The Vichy 80
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vichy 80 refers to a minority group of French elected parliamentarians who, on July 10, 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established the Nazi Germany puppet state of Vichy France.
Nazi Germany invaded France on May 14, 1940, and Paris fell a month later. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned rather than seek armistice terms; President Albert Lebrun appointed Marshal Philippe Pétain as his replacement. France capitulated June 22, 1940; under the armistice terms, France was partitioned, with the northern region occupied by Germany, and the remainder (with its capital at Vichy) ostensibly governed by the French government under Pétain.
When Lebrun was removed from the office on June 29, Pétain began a revision of the constitution of the Third Republic. This process was completed with a vote of the combined houses of the parliament on July 10, 1940 on a constitutional law that created the new regime of Vichy France. The 80 deputies and senators who opposed the change are referred to as the Vichy 80 (French: "les 80" or "les quatre-vingts") and are now famous for opposing this decision.[1]
Additionally, 27 deputies and senators did not take part in the vote. They had fled Metropolitan France on June 21 from Bordeaux to Algiers on board the ship Massilia and are referred to as Massilia absentees. They were considered traitors by the Vichy France regime.[2]
The Pétain government always ruled under this act and never finalized a constitution until the end of the war, insisting that it would have to be signed in Paris, once France was liberated. On January 30, 1944, a draft constitution was signed but remained without effect. After the overthrow of Pétain, the Free French Forces contested the legality of the Vichy regime and they voided most of its acts. More recently though, there has been a recognition of the responsibility of the French state for the crimes committed under Vichy France.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Vote tally
| Deputies | Senators | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 544 | 302 | 846 |
| Voting | 414 | 235 | 649 |
| For | 357 | 212 | 569 |
| Against | 57 | 23 | 80 |
| Voluntary abstaining | 12 | 8 | 20 |
| Massilia absentees | 26 | 1 | 27 |
| Other abstaining | 92 | 57 | 149 |
| Not voting | 1 | 1 |
[edit] Detailed list of the 80
| Name | House | Département | Parliamentary group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcel Astier | Senate | Ardèche | Radical-Socialist |
| Jean-Fernand Audeguil | Chamber of Deputies | Gironde | SFIO |
| Vincent Auriol | Chamber of Deputies | Haute-Garonne | SFIO |
| Alexandre Bachelet | Senate | Seine | SFIO |
| Vincent Badie | Chamber of Deputies | Hérault | Radical-Socialist |
| Camille Bedin | Chamber of Deputies | Dordogne | SFIO |
| Emile Bender | Senate | Rhône | Radical-Socialist |
| Jean Biondi | Chamber of Deputies | Oise | SFIO |
| Léon Blum | Chamber of Deputies | Aude | SFIO |
| Laurent Bonnevay | Chamber of Deputies | Rhône | Independent Radical |
| Paul Boulet | Chamber of Deputies | Hérault | Independent Left |
| Georges Bruguier | Senate | Gard | SFIO |
| Séraphin Buisset | Chamber of Deputies | Isère | SFIO |
| Gaston Cabannes | Chamber of Deputies | Gironde | SFIO |
| François Camel | Chamber of Deputies | Ariège | SFIO |
| Pierre de Chambrun | Senate | Lozère | Unregistered |
| Auguste Champetier de Ribes | Senate | Basses-Pyrénées | Unregistered |
| Pierre Chaumié | Senate | Lot-et-Garonne | Radical-Socialist |
| Arthur Chaussy | Chamber of Deputies | Seine-et-Marne | SFIO |
| Joseph Collomp | Chamber of Deputies | Var | SFIO |
| Octave Crutel | Chamber of Deputies | Seine-Inférieure | Radical-Socialist |
| Achille Daroux | Chamber of Deputies | Vendée | Radical-Socialist |
| Maurice Delom-Sorbé | Chamber of Deputies | Basses-Pyrénées | Independent Left |
| Joseph Depierre | Senate | Rhône | SFIO |
| Marx Dormoy | Senate | Allier | SFIO |
| Alfred Elmiger | Chamber of Deputies | Rhône | Independent Left |
| Paul Fleurot | Senate | Seine | Radical-Socialist |
| Émile Fouchard | Chamber of Deputies | Seine-et-Marne | Union populaire française |
| Edouard Froment | Chamber of Deputies | Ardêche | SFIO |
| Paul Giaccobi | Senate | Corse | Radical-Socialist |
| Justin Godart | Senate | Rhône | Radical-Socialist |
| Félix Gouin | Chamber of Deputies | Bouches-du-Rhône | SFIO |
| Henri Gout | Chamber of Deputies | Aude | Radical-Socialist |
| Louis Gros | Senate | Vaucluse | SFIO |
| Amédée Guy | Chamber of Deputies | Haute-Savoie | SFIO |
| Jean Hennessy | Chamber of Deputies | Alpes-Maritimes | Independent Left |
| Lucien Hussel | Chamber of Deputies | Isère | SFIO |
| André Isoré | Chamber of Deputies | Pas-de-Calais | Radical-Socialist |
| Eugène Jardon | Chamber of Deputies | Allier | Union populaire française |
| Jean-Alexis Jaubert | Chamber of Deputies | Corrèze | Radical-Socialist |
| Claude Jordery | Chamber of Deputies | Rhône | SFIO |
| François Labrousse | Senate | Corrèze | Radical-Socialist |
| Albert Le Bail | Chamber of Deputies | Finistère | Radical-Socialist |
| Joseph Lecacheux | Chamber of Deputies | Manche | Independent Radical |
| Victor Le Gorgeu[[1]] | Senate | Finistère | Radical-Socialist |
| Justin Luquot | Chamber of Deputies | Gironde | SFIO |
| Augustin Malroux | Chamber of Deputies | Tarn | SFIO |
| Gaston Manent | Chamber of Deputies | Hautes-Pyrénées | Radical-Socialist |
| Alfred Margaine | Chamber of Deputies | Marne | Radical-Socialist |
| Léon Martin | Chamber of Deputies | Isère | SFIO |
| Robert Mauger | Chamber of Deputies | Loir-et-Cher | SFIO |
| Jean Mendiondou | Chamber of Deputies | Basses-Pyrénées | Radical-Socialist |
| Jules Moch | Chamber of Deputies | Hérault | SFIO |
| Maurice Montel | Chamber of Deputies | Cantal | Independent Left |
| Léonel de Moustier | Chamber of Deputies | Doubs | Républicain indépendant |
| Marius Moutet | Chamber of Deputies | Drôme | SFIO |
| René Nicod | Chamber of Deputies | Ain | Union populaire française |
| Louis Noguères | Chamber of Deputies | Pyrénées-Orientales | SFIO |
| Jean Odin | Senate | Gironde | Radical-Socialist |
| Joseph Paul-Boncour | Senate | Loir-et-Cher | Radical-Socialist |
| Jean Perrot | Chamber of Deputies | Finistère | Radical-Socialist |
| Georges Pézières | Senate | Pyrénées-Orientales | SFIO |
| André Philip | Chamber of Deputies | Rhône | SFIO |
| Marcel Plaisant | Senate | Cher | Radical-Socialist |
| François Tanguy-Prigent | Chamber of Deputies | Finistère | SFIO |
| Paul Ramadier | Chamber of Deputies | Aveyron | Unregistered |
| Joseph-Paul Rambaud | Senate | Ariège | Radical-Socialist |
| René Renout | Senate | Var | Radical-Socialist |
| Léon Roche | Chamber of Deputies | Haute-Vienne | SFIO |
| Camille Rolland | Senate | Rhône | Radical-Socialist |
| Jean-Louis Rolland | Chamber of Deputies | Finistère | SFIO |
| Joseph Rous | Chamber of Deputies | Pyrénées-Orientales | SFIO |
| Jean-Emmanuel Roy | Chamber of Deputies | Gironde | Radical-Socialist |
| Henry Sénès | Senate | Var | SFIO |
| Philippe Serre | Chamber of Deputies | Meurthe-et-Moselle | Independent Left |
| Paul Simon | Chamber of Deputies | Finistère | Démocrate populaire |
| Gaston Thiébaut | Chamber of Deputies | Meuse | Radical-Socialist |
| Isidore Thivrier | Chamber of Deputies | Allier | SFIO |
| Pierre Trémintin | Chamber of Deputies | Finistère | Démocrate populaire |
| Michel Zunino | Chamber of Deputies | Var | SFIO |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Proposition de Loi n° 729 (French). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ 21 juin 1940 : le "Massilia" quitte la France pour Alger (French). memoire.net. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ Proposition de loi relative aux Justes de France (French). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
[edit] External links
- List of the MPs
- Original vote
- Le vote du 10 Juillet 1940 (an account in French of the circumstances surrounding the vote)
- Les quatre-vingts by Jean Odin (ISBN 2-87938-080-4)
