Government of Vichy France

The Government of Vichy France was the collaborationist ruling regime or government in Nazi-occupied France during the Second World War. Of contested legitimacy, it was headquartered in the town of Vichy in occupied France, but it initially took shape in Paris under Marshal Philippe Pétain as the successor to the French Third Republic in June 1940. The government remained in Vichy for four years, but fled to Germany in September 1944 after the Allied invasion of France. It operated as a government-in-exile until April 1945, when the Sigmaringen enclave was taken by Free French forces. Pétain was brought back to France, by then under control of the Provisional French Republic, and put on trial for treason.

French State
État français (French)
1940–1944
Cartouche
Motto: "Travail, Famille, Patrie"
("Work, Family, Fatherland")
Anthem: 
"La Marseillaise" (official)

"Maréchal, nous voilà !" (unofficial)
("Marshal, here we are!")
The French State in 1942:
  •   Unoccupied zone
  •   German military occupation zone
  •   French protectorates
The gradual loss of all Vichy territory to Free France and the Allied powers
Status
  • Independent 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-exileSigmaringen
Common languagesFrench
GovernmentProvisional republic under a collaborationist authoritarian dictatorship
Chief of State 
 1940–1944
Philippe Pétain
Prime Minister 
 1940–1942
Philippe Pétain
 1940 (acting)
Pierre Laval
 1940–1941 (acting)
P.É. Flandin
 1941–1942 (acting)
François Darlan
 1942–1944
Pierre Laval
LegislatureNational Assembly
Historical eraWorld War II
22 June 1940
 Pétain given full powers
10 July 1940
 Operation Torch
8 November 1942
11 November 1942
 German retreat
Summer 1944
 Vichy laws repealed
9 August 1944
 Capture of the Sigmaringen enclave
22 April 1945
CurrencyFrench franc
Preceded by
Succeeded by
French Third
Republic
[[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|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
  1. Paris remained the de jure capital of the French State, although the Vichy government never operated from there.
  2. 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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