Basically what it says on the tin. This idea has been batted about a bit, but it never seems to have been explored in great detail.
What if, for whatever reason (maybe Hitler has a sudden burst of sanity, maybe after Mers-El-Kébir the pro-Axis elements of Petain's government manage to get the ball rolling, whatever) Vichy France transitions from an pro-Axis neutral state to a full blown co-belligerent/Axis Power? How does this affect the war, in both the short and the long term?
On a smaller scale, what would be the reaction of French civilian population? Would they go along with the deal, or would they defect en masse to the Free French forces? Would this a boon or a burden to De Gaulle's Free French forces? Post-war, how is France perceived?
Feel free to use whatever POD/combination of POD's to accomplish this, so long as it doesn't strain plausibility.
What if, for whatever reason (maybe Hitler has a sudden burst of sanity, maybe after Mers-El-Kébir the pro-Axis elements of Petain's government manage to get the ball rolling, whatever) Vichy France transitions from an pro-Axis neutral state to a full blown co-belligerent/Axis Power? How does this affect the war, in both the short and the long term?
On a smaller scale, what would be the reaction of French civilian population? Would they go along with the deal, or would they defect en masse to the Free French forces? Would this a boon or a burden to De Gaulle's Free French forces? Post-war, how is France perceived?
Feel free to use whatever POD/combination of POD's to accomplish this, so long as it doesn't strain plausibility.