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Mers-el-Kebir
Darlan, François
A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
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2004
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© A Dictionary of Contemporary World History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information)
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Darlan, François (b. 7 Aug. 1881, d. 24 Dec. 1942). French admiral A distinguished naval commander in World War I, he was appointed admiral and Commander-in-Chief in 1939. His instinct to
collaborate with the Germans during the
Vichy government was intensified by the British destruction of much of his fleet at
Mers el-Kebir in July 1940. As Vice-Premier (1941–2) he was effectively in charge of the Vichy government, when he tried unsuccessfully to carve out a greater role for the French military and navy in the context of the
Third Reich. Following the Allied successes in the
North African Campaigns which led to their attack on Algiers on 8 November 1942, and the German occupation of Vichy France, he reluctantly changed sides, though he was murdered soon afterwards.
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Myth and propaganda
Magazine article from: The Spectator; 5/21/2005; ; 700+ words
; ...sinking of the French fleet at its Mers-el-Kebir naval base near the Algerian port...comes down on the side of Mersel-Kebir; and yet it is the young men in...unnecessarily in my view. Mers-el-Kebir would easily stand as a separate...
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Television: I was still up for Portillo. Unfortunately
Newspaper article from: The Independent on Sunday; 5/22/2005; ; 700+ words
; ...Battle of Britain and why we have forgotten the battle of Mers El-Kebir, which could arguably be said to have contributed as...to cause a bit of a stir. I also know about Mers-El-Kebir and resent the implication that I do not. But take...
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The Hour that was not our Finest
Newspaper article from: The Scotsman; 11/25/1999; ; 700+ words
; ...began last night will be touching on the little matter of Mers El Kebir. There are some things of which one party says "We...content with the Marshal and vastly more so because of Mers El Kebir. After events and with proper historical reflection...
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 "The Daily Mail (London, England)")
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Rock that never cracked; answers to correspondents.
Newspaper article from: The Daily Mail (London, England); 4/11/2005; 700+ words
; ...counterpart to demilitarise his ships. However, at Mers- el-Kebir in French Algeria, the French Admiral Gensoul refused...been ordered to sail from Gibraltar and lay off Mers- el-Kebir. When the deadline to surrender was reached, Somerville...
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Pre-emption and post-analysis; Hindsight is the high price of decision-making.(OPED)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 10/22/2002; 700+ words
; ...ordered a pre-emptive attack on the French Navy at Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria in July 1940, he acted against the advice...military impact. Churchill had to consider how Mers-el-Kebir would look - to the then-neutral United States...
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Operation catapult: Join us or die!
Magazine article from: Sea Classics; 4/1/2002; ; 700+ words
; In a tragic confrontation at Mers-el-Kebir, the British -fearful that the French fleet would...in the spring of 1943. The nearby harbor of Mers-el-Kebir was still littered with the battered and rusty hulks...
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Many missed America's pageant theme song.
Newspaper article from: The Boston Herald; 9/27/1998; ; 628 words
; ...negotiation, the British sank the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir. After that, the Vichy government pitched in with...condemned by France. Nonetheless, the action at Mers-el-Kebir, and France's response, sent Anglo-French relations...
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1966 AND ALL THAT When May Day anarchists defaced a statue of Sir Winston Churchill, the outcry was deafening. Never before, you'd have assumed, had so much offence been caused to so many by so few. Well, hardly ever... Nathalie Curry reports
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 5/28/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...had its hands daubed with red paint, and the words "Mers el-Kebir, 1,300 dead" scrawled upon it. This referred to...Navy shelled the French fleet in the harbour at Mers el-Kebir, North Africa, in order to prevent it from falling...
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Obituary: Admiral Jacques Guillon
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 12/27/1997; ; 700+ words
; ...to Britain because of Operation "Catapault". At Mers-el-Kebir, by Oran, in Algeria, on 3 July 1940, the British...as a lieutenant when the British attacked at Mers-el-Kebir. He was lucky because the ship managed to get away...
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FRANCE'S WWII BATTLESHIP RICHELIEU: SHE FOUGHT ON BOTH SIDES
Magazine article from: Sea Classics; 1/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...rejected the British terms with tragic results. At Mers-el-Kebir, Oran, the British Force "H," formed around the...choice. Thus, with French ships immobilized at Mers-el-Kebir and interned at Alexandria, and the better part of...
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Mers-el-Kebir
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Mers-el-Kebir , town, NW Algeria, on the Gulf of Oran. Originally a Roman port...by Germany in June, 1940, the French fleet sought refuge at Mers-el-Kebir, but the British navy sank or damaged most of the ships. The great...
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Mers el-Kebir
Book article from: A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
Mers el-Kebir (World War II) (3 July 1940) Mers el-Kebir was a French naval base in the Gulf of Oran (Algeria), finally evacuated by the French in 1968. Shortly after the French surrender to the Germans in 1940 a British fleet arrived...
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Oran
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...Ottoman Empire. French troops captured Oran in 1831 and began to develop it as a naval base, along with nearby Mers-el-Kebir . The building of the port and the construction of railroads linking Oran with the interior made the city the economic...
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Darlan, François
Book article from: A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
...collaborate with the Germans during the Vichy government was intensified by the British destruction of much of his fleet at Mers el-Kebir in July 1940. As Vice-Premier (1941–2) he was effectively in charge of the Vichy government, when...
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