Occitanie during the mode of Vichy

The June 17th 1940, the hostilities cease between the French and German troops: these last occupy France. However, the South of France is not immediately occupied by Reich, and Bordeaux accommodates during some time the government in exile.

After the Treated of Compiegne which delimits the zones of occupation, all South of France, except for the Atlantic coast, fact part of the territory placed under the authority of the government of the marshal Pétain, called Gouvernement of Vichy of the name of the city where it settles. Vichy is a city however very near to the line of demarcation. The marshal is supported, inter alia, by Of Provence the Charles Maurras and his movement the French Action, while Auvergnat Pierre Laval becomes the vice Prime Minister. Like the majority of the population, most of the mobility of defense of the occitan (Félibrige, Survey firm occitanes) adopts the new mode, because in particular of the remarks of the Pétain marshal in favor of the “return to the area”; Toulouse also supports the mode and hopes to be able to benefit from the circumstances to obtain more decentralization and the possibility of teaching the local language. Regional prefectures are created, gathering several departments and exerting broad functions related on the provisioning, the maintenance of law and order and the Propagande. These prefectures are controlled by followers of the new mode.

The Of Bordeaux Pierre-Louis Berthaud (1899-1956) is named in 1940 with the Ministry for Information and creates the permanent Center of defense of the language of oc, conceived as a Press Office but which does not manage to function correctly. From this station it helps the catalanists exiled like Pompeu Fabra and it collaborates with resistant Charles Camproux and Ismaël Girard before being off-set with the camp of Dachau in 1944.

With regard to the publications in language of oc, before the beginning of the war different re-examined félibréennes ceased publishing, because of the censure and the lack of paper, which will cause dispersion as well authors as readers. Among those Lo Gai Saber , Lo Bornat , Reclams de Biarn E Gascougne , Era Bouts will dera Muntanho , Calendau , Trencavel , Marsyas and Pignato . Once the signed armistice, these reviews try to start again their publication. Already in January 1940 Paul-Louis Berthaud, organizer of the Friends of the Language of Oc had started again the review Oc (extinct since 1934) in Paris; between May and June the félibre Joseph Loubet makes in the same way with the Gazeto Loubetenco ; in January 1941 A.J. Boussac of the SEO launches Terra d' Oc; to Aix-en-Provence, Marius Jouveau and his Rene son leave the review Fe .

Of all these reviews, that which was maintained longest during this period was Terra d' Oc , which was published of January 1940 in August 1945. It emanates from the union of the reviews Occitània, body of youth occitanist directed by Charles Pélissier, Clardeluno (E. Vieu and E. Barthe) and of Lo Ligam d' Albigès . The editor association of Terra d' Oc is A.J. Boussac and the administration of the review is entrusted to Ernest Vieu (author of theater and artistic director of Tropa Teatrale dels Cigalous Narbouneses) and Laurent Malaterre, in Toulouse; the Catalan Josep Castellví, died in 1942, was in print load. The purpose of the review is to inform on the cultural activity and linguistic local and by this review each one could develop any political opinion being used strong regionalism as Pétain. One published in Terra d' Oc the young poets Pèire Roqueta, Ismaël Girard and Loïs Alibert, and thanks to the review were published the books Fanga E fum of Leon Cordes “Clardeluno”, a amor of poèta of Marcel Carrière, Lo cat of the coa corta of Boussac and does It of Berdilha of Joseph Maffre.

In September 1940, Pétain, called by the félibres lo marescau (the marshal), will send to the Committee Mistralien de Maillane the message celebrates in which it speaks in praise of Mistral and the regionalism of Félibrige. This benefits Boussac, named majoral of Félibrige with died of Emile Barthe on May 12th, 1940, to also assume the direction of the SEO and to unify the two organizations. In February 1941 it devotes a number to the projects and initiatives to unify the félibres and the occitanists. Ismaël Girard proposes creation, for each department, of commissions of regionalistic action and propaganda, and of the sections of the review Terra d' Oc are created during the autumn: Terra Catalana (directed by Alfons Mias, Josep-Sebastià Pons, E. Caseponde and E. Guiter); Terra Provençala (directed by A. Conio, Pèire Roqueta I Jòrdi Rèbol); Terra Gascona (directed by Ismaël Girard); Terra Lemosina (directed by Jean Mouzat); Terra Alvernesa (directed by Boussac, Camproux and Pèire Azema).

In 1942 they were devoted, under the patronage of Girard, with the celebration of the Fiftieth birthday of the Federalistic Declaration of 1892, but at the end of 1942 the project had to stop because of the German occupation of all the territory occitan, the lack of paper and the economic difficulties. The collection of poetry Messatges however could be published, introducing the members of the future generation of 1945: Robert Lafont, Bernard Manciet, D. Saurat, P. Lagarda, more committed. It is at this time that the Vichy government institutes the Service of Obligatory Work (STO), which will send many prisoners to the forced labors in Germany, among them the future writer Jean Boudou.

As of 1943 take part in the review the young person Robert Lafont and the group Novèl Lemosin of Jean Mouzat, Raymond Buche and Antoine Dubernard. Lafont will direct the page Occitània , which wanted to be to be a body of youth occitanist. The same year, a Fédération of Youth Occitane will be organized clandestinely with various cores with Clermont-Ferrand (with Clarence Lelong), with Saint-Rémy-of-Provence (with Marcel Bonnet), with Brive-the-Strapping woman (with J. Segonds), in Rouergue (with Rudelles), with Castelnaudary (with A. Peyre) and the individual support of Pierre Lagarde and Felix Castan which invites to exceed Félibrige and criticize the C-W communication of it. In February 1943 the publication Oc émancipe like body of the SEO, whose future IEO will copy the currency Fe direction will obra, mòrta be , and all the young occitanists join it. Boussac resigns then of the SEO and is only found. In October 1943 is published the review Relha (body of country youths) under the direction of Louis Soubiès (engineer of the University of agriculture of Purpan) but under the control and the cut of Terra d' Oc .

In 1943 appears, in the French review the Cahiers of the South , a number which contributes to make known the fact occitan (thanks to collaborations of Simone Weil, Tristan Tzara, Louis Aragon and others, all taken refuge in the South) with in particular the work of Rene Nelli and of Joe Bousquet: genius of oc and the Mediterranean man .

At the end of the war, the movement occitan knows purification: the collaborators more in sight were considered and condemned. Maurras is condemned to death, but it pardoned and is put in prison. Alibert also was judged as collaborator and was condemned. The resumption of the activities after the war takes other ways: the IEO replaces the SEO discredited by the behavior of Alibert; Félibrige knows a crossing of the desert.

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