it comes to the technological, scientific, and physical components of a space program, they can do anything the Americans, PRC, and Soviets/Russians can do.
The bigger issue is funding, as the French don't have an economy nearly as large as those other nations (except the pre-1990s PRC). I think the larger issue is if France can afford a space program and if they would actually go ahead with it. In some respects the British historically went to greater lengths with their vanity projects than the French until the economic reality hit them around the mid to late 1960s. France may have been losing their empire during the Cold War, but economically they were rising while the United Kingdom was falling. I can't find the statistics, but I think the French were also doing fairly well in terms of debt and deficits, so they could spend more without having to worry about a currency or debt crisis.
The bigger issue is why the French would want to do something as expensive as a manned space program. As much as France desired prestige, all of their prestige projects were calculated. They built a large fleet in the 1950s and 1960s, but they didn't have a large fleet going into World War II and certainly didn't have a wave of war surplus to ride on. The aerospace projects they did were largely import substitution, but flexible enough to sell well in many countries or required for France's nuclear deterrent (which was also useful for maintaining France's standing relative to the British and defending against threats to the East). The Hermes program of the 1970s would have put French astronauts in space and was supposed to help industry, but I think even that was a prestige program aimed at building a European (or Continental/French) alternative to the American and Soviet programs. The British couldn't justify it even for prestige reasons (prestige takes second place to real economic and defense necessities), but the French could. A Western European didn't even go into space until Jean-Loup Chrétien did in 1982, so it gives the France the equivalent of a nice car they can drive their friends around in.
In short, this is totally something France can physically and fiscally accomplish, and it would fit with French diplomacy in the Cold War. After the Cold War it starts to require more of an economic basis. Even during the Space Shuttle era with Western astronauts able to fly with the United States, there would still be room within French policy for a minishuttle.