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Vichy Trivia Quiz

This quiz is about a sad chapter in modern French history, and was a very difficult time for most Frenchmen. Let's make it easy for you!

A multiple-choice quiz by Oblomov. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
Oblomov

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
121,998

Updated
Jun 18 23

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
3293

Awards
Editor's Choice

Last 3 plays: Guest 109 (4/10), mulder52 (7/10), looney_tunes (8/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Vichy, a spa in central France, was the seat of a French government which collaborated with the Germans in the years 1940-1944. Did this French government choose this place of their own free will?

Yes

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Question 2 of 10

2. Who was the head of state of the Vichy government? Hint

Darlan

Laval

P�tain

Darnand

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Question 3 of 10

3. Only responsible to the head of state was a minister, head of government, who acted as Prime Minister. Who acted as such during the greater part of the Vichy period, and made himself the most notorious collaborator of France? Hint

P�tain

Laval

Flaubert

Darnand

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Question 4 of 10

4. There was once a tall French general, who opposed first the armistice in June 1940, and then the Vichy government most vehemently. In England he created what were known as the Free French Forces. Much later on he became the first president of the 5th French Republic. Now try to give the correct answer!
Hint

Darnand

de Gaulle

Giraud

Huntziger

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Question 5 of 10

5. In 1940-1942 France itself was divided in three zones. A zone occupied by the Germans, a zone which was not occupied by foreign armies, and a zone occupied by military from another country. Which country was that? Hint

Spain

Soviet Union

Austria

Italy

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Question 6 of 10

6. Just before and at the time of the French-German armistice in 1940 Hitler was more moderate in his demands upon defeated France than Mussolini. What was the reason of Hitler? Hint

He had beaten France, but his troops were exhausted

He wanted a serious and lasting peace with France

He tried to give the French the impression that he was nicer than Mussolini

He was afraid that otherwise the French fleet would escape his control

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Question 7 of 10

7. Now for the formal constitutional status of Vichy. What was it then? Hint

Federation

State

Monarchy

Commonwealth

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Question 8 of 10

8. In 1941 a number of French volunteered to fight with the Germans against the Russians. But a greater number also had to do this, although not of their own free will. The greater part of the latter category were: Hint

French workers in Germany

Inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine

Frenchmen who still were prisoners-of-war of the Germans

Frenchmen who for some reasons lost their French citizenship

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Question 9 of 10

9. What induced the Germans in November 1942 to occupy the hitherto unoccupied zone of Vichy? Hint

The reluctance of Vichy to deport Jews and labourers

The fact that the Vichy goverment had secret dealings with the Allies

The fear that in the free zone a secret French army would be built

The Anglo-American landings in North Africa in the same month

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Question 10 of 10

10. In the summer of 1944 the Allies liberated the greater part of France. Only small plots remained in German hands. What became of the Vichy government? Hint

P�tain died in a car accident. The Germans shot some of the ministers, and put the rest in a concentration camp

P�tain and his ministers dissolved the State of Vichy and gave themselves up to the Allies

The Germans forced the head of state and the other members to go to a castle in Germany

In the small French territory not yet in Allied hands, they upheld their shadowy State till the very end

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 20 2024 : Guest 109: 4/10
Oct 16 2024 : mulder52: 7/10
Oct 11 2024 : looney_tunes: 8/10
Sep 24 2024 : Guest 5: 8/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Yes

The Germans left it, in 1940, to that French government to settle down where it wanted, Paris or elsewhere. The government chose Vichy (with its ample hotel accommodation), as going back immediately to Paris seemed to them inadvisable in view of the chaotic circumstances.

Moreover, they thought their stay in Vichy would be only a matter of weeks. After that, they expected normality to return with a quick and lasting peace with the Germans, which would enable them to go back to an unoccupied Paris.

2. Who was the head of state of the Vichy government?

Answer: P�tain

P�tain was a French Marshal in the First World War, and made himself very popular at that time. There is no doubt, that in 1940, after the Germans had conquered France, the majority of Frenchmen considered P�tain as their only hope and 'saviour'. Laval, from the start of his time as Prime Minister was very unpopular, even despised. Darlan was Commander-in-Chief of the French Navy. Darnand was the head of the notorious "Milice" (English "militia"), a Fascist police force, as brutal as the Germans, with whom they collaborated.

Answer: Laval

Flaubert was the 19th century authour of (amongst other novels) "Madame Bovary", so didn't have much to do with Vichy during World War II.

Answer: de Gaulle

Giraud was a French general, whom Roosevelt - who didn't like de Gaulle very much - unsuccessfully tried to make the leader of the Free French. General Huntziger was the one who signed the Franco-German armistice in 1940. No, he was not the German general at that occasion, he was the French one.

Answer: Italy

Yes, at the time Italy occupied a part of south-eastern France.
Perhaps the Spanish dictator Franco also would have been willing to do so, but he was just smart enough not to take part in the war. Austria was at the time a part of Germany. As for the Soviet Union ... well, that was meant to make the question easier for you.

6. Just before and at the time of the French-German armistice in 1940 Hitler was more moderate in his demands upon defeated France than Mussolini. What was the reason of Hitler?

Answer: He was afraid that otherwise the French fleet would escape his control

That was his sole reason. The French had a very modern, powerful navy, and both Churchill and Hitler were much afraid in 1940 that this navy could be crucial to the outcome of the war between Britain and Germany. In fact, the Germans never got their hands on the French navy. Part of it was destroyed by the British at Oran (Algeria) in 1940 after the French surrender; the rest was scuttled by the French following the German occupation of "Unoccupied France" in November 1942.

7. Now for the formal constitutional status of Vichy. What was it then?

Answer: State

Yes, as you could have guessed: a State. Have a look at the coins and stamps of the Vichy period: "L'�tat fran�ais". Fascist and semi-fascist states tended to find the word "republic" repugnant, because for them it had leftist connotations. Cf. Spanish coins and stamps in the Franco period, which are inscribed: "Estado espa�ol". And the Weimar Republic became the Third Reich.
This, however, did not prevent states, which officially styled themselves monarchies or republics, from being fascist or quasi-fascist.

Answer: Inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine

Alsace-Lorraine was during WWII de facto annexed to Germany. The Germans considered them as co-Germans, hence they had to fight with their "compatriots" against the enemies of the Reich, just as in WWI.

9. What induced the Germans in November 1942 to occupy the hitherto unoccupied zone of Vichy?

Answer: The Anglo-American landings in North Africa in the same month

The Germans, much concerned about the Allied landings, again thought about the French fleet, then for the greater part lying in Toulon. They now decided to lay their hands on it. But the French admiral in command sank his ships before the Germans arrived in this southern French port.
As for fears about a secret Vichy army or secret dealings with the Allies, perhaps some Germans may have had these. As for concerning the deportation of Jews and labourers, the Germans had nothing to complain about regarding the co-operation of the Vichy government.

10. In the summer of 1944 the Allies liberated the greater part of France. Only small plots remained in German hands. What became of the Vichy government?

Answer: The Germans forced the head of state and the other members to go to a castle in Germany

P�tain protested against his transportation to Germany, and declared himself unable to exercise his function henceforth. Some ministers and some Fascist personalities were forming "cabinets" of a rather farcical government-in-exile, that in view of P�tain's attitude now lacked any shred of legality, let alone authority. For an amusing literary view on the petty and empty intrigues in the castle of Sigmaringen in southern Germany read the book of the arch-collaborationist French writer C�line: "D'un ch�teau � l'autre."

That was an easy quiz, wasn't it? Ok, the question about this tall general admittedly was rather vexing, but the rest ...
Too easy? Then perhaps I will make a second quiz about Vichy, but then a really tough one. Beware and prepare!

Source: Author Oblomov

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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