The French Empire at War, 1940-45

Download or read book The French Empire at War, 1940-45 written by Martin Thomas and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draws on original research to look at the history of the divided French Empire - the Vichy and Free French Empires - during World War II. The text argues that, although the Vichy and Free French colonial authorities were only rarely masters of their own destiny during the war, preservation of some imperial control helped them both in different ways. The Vichy government used the empire to withstand German-Italian pressure for concessions in metropolitan France and it was key to their claim to be more than the mouthpiece of a defeated nation.