The Politics of Everyday Life in Vichy France: Foreigners, Undesirables, and Strangers

by Shannon L. Fogg

• ISBN13: 9780521899444
• ISBN10: 0521899443
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-03
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book examines the effects of material distress on attitudes toward the Vichy government and on the treatment of outsiders in France during the Second World War. Fogg contends that the period's severe material shortages and refugee situation fundamentally reshaped France's social structure. Material conditions also created alliances and divisions within the French population that undermined the Vichy regime's legitimacy. The book argues that shortages helped define the relationship between citizens and the state, created the very definition of who was an "insider" and an "outsider" in local communities, and shaped the manner in which native and refugee populations interacted. Fogg's research reveals that French residents proved to be more pragmatic than ideological in their daily dealings with outsiders, with several surprising effects: natives welcomed "quintessential" outsiders who provided an economic advantage to local communities, while French "insiders" faced discrimination.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Figures	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
"Life has never been so good": Shortages, Public Opinion, and Urban-Rural Interactions	p. 19
"Where we are from, that is for pigs": Alsatian Refugees in the Interior	p. 56
"They are undesirables": Gypsies during World War II	p. 85
"At any price": Housing, the Black Market, and Jewish Daily Life	p. 111
"The vast heart of mankind knows no boundaries": Refuge in Jewish Children's Homes	p. 151
Conclusion	p. 188
Bibliography	p. 197
Index	p. 219
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