The Pacte Synarchique is a historical theory that the surrender of

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

was as a result of a conspiracy by French industrial and banking interests to surrender France to Hitler in order to fight

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

The Theory

This theory allegedly originated with the discovery of a document called ''Pacte Synarchique'' following the death (May 19, 1941) of

Jean Coutrot Jean Coutrot (27 March 1895 – 19 May 1941) was a French engineer. He was one of the pioneers of the X-Crise group. In 1936, he founded with Center for Studies of Human Problems with Aldous Huxley and Alexis Carrel Alexis Carrel (; 28 June ...

, former member of Groupe X-Crise, on May 15, 1941. According to this document, a ''Mouvement Synarchique d'Empire'' had been founded in 1922 with the aim of abolishing

parliamentarianism A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...

and replacing it with synarchy. This led to the belief that La Cagoule, a far-right organisation, was the armed branch of French synarchism, and that some important members of the

Vichy Regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

were synarchists. The Vichy government ordered an investigation, leading to the ''Rapport Chavin'' but no evidence for the existence of the ''Mouvement Synarchiste d'Empire'' was found. Most of the presumed synarchists were either associated with the

Banque Worms The Banque Worms was a merchant bank founded by Hypolite Worms in 1928 as a division of Worms & Cie. The banking services division provided financing services to other branches of Worms & Cie, which were involved in ship building, shipping and t ...

or with Groupe X-Crise; they were close to Admiral

François Darlan Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (; 7 August 1881 – 24 December 1942) was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the ''École navale'' in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his servic ...

(Vichy prime minister 1941–1942), and this has led to the belief that synarchists had engineered the military defeat of France for the profit of Banque Worms.

Debates about its existence

Former

OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

officer

William Langer William "Wild Bill" Langer (September 30, 1886November 8, 1959) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th governor of North Dakota from 1932 to 1934 and the 21st governor from 1937 to 1939. His governorship was demarcated by ...

claimed that some French industrial and banking interests, even before the war, looked on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

as the savior of Europe from Communism and to install a "synarchy" of industrialists and bankers to govern Europe, although he didn't refer to any specific Pacte. This belief system has been dismissed as a "work of a paranoid imagination which wove together the histories of three disparate groups of activists, creating a conspiracy among them where none existed".Richard F. Kuisel
"The Legend of the Vichy Synarchy"
(''

French Historical Studies ''French Historical Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering French history. It publishes articles in English and French. The journal is published by Duke University Press on behalf of the Society for French Historical Stu ...

'', vol. 6, no. 3, Spring 1970), pp. 365–398. . Most historians affirm that the ''Pacte Synarchique'' was a

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

created by some French collaborators with Nazi Germany to weaken Darlan and his Vichy technocrats. Only the Marxist historian

Annie Lacroix-Riz Annie Lacroix-Riz (born 1947) is a French academic Marxist historian specializing in France's relations with Germany and the United States from the 1930s to the 1950s, as well as World War II collaboration. A former student of the École norm ...

defends the idea that the synarchy existed.Olivier Dard, "La corruption dans la France des années 1930: historiographie et perspectives de recherche", in Jens Ivo Engels, Frédéric Monier et Natalie Petiteau (ed.), ''La politique vue d'en bas: pratiques privées, débats publics dans l'Europe contemporaine, XIXe-XXe siècles: actes du Colloque d'Avignon, mai 2010'', Paris:Armand Colin, 2012, pp. 212-213.

References

{{reflist Conspiracy theories in France Vichy France