The History of WWII Podcast XX
[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.
[2] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[3] What do they know?
[4] What are their skills?
[5] And what would you do in their position?
[6] Vengeance felt good seeing these.
[7] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.
[8] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
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[16] They have different plans, different prizes, whatever's best for you.
[17] But this time I'd like to recommend Freedom From Fear, The American People in Depression and War, 1929.
[18] Between 1929 and 1945, two great travails were visited upon the American people, the Great Depression and World War II.
[19] This Pulitzer Prize -winning history tells the story of how the Americans endured and eventually prevailed in the face of those unprecedented calamities.
[20] The Depression was both a disaster and an opportunity.
[21] As David Kennedy vividly demonstrates, the economic crisis of the 1930s was far more than a simple reaction to the alleged excesses of the 1920s.
[22] Hello, and thank you for listening to A History of World War II, Episode 36, The End.
[23] of the Third Republic.
[24] Although the U .N. ambassador, William Bullitt, had only recently caught up with the wandering French government, who now had a home in Vichy, he would find himself saying his goodbyes and leaving the country on July 3rd.
[25] Roosevelt was not happy with the direction the new government was heading, and so would remove his ambassador and personal friend.
[26] There was nothing more Bullitt's position, influence, or love of France could do at this point to help the Allies.
[27] Still, Pétain's government would be the new and legitimate government of the country, and as such, the U .S. as a neutral in the war was expected to have a representative there.
[28] Robert Murphy, the charge d 'affaires, would speak for Roosevelt from now on.
[29] However, this move would turn out to be a solid division of labor for the Allies.
[30] The U .S. would deal with Pétain and Vichy, the legitimate government, and Britain would deal with de Gaulle and the Free French.
[31] Operation Catapult had been successful, but it was a joyless victory.
[32] The deed done, Churchill spoke before the House of Commons on July 4th and, with profound sadness, told them of the necessary and bloody events of July 3rd.
[33] The sum total of the military action meant that Britain would be able to continue the fight, although alone.
[34] The Prime Minister did not hide his revulsion about what had occurred, but the world needed to see his resolve as well.
[35] When he was done speaking, the members all stood and cheered loudly.
[36] Was Operation Catapult a sad undertaking?
[37] Yes.
[38] Was it needed?
[39] Also yes.
[40] But that very combination bolstered the British people.
[41] Churchill later wrote, Here was this Britain, which so many had counted down and out, which strangers had supposed to be quivering on the brink of surrender, striking ruthlessly at her dearest friends of yesterday.
[42] It was plain that the British War Cabinet feared nothing and would stop at nothing.
[43] Throughout France, as word spread rapidly of the capture or destruction of the French fleet, the people, government, and military of Germany's latest victim united in their hatred of Great Britain.
[44] Like the coming attack on Pearl Harbor, the assault removed any lingering opposition to the government.
[45] Bétain now had the majority of the French people behind him.
[46] Also, a large number of people were willing to support him if he chose to declare war on Great Britain.
[47] At 8 .30 a .m. of July 4th, Badeau found Laval and Darlan in Pétain's office howling for British blood.
[48] Admiral Darlan was shocked the British did not believe him when he declared many times that he had ordered that no ship allow itself to be captured.
[49] So now he ordered a counter -naval attack.
[50] A cruiser squadron had left Oran and was to engage Admiral Somerville's squadron, heading back to Gibraltar.
[51] Badeau excitedly pointed out that this action meant war with Britain, something France was hardly in the position to undertake.
[52] Laval, taking his cue from Bétain, said, France was only responding to the attack with an attack of its own.
[53] The conversation then turned into a hotly contested debate.
[54] But when the cabinet met officially at 10 a .m. that morning, the idea of actually voting on some sort of military action seemed to cool their passions.
[55] No military action was officially decided on.
[56] But two days later, Darlon would cause another stir in the cabinet as he announced he had asked the Italians to join him on an assault on British -controlled Alexandria to free some of the French fleet.
[57] He also wanted to attack the British colony of Sierra Leone and bomb Gibraltar.
[58] But again, calmer heads prevailed in striking down the idea of military reprisal, except the attack on Gibraltar.
[59] In September, it would be bombed by a few French planes, but caused very little damage.
[60] So the July 4th cabinet meeting was able to move beyond plans of retaliation by accepting Badeau's proposal that, in lieu of military action, they would break off diplomatic relations with Great Britain.
[61] Pétain accepted this.
[62] Laval barely agreed, but only because he was within reach of his heart's content, and had to focus on that, the destruction of the French Republic.
[63] The British attack united the French behind Pétain's government, and Laval would use that.
[64] The French people were open, even eager, to accept whatever Pétain's government morphed into.
[65] and Laval, working with Albert, would control the final form of the new French government.
[66] With that issue behind them, Laval stood up and read out a document that he and Albert had drawn up and Pétain had approved on July 2nd.
[67] It called for the National Assembly to meet on July 10th to abolish the 1875 Constitution of the Third Republic.
[68] There was only one article.
[69] Quote, under the signature and authority of Marshal Pétain, president of the council, to promulgate by one or several acts the new constitution of the French state.
[70] This constitution will guarantee the rights of work, of family, and of the country.
[71] It will be ratified by the assembly, which it will set up.
[72] But before any cabinet member could say anything or start a debate, President Lebrun excused himself and left.
[73] Of course, without the president there to preside, any discussion was pointless and unofficial.
[74] He apologized but told them he had to visit with the senators.
[75] But when he was alone with that body, he simply told them, Parliament must be dissolved.
[76] The Constitution must be reformed.
[77] It must align itself with the totalitarian states.
[78] If Parliament does not consent to it, Germany will impose it on us, with the immediate consequence of an occupation of all of France.
[79] The senators, stunned, did not utter a word.
[80] The battle for the very life of the French Republic had started.
[81] Laval had a small but determined group of supporters in Parliament.
[82] His opponents, the Republicans, were clearly in the majority, but had no leadership.
[83] Or rather, their leaders were being purposefully detained in North Africa.
[84] And former Premier Renault was recovering from a serious auto accident.
[85] As for the presidents of the two chambers...
[86] morally strong men with distinguished careers of protecting the Republic.
[87] They were shouting to the skies that Pétain was the only hope for France.
[88] Laval would not get resistance from them.
[89] President Lebrun did nothing to save himself or his office, so Laval expected no resistance from him.
[90] Still, battle had been joined and the clock was now set.
[91] Laval had six days to convince these 700 -odd members of Parliament to commit political suicide.
[92] and embrace a dictatorship.
[93] During those last few days of the Republic, Laval was a force of nature in achieving his revenge against the Republic that had shunned him for the last four years.
[94] He seemed to be everywhere at once talking to everyone, but there was resistance and it started to build on July 5th when some of the parliamentarians shook off their dazed manner and reacted with instinctive self -preservation.
[95] About 25 senators ready to fight for the Republic.
[96] were led by two of their own, and they were decorated war veterans.
[97] As in battle, they drew up their order of the day, their plan to stop Laval.
[98] They were firmly behind Pétain's desire to restore the remainder of France, but they thought it should be done within a Republican framework.
[99] Honestly, they were hoping to slip in between Pétain and Laval, but the latter and his colleague Albert were prepared.
[100] The war veterans were currently the only serious challenge before Laval, and he and Pétain tried to deal with him subtly by continuously putting off their scene, Pétain, and this worked until the evening of July 6th.
[101] He tried to charm them one more time before they saw the marshal, but failed.
[102] They got their chance to put their grievances before the new leader.
[103] Coming up empty there, Laval moved on to the deputies of the chamber, but they were ready to resist Laval as well.
[104] Their argument was, the Republic did not lose the war.
[105] Men did.
[106] Don't blame the Republican government.
[107] But Laval was just waiting for this salvo.
[108] His plan was the tried and true method of saying, my evil is not only necessary, but it is nothing compared to the bigger evil over there.
[109] The other evil was General Vega.
[110] Laval let out that Vega planned on using his troops to set up his own dictatorship.
[111] So whom would they rather have in power?
[112] Pétain?
[113] or Vega.
[114] Laval circulated a quote of Vega's about his plan.
[115] Whether it is true or not is irrelevant.
[116] Besides, he would argue for the next few days, hadn't they witnessed, like everyone else, the republics battling the national socialist state?
[117] And who had won?
[118] Who was clearly the stronger?
[119] Who should be emulated?
[120] Then Laval hit upon the idea that when anyone gave a decent speech against him, He replied with a seemingly transparent but somehow successful argument that the time for speeches was over.
[121] It was time for action.
[122] Of course, that didn't apply when he was speaking.
[123] Quote, You made a beautiful speech, but do you think we still have time to listen to speeches?
[124] You're wrong.
[125] We're finished with speeches.
[126] We have to rebuild France.
[127] But the resistance was there.
[128] So he switched the focus of his argument by attacking Britain.
[129] and how could anyone fight against that?
[130] It was his time, and he rode the wave of anti -British feeling, fear of the Germans, and hope for Pétain.
[131] His combined strategy started paying off.
[132] He found himself with unexpected support from the right and the left.
[133] The right was happy just to be rid of the Republic, but the left supported him as well, especially the socialists.
[134] One last attempt.
[135] worthy of Laval himself, which tried to forestall Pétain's twisted political architect.
[136] The few still opposed to this new France asked out loud, who would be the successor to the elderly Pétain?
[137] But Laval easily sidestepped this by saying, let Pétain pick if you trust him.
[138] Again, how could they argue against that?
[139] To be sure, Laval was honest about what he was going to do, if given the chance.
[140] But that is what would make his victory even sweeter, if he could pull it off.
[141] He was destroying the republic and manipulating them to vote for its death.
[142] He said, we are going to destroy the totality of what was.
[143] We are going to create something entirely different.
[144] Either you accept what we demand and align yourself with the German and Italian constitution, or Hitler will oppose it on you.
[145] Henceforth, there will be only one party, that of all the French.
[146] Keep in mind that the armistice said nothing about needing to change the government.
[147] This was simply a few men, for different reasons, working towards the same selfish goal of power.
[148] It was also an indication of the degree of France's self -pitying.
[149] By July 6, Laval had counted up the numerous agendas floating around Vichy.
[150] He quickly figured out he should not try to argue, push, or try to address all of those views at the same time.
[151] First he would deal with getting rid of the Parliamentary Republic, then deal with who would come after Pétain.
[152] And that was far more important to him than he let on.
[153] Laval spent the day in surprised but pleasant shock as he found most of the men in Parliament willing to give up their position in power.
[154] They were meeting him more than halfway.
[155] Staunch Republicans, who Laval had planned to meet in battle, fell over themselves of praise of Pétain and whatever Laval wanted.
[156] as Pétain's representative.
[157] First he met with the Senate and then with the chamber in informal sessions, but found the same thing each time.
[158] In the Senate, the staunchest Republicans couldn't support his plan and Pétain enough.
[159] The same thing occurred in the chamber.
[160] Laval's task was turning out to be far easier than he imagined.
[161] That evening, the senatorial war veterans finally met with Pétain.
[162] They had full faith in Pétain and wanted to give him power.
[163] but feared Laval's dictatorship.
[164] Pétain responded by saying he did not want to be a dictator, but only to control things until a peace settlement could be worked out with Germany.
[165] Then he would retire.
[166] In response to this, the senators then offered their support to make Pétain a dictator.
[167] Pétain was pleased.
[168] Now that's a proposition, he said.
[169] The next day, July 7th, the senators had come back with their promises in writing.
[170] Their proposal was revised to give Pétain the power he claimed to need to save France, until a piece was worked out with Germany.
[171] Pétain said he accepted it, but the senators had to run it by Laval.
[172] After all, he was the government's lawyer.
[173] So off went the satisfied men to the irksome Laval.
[174] He listened to them, read their proposal, and rejected it.
[175] He threatened them by saying if their proposal, or rather their counter -proposal to what he had offered, was voted in, he would resign, and there would be nothing between Vegard, his ambition, his troops, and themselves.
[176] This threat had worked amazingly well so far for Laval, so he stuck with it.
[177] Incomprehensively, no one even bothered to question Laval or his goals.
[178] The Senators went away in a gruff, but Laval was not worried about them.
[179] He had another enemy to deal with, and this one had teeth.
[180] Pierre Etienne Flanda, a former premier and foreign minister, was trying to make his return into public life.
[181] He had been on the outside looking in since 1936 and believed his moment had come.
[182] He offered himself up to those members of parliament who did not like Laval and bragged of his solid connections to the fascist countries to boot.
[183] Moreover, he was devoted to the republic.
[184] In a word, he offered the two chambers a way to keep the republic, but still put Pétain in charge.
[185] as the country clearly wanted.
[186] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[187] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit of bin Laden.
[188] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[189] What do they know?
[190] What are their skills?
[191] And what would you do in their position?
[192] Vengeance felt good seeing these.
[193] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.
[194] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[195] He suggested asking Lebron to resign and put Pétain in his place as president.
[196] One can't help but wonder why those with the power wanted this.
[197] The French president had not had real power for some time.
[198] It was the premier that could offer laws to be voted on.
[199] The president...
[200] like Hindenburg in his time, had the limited job of making sure people were in place to keep the government running.
[201] But Laval was shrewd and calculating.
[202] He used the very words out of Flandin's mouth to create a trap for this upstart.
[203] Laval pretended to be as happy as everyone else about Flandin returning with his ideas.
[204] Privately, he told Flandin that Pétain was ready to save the country.
[205] They just needed Lebrun to step aside.
[206] Maybe Flandon could use his newfound popularity to persuade the president to do just that.
[207] So, at 6 .30 p .m. that evening, Flandon went to Lebrun's office with two deputies and straightaway said to the president that he needed to step down for the good of the country.
[208] As Flandon had been out of touch for the last four years, he did not know Lebrun very well.
[209] The president did have many flaws.
[210] One of them was a weak will.
[211] But he was a Republican.
[212] He believed in the importance of his position and, frankly, enjoyed being the president of his beloved country.
[213] Le Bras was outraged by Flandin's demand, but he controlled his anger.
[214] He simply told Flandin, no, he would not desert his post.
[215] Flandin realized he had made a mistake and an enemy.
[216] In the end, Flandin did not have the needed anger Laval had to keep to his task during moments of opposition.
[217] His determination...
[218] began to slip.
[219] The following day, July 8th, Laval had heard about what happened at Le Bras' office and sensed that Flanda was weak.
[220] Now was the time to strike.
[221] Laval pretended sympathy for Flanda by offering him a post in the new government.
[222] In other words, if your plan fails, that's okay.
[223] I still have something for you.
[224] That day also saw Laval make significant progress in getting around other opposition.
[225] That morning at the cabinet meeting, A minister smugly asked Laval what he planned to do about the senatorial war veterans proposal.
[226] Laval, with his best smile and best lie, told the minister that the senators had withdrawn their proposal because he had worked out a deal with them.
[227] The cabinet minister, who believed Laval, had told some of his colleagues that now, obviously, any organized resistance was futile.
[228] So they would vote to make Laval's plan an official governmental proposal to be voted on.
[229] President Le Bras signed it without a word.
[230] And with that, the war veterans Flanda and Le Bras were behind Laval.
[231] It was now time for the National Assembly.
[232] Laval and the cabinet then made their way to the Grand Casino, the only building large enough to hold everyone.
[233] He then read the government resolution out loud to them for the first time.
[234] It was purposefully vague.
[235] Nonetheless, there was no doubt the Republic would disappear.
[236] Questions by the deputies quickly came Laval's way, but he dismissed them by saying, Parliamentary democracy lost the war.
[237] It must give away to a new regime, audacious, authoritarian, social, and national.
[238] This cowered some, but more questions were asked, and Laval responded by saying, yes, there would be some civilian power preserved, but if they did not vote the right way, they would end up with a military dictatorship, a Vega dictatorship.
[239] Was Vegard a part of this, or simply being used by Laval?
[240] The truth will never be known.
[241] Then Laval shared his goal with them in a moment of complete honesty.
[242] The new French model would be based on the German -Italian example.
[243] We have only one road to follow, and that is a loyal collaboration with Germany and Italy.
[244] We must practice it with honor and dignity, and I am not embarrassed to say so.
[245] I urged it during the days of peace.
[246] The questions kept coming.
[247] But there were fewer voices now, and besides, they found their inquiries howled down by the majority.
[248] Laval was unstoppable.
[249] At 9 p .m. that evening on the 8th, the last cabinet meeting presided over by President LeBras took place.
[250] Laval had won the day.
[251] Fortune favored his bold plan, and he was the only one to even talk at that meeting.
[252] He laid out for everyone what would happen and how it would happen.
[253] The Chamber of Deputies and then the Senate would meet separately the next day on July 9th and vote on the constitutional reforms.
[254] The following day, July 10th, the National Assembly, which was both houses sitting as one, would meet.
[255] But even this official public day of July 10th would be controlled by Laval.
[256] They would all meet in the morning secretly to cover any possible disagreements and iron them out.
[257] Only then would they meet in the open.
[258] In fact, the public meeting would have no debate, the issue being decided that morning.
[259] There would only be a vote, one that would unite the party and thereby the country.
[260] During this commandment from on high, no one said a word, asked a question, or resisted in any noticeable way.
[261] At 9 .30 a .m. on the morning of July 9th, the Chamber of Deputies met in the Grand Casino at Vichy.
[262] the Speaker of the Chamber, stood and opened the session.
[263] Some thought he would take this opportunity to offer resistance, or at the very least, to throw a monkey wrench into Laval's smooth -running machine.
[264] But no. He spoke of his support for putting their country in Pétain's hand.
[265] He asked everyone to approve the measure that they were about to vote on.
[266] It passed by a vote of 395 to 3.
[267] That afternoon, it was the Senate's turn.
[268] Genigny, the president of the Senate, outdid Ariel in praising Pétain and the need for this vote.
[269] If there had been any resistance, and it's doubtful that there was, Genigny's speech squelched it.
[270] But right before the vote, Senator Bavois Champoux said that he was personally sad to see the Republic being swept away.
[271] He braved all by saying, It is not without sadness that we shall bid adieu.
[272] to the Constitution of 1875.
[273] It made France a free country.
[274] It died less from its imperfections than from the fault of the men who were charged with guarding it and making it work.
[275] They then voted 229 to 1 to pass Laval's resolution.
[276] Tomorrow would be July 10th, the day of the final ceremony of the Republic.
[277] Laval told all, if they had something to say, by all means, say it during the secret meeting of the morning.
[278] But Pierre Laval had one more surprise for the bold over deputies and senators.
[279] Nothing could be left to chance.
[280] The next morning, as the deputies and senators made their way to the Grand Casino, they found themselves having to walk through a line of gendarmes and garde mobile, the latter with fixed bayonets, in order to enter the building.
[281] They soon found out that the gendarmes surrounded the entire structure.
[282] As if the armed men needed reinforcing, there, mixed in with their lot, were members of the anti -Republican terrorist Cagoule.
[283] Many had been released from prison a few months ago and were invited to attend, outside the main room, of course.
[284] Soon Laval entered the chamber, consumed with confidence.
[285] He foresaw little opposition.
[286] Perhaps Flandon had worked up some more nerve, or the tricked senatorial war veterans would stage a last -minute defiant act.
[287] But Laval was not overly concerned.
[288] This potential opposition did want Bétain in power.
[289] They just didn't want to lose the Republic.
[290] That small difference, to Laval anyway at least, would be overcome.
[291] The proceedings got underway, and soon a Senator Thorinine spoke up on behalf of the uncowered war veterans, who did not want to lose the Republic.
[292] But Laval was ready.
[293] He stated he was only doing what Bétain had asked him to do.
[294] To prove it, he then pulled out a letter that the marshal had written to him on July 7th, only three days ago.
[295] It read, The constitutional project of the government over which I preside will come before the assemblies July 9th and 10th.
[296] As it is difficult for me to participate in the meetings, I ask you to represent me. The voting of the governmental project submitted to the National Assembly appears to me to be necessary for the salvation of the country.
[297] And because almost every man in the room had spent the last few days or weeks praising Pétain as the only hope for France, how could they now attack his plan to save their country?
[298] The game was over.
[299] Levant then launched into the greatest speech of his career.
[300] One reason for the speech was to chew up as much time as he could in the session to avoid any more debate.
[301] But another reason, perhaps the stronger one, was that Levant knew he had won, and this was his moment.
[302] He spoke of the Republic that had kept him out of power for years.
[303] The response was applause.
[304] He said the greatest crime was the declared war.
[305] More applause.
[306] Without having to be prepared, there were more applause.
[307] Either diplomatically, they interrupted him with applause.
[308] Listen to me, he continued.
[309] I speak without passion, but you well know we did not know why we were fighting.
[310] Some cried, for England.
[311] Applause drowned out all other sound.
[312] When things calmed down enough, but just barely enough, he brought out the French Republic's foreign policy mistakes over Austria, Czechoslovakia, Danzig, and then Poland.
[313] And France found herself in the war.
[314] He said the republics took on the dictators and lost.
[315] The consequences are what you see here.
[316] And the conclusion is the strength of the National Socialists versus the weakness of the republics.
[317] Then he moved on to Britain.
[318] His anger only grew.
[319] Be assured, we do not intend to declare war on England, but we are going to return blow for blow.
[320] More applause.
[321] I'm going to give you the facts.
[322] England dragged us into war.
[323] Then having dragged us in, she did nothing to help us win it.
[324] More applause.
[325] We were considered as her mercenaries.
[326] And of course, this led up to Mayors El Kabir.
[327] It was not a battle which His Majesty's Navy gave us.
[328] It was murder.
[329] Stronger applause.
[330] He then talked of how he had tried, although he was out of office, to line up France with Germany and Italy.
[331] He then spoke of the dictator's ability to restore love of country.
[332] He had the members as an audience where he wanted them.
[333] It was now time to assure each individual of his own place in France's future.
[334] He gave them peace of mind by confirming that the assemblies would exist until the new assemblies were created.
[335] But this was a lie.
[336] Laval sat down to thunderous applause, and it's easy enough to say thunderous applause, but the overwhelming, overpowering sound of acceptance is one of the sweetest pieces of music to the year.
[337] However, there was a little time left, and Flanda stood up.
[338] Some still pinned their hopes on him, but Flanda was not the man of destiny.
[339] Much like President Lebron, he could not charge into the fray, take punishing blows, and keep charging forward.
[340] Such was not his character.
[341] Instead, Flandin spoke of the greatness of Pétain, challenged Laval on one minor point in his speech, but then urged everyone to support the governmental proposal.
[342] Laval did not even try to hide his joy of complete victory and revenge.
[343] Then cries of, close the debate, rang out.
[344] But before letting them go, Laval reminded them that besides all the reasons he had given for the change in the French government, the main reason was that by emulating Germany and Italy, the French were hopeful that this national change would aid them greatly when peace talks were held.
[345] Of course, Hitler had no intention of concluding anything past an armistice.
[346] But certainly, France could be forgiving for thinking so.
[347] So at noon of that day, July 10th.
[348] The assembly adjourned until 2 p .m. They all went to lunch in one of the many beautiful restaurants in the city.
[349] This bringing low of a French republic had been far easier than Laval initially thought it would be.
[350] There was no bloodshed, but there would be a little violence.
[351] Mostly, it was just fear and guile.
[352] At 2 p .m., the National Assembly reconvened for the public session.
[353] Jeannine, the president of the Senate, read out the government resolution.
[354] The National Assembly gives all powers to the government of the Republic under the authority and signature of Marshal Pétain to promulgate by one or several acts a new constitution of the French state.
[355] This constitution will guarantee the rights of work, family, and country.
[356] It will be ratified by the nation and applied by the assemblies which it will create.
[357] So, the resolution gave Pétain the power to draw up a new constitution, but nothing more.
[358] He could not input his details or ideas, but simply to preside over the act of creating a new framework of government.
[359] But Laval would waste no time in creating Pétain's power.
[360] Before there could be any more forward movement of the session, Ariel demanded the right to read a statement from those ministers still trapped in North Africa.
[361] Laval was smart enough to let the statement be read.
[362] Refusing it would give it life.
[363] but letting the detained men vent their frustration promised it a quick death.
[364] The assembly was simply not in the mood to really hear what was said, and so it came to nothing.
[365] Laval quickly got on with his business of the day.
[366] First, he had a senator put forward the motion that to approve the proposal, all that was needed was a majority of the votes of the deputies in attendance, and not of the total number.
[367] This was a shrewd move as there were about 200 deputies missing, including those in North Africa.
[368] Janani tried to rule against this as a passive way to stop the entire vote, but the motion was quickly voted on and approved.
[369] It seemed sheer volume negated due process.
[370] The next motion, and this was a stroke of genius in its simplicity, was to call for the governmental proposal to be voted on first, ahead of the war veterans' counter -proposal, and another second counterproposal.
[371] If the governmental proposal passed, the other two bills would not even be voted on, as they would be negated.
[372] This was another highly irregular proposal, but the Assembly, in its current mood, approved it.
[373] So the governmental proposal was sent to a committee to be voted on before it could be put to the full Assembly.
[374] This was merely a formality and should have been straightforward and quick.
[375] However, while the committee was alone, Laval had put in the proposal a demand that Beton, besides giving the power to make a new constitution, would have all executive and all legislative powers to govern the country.
[376] But here's the trick.
[377] Laval wanted it, not as a part of the proposal to be voted on, but only on the report of the committee.
[378] This way, it was attached, and if the proposal was approved, so too would this report be made law.
[379] Soon, a little after 5 p .m., the National Assembly reconvened to hear the Joint Committee's report and to vote.
[380] Supporters of Laval started yelling, vote, vote, vote.
[381] Janani saw one last chance to allow someone to speak out against this motion.
[382] He called on anyone who wanted to explain their reasons for the vote they were about to cast.
[383] This was a method used by those who were about to vote against a coming motion.
[384] But when one man stood up to explain his reasons for his coming negative vote, he was shouted down.
[385] His supporters, numbering about 30, tried to shout to let him talk, but they themselves were drowned out by 400 other voices.
[386] So the deputy, who wanted to speak, tried to walk to the rostrum amid the tumult to read his counter -proposal.
[387] But several of Laval's men physically stopped him and then assaulted him.
[388] For Janani, all this was too much.
[389] It had to be stopped somehow, and there was only one way.
[390] He refused to recognize the deputy trying to speak at the rostrum and called for the vote.
[391] The outcome was foretold.
[392] 569 -4, with 80 against and 17 declared abstentions.
[393] One of the socialist deputies detained in Algiers later said when he heard the news, I didn't know there were so many cowards and traitors in my party.
[394] As the men filed out of the Grand Casino, one conservative senator, who had voted no, cried, There was no response.
[395] The French Third Republic had been proclaimed on September 4, 1870, after France was defeated by Prussia.
[396] It died quickly and relatively quietly on July 10, 1940, by suicide.
[397] Those who voted to end the Republic and survive the war, were never allowed again to enter public life.
[398] Now that everything was set, Béton was ready to move forward.
[399] The very next day, he had Laval and Albert draw up his first three constitutional acts.
[400] Bédeau and Vegard were completely in the dark.
[401] The decree started out, prophetically, with the use of the plural form that was the right of absolute monarchs.
[402] Oui, Philippe Béton.
[403] Marshal of France, assumed the functions of the chief of the French state.
[404] He then decreed the end of the Republican Constitution, the assumption of all executive and legislative power, and unto himself the authority to make the laws and guarantee their execution.
[405] The third article rid him of the Senate and chamber until he would call it back into session, of which he never did.
[406] The next day, July 12th, Act IV was handed down.
[407] It named Pierre Laval as Pétain's successor.
[408] At first, Pétain did not want Laval to follow him, but from Badeau's notes, it seems that Laval had a very frank conversation with the marshal that probably went along these lines.
[409] Look, I did all this for you, and now it's your turn to do something for me. The fourth act of Pétain's regime made the succession official.
[410] There only remained one obstacle before Marshal Pétain of France, and that, was the current president of France, Albert Lebrun.
[411] Pétain called him in and told him it was now time for him to go.
[412] But he shouldn't have worried.
[413] Lebrun made it clear he was ready to step down and be a loyal Frenchman to the Pétain government.
[414] Thus, the last vestige of the Third Republic was no more.
[415] Pétain was eager to move forward, but he could not simply forget the past.
[416] So, to remove any chance of the Republican past catching up to him, on July 29th, the Pétain government, now in its new form, had Mandel, Deladier, Renaud, Bloom, and many others arrested.
[417] Pétain claimed not to want their lives, but to make them answer for their mistakes, and taking France to war.
[418] To give some sense of closure to the French, who will live on in our story, but mostly as pawns in someone else's game, The following players met their ends in vastly different ways.
[419] After the war, Pétain and Laval were tried for treason, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
[420] However, the provisional president, General Charles de Gaulle, commuted Pétain's sentence to life imprisonment on the island of Ute.
[421] He died there on July 23, 1951.
[422] He was 96 years old.
[423] Pierre Laval was executed by a firing squad at a prison on October 15, 1945.
[424] He was 62 years old.
[425] General Vegard was arrested at the end of the war, but his trial fell through, and he lived in Paris, writing his memoirs and history books.
[426] He also wrote in several newspapers and passively attacked Renaud and de Gaulle.
[427] And, of course, he spent much of his time strenuously defending his past actions.
[428] He died in Paris on January 28, 1965, at the age of 98.
[429] Admiral Darlan would eventually become the head of Pétain's government and collaborated closely with the Germans.
[430] But on Christmas Eve in 1942, as it became uncertain that Germany would win the war, he was in the midst of switching to the Allied side when he was assassinated.
[431] He died in Algiers.
[432] Raphael Albert Laval's partner, was condemned to death in absentia, but he flew away to Spain and was never brought to justice, as Spain was still governed by a dictator, and he lived out a very long life.
[433] Badeau tried to make for Spain as well, but was caught and arrested.
[434] In 1947, he was sentenced to five years of hard labor, but was released after a single year.
[435] As for the Resisters, Mandel's sad story has already been told.
[436] Deladier re -entered politics after the war for a short time and then retired.
[437] Paul Renaud re -entered politics as well, but spent literally the rest of his life writing books, explaining his choices, and justifying his decisions.
[438] He regularly crossed pens with Vegard in the French newspapers.
[439] He gave as good as he got.
[440] He died on September 21, 1966.
[441] He was robust and active to the last.
[442] As for General Charles de Gaulle, who we are certainly not finished with in telling the story, a little should be mentioned now.
[443] As the head of the Free French Forces, he was in Paris for its liberation in August of 1944.
[444] He became the head of the provisional government set up soon after, and then the head of the elected government in November of 1945.
[445] But strangely, he retired in 1946.
[446] He would go on to accomplish many amazing things in the future.
[447] that would help France regain some of its soul and old grandeur.
[448] But that is another story.
[449] The War of France was over.
[450] German -controlled territory spanned from the North Cape above the Arctic Circle to Bordeaux, France, from the English Channel in Atlantic to the River Bug in Poland.
[451] This was the pinnacle for Hitler's Third Reich thus far.
[452] He nor the Wehrmacht had known defeat.
[453] So, if it was possible for a madman like Hitler to be happy, surely this was one of those moments.
[454] The German general staff was certainly enjoying themselves as well, congratulating each other while many among their ranks received promotions personally from their Fuhrer.
[455] I'm sure there were many cigars passed out and toasts offered, especially to men on the rise like General Rommel.
[456] But still, their eyes quickly left France, passed by Britain, After all, that was Hitler's diplomatic puzzle to unravel, and focused on Russia, more specifically on the Balkans, which are directly east of Italy, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
[457] Was Russia merely taking advantage of the land -grabbing of the times, or something more?
[458] Hitler had always had a respect -hate relationship in his heart and head when it came to that island nation across the Channel.
[459] There was so much to admire about their cousins across the water.
[460] And although Hitler had said for years he had no wish to attack, invade, or destroy England, as he referred to it, it was maddening for him when Churchill, London, and the rest would not acknowledge German mastery of Europe.
[461] Could they not read a map?
[462] Could they not see reality or accept it?
[463] Could they not appreciate it that the Nazi warlord had no intention of making London look like Warsaw?
[464] or any of the other conquered capitals?
[465] And that's what it came down to for Hitler after France fell.
[466] Couldn't Great Britain see the superiority of the new, greater Germany?
[467] After all, for the English to go on struggling was unthinkable.
[468] The odds were overwhelming.
[469] They had been beaten twice, in Norway and in northern France, and their country was yet untouched by the Luftwaffe or by the mighty Blitzkrieg.
[470] Surely, reason had to insert itself before they lost everything they held most dear.
[471] On June 28th, Pope Pius XII quietly offered his mediation for a just and honorable peace.
[472] Soon after that, the King of Sweden urged both leaders to find a way to work out their differences before more innocent blood was spilled.
[473] Hitler, for his part, tried to use this momentum for peace and made speeches that Britain could have peace if they wanted it.
[474] and if they accepted, the remade Europe.
[475] But all this was above the surface.
[476] The Nazi leader also worked behind the scenes to bring Churchill to the negotiating table.
[477] German money was spent in the U .S. newspapers to persuade the people there to urge Britain to accept what was and demand peace from their leaders.
[478] Of course, while all this was going on, Churchill worked above and below the surface to effect the outcome of the war.
[479] but in the exact opposite direction from Hitler's.
[480] Peace was not possible because there was no peace.
[481] Hitler would put out feelers and Churchill would attempt to crush them.
[482] Simply, the British would not give in or give up.
[483] Churchill replied to the king of Sweden, before any such requests or proposals could even be considered.
[484] It would be necessary that effective guarantees by deeds, not words, should be forthcoming from Germany, which would ensure the restoration of the free and independent life of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and above all, France.
[485] So slowly, as Hitler waited throughout June and early July, it dawned on him, mad as the idea was, that Britain would not sue for peace.
[486] On July 1st, Hitler told the new Italian ambassador that he, quote, could not conceive of anyone in England still seriously believing in victory, end quote.
[487] However, clearly that was the case.
[488] In fact, Hitler had not even bothered to order the German general staff to begin preparatory work on drawing up an invasion plan for Britain.
[489] But that was about to change.
[490] On July 2nd, the first directive touching England, was issued by the OKW.
[491] It read, However, the last paragraph read, and has not yet been decided upon.
[492] Hitler wanted the British at the peace table, not his planes over their cities.
[493] His eyes were also turning to the east.
[494] Next time, honestly, I'm not sure what we'll cover.
[495] It's either I'm jumping into the Battle of Britain or a multi -episode biography of Hitler, as I've promised.
[496] I've been working on both storylines at the same time, so I'm not sure.
[497] If, however, you feel strongly about one or the other, drop me an email at ray42harris at yahoo .com and let me know what you think.
[498] If the votes come in heavy one way, I'll go that route, and if not, I don't know, maybe I'll flip a coin.
[499] But I know I'm not ready to switch back to Asia yet.
[500] Besides, Laszlo Montgomery is doing such a good job of it for me. And I'm still looking for good reference material that covers minute detail of China and Japan and everything else that's going on that's not priced beyond my means.
[501] So anyways, shoot me an email.
[502] About the next episode, if you're so inclined.
[503] Greetings from Central Virginia.
[504] Just wanted to thank everybody for listening.
[505] And add on a couple of notes that I had to edit out because the podcast was already long in the first place.
[506] I just want to let you know that Paul Renaud was at the opening chamber on July 9th.
[507] He was in a terrible car accident.
[508] In fact, his head was still wrapped in bandages.
[509] And in the accident, his mistress, Madame de Portes, had died.
[510] which, of course, pleased his wife very much.
[511] She was the only happy person in Vichy at the time.
[512] And it's very weird that Paul Renaud died on my birthday, literally on my birthday.
[513] So that was kind of weird.
[514] I've been reading about him for months, and I respect and despise him at the same time.
[515] So that was just like somebody walking across your grave.
[516] I wanted to take a moment and thank the people that have donated.
[517] I haven't done this in a long time.
[518] And I'm never really sure about mentioning names, but I'll just do first names.
[519] I want to thank Connor of Ireland, Chris of Bristol in the U .K., Stephen in the U .K., Todd in the U .S., Russell in the U .S., Harvey from Stockholm, Sweden, Mila from Oxfordshire, U .K., James in Georgia, the U .S., and Richard from Australia.
[520] So thank you very much.
[521] I know everybody's got to take care of their own and stuff like that.
[522] But let me explain to you the circle of life in my house.
[523] Somebody gets something from Audible or they make a donation.
[524] I tell my wife she's very happy.
[525] She lets me spend more time in the podcast.
[526] She takes the kids to the movies or whatever.
[527] I get out a podcast sooner.
[528] It's out there.
[529] You listen to it.
[530] You're happy.
[531] So that's the circle.
[532] So again, I just wanted to say thank you for everybody.
[533] And Robert Murphy, who will stay in France.
[534] had an amazing career after World War II.
[535] So he stays in Vichy, and then he stays in the diplomatic corps until 1959 when he retires.
[536] But even then, he goes on to advise all the presidents through Nixon.
[537] In fact, in 2006, he was on a postage stamp, so his career is only getting started.
[538] And again, if anybody out there knows of a good book on when German invaded Poland at the start of the war that has a lot of detail, let me know.
[539] I'm still looking for one.
[540] So if you find one, if you hear of anything, let me know.
[541] Just send me an email.
[542] I would appreciate it very much.
[543] And again, everybody, please take care.
[544] Welcome to True Spies.
[545] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[546] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.
[547] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[548] What do they know?
[549] What are their skills?
[550] And what would you do in their position?
[551] Vengeance felt good.
[552] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[553] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.
[554] Wherever you get your podcasts.