Rebuilding Bourgeois France: 1944–1951

Abstract

In an uncharacteristically tactless moment, general Eisenhower remarked that all the sacrifices of the French Resistance had only damaged the German occupiers as much as 15 divisions of regular troops would have done. The French took an equally sceptical view about the contribution that the Anglo-Saxons had made to the Liberation of France: polls showed that 50 per cent of the population (almost twice the Communist electorate) believed that the Soviet Union was the power that had played the largest role in defeating Germany. The reasons for tension between the western allies and the French were rooted partly in the struggles of de Gaulle during the Occupation; they were also linked to the difficult circumstances of the period after the Liberation. The allies were blamed for the impact of bombing on France, for the disruption of French life caused by requisitions and controls and for their apparently contemptuous attitude towards the French. National stereotypes abounded. Vichy propaganda films had shown Popeye and Donald Duck at the controls of a Flying Fortress attacking France; later the Communist party was to launch a campaign against the influence of Mickey Mouse.