Speaking of the most tragic general during World War II, perhaps the first thing that many World War II fans think of is the famous German general Rommel: as a professional soldier, he lived a life of self-improvement, never complied with the Nazis in the war, did not massacre civilians and prisoners of war, and only fulfilled his duties as a soldier. The sad man who finally angered Hitler and preferred to die for his family.
François Darran
But today we are talking about a French general who is more tragic than Rommel, but no one in the world during the Second World War, of all the commanders of the countries, has attracted as much attention as he has. His practice in history is still controversial to this day, and he even unjustly accused him of being a "traitor", and finally the aggrieved general who was assassinated before the restoration of France was François Dallang.
Darlon was born in 1881 in a small village in Nehaque-sur-Galen, France, 80 miles from Bordeaux. Darlan's ancestors were also sailors, driving small river boats in the town of Pondesack, near Bordeaux. The Darlan family is also famous for its shipping, so much so that in the Nehaq region there is a saying that "the Darlang family commanded Noah's Ark". Darlan once said that his great-grandfather had served on the French Navy's Fearsome, but the ship was sunk by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Darlan lost his mother at the age of three, and his father was busy with work, so the young Darlan was not happy until his father was transferred back to Paris to work. In 1895, the young Darlan decided to join the Navy, while Wilhelm II of Germany was creating the Imperial Ocean Fleet. Three years later, Darlon was admitted to the Brest Naval School and graduated with honors.
François Darlan in his youth
After graduating, Darlan began cruising in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas, finally realizing his true naval dream. During the service of the French Navy, Darlan has begun to seriously consider the construction of the French Navy. But some of his proposals were not too flattering: for example, he opposed the construction of aircraft carriers by France, but aircraft carriers played an important role in World War II, even though France's domestic aircraft carrier HMS Bearn did not participate in any actual combat in the war.
Darlan's real promotion was during World War I, and his wartime experience was all overland combat as a gunner in the Western Front and the Greek campaigns.
At the Battle of Verdun, Darlang, under the command of Marshal Pétain, experienced fierce fighting. As his superiors put it: "I think Darlan is perfectly worthy of being one of the best commanders in the army." ”
In 1918, Darlan was again praised by his superiors and promoted to captain of a light cruiser: "He was a highly qualified commander with excellent leadership skills: energetic and calm and decisive. ”
On 18 November 1929, Darlan was promoted to rear admiral.
World War II French warship
In 1933, Darlange became wary of Germany's naval development plans and urged his British counterparts to remain vigilant and resolutely implement the Treaty of Versailles signed with defeated Germany in 1919.
But his demands were largely ignored by the British. Darlan was also concerned about the rapid development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Far East. But France's ally, Britain, did not understand Darlan's grievances in the early days, nor did it really see what was at stake. Darlan, on the other hand, saw the situation early and believed that France must prepare for war early in order to defeat fascist Germany and Italy without Anglo-American support.
In 1932, at the age of 51, Darlang was promoted to vice admiral. At the time, France's youngest admiral urged the Allied Navy to intervene in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, but the allies also paid little attention.
French aircraft carriers
On 1 October 1936, Darlan was appointed Chief of Staff of the French Navy and became the head of the French Navy. But Darlan's naval fleet had the only combat experience on the historical stage of World War II, against not the Germans, but against the British, who had been their former allies: the Battle of Käberl Harbor broke out in July 1940:
Just two weeks after the signing of the ceasefire with Germany, when the British Royal Navy unexpectedly raided the French Navy in order to prevent the French fleet from falling into German hands, the Battle of Kebil of the Anglo-French Navy broke out.
With 1,297 French soldiers killed in the battle, Darlan was an anti-British man, and his hatred for Britain grew stronger in the face of such a great humiliation.
It was also from then on that Darlan gradually came into contact with Nazi Germany and began his treasonous journey.
The surrendering France soon established the Vichy regime, and General Darlan was appointed first Cabinet Minister of the Navy by his old superior Pétain, and Darlan was appointed Foreign Minister in early 1941.
Hitler inspects Paris
He then took on multiple roles and was quickly promoted to deputy prime minister. In August 1941, Darlan was again appointed Minister of Defence, reaching the pinnacle of power. But as the new government's Minister of the Navy, the construction of the French Navy can only be his own wishful thinking.
Hitler wanted to maintain the Vichy regime and control the French puppets as room for bargaining, and he did not want the French naval fleet to fall into The allied hands.
Darlan also faced such a dilemma, watching the political situation cautiously as he maneuvered between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Hitler, trying to maintain a cooperative relationship with all parties.
Darlan certainly did not want the French army to engage in a senseless and bloody war with the Americans. On the other hand, the cunning admiral did expect to continue to maintain a relationship with Hitler that was not "stable." Darlan maneuvered among the princes, trying to preserve the power and destiny of the French navy, of which he had once been proud.
Anglo-French Alliance
Later, as the Allies marched into North Africa, chaotic France began to face a dilemma: should it support the Allies or follow Nazi Germany? Darlan also faced this problem, and he finally chose to cease fire with the Allies, and this decision changed the fate of his life, resulting in the complete occupation of southern France by germany, and the part of the French who supported the Vichy government at this time considered him a traitor.
Before the German army launched an attack, more than 80 ships of the French Navy finally chose to sink themselves, and Darlan, who had hoped that the French navy could chop the waves in the world, watched the French navy he guarded go to ruin.
Darlan, who defected to the Allies, would undoubtedly face an even more dangerous situation, and on Christmas Eve 1942, he was stabbed to death on his way back to his office. The Assassin was 20-year-old Bernier Campbell, an ultra-right-wing royalist. The assassination has since been hastily pronounced amid controversy, and Campbell was found guilty and executed on December 26.
The fallen French Navy
After Christmas, the French authorities held a solemn Roman Catholic ceremony funeral for Darlan, which was attended by senior French and Allied officials. Thereafter, Darlan's coffin was moved to the entrance to St. Mary's Basilica. There, the French, American, and British armies fired their guns to send him off, paying the highest respect.
As a famous French admiral, Darlan's body was buried at the naval base, facing the sea. In 1964, his body was transferred by warship to the Kebil Naval Cemetery, where he was buried with other martyrs who died for the country. Darlan
In the end, it did not usher in the revival of the French Navy, nor did it see the restoration of France. All he left for France was an extraordinarily grand funeral, and his assassination and murder became an unsolved mystery for years to come.
Code words are not easy, walk by to give a attention!