Chapter 8 · 1940 to 1944
The Grey Years
A fictional foreign power, the Northern Directorate, occupies Paris. The Revolution is the Resistance; the Law is the city's own Prefecture and police, whose best ending is to turn against the occupier at the right moment.
- Map
- 20 districts
- Newspaper
- The Paris Notice
- Street lighting
- Electric light
The levels
- The Empty City15 June 1940
- Students at the Arch11 November 1940
- Ink and Paper1 September 1941
- The Mole2 March 1942
- The Draft16 February 1943
- Paris Rises19 August 1944
- Interlude 8
After the finale of chapter 8: The Grey YearsBreak the seal
Chapter 8: The Grey YearsSealed so it does not spoil the story for you.Break the seal
The booklet opens
Prologue
In June 1940 the armies of the Northern Directorate crossed the frontier and the country's defences collapsed in a few weeks. The government left the capital, and so did two Parisians in three.
If the interlude ended this way: Simone made a deal with the Leagues.
Six years earlier someone had made a deal with the Leagues on the bridge. Their men were now waiting for the occupier with their lists ready.
If the interlude ended this way: The Leagues reached the Chamber.
Six years earlier the Leagues had reached the Chamber. The men who had marched with them were not sorry to see the Republic fall.
Otherwise
Six years earlier the Leagues had been stopped at the bridge. Their men had not forgotten, and neither had the Republic's.
If the interlude ended this way: The agreement was signed on the workers' terms.
The summer of 1936 had left the workers' districts organised: there were people who knew how to meet without being seen.
If the interlude ended this way: The agreement was signed on the government's terms.
The agreement of 1936 had been signed on the government's terms, and the Prefecture had kept its friends.
Otherwise
The summer of 1936 had ended badly, and the city remembered who had fired.
The factions
The Revolution
- Liberation committee
- Politicians and union leaders in hiding, who want a say in what comes after.
- Francs-tireurs
- Colonel Sorel's armed groups, impatient for the rising.
- Networks
- Cells, couriers and radio operators, each knowing as little as possible: Pierre Lenoir's people.
- Clandestine press
- Madeleine Aubry's presses, the students and the poets who write under false names.
The Law
- Prefecture
- Prefect Henri Marchetti and his administration, who tell themselves they are protecting the city.
- Police
- The police brigades of the twenty districts: patrols, curfew, queues.
- Special Brigades
- The political police. Somewhere among them, a few men who keep a list of their own.
- Informers
- Letters signed with no name, concierges and paid informers.
- Contractors
- Firms that work for the Directorate, and do well out of it.
Neutral factions
- The Church
- Shopkeepers
- The licensed press
- The black market
- Allies abroad
- The governments still fighting the Directorate from overseas. They drop arms and money to those they trust.
- Parisians
- Collaborators
- Men of the old Leagues and others who serve the occupier. With the League Pact of 1934 behind them, they are strong.
Characters
- Governor Aldric Harl of the Northern Directorate
- Prefect Henri Marchetti
- Colonel Sorel, Resistance commander
- Madeleine Aubry, clandestine printer
- Pierre Lenoir, radio operator
- Jacqueline, a student
- Claire, magistrate
The booklet closes
After the finale of chapter 8: The Grey YearsSealed so it does not spoil the story for you.Break the seal
Epilogue
If the Revolution won Paris Rises
The bells rang for the liberation. Now the city had to decide what to do with those who had served the occupier.
Otherwise
The Prefecture had come through the grey years. Now it had to explain itself.
The lamps came back on in the streets after four years of blackout.