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Henri D'Astier De La Vigerie
Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie (11 September 1897 – 10 October 1952) was a French soldier, ''Résistance'' member, and conservative politician. Life Henri d'Astier was born in Villedieu-sur-Indre, a small village in the Indre département of central France. His military career began in 1915, and, by the end of World War I, he had reached the rank of lieutenant, and he had been awarded the Legion of Honor. Politically, d'Astier was strongly conservative and Roman Catholic. In particular, he believed that the republican form of government was inherently weak and ineffective and that France would be stronger under a traditional monarchy. He was an admirer of Charles Maurras, a prominent monarchist intellectual and poet. It is possible that d'Astier was involved in La Cagoule, a fascist-leaning organisation that sought the French Republic's overthrow. When World War II broke out, d'Astier was called back into active service. Although his political views could be deemed close to fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy regime in France during the World War II, Second World War. Resistance Clandestine cell system, cells were small groups of armed men and women (called the Maquis (World War II), Maquis in rural areas) who conducted guerrilla warfare and published Underground press, underground newspapers. They also provided first-hand intelligence information, and escape networks that helped Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers and airmen trapped behind Axis powers, Axis lines. The Resistance's men and women came from many parts of French society, including émigrés, academics, students, aristocrats, conservative Catholic Church in France, Roman Catholics (including clergy), Protestantism in France, Protestants, History of the Jews in F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vichy France
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, defeat against Germany. It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy. Officially independent, but with half of its Metropolitan France, territory occupied under the harsh terms of Armistice of 22 June 1940, the 1940 armistice with Nazi Germany, it adopted Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, a policy of collaboration. Though Paris was nominally its capital, the government established itself in Vichy in the unoccupied "free zone" (). The German military administration in occupied France during World War II, occupation of France by Germany at first affected only the northern and western portions of the country. In November 1942, the Allies Operation Torch, occupied French North Africa, and in response the Germa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emmanuel D'Astier De La Vigerie
Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (6 January 190012 June 1969) was a French journalist, politician and member of the French Resistance. Biography Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy but resigned from the French Navy in 1923. He became a journalist and a poet and was involved with the integralist and monarchist journal '' Action Française'', but turned towards the Left after the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). When the Second World War broke out, d'Astier re-enlisted into the French Navy and became the head of naval intelligence. However, after the fall of France and the proclamation of Vichy France, he was dismissed for his political dossier. In Clermont-Ferrand, d'Astier formed the Resistant group ''La Dernière Colonne'', later known as Libération-sud, with Raymond Aubrac, Lucie Aubrac and Jean Cavaillès. During 1941, the group carried out two sabotage attacks at train stations in Perpignan and Cannes. In February, they organised the distribution of 10,000 prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva, Republic and Canton of Geneva, and a centre for international diplomacy. Geneva hosts the highest number of International organization, international organizations in the world, and has been referred to as the world's most compact metropolis and the "Peace Capital". Geneva is a global city, an international financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy hosting the highest number of international organizations in the world, including the headquarters of many agencies of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Red Cross. In the aftermath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free France
Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France to Nazi Germany. It joined the Allies of World War II, Allied nations in fighting Axis powers, Axis forces with the Free French Forces (), supported the French Resistance, resistance in German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonial empire, French colonies in Africa. Following the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany, Marshal Philippe Pétain led efforts to Armistice of 22 June 1940, negotiate an armistice and established a German puppet state known as Vichy France. Opposed to the idea of an armistice, de Gaulle fled to Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles De Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the May 1958 crisis in France, Algiers putsch, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic after approval by 1958 French constitutional referendum, referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. Born in Lille, he was a decorated officer of World War I, wounded several times and taken prisoner of war (POW) by the Germans. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured divisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Giraud
Henri Honoré Giraud (; 18 January 1879 – 11 March 1949) was a French military officer who was a leader of the Free French Forces during the Second World War until he was forced to retire in 1944. Born to an Alsatian family in Paris, Giraud graduated from the Saint-Cyr military academy and served in French North Africa. He was wounded and captured by the Germans during the First World War, but managed to escape from his prisoner-of-war camp. During the interwar period, Giraud returned to North Africa and fought in the Rif War, for which he was awarded the ''Légion d'honneur''. Early in the Second World War, Giraud fought in the Netherlands. In May 1940, he was again captured by the Germans, but made another successful escape from captivity in April 1942 after two years of careful planning. From within Vichy France he worked with the Allies in secret, and assumed command of French troops in North Africa after Operation Torch (November 1942) following the assassination of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fernand Bonnier De La Chapelle
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle (4 November 1922 – 26 December 1942) was a royalist member of the French Resistance during World War II. He assassinated Admiral of the Fleet François Darlan, the former chief of government of Vichy France and the high commissioner of French North Africa and West Africa, on 24 December 1942. Biography Bonnier de La Chapelle was born in Algiers, son of a French journalist who was a monarchist and a protester against fascism. Bonnier was involved with a royalist group that wanted to make the pretender to the French throne, the Count of Paris, the King of France. He studied at the Lycée Stanislas in Paris after France's surrender to Nazi Germany, and attended a demonstration of anti-German students on Armistice Day 11 November 1940 at the Arc de Triomphe. He then joined the free zone by illegally crossing the border. He returned to Algiers (where his father was a journalist for ''The Algerian Dispatch'') and visited the Youth Camps. After obtaining ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and some Francophone nations, the gendarmerie is a branch of the armed forces that is responsible for internal security in parts of the territory (primarily in rural areas and small towns in the case of France), with additional duties as military police for the armed forces. It was introduced to several other Western European countries during the Napoleonic conquests. In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former French mandates and colonial possessions (such as Lebanon, Syria, the Ivory Coast and the Republic of the Congo) adopted a gendarmerie after independence. Similar forces exist in most European countries. The European Gendarmerie Force is a structure, aligned with the European Union, that facilitates joint operations. A similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (; 7 August 1881 – 24 December 1942) was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the ''École navale'' in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his service during World War I. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1929, vice admiral in 1932, lieutenant admiral in 1937 before finally being made admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1937. In 1939, Darlan was promoted to admiral of the fleet, a rank created specifically for him. Darlan was Commander-in-Chief of the French Navy at the beginning of World War II. After France's armistice with Germany in June 1940, Darlan served in Philippe Pétain's Vichy regime as Minister of Marine, and in February 1941 he took over as Vice-President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior and Minister of National Defence, making him the ''de facto'' head of the Vichy government. In April 1942, Darlan resigned his ministries to Pier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alphonse Juin
Alphonse Pierre Juin (16 December 1888 – 27 January 1967) was a senior French Army general who became Marshal of France. A graduate of the École Spéciale Militaire class of 1912, he served in Morocco in 1914 in command of native troops. Upon the outbreak of the First World War, he was sent to the Western Front in France, where he was gravely wounded in 1915. As a result of this wound, he lost the use of his right arm. After the war, he attended the École Supérieure de Guerre. He chose to serve in North Africa again. After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, he assumed command of the 15th Motorized Infantry Division. The division was encircled in the Lille pocket during the Battle of France and Juin was captured. He was a prisoner of war until he was released at the behest of the Vichy Government in 1941, and was assigned to command French forces in North Africa. After Operation Torch, the invasion of Algeria and Morocco by British and American forces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques de l'Algérie (web). and an estimated 3,004,130 residents in 2025 in an area of , Algiers is the largest city in List of cities in Algeria, Algeria, List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, the third largest city on the Mediterranean, List of largest cities in the Arab world, sixth in the Arab World, and List of cities in Africa by population, 11th in Africa. Located in the north-central portion of the country, it extends along the Bay of Algiers surrounded by the Mitidja Plain and major mountain ranges. Its favorable location made it the center of Regency of Algiers, Ottoman and French Algeria, French cultural, political, and architectural influences for the region, shaping it to be the diverse met ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
