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Chapter 6: Liberation
- Fordham University Press
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6 Liberation By the end of 1943, the Resistance had become a powerful, united force, with Charles de Gaulle in charge of both the Fighting French headquartered in London and Algiers and the internal Resistance. No other Western European country under Nazi occupation had developed such an efficient, united movement to oppose it. The constituent members of this Resistance agreed that the new France must be a parliamentary democracy, with a strong state that provided for the general welfare of the people by reigning in the worst excesses of capitalism , nationalizing vital sectors of the economy, and extending health, unemployment, and old age insurance to all people. Socialists, communists, and Christian democrats all adhered to these principles, despite differences regarding their practical implementation. Both advocates of a market economy and of socialism generally believed that the French economic system needed some form of planning, although not the heavy-handed kind that Vichy advocated. Out of their different positions would emerge the postwar planning mechanism inaugurated by Jean Monnet: democratic planning centered around a set of national priorities that allowed the state and the market, along with employers and workers, to play major roles in determining what should be done to achieve productive, equitable economic growth. Although many members of the Resistance were disillusioned by the failure to fully implement the Resistance Charter of social, political, and economic objectives as the revival of Third Republic–style politics undermined the revolutionary élan of wartime politics, still the legacy of the Resistance became an integral part of the Fourth and Fifth Republics, shap- Liberation | 167 ing the role of the state, the welfare of French citizens, and the parameters of debate on crucial issues.1 In late 1943 and early 1944, however, the Resistance was not yet a hegemonic, mythical movement. On the contrary, its powers were greatly circumscribed by the reluctance of the United States to recognize it as the legitimate representative of the French people and the related weakness of its military forces. At times, the United States attempted to divide the Resistance and, it seems, conquer it. For example , when Henri Frenay and Combat desperately needed financial resources in early 1943, the United States channeled it to them through Geneva, without consulting de Gaulle or providing aid to the Free French in general. But most of the time the Americans refused any dealings with the Resistance. The State Department even refused to negotiate with de Gaulle and the CFLN on what the status of France would be after the D-Day invasion. The U.S. government.intended to set up a military government called AMGOT (Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories) in liberated France as it had in Italy. Not until July 1944, after the massive popular support of the CFLN became evident, did Washington recognize it as ‘‘competent to ensure the administration of France.’’2 American reluctance to recognize de Gaulle and the CFLN contributed to the problem of military weakness. Neither the Americans nor the British were willing to give the French Resistance a significant role in the war. De Gaulle was kept deliberately out of the planning for the invasion of France, although he was told that his troops would participate in it. Allied weapons that could have aided the internal Resistance in its struggle against Vichy and the Germans were not provided, or were insufficient for the task. As a result, the size of the Resistance was limited by lack of military supplies, if nothing else. The promise made by the British to aid all Frenchmen who evaded German labor conscription was not fully kept. Consequently, the Maquis lacked even basic necessities. Not until the very end of the German occupation, when the balance was tipping in favor of the Allies and the French were joining the Resistance in massive numbers, did the Allies begin [35.171.159.141] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 02:31 GMT) 168 | france during world war ii to provide for this burgeoning, important anti-German movement, reinforcing its numbers in the process. But it would be wrong to assume that the weakness of the Resistance was due exclusively to the failure of the Allies to supply it. We should also keep in mind that General de Gaulle’s Fighting French movement failed to obtain many recruits, despite years of pleading. Less than one-half of De Gaulle’s Liberation army of about 575,000 came from metropolitan France. The rest came from the Empire mainly from...