After Weygand

Last week Vichy's General Weygand was out of power (see p. 24) and the U.S. was --temporarily--out of a policy.

U.S. policy has been that, as long as France did not give Hitler more help than the terms of the armistice called for, the U.S. would recognize Petain. In the execution of that policy, the U.S. has been cautious. Admiral Leahy was sent to Vichy. General Weygand was bolstered with aid --15 shiploads of supplies in eleven months --enough, it was hoped, to keep him friendly; not enough to make much difference if a more pro-Axis general replaced him. The Free French, who now control twelve colonies, went unrecognized, got no direct Lend-Lease aid (except via the British). Strategically vital Martinique, French Guiana, Dakar and the other French possessions were left alone.

When France let the Nazis into Syria, she went beyond the armistice conditions. She went beyond them again when she let the Japanese move into Indo-China. With a long-suffering air of this-has-gone-far-enough, the State Department last week announced: "The French Government has acquiesced to the express demand of Hitler to remove General Weygand . . . [therefore] American policy toward France is being reviewed and all plans for economic assistance to French North Africa are suspended."

There was a good chance that this meant that Admiral Leahy would come home, that diplomatic relations with Vichy would be broken, that the De Gaulle movement would be recognized--that French islands and territories would be seized.

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