There was one obvious danger in this clause: the "home ports" of most
of the warships were on the Atlantic coast, i.e. in occupied territory.
But, as we shall see, a few days after the signature of the armistices,
the application of this clause was suspended and the French were able
to preserve their control over their fleet until it was scuttled in
November 1942.

If the Pétain Government had these assets to ensure it a minimum of
independence, they were nothing in comparison to the means of pressure
which the Germans possessed. In addition to the occupation of a good
part of France, they held almost two million French war prisoners, who,
according to Article XX, were to be released only at the conclusion of
peace. ⁷ They constituted an excellent instrument of blackmail. and
promises of liberation of prisoners and threats of worsening their treat-
ment were used regularly; both methods proved to be equally successful
in dealing with Vichy.

Another means of pressure was the threat of denouncing the armis-
tices. Article XXIV of the Franco-German convention provided:

The present Armistice Convention is valid until the conclusion of the
peace treaty. It can be denounced at any time, so that it will be
terminated immediately by the German Government if the French Govern-
ment does not fulfill its obligations undertaken by it in the present
Convention. ⁸

A denunciation of the armistices would be a grave matter, for it would
entail not only the loss of the advantages they brought France, but a
resumption of hostilities. For that, France was not at all prepared.
The armistices left her nothing to fight with. According to Article IV. ⁹
French troops were to be demobilized and disarmed, with the exception
of a small lightly-armed force to preserve internal order; Articles V,
VI, VII, IX, XIII ¹⁰ provided that war matériel should be handed over
or stocked, that planes should be disarmed and stocked, ¹¹ that mines
should be removed. With their well-trained, well-armed troops at the
Demarcation Line, the Germans were in a position to invade and occupy
the free zone without difficulty and to destroy the French Government.

Yet if the armistices seemed to the French worth preserving, they
could hardly be said to offer an ideal solution. While they permitted a
limited existence to the French people, they certainly put France in an

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