François Darlan

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François Darlan (August 7, 1881 – December 24, 1942) was a French naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy. He ultimately became Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II.

Darlan was born in Nérac, Lot-et-Garonne, graduating from the École Navale in 1902. During World War I, he commanded an artillery battery. He remained in the French Navy after the war, and was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1929 and Vice Admiral in 1932. Darlan was made an Admiral and Chief of Staff in 1936. In 1939 he was promoted to 'Amiral de la flotte', a rank created only for him, and given command of the entire French Navy.

[edit] Vichy government

When Paris was occupied in June 1940, Darlan was one of those who supported the prime minister, Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain. Darlan was rewarded by retaining his post as minister of the navy, and he quickly ordered the majority of the fleet to French North Africa. The British feared the French fleet would fall into German hands, so it was destroyed by the Royal Navy at Mers El Kébir on July 3 at the cost of around 1,300 French naval casualties. This act did much to confirm Darlan's Anglophobia,^{[citation needed]} but he still declined to commit the remaining vessels to German control.

In February 1941, Darlan replaced Pierre Laval as Pétain's deputy. He was also named minister for the interior, defence and foreign affairs, making Darlan the de facto head of the Vichy government. In January 1942, Darlan took control of a number of other government posts. Darlan was as much a "collaborator" as Laval was, and Darlan promoted a political alliance between French Vichy Forces and Nazi Germany through Paris Protocols. However, the German government had become suspicious of his opportunism and "malleable loyalties." In April, Darlan was made to surrender the majority of his responsibilities back to Laval, who the Nazis thought was a more trustworthy ally. Darlan retained the post of Commander of the French Armed Forces.

[edit] Putsch of November 8

On November 7, just before the beginning of Operation Torch, Darlan went to Algiers to visit his son, who was hospitalised after a severe attack of polio. Darlan did not know that secret agreements had been made in Cherchell on October 23 between Algierian resistance and General Mark Clark of the combined allied command.

Just past noon on November 8, 400 poorly-armed French civilians attacked the coastal artillery of Sidi Ferruch and the Vichy XIX Army Corps of Algiers. About fifteen hours later, the civilians had neutralized both forces. Under the command of José Aboulker, Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie, and Colonel Jousse, the civilian force occupied most of the strategic points of Algiers under the cover of darkness (the General Government, Prefecture, Staff headquarters, telephone central, barracks, etc.) and arrested most of the Vichy military and civil officials. One of the civilian groups, cadets of Ben-Aknoun College under the command of a cadet named Pauphilet, succeeded in arresting Darlan and General Juin, chief commandant in North Africa. The attack by French resistance became known as the Putsch of November 8.^{[citation needed]}

After three days of threats and talks, Clark compelled Darlan and Juin to order French forces to cease hostilities on November 10 in Oran and November 11 in Morocco – provided Darlan remained head of a French administration. In return, General Eisenhower agreed with Darlan’s self-nomination as High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa on November 14, a move that enraged Charles de Gaulle. On November 27, the remaining French naval vessels were scuttled at Toulon.

For this, Darlan was dismissed from the Vichy government and Vichy Southern France was 'invaded' by the German army in Operation Attila. Most French troops in Africa followed Darlan's lead, but certain elements joined the German forces in Tunisia.

On the afternoon of 24 December 1942, a 20-year-old French monarchist, Ferdinand Bonnier de La Chapelle, entered Darlan's headquarters in Algiers and shot Darlan twice. Although La Chapelle had been a member of the resistance group led by Henri d'Astier, it is believed he acted alone. Darlan died a few hours later. Darlan was replaced as High Commissioner by another French flag officer, General Henri Giraud. De La Chapelle was executed by firing squad on 26 December.

Darlan was unpopular with the Allies – he was considered overly pompous, and it was said that "no tears were shed" at his funeral. Unfortunately, his successor Giraud was not very popular either. On 7 November, Giraud asked for Eisenhower's permission to take over command of all Allied forces for Operation Torch. Giraud refused to help the Allies until the operation was successful in Algiers, where Giraud arrived only on 9 November.

Despite being a real patriot, Giraud was committed to the Vichy regime. He supported Pétain’s pro-Nazi laws and kept Vichy internees in Southern Algeria deportation camps. Giraud later arrested and falsely accused 27 resistance leaders, who had risked their lives in the 8 November Putsch, of participation in Darlan's death,

[edit] References

• Henri Michel, Darlan, Hachette, Paris, 1993.
• George F. Howe, North West Africa: Seizing the initiative in the West, Center of Military history, US Army, Library of Congress, 1991.
• Arthur L. Funck, The politics of Torch, University Press of Kansas, 1974.
• Professeur Yves Maxime Danan, La vie politique à Alger de 1940 à 1944, Paris, L.G.D.J., 1963.
• Christine Levisse-Touzet, L'Afrique du Nord dans la guerre, 1939-1945, Paris, Albin Michel, 1998.
• Professeur José Aboulker et Christine Levisse-Touzet, 8 novembre 1942 : Les armées américaine et anglaise prennent Alger en quinze heures, Paris, « Espoir », n° 133, Paris, 2002.
• Bernard Karsenty, Les compagnons du 8 novembre 1942, Les Nouveaux Cahiers, n°31, Nov. 1972.
• Melton, George (1998). Darlan: Admiral and Statesman of France 1881-1942. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 0275959732.
• Delpont, Hubert (1998). Darlan, l'ambition perdue. AVN. ISBN 2-9503302-9-0.

Preceded by: César Campinchi	Minister of Marine 1940–1942	Succeeded by: Gabriel Auphan
Preceded by: —	Vice President of the Council 1941–1942	Succeeded by: —
Preceded by: Pierre Étienne Flandin	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1941–1942	Succeeded by: Pierre Laval
Preceded by: Marcel Peyrouton	Minister of the Interior 1941	Succeeded by: Pierre Pucheu
Preceded by: Charles Huntziger	Minister of National Defense 1941–1942	Succeeded by: Eugène Bridoux