National Assembly (1940–1944)

National Assembly (1940–1944)
Name	National Assembly (1940–1944)
Established	1940
Disbanded	1944

National Assembly (1940–1944)

The National Assembly (1940–1944) was the extraordinary legislative body convened after the Fall of France and during the period of the Vichy France regime under Philippe Pétain, the Armistice of 22 June 1940, and the Second World War. It assembled deputies and senators from the French Third Republic to decide on constitutional change involving figures such as Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud, Pierre Laval, Maréchal Pétain, and representatives linked to the Popular Front, French Communist Party, and conservative formations. The Assembly’s acts affected institutions including the French Constitution of 1875, the Constitutional Council (France), and interactions with the German Reich and the Vichy regime's administration.

Background and Establishment

After the Battle of France, delegates from the Chamber of Deputies (France) and the Senate of France met in the spa town of Vichy, Allier to respond to the military collapse that followed the Battle of Dunkirk, the Operation Fall Rot, and the diplomatic consequences of the Second Armistice at Compiègne. The crisis involved leaders such as Georges Mandel, Maxime Weygand, Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in international context, while domestic debate referenced the Constitution of the Third Republic, the influence of the French Section of the Workers' International, the Radical Party (France), and conservative groups tied to the Action Française. Under pressure from the German occupation of France and with figures like Pierre Laval and Marcel Déat advocating accommodation or collaboration, the Assembly voted to confer extraordinary powers to Philippe Pétain on 10 July 1940, invoking precedents cited by participants such as Léon Blum and invoking wartime exigency narratives seen in other states like Italy under Benito Mussolini.

Composition and Key Members

The Assembly included former deputies and senators from the Third Republic, various political families such as the Republican Federation, the Popular Republican Movement, and individuals previously associated with the Cartel des Gauches and the Bloc National. Prominent personalities present were Maréchal Pétain, Pierre Laval, Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud, Léon Blum, Henri Gout, André Tardieu, and other parliamentarians who had served in bodies like the Chamber of Deputies (France) and the Senate of France. Resistance and émigré figures including Charles de Gaulle, supporters from the Free French Forces, exiles linked to the French Committee of National Liberation, and members of groups such as Combat (movement), Libération-Nord, and Franc-Tireur were absent or oppositional, while collaborationists such as Marcel Déat and Jacques Doriot favored the new order.

Powers and Functions

By the vote of 10 July 1940, the Assembly transferred constitutional authority to Philippe Pétain to draft a new constitutional order, suspending elements of the Constitution of 1875 and vesting legislative prerogatives that affected the Conseil d'État (France), the Judicial system of France, and administrative structures in the Vichy Government. This empowered Pétain to promulgate acts with the force of law, reshape institutions like the Ministry of the Interior (France), reorganize the French colonial empire’s governance in places such as Algeria and French Indochina, and enter arrangements with the German Reich and the Italian Social Republic through figures such as Pierre Laval and Régis de Trobriand. The Assembly’s transfer of power impacted civil liberties considered under instruments like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and affected legal bodies including the Cour de cassation and the Tribunal de grande instance.

Major Legislation and Decisions

The Assembly’s signature decision authorized the promulgation of the Act No. 2 of 1940-style statutes that abolished, reformed, or suspended republican institutions and enabled measures such as the passage of the law of the 17 July 1940 creating the legal basis for the État Français, enactments restricting political parties including the French Communist Party, labor codes influenced by corporatist models like those of Fascist Italy, and statutes governing press and association that affected newspapers like Le Temps and organizations tied to the Confédération générale du travail. Key administrative changes reconfigured ministries, appointed officials from networks like the Milice française and police leadership who cooperated with occupational authorities such as the Kommandantur and the Abwehr in contexts associated with deportation policies enforced in coordination with agencies including the Gestapo and the Schutzstaffel.

Relationship with Vichy Government and Occupying Forces

The Assembly’s delegation of authority to Pétain facilitated institutional collaboration and accommodation with the occupying forces of the German Wehrmacht and the Reich authorities in Paris and regional Kommandantur offices, involving intermediaries like Pierre Laval and administrators drawn from conservative circles and collaborationist movements such as Rassemblement National Populaire and Revolution nationale. This collaboration intersected with repression enacted by police units, the Milice (Vichy), and German security services, producing policies that led to events like the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup and deportations to camps including Auschwitz and Drancy internment camp. Opposition developed through networks tied to French Resistance, Gaullist committees, and Allied efforts from Free France and the Special Operations Executive, culminating in tension between the Vichy administration, local officials, and the German occupation of France.

Dissolution and Legacy

Following the Allied invasion of Normandy, the Liberation of Paris, and the collapse of the Vichy regime under pressure from Allied advances and internal Resistance uprisings, the extraordinary powers granted by the Assembly were nullified as authorities such as the Provisional Government of the French Republic led by Charles de Gaulle reestablished republican institutions, pursued legal purges against collaborators like Pierre Laval and organizations such as the Milice, and invoked continuity with the Third Republic's legal tradition. The Assembly’s 1940 vote and its consequences shaped postwar trials, constitutional debates during the drafting of the Fourth French Republic constitution, and historical assessments involving scholars of Vichy France, historians examining the Collaboration and Résistance, and institutions like the Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération and jurisprudence of the Cour de justice de la République.

Category:French Third Republic