NSDAP Party Standarte of France # 3023
NSDAP Party Standarte of France # 3023
Many historians don't consider there to have been 2 separate World Wars but rather 1 long, protracted, 30 year World War with a 20 year intermission.
Adolf Hitler for one certainly never considered the Great War finished.
In November of 1918, a humiliated and shamed Germany surrendered to the French and was forced, in the summer of 1919, to sign the enormously unjust Treaty of Versailles in a modest railway car in Compiegne France, basically accepting complete blame for the instigation and perpetration of the Great War. Hitler never accepted the verdict, terms, or the defeat, and its reversal became a defining, motivating force in his career, a wrong that he insisted must be righted. This burning internal drive reached its triumphant climax when, in the spring of 1940, (at the height of their continental power), the Germans (still bitter from the disgrace of the last 20+ years) occupied France in retaliation for their detested conduct of the previous 2 decades. In fact Hitler, with a sense of symbolic historical irony had the French enter the exact same railway car, (which had been originally preserved by the French commemorating their earlier victory), to sign their own surrender to Germany. The German occupation of France was an obvious source of pride and achievement, as it was a deafening statement of Germany's newly regained power and a blatant rejection of French/Allied oppression.
Who can forget the ultimate Parisian tourist photo of Adolf Hitler, architect Albert Speer, and sculptor Arno Breker, standing defiantly in front of their Eiffel Tower? Millions of people have stood in the exact spot of the famous photo, but how many have stood there as conqueror, with the Eiffel Tower the crowning trophy of their conquest?
The occupation of France was to last over 4 years until the Allies liberated it in mid-late 1944. During its occupation however, Paris was to exist under Nazi rule which meant the NSDAP had administrative oversight there. National Socialist participation abroad fell under the auspices of the NSDAP "AO", or Auslandorganisation (Foreign Organization). Hitler never intended for any non-Germanic countries to officially become a part of the Reich, which is why Czechoslovakia, France, and Poland were never considered Gaues. They were each however, considered a Kreis, and as such, had Kreis-level flags/standards representing their respective districts. The Kreis color structure for the flag patches evolved exactly as that of the uniforms, with the 1st incarnation piped in black, and later items to be piped in white. The nature of this color scheme dates this Standarte to approximately 1940.
Here, for your consideration, is the NSDAP flag for the Nazi occupation of France. Five of the original seven rings are present, but the highlight of this historically momentous treasure are the correct chain-stitched patches carrying the word "Frankreich" (on both the obverse and reverse). "Frankreich" is of course the German expression for "France". This has to be the ultimate example of the juxtaposition of the German occupation of the French. (the France-Germany rivalry is of course many centuries old).
Impossibly rare and of the absolute greatest Third Reich significance, it is of zero embellishment to state the acquisition opportunities of this piece to be less than once in a lifetime. If you have any concept or appreciation of the stakes of the territorial conquests envisioned by Hitler, you will immediately identify the collecting opportunity represented here. For those historians/collectors who may not end up with this in their possession, it is still a magnificent piece of National Socialist iconography, and is certainly a profound representation of Hitler's immense European territorial ambitions.
France, under the German swastika, as represented by this specific standarte. Historically, as powerful a statement as was made in 20th century politics.
German Militaria
Product Id: #3023
REFERENCE ONLY. (SOLD or NOT FOR SALE)
Many historians don't consider there to have been 2 separate World Wars but rather 1 long, protracted, 30 year World War with a 20 year intermission.
Adolf Hitler for one certainly never considered the Great War finished.
In November of 1918, a humiliated and shamed Germany surrendered to the French and was forced, in the summer of 1919, to sign the enormously unjust Treaty of Versailles in a modest railway car in Compiegne France, basically accepting complete blame for the instigation and perpetration of the Great War. Hitler never accepted the verdict, terms, or the defeat, and its reversal became a defining, motivating force in his career, a wrong that he insisted must be righted. This burning internal drive reached its triumphant climax when, in the spring of 1940, (at the height of their continental power), the Germans (still bitter from the disgrace of the last 20+ years) occupied France in retaliation for their detested conduct of the previous 2 decades. In fact Hitler, with a sense of symbolic historical irony had the French enter the exact same railway car, (which had been originally preserved by the French commemorating their earlier victory), to sign their own surrender to Germany. The German occupation of France was an obvious source of pride and achievement, as it was a deafening statement of Germany's newly regained power and a blatant rejection of French/Allied oppression.
Who can forget the ultimate Parisian tourist photo of Adolf Hitler, architect Albert Speer, and sculptor Arno Breker, standing defiantly in front of their Eiffel Tower? Millions of people have stood in the exact spot of the famous photo, but how many have stood there as conqueror, with the Eiffel Tower the crowning trophy of their conquest?
The occupation of France was to last over 4 years until the Allies liberated it in mid-late 1944. During its occupation however, Paris was to exist under Nazi rule which meant the NSDAP had administrative oversight there. National Socialist participation abroad fell under the auspices of the NSDAP "AO", or Auslandorganisation (Foreign Organization). Hitler never intended for any non-Germanic countries to officially become a part of the Reich, which is why Czechoslovakia, France, and Poland were never considered Gaues. They were each however, considered a Kreis, and as such, had Kreis-level flags/standards representing their respective districts. The Kreis color structure for the flag patches evolved exactly as that of the uniforms, with the 1st incarnation piped in black, and later items to be piped in white. The nature of this color scheme dates this Standarte to approximately 1940.
Here, for your consideration, is the NSDAP flag for the Nazi occupation of France. Five of the original seven rings are present, but the highlight of this historically momentous treasure are the correct chain-stitched patches carrying the word "Frankreich" (on both the obverse and reverse). "Frankreich" is of course the German expression for "France". This has to be the ultimate example of the juxtaposition of the German occupation of the French. (the France-Germany rivalry is of course many centuries old).
Impossibly rare and of the absolute greatest Third Reich significance, it is of zero embellishment to state the acquisition opportunities of this piece to be less than once in a lifetime. If you have any concept or appreciation of the stakes of the territorial conquests envisioned by Hitler, you will immediately identify the collecting opportunity represented here. For those historians/collectors who may not end up with this in their possession, it is still a magnificent piece of National Socialist iconography, and is certainly a profound representation of Hitler's immense European territorial ambitions.
France, under the German swastika, as represented by this specific standarte. Historically, as powerful a statement as was made in 20th century politics.
German Militaria