French geographers during wartime and German Occupation, 1939–1945

Abstract

Geographical scholarship in France enjoyed a high international reputation in the 1930s. Following German invasion in 1940, the country was fragmented into the occupied north and the ‘free zone’ of the south, with territorial division imposing restrictions on routine movement and fieldwork. In 1939, younger academics were conscripted, many of whom spent years in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany. Despite disruption, teaching programmes and doctoral research continued, and journals and books were published. Using biographical information, this article explores the experiences of French academic geographers. Some languished in prison and others joined the Resistance or the Free French, but the majority carried on with scholarly duties as usual. There is little evidence that geographers collaborated with occupying forces or with agents of the Vichy regime.