Pierre Laval was brought to Paris to face trial, a crime that a huge percentage of the French population was itself guilty of, accomodating a far right government and turning a blind eye. . . just like many are doing now.
Laval started off for a career in zoology before diverting to law. Politically, he took a trip through Marxism. He evolved into a Socialist, and ultimately into a right wing nationalist.
De Gaulle, who was of course on the opposite side of the World War Two contest, said of him:
Naturally inclined, accustomed by the regime, to approach matters from below, Laval held that, whatever happens, it is important to be in power, that a certain degree of astuteness always controls the situation, that there is no event that cannot be turned around, no men that cannot be handled. He had, in the cataclysm, felt the misfortune of the country but also the opportunity to take the reins and apply on a vast scale the capacity he had to deal with anything. But the victorious Reich was a partner who did not intend to compromise. For, despite everything [...] he had to embrace the disaster of France. He accepted the condition. He judged that it was possible to take advantage of the worst, to use even the point of servitude, to even associate oneself with the invader, to make oneself an asset of the most terrible repression. To carry out his policy, he renounced the honor of the country, the independence of the State, and national pride. Now, these elements reappeared alive and demanding as the enemy weakened. Laval had played. He had lost. He had the courage to admit that he was responsible for the consequences. No doubt, in his government, deploying all the resources of ruse, all the resources of obstinacy to support the unsustainable, he sought to serve his country. Let that be left to him!
If everyone who thought the way that Laval did during the war had suffered his fate, the Seine would have run red for years.
The new British parliament assembled. When Winston Churchill, somebody who never entertained the faults that Laval had, entered the House he was greeted by cheers and singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". Laborites responded by singing "The Red Flag".
Probably not that one.
Singing The Red Flag was BS.
When Douglas Clifton Brown was re-elected Speaker he said he was not quite sure whether he was becoming chairman of the House of Commons or director of a musical show.
Mines brought Japanese shipping on the Yangtze to a halt.
Allied troops sealed off the Japanese on Bougainville, where fighting was ongoing, off at Buin.
US aircraft struck Japanese positions on Wake Island.
New York Giant Mel Ott became the third member of the 500 home run club with a shot off Johnny Hutchings of the Boston Braves.
The current issue of Vogue was out with an issue on furs, showing how the war time economy was changing to a focus on luxury.
Well sort of. Fur coast were a much more Middle Class thing than now imagined. And frankly, as one of the only renewable clothing sources, they still should be.
Would that this would return.
War Winding Down – Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop – August 1, 1945
Last edition:
