| | '''Vichy France''' can be dated from June 10, 1940, when Marshal [[Henri Petain|Philippe Pétain]] was granted full power to negotiate with the Germans. At this point the military defeat of [[France]] was inevitable so Pétain, a war hero from [[World War I]], suspended democratic government and surrendered to Germany. | | '''Vichy France''' can be dated from June 10, 1940, when Marshal [[Henri Petain|Philippe Pétain]] was granted full power to negotiate with the Germans. At this point the military defeat of [[France]] was inevitable so Pétain, a war hero from [[World War I]], suspended democratic government and surrendered to Germany. |
| − | Following the French surrender on June 22, 1940 a new Government was established at [[Vichy]]. "Vichy France" is used to refer to unoccupied areas of France. However, the Vichy regime had administrative control over all France and its colonial territories. This included [[Syria]], [[Algeria]], [[Madagascar]], [[Indochina]] ([[Cambodia]] and [[Vietnam]]), [[Morocco]], the [[Ivory Coast]] and other territories. The German occupation was concentrated in [[Paris]] and environs, and along strategic points of the Atlantic Wall, the sites were eventually the Normandy invasion was to take place. | + | Following the French surrender on June 22, 1940 a new Government was established at [[Vichy]]. "Vichy France" is used to refer to unoccupied areas of France. However, the Vichy regime had administrative control over all France and its colonial territories. This included [[Syria]], [[Algeria]], [[Madagascar]], [[Indochina]] ([[Cambodia]] and [[Vietnam]]), [[Morocco]], the [[Ivory Coast]] and other territories. The German occupation was concentrated in [[Paris]] and environs, and along strategic points of the Atlantic Wall, the sites were eventually the Normandy invasion took place. |
| | The [[United States]] granted Vichy full [[diplomatic]] recognition, thus acknowledging the puppet regime's [[legitimacy]], and it sent Admiral [[William Leahy]] to its capital as American ambassador.<ref>[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/leahy.htm President Roosevelt to the Appointed Ambassador to France (Leahy), 20 December 1940], U.S., Department of State, Publication 1983, Peace and War: United States Foreign Policy, 1931-1941 (Washington, D.C.: U.S., Government Printing Office, 1943), pp. 595-598.</ref> The United States did not break relations with Vichy until 1944. | | The [[United States]] granted Vichy full [[diplomatic]] recognition, thus acknowledging the puppet regime's [[legitimacy]], and it sent Admiral [[William Leahy]] to its capital as American ambassador.<ref>[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/leahy.htm President Roosevelt to the Appointed Ambassador to France (Leahy), 20 December 1940], U.S., Department of State, Publication 1983, Peace and War: United States Foreign Policy, 1931-1941 (Washington, D.C.: U.S., Government Printing Office, 1943), pp. 595-598.</ref> The United States did not break relations with Vichy until 1944. |