Some advance that Pétain's military career had been unremarkable due to freemasonic hostility, he's known for having refused to denounce catholics amonsts his men.
Related to said subject, I wholeheartedly recommend the works of Georges Bernanos, a French novelist and polemicist who was a fervent Catholic & Royalist. A fascinating figure, and a magnificent writer. A loyal Maurrassian, before breaking off with Maurras because the latter hesitated too much in taking action; at almost 50, and physically handicapped after a motorcycle accident, he went to Spain to support the Nationalists during the Civil War, before denouncing the excessive Francoist repressions (he pretty much predicted the long-term unsustainability of the Franco regime), and getting death threats from Francoist forces; fled to South America and became a sort of gentleman-farmer in southern Brazil, while writing regular articles for the newspapers of the French Resistance (he despised most of all what he saw as Pétain's and the Vichy Regime's cowardice). Came back to France after WWII to support de Gaulle (who deeply admired Bernanos, because of their shared Maurrassian heritage), while writing violent articles against the Christian Democrats, Marxists, and lukewarm Conservatives. Said one day to de Gaulle, face to face: "The mediocre ones will get the best of you." Died at 60, after years of poverty. A very interesting figure, if you want to know more about the so-called "vichysto-résistants": members of the French Resistance during WWII who pretty much shared the same worldview and philosophy as the Vichy Regime, but who could not forgive the spineless bureaucrats and bourgeois who so readily negotiated France's sovereignty with the Nazis: a lot of them agreed with some of the antisemitism of the period, but hated the Germans more than they hated the Jews. For the curious ones, you can check Cluny Media's website: they translated some of Bernanos' books, as well as a study by Thomas Molnar, who, I wager, is not an unknown writer in this corner of the Internet : "Bernanos: His Political Thought and Prophecy". I could go on, but I'll stop here. Sorry if such a long comment appears too discourteous, I'm not very good at synthesizing stuff. If this comment attracts some attention, I could continue my comment & trace some parallels between Bernanos and Tolkien & Chesterton - fascinating parallels to be made. Salutations from France, where the situation is getting worse, day by day.
Another great video AM , would love to know your opinion on Charles De Gaulle. Seems like a interesting character, leader of a republic with monarchical beliefs, western but anti American , militaristic but not imperialist and above all set in self sustainability and independence.
@@KnownNiche1999 who said there was anything wrong with imperialism? I’m saying it’s strange that he was a militarist and yet wasn’t an imperial expansionist. In fact he went against many in the army and at home and gave up Algeria , a place considered by the state to be just as integral as Paris.
@@KnownNiche1999 naaa I’m one of those people who despise him for leaving hundreds of thousands of French people to be butchered upon independence from France. The people who tried to assassinate him and keep fighting famously still get flowers and gifts left on their graves.
Petain is one of my favorite figures of the 20th century. Almost nobody else has shared his incredibly dramatic and volatile fate. He went from being hailed as a hero and savior of France - at Verdun and at Compeigne - to dying a traitors death. All of this in the last quarter of his life no less, a time when he could have been enjoying retirement and spending time with his family. Instead he selflessly offered himself up to serve his beloved nation and state, only to be put to death for doing so. AM - great job, more Vichy content would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps some smaller episodes or one big one similar to the Estado Novo Episode. Covering Laval, Darlan, the sinking of the French fleet, etc. Thank you!
Petain did not die a traitor's death. After the war, he was sentenced to death at trial but De Gaulle had the sentence commuted to life imprisonment based on his age and his service in WW1. He died of natural causes in 1951 at the age of 95.
I am looking for a good book recommendation on French history. Something that does not treat 'French History' as something that began with the revolution or Versailles.
Thank you for the nuanced analysis. Overall sense I get is one of frustrated energy, of a pseudo-opportunity. Yet there were many sound elements in the hodpodge, and perhaps, had Germany not lost, it might have opened a way out of the post-Revolutionary "end of history"-deadlock France has been set into.
A very controversial but nonetheless fascinating period of French history which has repercussions still deeply felt in France today Interestingly Mitterrand and Charles Degaule were both in Philippe Petain’s government prior to both becoming very influential and very successful French presidents
I'll be listening to this one carefully soon. Just noting before viewing that older frenchmen closer to our side consider Paxton to be biased and hostile. But I trust AM to be thoroughly read on all key aspects of the events, which is more than I can say for almost everyone else on this platform.
Granted, but I don't digest sources uncritically (which I certainly didn't in the case of Paxton). This was an incredibly difficult topic to research due to the poverty of the historiography.
@@ApostolicMajestyYou might already be familiar with Emmanuel Beau de Loménie? I'm not sure if he's been translated into English but he's written a few good books on the Republics all the way to Pétain (which I have yet to read)
@@odond36 I am, both for his work on Maurras and the Romanian connection to Iorga. Nevertheless, I tend to avoid foreign language sources as direct references for the sake of accessibility.
I haven't read enough to explain and document why but as expected from the Paxton take, I find this definitive vue of Vichy extremely harsh. I've only listened to their conferences ect, and they have no interest in being impartial, but many older frenchmen (most of them no longer alive) have insisted that Paxton rarely/never uses German sources themselves which showed, allegedly, tremendous pressure on Vichy and Pétain to extract as much from France as possible. (Some historiens, including jews, agree that vichy/Pétain stood up for the well being of french jews as direct rebellion to A.H.) They also advance that Vichy, as much as feasible, turned a blind eye to the more useful aspects of the resistance and even helped them covertly. Shooting a German officer in the street just wasn't a smart thing to do even if brave. I can't speak for the technocratic aspect of Vichy and their failures with regard to policies. But the idea that Vichy was happy to collaborate for the sole sake of power rings false. France was about to vanish from history, preserving "something" even at steep cost is more than what a lot of us will ever do in our lives. These same frenchmen go on to explain how de Gaule first DESERTED France then betrayed Pétain to treat him like a traitor. De Gaule, allied with communists, purged much of the right during the "libération" and went on to dilapidate much of France a la Churchill before the late sixties final nail in the coffin.
There's an anglo saxon affinity for visceraly anti Pétain sources which serve to put De Gaule in more favourable light. The same writers i mentioned, speculate that De Gaule had discussed or proposed to senior cabinet members to have France absorbed completely into Great Britain. (This I'm not very convinced of). If anyone wanted power above all else it was De Gaulle.
If you enjoyed this video, please like and leave a comment. It helps the channel a lot. Many thanks.
Some advance that Pétain's military career had been unremarkable due to freemasonic hostility, he's known for having refused to denounce catholics amonsts his men.
Related to said subject, I wholeheartedly recommend the works of Georges Bernanos, a French novelist and polemicist who was a fervent Catholic & Royalist. A fascinating figure, and a magnificent writer.
A loyal Maurrassian, before breaking off with Maurras because the latter hesitated too much in taking action; at almost 50, and physically handicapped after a motorcycle accident, he went to Spain to support the Nationalists during the Civil War, before denouncing the excessive Francoist repressions (he pretty much predicted the long-term unsustainability of the Franco regime), and getting death threats from Francoist forces; fled to South America and became a sort of gentleman-farmer in southern Brazil, while writing regular articles for the newspapers of the French Resistance (he despised most of all what he saw as Pétain's and the Vichy Regime's cowardice). Came back to France after WWII to support de Gaulle (who deeply admired Bernanos, because of their shared Maurrassian heritage), while writing violent articles against the Christian Democrats, Marxists, and lukewarm Conservatives. Said one day to de Gaulle, face to face: "The mediocre ones will get the best of you." Died at 60, after years of poverty.
A very interesting figure, if you want to know more about the so-called "vichysto-résistants": members of the French Resistance during WWII who pretty much shared the same worldview and philosophy as the Vichy Regime, but who could not forgive the spineless bureaucrats and bourgeois who so readily negotiated France's sovereignty with the Nazis: a lot of them agreed with some of the antisemitism of the period, but hated the Germans more than they hated the Jews. For the curious ones, you can check Cluny Media's website: they translated some of Bernanos' books, as well as a study by Thomas Molnar, who, I wager, is not an unknown writer in this corner of the Internet : "Bernanos: His Political Thought and Prophecy".
I could go on, but I'll stop here. Sorry if such a long comment appears too discourteous, I'm not very good at synthesizing stuff. If this comment attracts some attention, I could continue my comment & trace some parallels between Bernanos and Tolkien & Chesterton - fascinating parallels to be made. Salutations from France, where the situation is getting worse, day by day.
Sounds like a real piece of shit
Another great video AM , would love to know your opinion on Charles De Gaulle. Seems like a interesting character, leader of a republic with monarchical beliefs, western but anti American , militaristic but not imperialist and above all set in self sustainability and independence.
Not sure what is wrong with Imperialism
@@KnownNiche1999 who said there was anything wrong with imperialism? I’m saying it’s strange that he was a militarist and yet wasn’t an imperial expansionist. In fact he went against many in the army and at home and gave up Algeria , a place considered by the state to be just as integral as Paris.
@@unoriginal_username1
Oh, I understand what you meant. I assumed you were trying to counterpose positives with supposed negatives
@@KnownNiche1999 naaa I’m one of those people who despise him for leaving hundreds of thousands of French people to be butchered upon independence from France. The people who tried to assassinate him and keep fighting famously still get flowers and gifts left on their graves.
Like noted in the superchat, we have made an AM-only fanclub on Discord. Come chat with us: discord.gg/WS4kBZ2K
Petain is one of my favorite figures of the 20th century. Almost nobody else has shared his incredibly dramatic and volatile fate. He went from being hailed as a hero and savior of France - at Verdun and at Compeigne - to dying a traitors death. All of this in the last quarter of his life no less, a time when he could have been enjoying retirement and spending time with his family. Instead he selflessly offered himself up to serve his beloved nation and state, only to be put to death for doing so.
AM - great job, more Vichy content would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps some smaller episodes or one big one similar to the Estado Novo Episode. Covering Laval, Darlan, the sinking of the French fleet, etc.
Thank you!
Thank you. I would have done so, but have difficulty atm pinning people down for streaming discussions ala Estado Novo.
Petain did not die a traitor's death. After the war, he was sentenced to death at trial but De Gaulle had the sentence commuted to life imprisonment based on his age and his service in WW1. He died of natural causes in 1951 at the age of 95.
Get Charles Coulombe for it !
thank you so much for the videos on the French right it really is fascinating
Love your work AM
Very informative. Have you ever thought about doing a video about Vidkun Quisling and Nasjonal Samling in Norway during WW2?
Splendid as always.
“Now exists in popular memory As the interlude between catastrophes”. Feels familiar
Audio is a bit quiet, but great video!
CANNOT WAIT
Good one!
I am looking for a good book recommendation on French history. Something that does not treat 'French History' as something that began with the revolution or Versailles.
Frogs
Thank you for the nuanced analysis.
Overall sense I get is one of frustrated energy, of a pseudo-opportunity.
Yet there were many sound elements in the hodpodge, and perhaps, had Germany not lost, it might have opened a way out of the post-Revolutionary "end of history"-deadlock France has been set into.
Have Zoomer Historian on
Why on Earth would he lol
@@nomore9004 that would be awesome
A very controversial but nonetheless fascinating period of French history which has repercussions still deeply felt in France today Interestingly Mitterrand and Charles Degaule were both in Philippe Petain’s government prior to both becoming very influential and very successful French presidents
"Marshall, here we are!"
I'll be listening to this one carefully soon. Just noting before viewing that older frenchmen closer to our side consider Paxton to be biased and hostile. But I trust AM to be thoroughly read on all key aspects of the events, which is more than I can say for almost everyone else on this platform.
Granted, but I don't digest sources uncritically (which I certainly didn't in the case of Paxton). This was an incredibly difficult topic to research due to the poverty of the historiography.
@@ApostolicMajestyYou might already be familiar with Emmanuel Beau de Loménie? I'm not sure if he's been translated into English but he's written a few good books on the Republics all the way to Pétain (which I have yet to read)
@@odond36 I am, both for his work on Maurras and the Romanian connection to Iorga. Nevertheless, I tend to avoid foreign language sources as direct references for the sake of accessibility.
Brilliant as always.
Cheers & God Bless!
I've been looking forward to this one 🎉🎉
Ww2 time!
I haven't read enough to explain and document why but as expected from the Paxton take, I find this definitive vue of Vichy extremely harsh. I've only listened to their conferences ect, and they have no interest in being impartial, but many older frenchmen (most of them no longer alive) have insisted that Paxton rarely/never uses German sources themselves which showed, allegedly, tremendous pressure on Vichy and Pétain to extract as much from France as possible. (Some historiens, including jews, agree that vichy/Pétain stood up for the well being of french jews as direct rebellion to A.H.)
They also advance that Vichy, as much as feasible, turned a blind eye to the more useful aspects of the resistance and even helped them covertly. Shooting a German officer in the street just wasn't a smart thing to do even if brave.
I can't speak for the technocratic aspect of Vichy and their failures with regard to policies. But the idea that Vichy was happy to collaborate for the sole sake of power rings false. France was about to vanish from history, preserving "something" even at steep cost is more than what a lot of us will ever do in our lives.
These same frenchmen go on to explain how de Gaule first DESERTED France then betrayed Pétain to treat him like a traitor. De Gaule, allied with communists, purged much of the right during the "libération" and went on to dilapidate much of France a la Churchill before the late sixties final nail in the coffin.
There's an anglo saxon affinity for visceraly anti Pétain sources which serve to put De Gaule in more favourable light. The same writers i mentioned, speculate that De Gaule had discussed or proposed to senior cabinet members to have France absorbed completely into Great Britain. (This I'm not very convinced of).
If anyone wanted power above all else it was De Gaulle.
What book would you consider less vindictive towards Petain?
Dude you are whispering.
Boring crap.
Based Petain