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That's the Explorers Podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War, episode 207, the fall of France epilogue, Riyom.

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After the signing of the armistice with Germany, Patan and his French government would form

what would come to be known as the Vichy government due to the fact that it was based in the town of Vichy France.

The full scope of the actions of the Vichy government is beyond the scope of this episode,

and this series, because it's deeply intertwined with many other events beyond the invasion of France.

However, there is one event from the Vichy government's time in power that is deeply tied to the fall of France in 1940, and that is what

is known as the Riyom trial. The goal of the trial at Riyom in 1942 was to find a person

or a group of people to blame for the defeat of France in 1940, to determine who should be

made the scapegoat for that failure,

and then to sentence them appropriately. But the goals of that trial were more expansive than

simply determining the root cause of the failure of the French army. Instead, it was driven by

politics. Patan and the other Vichy leaders were very concerned about sort of appearing to be the legitimate

...