Joseph Darnand, wearing the wide beret of the Milice

Joseph Darnand (March 19, 1897 – October 10, 1945) was a French pro-Nazi leader and commander of the Vichy French Milice. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2359x3173, 425 KB) Work by Rama File links The following pages link to this file: Joseph Darnand ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2359x3173, 425 KB) Work by Rama File links The following pages link to this file: Joseph Darnand ... Basque style Beret Black beret with military emblem A beret (pronounced in English, except in American English in which it is pronounced ) is a soft round cap, usually of wool felt, with a flat crown, which is worn by both men and women. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Motto Travail, famille, patrie French: Work, family, fatherland Unoccupied zone of Vichy France (until November 1942) Capital Vichy Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholic Government Dictatorship Head of state  - 1940 — 1944 Philippe Pétain President of the Council  - 1940 — 1942 Philippe Pétain  - 1942 - 1944 Pierre Laval Legislature National Assembly... A recruitment poster for the Milice. ...

Joseph Darnand was born at Coligny, Ain, Rhône-Alpes in France. He fought in the First World War and received seven citations for bravery. After the war he worked as a cabinetmaker and later founded his own transportation company in Nice. He also supported the Orléanist group Action Française. Coligny is a commune in the French département of Ain. ... Préfecture building of the Ain département, in Bourg-en-Bresse Ain is a département named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France bordering Switzerland. ... (Région flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Lyon Regional President Jean-Jack Queyranne (PS) (since 2004) Departments Ain Ardèche Drôme Isère Loire Rhône Savoie Haute-Savoie Arrondissements 25 Cantons 335 Communes 2,879 Statistics Land area1 43,698 km² Population (Ranked 2nd)  - January 1, 2006... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Orleanists comprised a French political faction or party which arose out of the Revolution, and ceased to have a separate existence shortly after the establishment of the Third Republic in 1872. ... The Action Française is a French Monarchist movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras. ...

At the beginning of World War II Darnand volunteered to join the French army and served in the Maginot Line. He was captured in June 1940 but fled to Nice. He became a leading figure in the Vichy French organization Légion Francaise des combattants (French Legion of Veterans) and recruited troopers for the fight against Bolshevism. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Maginot Line (IPA: [maÊ’inoː], named after French minister of defense André Maginot) was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along its borders with Germany and with Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Motto Travail, famille, patrie French: Work, family, fatherland Unoccupied zone of Vichy France (until November 1942) Capital Vichy Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholic Government Dictatorship Head of state  - 1940 — 1944 Philippe Pétain President of the Council  - 1940 — 1942 Philippe Pétain  - 1942 - 1944 Pierre Laval Legislature National Assembly... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ...

The next year he founded the collaborationist militia, Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL), that supported Philippe Pétain and Vichy France. He offered his help against theFrench Resistance. On January 1, 1943 he transformed the organization into the Milice. Although Pierre Laval was its official president, Darnand was its de facto leader. Darnand took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler in October 1943 and received a rank of Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS. In December 1943 he became head of police and later secretary of the interior. Collaboration, literally, consists of working together with one or more other people. ... The Service dordre légionnaire (SOL) was a collaborationist militia created by Joseph Darnand, a far right veteran from the First World War. ... Philippe Petain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French general, later Head of State of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A recruitment poster for the Milice. ... Pierre Laval, prime minister of Vichy France Pierre Laval (28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician and four times Prime Minister of France, the final time being under the Vichy government. ... Most of this article is about heads of state. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Sturmbannführer Collar Patch Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party which was used by both the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the Schutzstaffel (SS). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After the Normandy Invasion and Allied advance Darnand fled to Germany in September 1944 and joined Pétain's puppet government in Sigmaringen. In April 1945 he had to flee from Sigmaringen to Merano in Northern Italy. He was eventually captured after the war and taken back to France, where he was executed in 1945. The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allies. ... A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... Sigmaringen is a city in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, formerly Hohenzollern, capital of the Sigmaringen district. ...

References

• Biography in l'Humanité, March 23, 1994
• escape of Darnand Gerald Steinacher, „Ich mache Sie zum Erzbischof von Paris, wenn Sie uns helfen” Die Flucht der Vichy-Regierung nach Norditalien 1945, in: Der Schlern, Heft 1, 2007, p. 23-35.