The ''Office français d'information'' (OFI, ) was the press agency controlled by the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

. It was created on 10 December 1940 after the nationalization by the Vichy regime of the information branch of Havas. Initially based in the (the management in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

and the writers in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label= Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attrac ...

), in 1942 the OFI moved to the Place de la Bourse in Paris. The OFI worked closely with the (French Press Information Agency) (AFIP), created by the occupation authorities in the former Havas offices, noted for its

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

activity. Some Havas journalists, opposed to the collaboration, created the (French Press Agency) in London in August 1940, and in North Africa the Agence France-Afrique in 1942. The

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

created its own clandestine press agency, the (Information and Documentation Agency) (AID). The OFI was dissolved by the . During the Paris uprising of August 20, 1944, resistance journalists, including , seized the OFI offices and proclaimed the creation of

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...

, which became the agency France-Presse on September 30, 1944.

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* * {{Authority control Vichy France

See also

References

Bibliography