The Vichy 80

The Vichy 80 were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that effectively dissolved the Third Republic and established the authoritarian regime of Philippe Pétain now referred to as Vichy France.

Background

Nazi Germany invaded France on 14 May 1940, and Paris fell a month later. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud was opposed to asking for armistice terms, and upon losing the cabinet vote, resigned. President Albert Lebrun appointed Marshal Philippe Pétain as his replacement. France capitulated on 22 June 1940. Under the terms of the armistice, the northern and Atlantic coast region of France was to be militarily occupied by Germany. The remainder would remain unoccupied, with the French Government remaining at Vichy, remaining responsible for all civil government in France, occupied and unoccupied.

Pétain began a revision of the constitution of the discredited Third Republic. This process was completed with a vote of the combined houses of the parliament on 10 July 1940. The result was a constitutional amendment that created the new French government. The eighty deputies and senators who opposed the change are referred to as the Vichy 80 (French: "les quatre-vingts"), and they are now famous for their decision to oppose the vote.[1]

Additionally, 27 deputies and senators did not take part in the vote. They had fled Metropolitan France on 21 June, from Bordeaux to Algiers, on board the ship, Massilia, and they are referred to as the Massilia absentees. They were considered traitors by the collaborationist government,[2] although they were seen as heroes after the war.[3]

Forty of the eighty votes against the change were lodged by Socialists.[4] Sixty-one communist parliamentarians had their rights to serve as deputies and senators denied to them in January 1940.[5] Using data collected from the biographies of parliamentarians, Jean Lacroix, Pierre-Guillaume Méon, and Kim Oosterlinck observe that members of a democratic dynasty, defined as a dynasty whose founder was a defender of democratic ideals, were 9.6 to 15.1 percentage points more likely to oppose the act than other parliamentarians.[6]

The Pétain government henceforth ruled under this Act, the constitutional law of 10 July 1940, and they never produced a true constitution until the end of World War II, insisting that it would have to be signed in Paris, once France became unoccupied again. On 30 January 1944, a draft constitution was signed, but it remained without effect. After the French government of Pétain was dissolved, the Free French Forces contested the legality of the government based at Vichy and they voided most of its acts. More recently, though, some recognition of the responsibility of the French state for the crimes committed under the government based at Vichy has occurred.[7]

Vote tally
Deputies Senators Total
Total 544 302 846
Voting 414 235 649
For 357 212 569
Against 57 23 80
Voluntary abstaining 12 8 20
Massilia absentees 26 1 27
Other abstaining 92 57 149
Not voting 1 1

Detailed list of the 80
Name House Département Parliamentary group
Marcel Astier Senate Ardèche Radical-Socialist
Jean-Fernand Audeguil Chamber of Deputies Gironde SFIO
Vincent Auriol Chamber of Deputies Haute-Garonne SFIO
Alexandre Bachelet Senate Seine SFIO
Vincent Badie Chamber of Deputies Hérault Radical-Socialist
Camille Bedin Chamber of Deputies Dordogne SFIO
Émile Bender Senate Rhône Radical-Socialist
Jean Biondi Chamber of Deputies Oise SFIO
Léon Blum Chamber of Deputies Aude SFIO
Laurent Bonnevay Chamber of Deputies Rhône AD
Paul Boulet Chamber of Deputies Hérault Independent Left
Georges Bruguier Senate Gard SFIO
Séraphin Buisset Chamber of Deputies Isère SFIO
Gaston Cabannes Chamber of Deputies Gironde SFIO
François Camel Chamber of Deputies Ariège SFIO
Pierre de Chambrun Senate Lozère Independent
Auguste Champetier de Ribes Senate Basses-Pyrénées Independent
Pierre Chaumié Senate Lot-et-Garonne Radical-Socialist
Arthur Chaussy Chamber of Deputies Seine-et-Marne SFIO
Joseph Collomp Chamber of Deputies Var SFIO
Octave Crutel Chamber of Deputies Seine-Inférieure Radical-Socialist
Achille Daroux Chamber of Deputies Vendée Radical-Socialist
Maurice Delom-Sorbé Chamber of Deputies Basses-Pyrénées Independent Left
Joseph Depierre Senate Rhône SFIO
Marx Dormoy Senate Allier SFIO
Alfred Elmiger Chamber of Deputies Rhône Independent Left
Paul Fleurot Senate Seine Radical-Socialist
Émile Fouchard Chamber of Deputies Seine-et-Marne UPF
Édouard Froment Chamber of Deputies Ardèche SFIO
Paul Giaccobi Senate Corse Radical-Socialist
Justin Godart Senate Rhône Radical-Socialist
Félix Gouin Chamber of Deputies Bouches-du-Rhône SFIO
Henri Gout Chamber of Deputies Aude Radical-Socialist
Louis Gros Senate Vaucluse SFIO
Amédée Guy Chamber of Deputies Haute-Savoie SFIO
Jean Hennessy Chamber of Deputies Alpes-Maritimes Independent Left
Lucien Hussel Chamber of Deputies Isère SFIO
André Isoré Chamber of Deputies Pas-de-Calais Radical-Socialist
Eugène Jardon Chamber of Deputies Allier UPF
Jean-Alexis Jaubert Chamber of Deputies Corrèze Radical-Socialist
Claude Jordery Chamber of Deputies Rhône SFIO
François Labrousse Senate Corrèze Radical-Socialist
Albert Le Bail Chamber of Deputies Finistère Radical-Socialist
Joseph Lecacheux Chamber of Deputies Manche AD
Victor Le Gorgeu Senate Finistère Radical-Socialist
Justin Luquot Chamber of Deputies Gironde SFIO
Augustin Malroux Chamber of Deputies Tarn SFIO
Gaston Manent Chamber of Deputies Hautes-Pyrénées Radical-Socialist
Alfred Margaine Chamber of Deputies Marne Radical-Socialist
Léon Martin Chamber of Deputies Isère SFIO
Robert Mauger Chamber of Deputies Loir-et-Cher SFIO
Jean Mendiondou Chamber of Deputies Basses-Pyrénées Radical-Socialist
Jules Moch Chamber of Deputies Hérault SFIO
Maurice Montel Chamber of Deputies Cantal Independent Left
Léonel de Moustier Chamber of Deputies Doubs Républicain indépendant
Marius Moutet Chamber of Deputies Drôme SFIO
René Nicod Chamber of Deputies Ain UPF
Louis Noguères Chamber of Deputies Pyrénées-Orientales SFIO
Jean Odin Senate Gironde Radical-Socialist
Joseph Paul-Boncour Senate Loir-et-Cher Socialist Republican Union (USR)
Jean Perrot Chamber of Deputies Finistère Radical-Socialist
Georges Pézières Senate Pyrénées-Orientales SFIO
André Philip Chamber of Deputies Rhône SFIO
Marcel Plaisant Senate Cher Radical-Socialist
François Tanguy-Prigent Chamber of Deputies Finistère SFIO
Paul Ramadier Chamber of Deputies Aveyron Independent
Joseph-Paul Rambaud Senate Ariège Radical-Socialist
René Renout Senate Var Radical-Socialist
Léon Roche Chamber of Deputies Haute-Vienne SFIO
Camille Rolland Senate Rhône Radical-Socialist
Jean-Louis Rolland Chamber of Deputies Finistère SFIO
Joseph Rous Chamber of Deputies Pyrénées-Orientales SFIO
Jean-Emmanuel Roy Chamber of Deputies Gironde Radical-Socialist
Henry Sénès Senate Var SFIO
Philippe Serre Chamber of Deputies Meurthe-et-Moselle Independent Left
Paul Simon Chamber of Deputies Finistère Popular Democrat
Gaston Thiébaut Chamber of Deputies Meuse Radical-Socialist
Isidore Thivrier Chamber of Deputies Allier SFIO
Pierre Trémintin Chamber of Deputies Finistère Popular Democrat
Michel Zunino Chamber of Deputies Var SFIO

SFIO = Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (French Section of the Workers' International)

UPF = Union populaire française (French Popular Union, a breakaway section of the French Communist Party)

References
  1. "Proposition de Loi n° 729" (in French). Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  2. "21 juin 1940 : le "Massilia" quitte la France pour Alger" (in French). memoire.net. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  3. For the complete list of Massilia's passengers, see Louis-Georges Planes and Robert Dufourg, Bordeaux, Capitale tragique, mai-juin 1940, Loos: Editions Medicis, 4-page unnumbered inset between pages 188 and 189.
  4. Judt, Tony (1998). The burden of responsibility : Blum, Camus, Aron, and the French twentieth century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226414195.
  5. http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/france/80.htm
  6. Lacroix, Jean; Meon, Pierre-Guillaume; Oosterlinck, Kim (2019-07-01). "A Positive Effect of Political Dynasties: The Case of France's 1940 Enabling Act". Rochester, NY. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Proposition de loi relative aux Justes de France" (in French). Retrieved 2007-09-10.
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