France: The Dark Years 1940-1944 - Review

Contemporary Review, Sept, 2001

France: The Dark Years 1940-1944. Julian Jackson. Oxford University Press. [pound]25.00. 660 pages. ISBN 0-19-820706-9. The 'dark years' were those after France had surrendered to the Nazis and left the fighting to Britain, her allies and a handful of Free French. Whilst historians, French and English-speaking, have not ignored the period, the last general history to discuss it was published in 1973.

Opinion has wavered between ignoring the dark years and pretending that the Resistance was everything, to downplaying the Resistance and extolling the virtues of Vichy France. (One of the most interesting sections in the book is the extended introduction in which Mr Jackson discusses how historians have seen the Occupation.) As the author says, 'the history of the occupation should be written not in black and white, but in shades of grey'. It was a time when ambiguities reigned. In addition to tracing the history of the period Professor Jackson discusses the importance of historical memory in 1941, the divisions that had rent French life since 1918, the importance of propaganda, the makeup of the Resistance, the role of the communists and, finally, 'Remembering the Occupation', a complementary essay to the Introduction. Here the author discusses how Frenchmen after 1945 have coped with their Vichy inheritance. He concludes that neither myth, that of pro-Vichy or pro-Resistance, holds the truth. The solution lies in accepting the complexity and contradiction of this period. In the long term Vichy France was yet another of the oscillations that have plagued France since the Revolution turned the country on its head. This is a fascinating study marked by balance and insight.