WI: no Free France

The thing is, its basically impossible not to have a Free France.... and there are inevitably going to be certain colonies which have to defect to the British, because their position is untenable otherwise...

I don't know that that is inevitable. There were French colonies in what should have been "untenable" positions which remained loyal to Vichy until after TORCH: the Caribbean colonies, St. Pierre and Miquelon... Somaliland, Réunion, Madagascar, and Indochina don't seem very tenable.

The only French colonies which are certainly "untenable" for Vichy are the French posts in India, and that's not enough to launch "Free France". Nor, IMO are New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

However, there are a lot of French soldiers and sailors in British territory - some of the troops evacuated from Dunkirk, the crews of interned warships. Britain may try to recruit some of these for a "Free French Army", with minimal success I'd think. So no "Free France" there either.

What could happen later on: OTL, in 1942 a secret faction formed in French North Africa. The goal of this group was to seize power in FNA at the time of Allied invasion, so there would be no resistance, and then be recognized by the Allies as the government of France (since Algeria was legally part of France), with lots of political and financial benefits. This failed: the group was not strong enough to gain complete control, and the Allies recognized Darlan instead. and De Gaulle insisted on Free France sharing power after Darlan was assassinated.

ATL, Britain and then the US will be much more interested in such groups or plots. Supposing TORCH roughly as OTL, that FNA faction would have undisputed Allied support, with no conflicting claims from "Free France".

OTOH, Communist efforts to organize and lead resistance in mainland France will also have less competition. The "France" recognized by the Allies in FNA will have no presence in mainland France, and will be playing catch-up in this area. The Communists may try to exclude the FNA group from any participation as mere ex-Vichyite opportunists. Post-liberation, there could be open conflict, similar to Greece (though probably not as flagrant). This could have consequences for post-war French political life.
 
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St. Pierre and Miquelon.

Which in a no de Gaulle situation could have been Canada's version of the British occupation of the Faroe Islands, with the French administration still running as before but with the franc locally pegged to the Canadian dollar. (I'd much rather say Newfoundland's, but at the time Britain was running the place and thus could clear the way for the Canadians to take charge.)
 
I don't know that that is inevitable. There were French colonies in what should have been "untenable" positions which remained loyal to Vichy until after TORCH: the Caribbean colonies, St. Pierre and Miquelon... Somaliland, Réunion, Madagascar, and Indochina don't seem very tenable.
All of those colonies were able to arrive at certain agreements with surrounding powers or were just large enough to be vaguely tenable on their own: the Caribbean colonies with the relatively benevolent United States, the Indian Ocean colonies were just large enough to be vaguely feasible, Somaliland was surrounded by the Italians, and Indochina very quickly fell under Japanese influence.

The only French colonies which are certainly "untenable" for Vichy are the French posts in India, and that's not enough to launch "Free France". Nor, IMO are New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
Why are they not? There were certainly smaller governments in exile. Free Luxembourg was a thing during the war after all. But most importantly is that it doesn't matter how small it is, the colonies have to be administrated by the French, or else the only people to administrate them is the British, and the British annexing them formally is going to play even further into Vichy and German propaganda. So those colonies, no matter how small, will be part of a "Free France", because propaganda wise and as far as the long term interests of the United Kingdom that is necessary. So from the very beginning there will be established a Free France, just one that is less charismatic and with even less independence than the original one.

However, there are a lot of French soldiers and sailors in British territory - some of the troops evacuated from Dunkirk, the crews of interned warships. Britain may try to recruit some of these for a "Free French Army", with minimal success I'd think. So no "Free France" there either.

What could happen later on: OTL, in 1942 a secret faction formed in French North Africa. The goal of this group was to seize power in FNA at the time of Allied invasion, so there would be no resistance, and then be recognized by the Allies as the government of France (since Algeria was legally part of France), with lots of political and financial benefits. This failed: the group was not strong enough to gain complete control, and the Allies recognized Darlan instead. and De Gaulle insisted on Free France sharing power after Darlan was assassinated.

ATL, Britain and then the US will be much more interested in such groups or plots. Supposing TORCH roughly as OTL, that FNA faction would have undisputed Allied support, with no conflicting claims from "Free France".
Sure, you can have a very different organization or the Free French politically. But fundamentally the Free French puppet organization will be formed quickly early on, just it will be powerless. And on the international scene, the effects will be fundamentally the same, for their contribution to the war effort will remain essentially identical. It is only really in the post-war years, leaving asides the potential butterfly of Bir Hakeim, that things start to change, with the absence of a legitimate and independent Free French movement in France and their political influence there. I think tat the comparison for the post-war political situation is going to be Italy, not Greece: no civil war, but a fragmented political scene, similar to the 4th Republic but with the Gaullist space being a vacuum that is exploited by the other political parties, and even more temporary instability in the post-war years.
 
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What could happen later on: OTL, in 1942 a secret faction formed in French North Africa. The goal of this group was to seize power in FNA at the time of Allied invasion, so there would be no resistance, and then be recognized by the Allies as the government of France (since Algeria was legally part of France), with lots of political and financial benefits. This failed: the group was not strong enough to gain complete control, and the Allies recognized Darlan instead. and De Gaulle insisted on Free France sharing power after Darlan was assassinated.

ATL, Britain and then the US will be much more interested in such groups or plots. Supposing TORCH roughly as OTL, that FNA faction would have undisputed Allied support, with no conflicting claims from "Free France".

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More the pity that groups was unsuccessful. A lack of French resistance in the early 72 hours could have got the Allies ashore much more cleanly, and put the Axis entry into Tunisia much closer to being stuff end by new years, vs April 1943. While the Loss of 200,000+ Axis soldiers in Tunisia was notable the trade off was a five month campaign over a strategic side show. Nearly worth the cost to the Axis for the delay it inflicted on the Allies. Clouds of butterflies are created with a PoD of French cooperation with the initial days of the TORCH operation.
 
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