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| - Joseph Darnand, who had taken part in the Cagoule fascist group's conspiracy before the Invasion of Poland, had been one of the first to rally himself to the "National Revolution" — which was the name given to the new Vichy regime issued from the 1940 defeat during the Battle of France and from the July 10, 1940 vote according extraordinary powers to Marshal Pétain. Joseph Darnand took the head of the Légion française des combattants (LFC) in the Alpes Maritimes region, and then created the SOL, which attracted not only the most enthusiast proponents of collaborationism with Nazi Germany, but also criminals from the Nice mafia. The SOL was extended to all of the South Zone and to North Africa on December 12, 1941.
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| abstract
| - Joseph Darnand, who had taken part in the Cagoule fascist group's conspiracy before the Invasion of Poland, had been one of the first to rally himself to the "National Revolution" — which was the name given to the new Vichy regime issued from the 1940 defeat during the Battle of France and from the July 10, 1940 vote according extraordinary powers to Marshal Pétain. Joseph Darnand took the head of the Légion française des combattants (LFC) in the Alpes Maritimes region, and then created the SOL, which attracted not only the most enthusiast proponents of collaborationism with Nazi Germany, but also criminals from the Nice mafia. The SOL was extended to all of the South Zone and to North Africa on December 12, 1941. This new organization was headed by Darnand, Pierre Gallet, Marcel Gombert and Jean Bassompierre, whereas its program was defined by Bassompierre, Noël de Tissot and the docteur Durandy. It advocated the cult of the leader, anti-parliamentarism, racism and anti-Semitism, as well as pushing for collaboration with the Nazis. Before the 1941-1942 turn of public opinion, France was mostly composed [citation needed] of pétainistes, whom supported Marshal Pétain. However, various grades of collaborationism must be distinguished, as some advocated it claiming it would lighten the burden of the military occupation (this was Pétain's official discourse) and that Marshal Pétain, a figure highly respected for his role during the 1916 Battle of Verdun, couldn't be wrong. These collaborationist have been called Maréchalistes, as their support of the collaboration was rather based on trust towards Pétain. After his meeting with Hitler, Pétain had advocated collaboration in an October 30, 1940 speech to the radio. Others, commonly called pétainistes, advocated collaboration on ideological grounds: they supported Vichy's anti-Semitic laws which the regime had put in place on its own, without waiting for German orders. Joseph Darnand and the SOL, were at the spearhead of these ideological collaborationists, eagerly hoping for German victory in the war Several leaders and SOL activists engaged themselves in brutal actions against imaginary or real opponents of Vichy, and started a wave of denouncement which did not even spare the civil or religious authorities of the Etat français (name by which the Vichy regime called itself). Joseph Darnand, who headed the SOL, had based himself in Vichy. He was always supported by Pétain even in his more extreme cries in support to Collaboration. Darnand went so far that his "patriotism" became to be seen as treason, and shocked even others leaders of the Légion or of the Chantiers de jeunesse (Youth Workshops) which were also in favor of Collaboration, but done in a "civilized" manner. Thus, it was decided to grant autonomy to the SOL on January 5, 1943, in order to take distance with the militia and at the same time grant it complete freedom of action.
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