“Partial Neutrality”. Félix Broche and the Rally of French Polynesia to Free France (September 1940).
Benhalima, Yacine
“Partial Neutrality”. Félix Broche and the Rally of French Polynesia to Free France (September 1940). - 2023.
67
On September 2nd, 1940, French Polynesia was among the very first colonies of the French empire to rally Free France. It was the second colony of the Pacific to do so, after the New Hebrides on July 22nd and before New Caledonia on September 19th. During the events that led to French Polynesia’s rally, Captain Félix Broche, commanding officer of the ground forces, observed a phase of apparent neutrality, only accepting to join the movement with his company once the rally was confirmed. Presented in the historiography and by the witnesses of the events who published their memoirs as undecided, this article proposes a different assessment, seeing in Félix Broche a support of Free France who refused to deal with politics and who aspired to the same ends as the Gaullists who performed the rally: refusing the armistice concluded by the Vichy regime and staying in the war.
“Partial Neutrality”. Félix Broche and the Rally of French Polynesia to Free France (September 1940). - 2023.
67
On September 2nd, 1940, French Polynesia was among the very first colonies of the French empire to rally Free France. It was the second colony of the Pacific to do so, after the New Hebrides on July 22nd and before New Caledonia on September 19th. During the events that led to French Polynesia’s rally, Captain Félix Broche, commanding officer of the ground forces, observed a phase of apparent neutrality, only accepting to join the movement with his company once the rally was confirmed. Presented in the historiography and by the witnesses of the events who published their memoirs as undecided, this article proposes a different assessment, seeing in Félix Broche a support of Free France who refused to deal with politics and who aspired to the same ends as the Gaullists who performed the rally: refusing the armistice concluded by the Vichy regime and staying in the war.
Réseaux sociaux