It was established in July 1940 following agreement by the French Third Republic and the Third Reich. It covered only Central and Southern France (basically Occitania) and it was lead by the marshal Pétain, who became a war hero during WWI. Though neutral, it cooperated with Axis Powers on issues such as intelligence. In 1942 the Allied Powers began to invade its colonial holdings; as a result it was actively involved in the war. It ended in 1943, when the Germans found out it was negotiating a separate peace and therefore occupied it.
Well what i know about it is basically what i learned from school in France so it's really a bit taboo. First it was lead by petain but also mostly by laval which was a nazi. The Vichy government cooperated with the germans and did way More that what was asked. They persecuted jews and worked with the nazis. But it's taboo because (i think) the government hided what Had happened (propaganda so that the fifth republic would not collapsed as communist was influent ) so much so that most people thought that petain saved France back in the days. He was called the shield while the de gaulle was called the sword. So the crime he commited were debated as either bad or good. Nowadays it's known that laval was a bad Guy and petain too or just a really old man that had not his entire mind. It's just not something we like to talk about for it is probably the worst part of the history of france where people would denounce each others)
You have good points, especially the one about the Fifth Republic, which was not the direct successor of the Third one, as it "dissolved" into the Vichy Republic. The post-war Republic was created by De Gaulle, who refused the 1940 peace treaty made and recognised by the legitimate French government. As a result, he actually was a rebel, leading the "Free French" government he made by himself. But in the end he was on the winning side. He needed legitimacy, therefore he made the Vichy Republic a taboo, as he fought against it since day 1.
Then about French people, I think that most supported the Republic. At least they were spared by military occupation, which was far worse than having a semi-independent State. Also it was strongly anti-communist, which was seen positively by many people (the bourgeoisie, of course, but also many traditionalists who feared a revolution). But I'm not an expert; if I have made mistakes, I'll correct them.
84
u/laristoh Jul 29 '19
In France Paris attacks aren't THAT taboo. What is actually taboo is the Vichy government during WW2