>No need to refer to a third source, you seem to be paraphrasing a quote from the above submission here: "One feature of the Nazi conquest of France was the astonishing defections among the intelligentsia, including some of the left-wing political intelligentsia.

Correct; not all of the Vichy government was actually pro-Germany/pro-Nazi per se.[1]

I'm not sure it was defeatism, per se, for a lot of those involved. I'd describe it as "Welp, the Nazis are obviously the masters of Europe and will probably defeat Britain soon. We fought them and lost. Given that, here is my chance to get insert pet theory here implemented during the formation of a new French society and government". Vichy was basically what life would be like if the Klan, neo-Nazis, the Upper West Side of Manhattan/San Francisco, BLM, antifa, /r/politics, and /r/worldnews all got together to form their own country.

[1] But when they were pro-Nazi they were really pro-Nazi. My "favorite" example of this is that the Vichy government was so enthusiastic about sending French Jews to their deaths in Germany that the occupying German forces had to ask Vichy to slow down! Vichy consistently went above and beyond what Berlin requested it do in terms of anti-Semitic laws.