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After the collapse of France in 1940, Fernand de Brinon emerged as one of the most prominent supporters of collaboration with Nazi Germany. A journalist, political figure, and later Secretary of State in Vichy France, he became a key link between the Vichy regime and the German authorities in occupied Paris.
Long before the defeat of France, de Brinon admired Adolf Hitler and believed that cooperation with Germany was the only path forward for Europe. During the Second World War, he defended collaboration, propaganda, forced labour, and policies directed against the French Resistance and French Jews. Working closely with Philippe Pétain, Pierre Laval, Otto Abetz, and other senior collaborationists, he became one of the most visible public faces of the Vichy regime.
Fernand de Brinon’s path led from respected journalist and political insider to Vichy France’s Secretary of State and one of the most notorious French collaborators of the Second World War, whose loyalty to Nazi Germany continued until the final collapse of the Third Reich.

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“Vichy France’s Secretary of State Who Served Hitler: Fernand de Brinon”

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00:00As Europe moved toward war again, de Brinon convinced himself that France was too divided
00:06and too poorly prepared to win. He argued that communism posed the greatest danger,
00:12greater even than Hitler and Nazi Germany. His role of traitor began even before the start of
00:19the Second World War. During the Munich conference in September 1938, de Brinon sent information
00:25about the discussions of the French cabinet to the German government. When Germany started the
00:31Second World War by invading Poland on the 1st of September 1939, and France declared war on
00:38Germany a few days later, he still believed that negotiation might bring peace. To him,
00:45fighting Germany was a tragic mistake that would only weaken France further.
00:51Discover the full story on worldhistory.tv

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