The London School of Economics and Political Science The New Industrial Order: Vichy, Steel, and the Origins of the Monnet Plan, 1940-1946 Luc-André Brunet A thesis submitted to the Department of International History of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, July 2014 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 87,402 words. 2 Abstract Following the Fall of France in 1940, the nation’s industry was fundamentally reorganised under the Vichy regime. This thesis traces the history of the keystones of this New Industrial Order, the Organisation Committees, by focusing on the organisation of the French steel industry between the end of the Third Republic in 1940 and the establishment of the Fourth Republic in 1946. It challenges traditional views by showing that the Committees were created largely to facilitate economic collaboration with Nazi Germany. It also demonstrates that these institutions were run by a new group of technocratic managers from French industry and that they willingly oversaw production for the Third Reich insofar as it remained advantageous to French steel firms. By extending the period of study beyond the end of the Vichy regime, this thesis casts light on why the leaders of the Resistance decided to maintain these problematic institutions and provides the first detailed account of how the bodies were reformed following the Liberation of France. Finally, it reveals that although the Organisation Committees were formally abolished in 1946, Jean Monnet created parallel bodies, named Modernisation Commissions, which took over the functions and carried on the work of Vichy’s Committees under the auspices of the Monnet Plan. By demonstrating the continuities of institutions and individuals in French industrial organisation from 1940 to 1946, or l’entre-deux-républiques, this thesis contributes to the history of Vichy and post-war France and re-evaluates the origins of the Monnet Plan and of the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner to today’s European Union. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 7 Abbreviations 9 Introduction 11 Chapter One: France’s New Industrial Order: Reordering Industrial Production after France’s Capitulation, Summer 1940 28 The law of 16 August 1940 34 Understanding the law of 16 August 1940 36 The prehistory of the Organisation Committees, June-August 1940 43 Meanwhile back in Vichy 47 A Franco-German Europe? 49 Conclusion 56 Chapter Two: ‘Twixt the Cup and the Lip: Building the New Industrial Order, 1940- 1941 57 Industrial organisation under Vichy: “acte révolutionnaire” or “pure façade”? 58 The creation of CORSID: stillborn tripartism? 60 “Action, dynamism, authority”: the new men for the New Industrial Order 65 First actions of CORSID 71 German authorities and French steel 75 Wagging the French dog 76 Conclusion 79 4 Chapter Three: Fuelling the German War Economy, 1941-1944 81 The National Revolution and the Labour Charter 82 Working in the Reich 90 Franco-German integration under Speer and Bichelonne 97 Harmonising Franco-German industry 101 Economic collaboration in the French steel industry 105 Conclusion 114 Chapter Four: «Nous serons les successeurs, sinon les héritiers de Vichy»: Maintaining the New Industrial Order in Post-Vichy France 116 Post-war programmes, Organisation Committees, and the division of the French left 117 The long shadow of Vichy 121 The first death of the New Industrial Order? 128 Debating the New Industrial Order: “suppression ou transition?” 130 Conclusion 138 Chapter Five: Conserver la forme en réformant l’esprit: Reforming Vichy’s New Industrial Order, 1944-1946 140 A Newer Industrial Order? 142 By any other name: unveiling the Professional Offices 144 Reforming Vichy’s Committees 145 From dictatorship to triumvirate 152 From autarky to planned production 155 Consolidating Vichy’s Committees 157 Returning to first principles: applying Vichy’s laws in post-war France 159 5 Conclusion 163 Chapter Six: From Organisation Committees to Modernisation Commissions, 1946 166 Who lost the Ministry for Industrial Production? 167 The conversions of Paul: nationalising French industry 169 The end of the New Industrial Order? 173 The Monnet Plan 177 Building the Commissariat général du Plan 179 Institutional metempsychosis: from Committees to Commissions 185 Conclusion 194 Conclusions 196 The New Industrial Order: a summing up 197 A pragmatic and provisional age 199 Epilogue: d’une Europe l’autre 202 Bibliography 208 6 Acknowledgements I have been fortunate enough to have received excellent academic guidance over the course of my doctoral studies. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Piers Ludlow. I am indebted to him for his invaluable support throughout my time at LSE, his incisive feedback, and his judicious advice. I feel privileged to have had him as my supervisor. I am also grateful to Alan Sked, who very kindly took me on as a PhD student and acted as supervisor for the first stages of my doctorate, helping me to adapt to the UK higher education system after my experiences in Canadian, French, and Belgian universities. Third, I would like to thank Claire Andrieu who acted as supervisor during my time as chercheur invité at the Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po in Paris. Her expertise on precisely the issues I was interested in researching challenged my working hypotheses and forced me to strengthen my arguments. Over the past years, I have also received helpful academic guidance from Antony Best, Robert Boyce, Eric Bussière, Dominic Lieven, Erica Wald, Laurent Warlouzet, and Vladislav Zubok. I would also like to thank Eirini Karamouzi for her tireless support and invaluable guidance, particularly in the later stages of this thesis. I am especially grateful to LSE IDEAS, particularly Arne Westad, Svetozar Rajak, and Nigel Ashton, for awarding me the Pinto Post-Doctoral Fellowship for 2014-2015. My work at LSE IDEAS since 2012 with both the Cold War Studies Programme and the journal Cold War History has been an enriching experience that has informed my own research. I am thankful to Emilia Knight and everyone at IDEAS for their unwavering encouragement and accommodation and for constituting such a warm and supportive work environment. Daniel Strieff, in particular, generously took on extra work when I had to absent myself during the final stages of my thesis, for which he has my deep gratitude. I would also like to thank the LSE International History Department for providing such a stimulating and supportive environment and for allowing me to teach and organise a number of courses. My time as a PhD student has been facilitated by the support of a number of funding bodies. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded me a Doctoral Fellowship for the duration of my studies and covered my tuition fees as an overseas student. Academic Partnerships at LSE granted me a PhD Mobility Bursary to spend several months at Sciences Po which enabled me to complete a significant amount of archival research in Paris. The Economic History Society Research Grant allowed me to 7 undertake archival work in Roubaix, while the International History Department at LSE provided me with Travel Research Grants which facilitated a number of archival trips over the years. When conducting research, I have benefitted from the kind help of a number of archivists. I am grateful to Régis Clavé at the Fondation Jean Monnet pour l’Europe in Lausanne, Virginie Hébrard at the Institut d’Histoire Sociale in Paris, Valérie Hugonnard at the Institut d’Histoire du Temps Présent in Paris, Andrea Maier at the Bundesarchiv- Militärarchiv in Freiburg, and Gersande Piernas at the Centre d’Archives du Monde du Travail in Roubaix. Finally, I must thank three people. First, my parents, who have been tremendously supportive throughout my academic career, offering steadfast encouragement and tirelessly reading drafts of my work. To them this thesis is dedicated. Finally, I am grateful to Rebecca for so many reasons, not least her inestimable support and encouragement throughout the writing of this thesis. 8 Abbreviations AN Archives nationales, Paris/Pierrefitte-sur-Seine ANMT Archives nationales du monde du travail, Roubaix BA-MA Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau BNS Bureau de normalisation de la sidérurgie CAEF Centre des archives économiques et financières, Savigny-le-Temple CFLN Comité français de Libération nationale CFTC Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens CGP Commissariat général du Plan CGPF Confédération générale du patronat français CGT Confédération générale du travail CGTU Confédération générale du travail unitaire CNPF Conseil national du patronat français CNR Conseil national de la Résistance CO Comité d’organisation COA Comité d’organisation de l’automobile et du cycle COH Comité d’organisation de l’industrie des combustibles