France in the Era of Fascism

France''s response to the rise of European fascism during the 1930s, and subsequently to the Nazi occupation 1940-44, has been a difficult subject for the nation''s historians. The consensus amongst leading French authorities on the period has been the claim that France was largely ''immune'' to fascism in the 1930s, and that the Vichy regime was an aberration produced by defeat and occupation. Over the last 30 years, this position has gradually been undermined, mainly through the work of foreign scholars, but it nonetheless remains intact. This volume brings together for the first time the leading critics of the standard French interpretation, who have used these essays to refine and update their positions, or to move the debate onto new terrain.

France's response to the rise of European fascism during the 1930s, and subsequently to the Nazi occupation 1940-44, has been a difficult subject for the nation’s historians. The consensus amongst leading French authorities on the period has been the claim that France was largely 'immune' to fascism in the 1930s, and that the Vichy regime was an aberration produced by defeat and occupation. Over the last 30 years, this position has gradually been undermined, mainly through the work of foreign scholars, but it nonetheless remains intact. This volume brings together for the first time the leading critics of the standard French interpretation, who have used these essays to refine and update their positions, or to move the debate onto new terrain.

List of Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Introduction: Contextualising the Immunity Thesis
Brian Jenkins

Chapter 2. Morphology of Fascism in France
Zeev Sternhell

Chapter 3. Fascism in France: Problematising the Immunity Thesis
Robert Soucy

Chapter 4. The Five Stages of Fascism
Robert. O. Paxton

Chapter 5. February 1934 and the Discovery of French Society’s Allergy to the ‘Fascist Revolution’
Michel Dobry

Chapter 6. The Construction of Crisis in Interwar France
Kevin Passmore

Chapter 7. Conclusion: Beyond the ‘Fascism Debate’
Brian Jenkins

Select Bibliography
Index