Vichy

Vichy (/ˈvɪʃi/;French pronunciation: ​[viʃi]; Occitan: Vichèi) is a city in the Allier department in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.

It is known as a spa and resort town and was the seat of government and de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944. The term Vichyste indicated collaboration or sympathy with the ideology either of the Vichy regime or the German occupation, often carrying a pejorative connotation.

Today, the town's inhabitants are called Vichyssois. Up until the 18th century they were more properly known as les Vichois which stems from the Occitan name of the town, Vichèi. The writer Valery Larbaud uses the term Vicaldiens after the Ancient Roman Latin name for the community, aquae calidae (hot waters).

Climate

The city enjoys an inland oceanic climate that incorporates some characteristics of a mountain climate because of the nearby Massif Central and Alps. Heavy snows in the Massif Central often make roads impassable, but Vichy is low enough — about 249 metres (817 feet) above sea level — that the climate is more continental than mountain. Rainfall is moderate around Vichy, averaging about 779.5 millimetres (30.7 in) annually.

Vichy (disambiguation)

Vichy is a town in Auvergne, France.

Vichy may also refer to:

Drinks and food

Other

See also

The Vichy 80

The Vichy 80 were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established an authoritarian regime now referred to as Vichy France.

Background

Nazi Germany invaded France on 14 May 1940, and Paris fell a month later. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud was opposed to asking for armistice terms, and upon losing the cabinet vote, resigned. President Albert Lebrun appointed Marshal Philippe Pétain as his replacement. France capitulated on 22 June 1940. Under the terms of the armistice, the northern and Atlantic coast region of France was to be militarily occupied by Germany. The remainder would remain unoccupied, with the French Government remaining at Vichy, remaining responsible for all civil government in France, occupied and unoccupied.

Pétain began a revision of the constitution of the discredited Third Republic. This process was completed with a vote of the combined houses of the parliament on 10 July 1940. The result was a constitutional amendment that created the new French government. The eighty deputies and senators who opposed the change are referred to as the Vichy 80 (French: "les quatre-vingts"), and they are now famous for their decision to oppose the vote.