Re: J'accuse! Paris blasts White House over "lies"

["Johannes Schneider" <Johannes.Schneider@xxxxxxx>]

More from the French-US history  dept.:

When the US wanted to take over France
By ANNIE LACROIX-RIZ

IN 1941-42 the United States intended that France, together with soon-to-be
defeated Italy, Germany and Japan, was to be part of a protectorate run by
the Allied Military Government of the Occupied Territories (Amgot).
According to the agreement of November 1942 between Admiral Jean-François
Darlan and US General Mark Clark, which secured France's commitment to the
Allied cause, Amgot would have abolished its national sovereignty, including
its right to issue currency.

Some US historians believe this plan stemmed from President Franklin D
Roosevelt's antipathy towards Charles de Gaulle. Roosevelt saw him as a
dictator-in-training and sought to prevent him from ruling post-Pétain.
(Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain led the pro-Nazi government of unoccupied
France at Vichy,1940-44.) The argument that Roosevelt intended to establish
universal democracy is compelling but wrong (1).

The US was concerned that France, although weakened by its 1940 defeat,
might reject the plan, especially if its presidency went to De Gaulle, who
had vowed to restore French sovereignty. It feared France might use its
nuisance capacity as it had when it opposed pro-German US policies after the
first world war. France would not have wanted to relinquish its empire, rich
in raw materials and strategic bases.

Full:

http://mondediplo.com/2003/05/05lacroix