Posted on 02/15/2016 10:57:40 AM PST by sparklite2
In August 1944, Gen. Charles de Gaulle thrilled a Parisian crowd by declaring, "Paris liberated! Liberated by its own efforts, liberated by its people with the help of the armies of France, with the help of all France, that is France in combat. The one France, the true France, eternal France!"
As historian Robert Gildea scathingly documents, seldom has so much nonsense and misinformation been crammed into one oration. But de Gaulle piled lie atop lie with a reason. He laid the foundation for a myth that permeates France to this day: that the country freed itself of German occupation on its own, without the aid of any other power. Doing so "duly allowed France to reclaim its identity as the country of liberty and the rights of man."
Mr. Gildea, a professor at Oxford University, explores the origins of the myth through a meticulous exploration of the evidence, and his book documents an entirely different France than that extolled by de Gaulle.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Gallic Ping.
And I don't blame de Gaulle one bit for saying what he did. He was speaking as a French patriot, not as some impartial historian.
Much of the Resistance were Communists, who were more loyal to Stalin than to La France.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrow_and_the_Pity
The Resistance?
Smaller than people think, and mostly rejects, whackos and the homeless who had NOTHING to lose.
Most people just went with the flow.
One of the really effective but little-heralded resistance organizations was the Dutch.
But strangely, Holland also had one of the highest per-capita incidences of participation in the Waffen SS.
Good against the Reich, and good for them, both —very weird.
The Polish Underground was also very active.
There was a fantastic series about them on Polish Television called “Time of Honor” (Czas Honoru)
Subtitled, of course.
Thanks for the information.
Have you ever watch the BBC comedy series “’Allo ‘Allo”? It is set in a fictitious French village during the occupation and many of the misadventures involve the local Resistance organizations (one Communist and one De Gaullist).
Further proof of the veracity of the report on the old classified ad: French rifle for sale, never fired, dropped once.
BAM! There it is.
From my reading, I have to agree with whoever it was who said that, if every Frenchman (and Frenchwoman) who, after the war, stated that they were a member of the resistance, the total would have equaled or exceeded the entire population of France.
Well, it is a series with a sizeable story arc, so you pretty much have to watch it from the first episode rather then “hop in” later in the series. Otherwise, you miss a good deal of the foundation for some of the ongoing gags.
If 10% of those who say they were in the resistance actually were, they would never have turned over their country to Hitler and Petsin without a fight.
To this day,many French still believe the would have won the war without the US and Britain.
Thanks for the ping. Another French myth debunked. de Gaulle was a true patriot, a true leader. At least he did something, and was a true leader while others stood around and watched silently as the Nazis marched up the Champs Elysées.
Side note to the vaunted French Resistance
November27, 1942, French fleet at Toulon scuttled
Once again France and her soldiers and sailors were ill served by her aristocratic officer corps.
French Admiral de LaBorde’s stiff backed dithering in having the remaining French fleet breakout of Toulon harbor allowed German forces to take control, locking the French in.
Scuttling charges had been placed before the brief battle and were set off once the loss was inevitable. They succeeded.
The French destroyed 77 vessels, including 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 15 destroyers, and 13 torpedo boats. Five submarines managed to get underway, with three reaching North Africa, one Spain, and the last forced to scuttle at the mouth of the harbor. The surface ship Leonor Fresnel also escaped. While Charles de Gaulle and the Free French severely criticized the action, stating that the fleet should have tried to escape, the scuttling prevented the ships from falling into Axis hands.
That pathetic excuse tried to gloss over critical loss of vital naval assets that could have been instrumental in controlling the Mediterranean and strangling the supply chain to German Forces in North Africa.
Admiral LaBorde was tried for treason after the war, found guilty and sentenced to death, latee commuted to life.
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