Relics of Vichy France

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June JUl at ine imperiar war Generai Secretary today. Georae the Empire-Frenchmen think In June 1940 after a brief campaign the discredited Third French Republic surrendered to Hitler's armies.

The country was to be nominallv ruler hv a new rollahnr- luItu wy a Ir ationist government under Marshall Petain (First World War hero) based in Vichy.

But the north eastern area of the country was occupied by the German army.

The new regime abolished the revolutionary slogan of "Eroadam Cannliter Equality and Brotherhood" and replaced it with "Work, Family and Fatherland"

A small but interesting exhibition of posters and political leaflets produced in Vichy Franch is on show (until l..i- Ant .. e'l- 141--. Museum near the Castle in London.

One set of government posters concerns 'The Relief" , a project of Laval (the Vichy Premier) under which he agreed with the Nazis that for every throo Frannh mirriore who rICHCH VUKeIS WIJU "volunteered"" to work in Germany, one French prisoner of war would be released.

The posters are addressed to potential volunteers:

"By working in Germany you will be the ambassador of French quality.

TOU have the kev of the #a.. Losse camps. French workers, you free prisoners by working in Germany"

The scheme failed and was eventually replaced by forced The French CP (whose Marchais, is currently being accused of volunteering under Laval's scheme) was in the first year of the occupation tolerated by the Nazis since they supported the Hitler-Stalin pact.

After the invasion of the 119SR in line 1021 tho VUIT BFF VUIC Stalinists of course joined the Gaullists and other French nationalist forces in the resistance to German occupation and the Vichy regime.

The exhibition contains some good examples of how this change did not alter the txtremery reactionary portıcal nature of the Gaullist-led resistance.

One 1943 resistance poster produced in Algiers accuses the Vichy regime of losing parts of the French empire. : "Indo China is missing from about this'.

But even though the CP accepted and indeed contributed to the reactionary character of the politics of the resistance, the presence of the CP allowed the Vichy regime to convert all its anti-resistance propaganda into a massive tirade of anti-communism of which there are several interesting examples in the exhibition.

Despite a Gauilist-nationalist orientation, the exhibition is worth a visit in order to gain, not a complete political picture of Vichy France, but some useful direct first hand insight of the political struggle in France in these all-important years-at the end of. which Stalinist betrayal prevented. the possibility of social revolution.

Dy Enrique Alvarez appear almost inconceivable in today's situation until we remember that it was a Labour government that sent troops into Ireland, introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, scrapped political status in Ireland and used the SPG and the army to break strikes from Grunwicks to the Firemen.

Reformism is still reformism. For the Labour leaders, just as for Noske and Ebert, what is acceptable is determined by what is necessary for the preservation of capitalist society.

In January 1919, Noske and Ebert n a last desperate act lined themselves up with the private armies of German capitalism, the Freikorps, to smash the leadership of the revolutionary movement and hold back the working class.

In nine days of bloodı suppression from 6-15 January. the leaders of social democracy sat back while the 'Freikorps'troops of German i capitalism k shock engaged in an orgy of murder excesses:

"We have kept warning the caution"® proceed •with The informed the government.

This service to capitalism did not, however, win these savage traitors any gratitude from their masters.

As General van Lustendorff, one of the imperialist war leaders, was to comment on his return from exile in Sweden three weeks later:

"It would be the greatest stupidity for the revolutionaries to allow us to remain alive. Why, if ever 1 come to power again, there will be no pardon.

"Then with an easy conscience, I would have Ebert and Scheidermann and company hanged and watch them dangle".

The spokesmen of capital are by no means lacking in class consciousness and class hatred for even the most wretched and bankrupt spokesmen of the workers' movement.

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INDUSTRICAL NEWIS 80.