Evening star., 1943-03-27
Five in Laval Cabinet
0usted in HARMONY
Move, Axis Reports
Major Shoke-up Follows
Diplomats Decision
To Join Gen. Giruud

lIOlleu SGdClUllS Ill rIdIlC6 anu
dispatches to Spanish newspa-
pers have combined in the last
SO hours to indicate a major
shake-up in the Vichy govern
ment of Pierre Laval and polit-
ical alignments in France.
The Berlin radio announced dis
/ missal of five of Laval's cabinet
ministers last night in what it called
a harmonious move "inSuring un-
conditional support of the Laval
government and which it said was
designed to give the French govern
ment a greater concentration of
power.
But the government shake-up
came on the heels Of the revelation
that French diplomats and officials
abroad were dropping away from
the Vlchy regime in important num-
berS
Chief detection was at Vichy's
largest foreign esta abishment at
Madrid, where ID diplomatic and
consular officers resigned and
switched their allegiance to Gen.
Henri Giraud, French high commits
sloner in North and West Africa.
Baraduc Denies Quitting.
1t was announced in Algiers that
Pierre Baraduc, French charge daft
faires at Lisbon had broken rela tions
with Vichy and placed himself and
his staff under orders of Gen.
Giraud, but Baraduc himself denied
the report in Lisbon and said:
I'VE are all doing our jobs the best
we can under the circumstances and
so far there have been no changes" +"
Among those who resigned from
Lava's official family we're Ad-
miral Jean Marie Abrial, navy min
lister, and Minister of Colonies Jules
Brevie
Virtually all the French fleet is
now either al the bottom of TOulOn
Harbor, where it was scuttled by
its French officers and crews to
prevent seizure by Germany. or is
in Allied hands. Most of the i'm
portant French colonies are now
out of Vichy's control.
But other changes incident 10
the Shake-up indicated the growing
unrest in France, including the
Berlin report that Robert Bosquet.
secretary general of police in the
Interior Ministry and long a Nazi
tool for use against French re-
slstance, might be promoted Gre
alton of a new Police Ministry was
hinted.
New Post for Marion.
Secretary of State for Informa- =
ton Paul Marion, Berlin said. will
become secretary general to the
chief Of state Marshal Henri Pc
tain) and will mainly deal with
questions of the militia.
The militia is a creation of the
Vichy regime designed mainly to
protect Laval and his government
against uprising within France, and
presumably against Allied invasion.
Meantime, Paris dispatches to
Madrid papers indicated the Ger
mans had withdrawn their support
from Jacques Doriot, leader of the
collaborationist French Popular
Party because this former French
Communist was supposed to have a
considerable number Of French
Leftist in the ranks of the Fascist
Party he formed after the German
victory.
Madrid papers said Doriot had
left for the Russian front and that
the Germans had hoped that his
following would swing to Marcel
Deat's Single Party, also a Fascist
group.
Petain Defines Attitude.
The Berlin radio, in a broadcast
recorded today in New York by the
Associated Press. said Marshal
Petain had again defined his atti-
tude toward collaboration with Ger
many in statement to the secre-
tary Of the association of the friends
of the marshall
"One fact dominates everything. -
Berlin quoted the marshal. I'VE
have been defeated. Cooperation
is necessity. l have entered COM
mitments pledging my word and I
will keep my word
Referring to Gen. Giraud's recent
annulment of the DEGREES of Vichy
as applied to French Africa, Mar
shal Petain declared Frances doom
would be sealed sooner or later if
men like Gen. Giraud should ever
be re-established in power in
France.
He said Gen. Giraud had restored
all those political institutions which
had ruined France almost COM
pletely
A Paris radio broadcaster COM
menting on the ministerial shake-up
said some of the changes obviously
were dictated "by the desire of re-
building, in a very short time, a
new navy and new air force"
The implication was that these
forces would cor,,o IJi+lor