The Vichy 80

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The Vichy 80 refers to a minority group of French elected officials who, on July 10, 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established the Nazi Germany's puppet state of Vichy France.

Nazi Germany invaded France on May 14, 1940, and Paris fell a month later. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned rather than sign an armistice; President Albert Lebrun appointed Marshal Philippe Pétain as his replacement. France capitulated June 22, 1940; under the armistice terms, France was partitioned, with the northern region occupied by Germany, and the remainder (with its capital at Vichy) ostensibly governed by the French government under Pétain.

When Lebrun was removed from the office on June 29, Pétain began a revision of the constitution of the Third Republic. This process was completed with a vote of the combined houses of the parliament on July 10, 1940 on a constitutional law that created the new regime of Vichy France. The 80 deputies and senators who opposed the change are referred to as the Vichy 80 (French: "les 80" or "les quatre-vingts") and are now famous for opposing this decision. [1]

Additionally, 27 deputies and senators did not take part in the vote. They had fled Metropolitan France on June 21 from Bordeaux to Algiers on board the ship Massilia and are referred to as Massilia absentees. They were considered traitors by the Vichy France regime. [2]

The Pétain government always ruled under this act and never finalized a constitution until the end of the war, under the pretext that it would have to be signed in Paris, once France was liberated. On January 30, 1944, a draft constitution was signed but remained without effect. After the overthrow of Pétain, the Free French Forces contested the legality of the Vichy regime and they voided most of its acts. More recently though, there has been a recognition of the responsibility of the French state for the crimes committed under Vichy France [3].

[edit] 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

[edit] Detailed list of the 80

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