Editing Frantz Fanon (section)

=== World War II ===
After the [[Battle of France]] resulted in the [[French Third Republic]] capitulating to [[Nazi Germany]] in July 1940, Martinique came under the control of [[French Navy]] elements led by Admiral [[Georges Robert (admiral)|Georges Robert]] who were loyal to the collaborationist [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]]. The disruption of imports from [[Metropolitan France]] led to major shortages on the island, which were exacerbated by an American naval [[blockade]] imposed on Martinique in April 1943. Robert's authoritarian regime repressed local [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] sympathizers, hundreds of whom escaped to nearby [[Caribbean]] islands. Fanon later described the Vichy regime in Martinique as taking off their masks and behaving like "authentic racists".<ref>David Macey, [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_workshop_journal/v058/58.1macey.html "Frantz Fanon, or the Difficulty of Being Martinican"], ''History Workshop Journal'', Project Muse. Retrieved 27 August 2010.</ref> In January 1943, he fled Martinique during the wedding of one of his brothers and travelled to the [[British Empire|British colony]] of [[Dominica]] in order to link up with other Allied sympathizers.<ref name=zellig>{{cite book |last1=Zeilig |first1=Leo |title=Frantz Fanon: A Political Biography |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=9780755638239 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyUhEAAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|24}} 

Robert's regime was overthrown by a local uprising in June of that year, which Fanon would later acclaim as "the birth of the [Martinican] [[proletariat]]" as a revolutionary force. After the uprising, Fanon "enthusiastically" returned to Martinique, where [[Free France|Free French]] leader [[Charles de Gaulle]] had appointed {{ill|Henri Tourtet|fr}} as the colony's new governor. Tourtet subsequently raised the [[5th Antillean Marching Battalion]] to serve in [[French Liberation Army|Free French Forces]] (FFL), and Fanon soon joined the unit in Fort-de-France.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Macey |first1=David |title=Frantz Fanon 1925-1961 |journal=History of Psychiatry |date=December 1996 |volume=7 |issue=28 |pages=489–497 |doi=10.1177/0957154X9600702802 |pmid=11618750 |citeseerx=10.1.1.858.188 |s2cid=45834503 }}</ref><ref>Nicholls, Tracey. ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.'' http://www.iep.utm.edu/fanon/#H1</ref> He underwent basic training before boarding a [[troopship]] bound for [[Casablanca]], [[French protectorate in Morocco|Morocco]] in March 1944. After Fanon arrived in Morocco, he was shocked to discover the extent of [[racial discrimination]] in the FFL. He was subsequently transferred to a Free French military base in [[Béjaïa]], [[French Algeria|Algeria]], where Fanon witnessed firsthand the [[antisemitism]] and [[Islamophobia]] of the ''[[pieds-noirs]]'', many of whom had supported racist laws promulgated by the Vichy regime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Algerian Revolution Changed the World for the Better |url=https://jacobin.com/2021/04/algerian-revolution-france-colonialism |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In August 1944, he departed on another troopship from [[Oran]] to France as part of [[Operation Dragoon]], the Allied invasion of German-occupied [[Provence]]. After the US [[VI Corps (United States)|VI Corps]] secured a [[beachhead]], Fanon's unit came ashore at [[Saint-Tropez]] and advanced inland. He participated in several engagements near [[Montbéliard]], [[Doubs]] and was seriously wounded by shrapnel, which resulted in him being hospitalized for two months. Fanon was awarded a ''[[Croix de Guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]]'' by Colonel [[Raoul Salan]] for his actions in battle, and in early 1945 rejoined his unit and fought in the [[Battle of Alsace]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Macey|first=David|date=December 1996|title=Frantz Fanon 1925-1961|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957154X9600702802|journal=History of Psychiatry|language=en|volume=7|issue=28|page=490|doi=10.1177/0957154X9600702802|pmid=11618750|s2cid=45834503|issn=0957-154X}}</ref> After German forces had been pushed out of France and Allied troops crossed the [[Rhine]] into Germany, Fanon and his fellow black troops were removed from their formations and sent southwards to [[Toulon]] as part of de Gaulle's policy of removing non-white soldiers from the French army.<ref name=MaceyBiog /> He was subsequently transferred to [[Normandy]] to await [[repatriation]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fanon |first=Frantz |date=14 November 2011 |title=Franz Fanon, Writer born |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/franz-fanon-writer-born/ |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=African American Registry |language=en}}</ref>

Although Fanon had been initially eager to participate in the Allied war effort, the racism he witnessed during the war disillusioned him. Fanon wrote to his brother Joby from Europe that "I've been deceived, and I am paying for my mistakes... I'm sick of it all."<ref name=":0" /> In the fall of 1945, a newly-discharged Fanon returned to Martinique, where he focused on completing his secondary education. Césaire, by now a friend and mentor of his, ran on the [[French Communist Party]] ticket as a delegate from Martinique to the first [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] of the [[French Fourth Republic]], and Fanon worked for his campaign. Staying in Martinique long enough to complete his ''[[baccalauréat]]'', Fanon proceeded to return to France, where he intended to study medicine and psychiatry.{{fact|date=July 2024}}