Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944 [Hardcover]

Ian Ousby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Defeat in 1940 left the French so chastened and demoralized that they readily supported the Vichy regime, committed not just to pragmatic collaberation but to finding scapegoats for the nation's disgrace. Jews, Communists, pre-war politicians from the Third Republic, school teachers and Freemasons all fell victim to a witch-hunt which left plenty of scope for private grudges as well. Resistance came late: de Gaulle's appeal in 1940 for France to continue to fight went largely unheard, and the Occupation was fourteen months old before the first German soldier was killed by resistants. The public mood changed only as the Reicht's original correctness gave way to brutality and as events outside France prefigured possible German defeat. Even as Liberation approached, resistance was still local, small-scale and divided, never the mass army of later myth. Different visions of who should inherit France complicated the persuit of collaberators and foreshadowed the chaos of post-war politics.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A history of how the French people dealt with the humiliating defeat administered by the Germans in 1940, the occupation that followed, and the end of the Third Republic. Ousby, who has taught history at universities in Britain and the US, first explains why French army and air force seemed so outmatched by the Germans: Although many in number, the troops were poorly led by aged generals who relied on obsolete WW I tactics stressing defense over the offensive. The French forces were no match for a Nazi blitzkrieg featuring massed tanks, armored vehicles, Stuka dive bombers, and swift moving infantry. The government had no choice but to accept humiliating terms of surrender. Harsh reparations were imposed on France, Hitlers revenge for the Treaty of Versailles. General Ptain, the hero of Verdun in WW I, a figurehead father image, was installed in the puppet Vichy government that strictly followed Nazi orders. The Germans plundered Frances food, drink, and art; the French were reduced by drastic rationing to a nation in perpetual need. The feared Gestapo was much in evidence, and Vichy stooges cooperated with the Nazis in rounding up Jews, communists, and dissidents. The rsistants grew in number, and the Germans responded by executing more and more French citizens. A French civil war between Vichy loyalists and underground patriots broke out, adding to the suffering. The rsistants suffered high casualties; their charismatic leader Jean Moulin eventually paid with his life. After the German surrender the nation was transfixed by anger, frustration, and shame. The French focused their violent fury on a variety of individuals and groups viewed as having betrayed France. The haughty, immensely self-assured Charles de Gaulle, head of Free French forces, quickly stepped into the power vacuum left by the war, setting France on a new and increasingly controversial course. A well-written, carefully researched, often fascinating story of the long and little known French ordeal. (16 pages illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Well researched without being scholarly, Occupation is highly perceptive in its analysis.... -- The New York Times Book Review, Chris Patsilelis

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181485
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181482
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, frightening, and above all triumphant, March 28, 1999

By 

Christopher Connors (Pepperell, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944 (Hardcover)

OCCUPATION is one of the best historical non-fiction books I've read. You can tell that its author, Ian Ousby, is not a historian by profession. The book reads like a literary critque, and Ousby occasionally ventures into such topics as symbolism during the Occupation, and the emotions behind living in France during WWII. The book is ladden with stories and qoutes originating from source material of Vichy and Occupied France, giving the book a human quality that you will often fail to find in most historical texts. The book is often frightening, with true stories of Gestapo cruelty, and triumphant as the reader follows the events of France's history from the day the Germans marched on Paris, till the day Paris was liberated and beyond. I closed the book, and came to the conclusion that it was one of the best books I've ever read since I gained a solid platform of knowledge that would be hard to acquire through an expensive history course. The only gripe I had with the book was that it sometimes takes up three pages in what could be said in a paragraph. However, this occurred rarely and the majority of the book flowed beautifully and kept my interest. In summary, if you are in the least bit interested in French history during WWII, this is a book that you MUST find its way into your bookshelf. I highly recommend it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Explores the changing French perceptions of nazi occupation., July 24, 1999

By 

John Barry Kenyon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944 (Hardcover)

Ousby illustrates well how early French hopes that the German treatment would be fair and correct collapsed over time. It soon transpired that the only function of France was to be a source of booty and exploitation. Particularly insightful on the Vichy regime, Ousby is thorough on showing up the tensions in the ranks of the collaborators and the resistance alike.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars balanced, well-researched, well written, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944 (Hardcover)

if you are only going to read one book about france under the occupation, read this one. it's fair, showing without moralizing how numerous french either went down the path of collaboration or resistance. it's one of the few books that doesn't try to generalize about france during the war, and shows just how splintered the country was. just as importantly, it does a good job explaining to a reader who wasn't alive then and never suffered the horror of an occupation what it does to people mentally, pushing them into acts of unbelievable courage, or into evil that years later seems impossible to understand but at the time may have appeared the only thing to do.