It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy. Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under the harsh terms of the armistice with Nazi Germany , it adopted a policy of collaboration. Though Paris was nominally its capital, the government established itself in the resort town of Vichy in the unoccupied "free zone" zone libre , where it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as its colonies.
In November , the Allies occupied the French North Africa, and in response the Germans and Italians occupied the entire Metropolitan France , ending any pretence of independence by the Vichy government. On 10 May , it was invaded by Nazi Germany. The German Army rapidly broke through the Allied lines by bypassing the highly fortified Maginot Line and invading through Belgium , Luxembourg , and as an extension, the Ardennes.
By mid-June, the military situation of the French was dire, and it was apparent that it would lose the battle for Metropolitan France. The French government began to discuss the possibility of an armistice. Conservative Catholics became prominent. The media were tightly controlled and promoted antisemitism and, after Operation Barbarossa started in June , anti-Sovietism. The terms of the armistice allowed some degree of independence, France was officially declared a neutral country, and the Vichy government kept the French Navy and French colonial empire under French control, avoiding full occupation of the country by Germany.
Despite heavy pressure, the Vichy government never joined the Axis powers. In October , during a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Montoire sur le Loire, Petain officially announced the policy of collaboration with Germany while maintaining overall neutrality in the war, believing that improving relations with Germany would have been the only viable option to save France and preserve for it a dignified place within the context of New European Order shaped by the victorious Germany.
The Vichy government believed that with its policy of collaboration, it could have extracted significant concessions from Germany and avoid harsh terms in the peace treaty. The Vichy government tried to negotiate with Germany for the early release of the French prisoners of war.
