Vichy France

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French State État français (French)
1940–1944[1]
Flag Cartouche
Motto: "Travail, Famille, Patrie" ("Work, Family, Fatherland")
Anthem:  "La Marseillaise" (official)[2] "Maréchal, nous voilà !" (unofficial)[3] ("Marshal, here we are!")
The French State in 1942:   Vichy France   German military occupation zone   French protectorates
The gradual loss of all Vichy territory to Free France and the Allied powers
Status	State under partial occupation (1940–1942) Fully occupied by Germany (1942–1944) Government-in-exile (1944–1945)
Capital	Vichy (de facto administrative) Paris (constitutional)
Capital-in-exile	Sigmaringen
Common languages	French
Government	Authoritarian dictatorship
Chief of State
• 1940–1944	Philippe Pétain
Chief of the Government
• 1940–1942	Philippe Pétain
• 1942–1944	Pierre Laval
Vice-Presidents of the Council of Ministers
• 1940	Pierre Laval
• 1940–1941	P.É. Flandin
• 1941–1942	François Darlan
Legislature	National Assembly
Historical era	World War II
• Second Compiègne	22 June 1940
• Pétain given full powers	10 July 1940
• Operation Torch	8 November 1942
• Case Anton	11 November 1942
• German retreat	Summer 1944
• Vichy laws repealed	9 August 1944[1]
• Capture of the Sigmaringen enclave	22 April 1945
Currency	French franc
Preceded by Succeeded by French Third Republic 1940: German military administration 1942: German military administration Italian military administration 1944: French Government Commission for the Defense of National Interests Provisional Government of the French Republic
Paris remained the de jure capital of the French State, although the Vichy government never operated from there. Although the French Republic's institutions were officially maintained, the word "Republic" never occurred in any official document of the Vichy government.

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Vichy France (French: Régime de Vichy, lit. 'Vichy regime'; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State (État français), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against Germany. It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy.

Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under the harsh terms of the 1940 armistice with Nazi Germany, it adopted a policy of collaboration. Though Paris was nominally its capital, the government established itself in Vichy in the unoccupied "free zone" (zone libre).^[4] The occupation of France by Germany at first affected only the northern and western portions of the country. In November 1942, the Allies occupied French North Africa, and in response the Germans and Italians occupied the entirety of Metropolitan France, ending any pretence of independence by the Vichy government.

On 10 May 1940, France was invaded by Nazi Germany. Paul Reynaud resigned as prime minister rather than sign an armistice, and was replaced by Marshal Philippe Pétain, a hero of World War I. Shortly thereafter, Pétain signed the Armistice of 22 June 1940. At Vichy, Pétain established an authoritarian government that reversed many liberal policies and began tight supervision of the economy. Conservative Catholics became prominent. The media were tightly controlled and promoted antisemitism and, after Operation Barbarossa started in June 1941, anti-Sovietism. The terms of the armistice allowed some degree of independence; France was officially declared a neutral country, and the Vichy government kept the French Navy and French colonial empire under French control, avoiding full occupation of the country by Germany. Despite heavy pressure, the Vichy government never joined the Axis powers.

In October 1940, during a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Montoire-sur-le-Loir, Pétain officially announced the policy of collaboration with Germany whilst maintaining overall neutrality in the war.^[5] The Vichy government believed that with its policy of collaboration, it could have extracted significant concessions from Germany and avoided harsh terms in the peace treaty.^[5] Germany kept two million French prisoners-of-war and imposed forced labour on young Frenchmen. (The Vichy government tried to negotiate with Germany for the early release of the French prisoners of war.)^[6] French soldiers were kept hostage to ensure that Vichy would reduce its military forces and pay a heavy tribute in gold, food, and supplies to Germany. French police were ordered to round up Jews and other "undesirables", and at least 72,500 French Jews were killed in Nazi concentration camps.^[7] Most of the French public initially supported the regime, but opinion turned against the Vichy government and the occupying German forces as the war dragged on and living conditions in France worsened. The French Resistance, working largely in concert with the London-based Free France movement, increased in strength over the course of the occupation.

After the liberation of France began in 1944, the Free French Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) was installed as the new national government, led by Charles de Gaulle. The last of the Vichy exiles were captured in the Sigmaringen enclave in April 1945. Pétain was tried for treason by the new Provisional Government and sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment by de Gaulle. Only four senior Vichy officials were tried for crimes against humanity, although many had participated in the deportation of Jews, abuses of prisoners, and severe acts against members of the Resistance.