Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie
Encyclopedia
Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie (11 September 1897 – 10 October 1952) was a French
soldier, Résistance
member, and conservative politician.
, a small village in the Indre
département of central France. His military career began in 1915, and, by the end of World War I
, he had reached the rank of lieutenant
, and he had been awarded the Legion of Honor.
Politically, d'Astier was strongly conservative and Roman Catholic. In particular, he believed that the republican
form of government was inherently weak and ineffective and that France would be stronger under a traditional monarchy
. He was an admirer of Charles Maurras
, a prominent monarchist intellectual and poet. It is possible that d'Astier was involved in La Cagoule
, a fascist
-leaning organisation that sought the French Republic's overthrow.
When World War II
broke out, d'Astier was called back into active service. Although his right-wing political views were generally in harmony with those of Nazi Germany
, he was also determined to see France stand as a strong nation, and, therefore, he vehemently opposed the German invasion. His reaction contrasted sharply with the attitude of some of his ideological colleagues, who urged collaboration and alliance with the Nazis against a perceived threat from Communism
. After the French defeat
in June 1940, d'Astier became active in the French Resistance
.
He was eventually forced to flee, however, when the capture of a colleague threatened to expose him. He escaped to Oran
, Algeria
, in 1941. There, d'Astier and the local Resistance infiltrated the Vichy
infrastruction in North Africa. The allies invaded North Africa
in 1942, and, as the invasion troops were approaching the shore, approximately four hundred members of the French Resistance, under the command of d'Astier and José Aboulker
, staged a coup in the city of Algiers
. They seized key facilities, including the telephone exchange, the radio station, the governor's house, and the headquarters of the French 19th Corps. They arrested General Alphonse Juin
, commander of all Vichy troops in North Africa and Admiral François Darlan
, the commander-in-chief of the Vichy military.
Early the next morning, the Vichy gendarmerie
arrived and released Juin and Darlan. However, afterwards, Vichy troops lost time retaking the positions seized by the Resistance during the coup, and this allowed the Allied forces to encircle Algiers with little opposition. Breaking with the Vichy régime, Darlan negotiated a surrender with the Allies that allowed him to retain control of the local civil administration.
Despite his surrender, however, Darlan was soon murdered by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
, a member of the Resistance. Although La Chapelle is believed to have acted alone, Darlan's successor, Henri Giraud
, accused the Resistance of organising the assassination, and he launched a crackdown. Many of the key figures in the Resistance were arrested, and d'Astier went into hiding. He was found and arrested in early 1943. When Charles de Gaulle
became the sole head of the Free French forces, d'Astier was released. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to De Gaulle's Commission of National Defense.
In 1944, d'Astier led a 45-man detachment in France, operating behind enemy lines to prepare the way for the Allied invasion. He continued to fight in France for the remainder of the war.
Henri d'Astier died in Geneva
in 1952.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
soldier, Résistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
member, and conservative politician.
Life
Henri d'Astier was born in Villedieu-sur-IndreVilledieu-sur-Indre
Villedieu-sur-Indre is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...
, a small village in the Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département of central France. His military career began in 1915, and, by the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he had reached the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, and he had been awarded the Legion of Honor.
Politically, d'Astier was strongly conservative and Roman Catholic. In particular, he believed that the republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
form of government was inherently weak and ineffective and that France would be stronger under a traditional monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. He was an admirer of Charles Maurras
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...
, a prominent monarchist intellectual and poet. It is possible that d'Astier was involved in La Cagoule
La Cagoule
La Cagoule , officially called Comité secret d'action révolutionnaire , was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, active in the 1930s, and designed to attempt the overthrow of the French Third Republic...
, a fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
-leaning organisation that sought the French Republic's overthrow.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, d'Astier was called back into active service. Although his right-wing political views were generally in harmony with those of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, he was also determined to see France stand as a strong nation, and, therefore, he vehemently opposed the German invasion. His reaction contrasted sharply with the attitude of some of his ideological colleagues, who urged collaboration and alliance with the Nazis against a perceived threat from Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. After the French defeat
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in June 1940, d'Astier became active in the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
He was eventually forced to flee, however, when the capture of a colleague threatened to expose him. He escaped to Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, in 1941. There, d'Astier and the local Resistance infiltrated the Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
infrastruction in North Africa. The allies invaded North Africa
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
in 1942, and, as the invasion troops were approaching the shore, approximately four hundred members of the French Resistance, under the command of d'Astier and José Aboulker
José Aboulker
José Aboulker was a member of the anti-Nazi resistance who co-founded a resistance network in Algiers in World War II and emerged as one of the main leaders of the resistance movement in North Africa...
, staged a coup in the city of Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. They seized key facilities, including the telephone exchange, the radio station, the governor's house, and the headquarters of the French 19th Corps. They arrested General Alphonse Juin
Alphonse Juin
- Early years :Juin was born at Bône in French Algeria, and enlisted in the French Army, graduating from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1912.- Career :...
, commander of all Vichy troops in North Africa and Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
, the commander-in-chief of the Vichy military.
Early the next morning, the Vichy gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
arrived and released Juin and Darlan. However, afterwards, Vichy troops lost time retaking the positions seized by the Resistance during the coup, and this allowed the Allied forces to encircle Algiers with little opposition. Breaking with the Vichy régime, Darlan negotiated a surrender with the Allies that allowed him to retain control of the local civil administration.
Despite his surrender, however, Darlan was soon murdered by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, was a member of the French resistance who assassinated Admiral of the Fleet François Darlan, the former chief of government of Vichy France and the self-proclaimed high commissioner of French North Africa and West Africa, on December 24, 1942...
, a member of the Resistance. Although La Chapelle is believed to have acted alone, Darlan's successor, Henri Giraud
Henri Giraud
Henri Honoré Giraud was a French general who fought in World War I and World War II. Captured in both wars, he escaped each time....
, accused the Resistance of organising the assassination, and he launched a crackdown. Many of the key figures in the Resistance were arrested, and d'Astier went into hiding. He was found and arrested in early 1943. When Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
became the sole head of the Free French forces, d'Astier was released. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to De Gaulle's Commission of National Defense.
In 1944, d'Astier led a 45-man detachment in France, operating behind enemy lines to prepare the way for the Allied invasion. He continued to fight in France for the remainder of the war.
Henri d'Astier died in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
in 1952.
War Official reports
- Les Cahiers Français, La part de la Résistance Française dans les événements d'Afrique du Nord (Official reports of French Resistance Group leaders who seized Algiers on 8 November 1942, to allow allied landing), Commissariat à l'Information of Free French Comité National, London, Aug. 1943.
Academic works about these events
- George F. Howe, North West Africa: Seizing the initiative in the West, Center of Military History, U.S 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-Touzé, L'Afrique du Nord dans la guerre, 1939-1945, Paris, Albin Michel, 1998.